Bendigo Presbyterian Church

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 […]