As Mothers’ Day comes around again, it’s good for us to reflect on the story of Hannah, found in 1 Samuel 1:1-28.

Faced with the difficulty of being the second of the two wives of her husband Elkanah (hardly a good situation to be in!) as well as not being able to conceive, this was probably enough for any young woman to either complain bitterly about her circumstances or at least seek the nearest exit from them. But when God granted her prayer and blessed her with a son, Samuel, her life took upon a whole new dimension.

Having desperately prayed for a son, and then being granted that privilege, what would she do with him? And what would she want for him? Maybe lots of options were available to him – including the possibilities of him growing up to be rich or popular, educated or powerful. What would she choose?

The answer is seen in the promise that she made in verse 11, “I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life”, which reaches its fulfillment in verse 28, “Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” And that’s what she did. She gave Samuel to the Lord that he might serve Him.

Parents, what do you want for your children? Are you willing to make the hard sacrifices in terms of this world in order to ensure that your children end up serving the Lord? It will cost you. It doesn’t mean that you must send your children away to for rigorous learning and training from infancy like Samuel, but it will mean that your lifestyle will come under scrutiny. Serving the Lord is not just taught, it is also caught.

It will also be costly in terms of time, because if serving the Lord is your aim for your children, then surely prayer must be one of the keys that opens doors in that direction. And because prayer takes time and effort, it will be costly to you. You will have to let go hopes and dreams that junior will turn out to meet your expectations – none of that will matter as much as whether or not your child serves the Lord.

What a blessing to be a mother (or father), but also what a responsibility and a challenge this blessing brings! If you are one of those, may God’s grace equip and enable you to be all that you should be.

In May of this year, it will be 20 years since the rescue of the trapped miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell was unfolding in Beaconsfield, Tasmania. After having been given up for dead because of the thick rock that kept the men from freedom, in the course of time, they were rescued from their captivity and the watching world sighed with relief!  Throughout the whole ordeal and after, tribute was rightly paid to the rescuers who toiled tirelessly to reach the men in extreme circumstances and at great risk to themselves. A movie of it was made too!!

The mine rescue story reminds us of another rescue story, an even better one. The Bible tells us that ‘all men have sinned’ (Romans 3:23) and that because of this we are unable to save ourselves. All of us are ‘trapped’ in the cage of our own sinful natures and all are in need of a Rescuer. Jesus Christ is that Rescuer. At great cost to Himself and to rescue His people, He died upon a cross and was buried and then, to prove that His work was sufficient and accepted by God, and that He was and is the Son of God, God raised Him from the grave after three days, appointing Him to be the “Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42).

We all need to be rescued – especially from the coming Judge! Every time Easter comes around, it’s a great opportunity to be reminded that only Jesus Christ can be the Rescuer that we need. Through faith in Him, all who believe are granted full and free salvation. He said, ‘If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed’. (John 8:36). Seek Him. Great joy will follow your rescue too.

Our first ever Men’s Camp was held over Friday March 20 and Saturday March 21 at the Laanecoorie Lakeside Park. The camp kicked off on late Friday afternoon/evening night with a BBQ dinner, a campfire and some input on writing testimonies, after which a few were shared. The next morning broke bright and cool with anothe fine day heading our way. After breakfast, fish were caught, conversations flowed, the campfire burned bright, more testimonies were shared and we gave ourselves to the next study in our series based on the book of Nehemiah. And then, after a BBQ lunch, it was all over and it was time to returns to our homes and families.

It may have been short, but it was a great blessing for us men with busy lives to get away and grow together in friendship in this way. Thanks be to God!

Bendigo is a very busy place over Easter, but with so much going on and so much of it about the holiday itself and not the meaning of Easter, make sure you don’t miss what’s most important.

Come and join us at 9:30am on Good Friday to discover that real meaning. There will be a retiring offering to support the PresAID appeal for our partner chuches in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Stay for morning tea afterward and then be sure to catch ‘The Way of the Cross’ at 8pm in Rosalind Park (free entry).

Then, join us again on Easter Sunday morning at 10:30am (make sure you’ve put your clock back) to find out even more about it! Morning tea follows also…

‘Book Club’ has resumed meeting for the year, on Monday nights, 7pm.

The book in question for this first term is C.S.Lewis’ classic work, ‘Mere Christianity’.

Like to join in? It’s not too late… Just contact us for more details!

Like to know anything about any of our regular activities? Just contact us and we’ll be glad to help! Otherwise, make yourself known to us at 10:30am on a Sunday morning and we’ll be pleased to take it from there…

Come and join us on Friday December 19th for our annual Christmas event!

Thursday December 25th for our Christmas Day service, 9:30am

Details below…