Bendigo Presbyterian Church

In Exodus 7:8-10:29, the showdown that had been threatening took place. Pharaoh, in his stubborn unbelief and refusal to let the people of Israel go, could only sit back and watch his nation and land be devastated by plague after plague – all designed to show him that he was not calling the shots. While […]

When the women went to the tomb early on the Sunday morning after the death of Jesus, they never expected to find that the tomb would be empty. The fact that the tomb was empty is recorded by all the gospel writers, even Luke in Luke 24:1-12. Perhaps there has never been a more important […]

When God revealed something of a glimpse of the future to the prophet Isaiah who lived 700 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet saw the person who was to come, the ‘Servant of the Lord’, the Saviour and Redeemer of God’s people. The 53rd chapter of his prophecy is well-known for the way […]

After Moses heard back from the Lord God that He would do as He had promised, in Exodus 6:10-7:14, we find again the narrative of this tense looming showdown between the Lord and Pharaoh, bookending a section where suddenly there is a whole genealogy of Moses and Aaron. What’s going on? Only just that Moses […]

In our studies so far in the book of Exodus, we have met the Lord God’s appointed deliverer, Moses, and his many excuses and fears. Having gone to Pharaoh as the Lord God had commanded him with the result being far from what Moes had expected, Moses could only now go back to the Lord […]

It’s hard enough to cope with circumstances getting worse at any time, let alone when you’ve shown a willingness to obey the Lord’s directions! But in Exodus 4:18-5:23, Moses found out that obeying God doesn’t always mean that everything will go smoothly – sometimes it just doesn’t. In fact, the circumstances for Moses and the […]

When God called to Moses from the burning bush, He also commissioned him for the task He had in mind – of Moses going to Pharaoh with the news! As Exodus 4:1-17 tells us, Moses was quite unwilling and hesitant and…well, frankly…scared! So instead of implicit obedience from Moses, there was continued excuses…. but the […]

There is no more important text in the Old Testament than that recorded in Exodus 3:1-22 where God revelaed Himself to Moses through the ‘bush that was buring but not consumed’. God speaks! And what he says is so vital to our understanding of who He is and what His plans are! It’s a great […]

The text of Exodus 2:11-25 helps us see some of the details of what became of Moses the baby rescued in Exodus 2:1-10. This text, along with a section of Stephen’s speech in Acts 7:17-29, tell us that in growing up in the palace, Moses was equipped to be a great leader in Egypt. But […]

The book of Exodus, continues the story of God’s sovereign control over all things, especially the plan to save His people, Israel. It begins in Exodus 1:1-2:10 with the people of Israel in slavery in Egypt, struggling under the weight of the burdens laid upon them by Pharaoh, whose evil designs were to bring the […]

Guest preacher and theological student, Daniel Hitchcock, spoke from Luke 9:18-27 about following Jesus. He asked his disciples who the people said he was and many were still perplexed. Then Jesus asks the disciples and Peter gets in right, “The Christ of God”. Jesus surprises as he explains what it means to be God’s chosen […]

Guest preacher and theological student, Daniel Hitchcock, spoke from Luke 9:1-17 about a very different king. Maybe even more so than in our day, politics in the ancient world were heating up with persecution and rebellions in the shadow of the Roman Empire. Herod was perplexed by the new kingdom Jesus heralded through his twelve […]

Guest preacher and theological student, Daniel Hitchcock, spoke from Luke 8:40-56 about two very different people. Jairus is a synagogue leader who comes to Jesus openly, while an unnamed woman approached Jesus with the cover of the crowd. Both came in faith with a great need. Jesus heals and even raises from the dead but […]

When Jesus arrived on the ‘other side’ of the Sea of Galilee, he was immediately confronted by the presence and power of the evil one in the form of a man possessed by demons. The story recorded for us in Luke 8:29-36, shows that this encounter proved to be no problem for Jesus. He remained […]

In Luke 8:22-25, we find Jesus stilling the wild storm that threatened the lives of all who were out in that boat on the Sea of Galilee. It was a moment of great fear for even the most seasoned of fishermen-turned-disciples, probably even more so for those who didn’t have that fishing background. But the […]

Each of the gospel writers, Matthew, Mark and Luke, record the parable that Jesus told, called either the ‘parable of the seeds’ or the ‘parable of the sower’ or the ‘parable of the soil’. In Luke’s gospel, the parable appears in Luke 8:1-21 and is ‘bookended’ by two references to women. Before the parable, referring […]

Luke 2:21-52 are verses that might be all too easily overlooked in the Christmas season, when they ought not be. They give us a glimpse into ‘what went on’ for Jesus and even for his parents after the angels and shepherds had all gone away. They cover ‘ordinary’ matters that any Jewish couple of their […]

In Luke 2:1-20, Luke sets down in writing what he had come to know about the birth of Jesus through his faithful research. After having set the scene for the event through the happenings regarding the angel Gabriel’s busy visits to Zechariah and to Mary, the spotlight then turns to the baby promised to Mary. […]

In Luke 1:57-80, we see how Luke continues the story of Zechariah who had been struck dumb for failing to believe the angel Gabriel’s words earlier in the chapter. After his tongue was loosed, Zechariah made up for lost time in declaring the praise of God, His faithfulness and power in coming to rescue His […]

It’s possible to either over emphasise or under estimate the role that Mary had in being the birth mother of Jesus, but in Luke 1:26-56, it seems that the matter is plain. God’s choice of Mary was the right one – not because she in herself was without sin – but because she was willing […]

There’s so much more to the Christmas story than the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, Mary and Joseph and the baby in the manger. The gospel writer, Luke, a careful historian, presents the story of the birth of Jesus as the part of the fulfillment of God’s plans and promises to send a Messiah […]

Sometimes the things that happened to Jesus are quite surprising. In Luke 7:36-50, Luke tells us of hos he was reclining at a dinner party when a surprise guest entered and washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair and anointed them with her gift of perfume. The host of the […]

Luke’s record of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is one that included the preaching activity of John (the Baptist) – an activity that soon landed him in trouble with Herod and soon after in jail. When John heard of the miraculous signs performed by Jesus, we read in Luke 7:18-35, that he sent a message […]

Collisions happen. People get hurt or die. But what happens when llife collides with death? Or, to put it more exactly, when the Lord of life collides with someone who is dead? In Luke 7:11-17, the situation at Nain is sad, but the ministry of Jesus gives hope – real hope in the face of […]

After Jesus had completed his long teaching intensive, Luke records that he returned to Capernaum where His ministry had previously been well received. There, according to Luke 7:1-10, He was approached by the Jews on behalf of a Roman centurion – a man who had power at his fingertips, but no power to deal with […]

In Luke 6:43-49, Jesus is finishing his teaching intensive on how His disciples ought to live. The text is very much connected to the previous versess in which Jesus spoko of making careful and merciful judgements – especially about people – and this certainly applies in the way we are to look at others and […]

There are spome great women of faith in the Scriptures, none so important as Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus. Mary’s story is unique. No-one else but her was chosen by God to become one who would bring the Son of God into the world. Yet, Mary’s story also centres around her real and […]

Jesus was never one to mince words. Instead, He spoke forthrightly and to the heart, and perhaps never more so than in Luke 6:27-42, where Jesus warned His disciples against judging others in a way that would mean that they open themselves up for judgement. He also warned them against being ‘speck inspectors’ who have […]

In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus is still teaching His disciples about their responsibility to be His people in a world that hates them. After instructing them on what constitutes ‘blessings’ and ‘woes’ for his followers, He now makes it clear that His disciples will be known by a special kind of love – one that even […]

When Joshua addressed the people of Israel at Shechem in Joshua 24:1-28, there was a large backstory to his words in Joshua 28:14-15. This was an important moment, a defining moment for Joshua and for the people of Israel. Would they serve the Lord or would they serve other gods, ones that laid less demands […]

In this last instalment on the book of Jonah, referrring specifically to Jonah 4:5-11, Rev Peter Phillips brings home the message of God’s love for people we wouldn’t expect that He would love – contrasted wth the ungrateful and unloving attitude of the prophet Jonah – who should have known and done better! Message Outline […]

We’re interuppting our studies in Luke’s Gospel this morning, to take into account another part of Luke’s writings, his second book, known to us as the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ or just ‘Acts’. In the text of Acts 16:11-40, Luke shows us the difference the gospel made as it spread into the Roman city of […]

When teaching what God wanted us to know, Jesus was never one to beat around the bush. He put it out there. Spoke the trusth as he saw it. In Luke 6:12-26, particularly 6:20-26, Jesus taught His disciples in what is known as the ‘Sermon on the Plain’ (which corresponds well with Matthew’s ‘Sermon on […]

When Jesus and his disciples were challenged by the Pharisees over their obvious love of food (compared to them who loved to show off their fasting) and their ‘working’ on the Sabbath day (despite the strict rules the Pharisees taught and enforced), and then leaing on the Sabbath day (despite it being a work of […]

How do you handle your problems? There’s an incident in the life of King Jehoshaphat of Judah recorded for us in 2 Chronicles 20:6-12 which relates to the biggest of all problems that the King faced. In this message on that text, Rev Dr Jared Hood, Principal of the Presbyterian Theological College, explains how the […]

So far in Luke’s gospel, it seems that Jesus’ ministry has only just begun. We are in the early days. But even then, a pattern begins to emerge in Luke 5:12-32, where people from all walks of life come across Jesus or He meets them – and in each of the three recorded examples of […]

So much changed for Simon Peter in Luke 5:1-11. Although it seems likely that Peter had met Jesus before, he’d never had an encounter with Jesus quite like this one. The text relays how he went from being an unsuccesful, aware-of-of-his-own-sin fisherman type, to a follower of Jesus with a ctach full of fish as […]

In Luke 4:31-44, Luke records how Jesus’ ministry really took off. While in Capernaum after being rejected by the people of Nazareth, Jesus showed his complete and convincing authority over demons and disease. He did this in public, before the eyes of the watching people who were rightly amazed. But Luke also tells us of […]

Going home is typically an experience you don’t live to regret. There are exceptions of course. In Luke 4:14-30, Jesus went home to Nazareth and worshipped in the synagogue, only to be run out of town and have his life threatened by angry townsfolk. So what happened? Why did what should have been a welcome […]

When Luke records how Jesus faced temptation in the desert in Luke 4:1-13, it’s clear that he wants us to compare Jesus with Adam. Given that Luke had just traced the genealogy of Jesus back to Adam, it is logical that Luke wanted his readers to understand that Jesus hadf to be tempted just as […]

Of the 4 gospels about the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, Luke has his own themes unique to his writing style and presentation of Jesus. And while his gospel does not begin at chapter 3, at the very least Luke 3:1-20 marks a signficant moment in Jesus’ ministry, when John appeared preaching repentance […]

Romans 15:1-13 is the end part of a very long dissertation from the pen of the Apostle Paul. It brings to an end the section of Romans 12:1-15:13 that we have been following, but also concludes his series of applications in relation to love as the response believers should have to the overwhelming grace of […]

Not all of us agree on everything. You may not even agree with your closest family member or spouse on some matters. But when Christians disagree, then what do we do? In Romans 14:1-23, Paul adressess what was a major source of disagreement in a church where two main cultural groups (Jews and Gentiles) had […]

What is the most surprising thing? That Nineveh repented at Jonah’s message from God? Or, as we read in Jonah 4:1-4, that Jonah is angry that the message was heeded and God spared the people – after he was spared himself! Do we forget God’s promises? Are we surprised by God’s mercy? Do we doubt […]

While Paul speaks about love being the mark of the Christian and his/her resp;onsibility to extend it to all men, he is also aware that there are times and circumstances that make ‘loving others’ difficult. In Romans 13;11-14, he outlines some of these difficulties while also calling believers to see ‘how’ love can flourish – […]

In Romans 13:8-10, Paul spoeaks again about love, but this time in the context of the Law of God. The Old and New Testaments are not enemies but friends, and love is a dominant theme of both the Old and the New Testaments, even though some would say otherwise. In presenting this call to love […]