Bible Study – August 2023

Good and goodness are two words that are popular in everyday language. Many of us have a preconceived idea of what they mean. As a parent of pre-teens, I hope and pray that my children are good in public and at home. I also hope that I am a good husband and a good father.

We often hear that people hope to go to heaven because they have been a “good” person in this life; yet if they do not have a “personal” relationship with Jesus this may not be so.
Read Pastor Peter Klemm’s Bible Study on Goodness here …

Devotion – August 2023

It was the morning of the second day of winter, a grey blanket of cloud hung low stretching to the horizon. Drizzly rain smeared my windscreen making everything seem even greyer. Soggy paddocks anchored a patchwork of woolly sheep huddled together to conserve some heat. Even the birds had perched closely on the telephone wires leaving no gaps between their feathers.
Read Dee’s full devotion here …

Devotion – July 2023

Have you ever had a trying day and then, out of the blue, someone comes along and shows a little kindness toward you? I remember one such day when it seemed that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong – a day when I should have stayed in bed! Then quite out of the blue I was handed a beautiful red rose. The person who gave it to me had made a special trip to my place of work and, as she handed me the rose, she whispered, “I feel you needed this today”, and with that, she left. I do not know how she knew, but I do know that God knew.

Bible Study – July 2023

Random Acts of Kindness The “Random Acts of Kindness” movement started in 1982 by an activist, Anne Berkley from the San Francisco Area. She wrote an article about this in response to an article on senseless violence. The movement took off and gained momentum with a National Random Acts of Kindness Day falling on February 17 each year. “A random act of kindness is a non-premeditated, inconsistent action designed to offer kindness towards the outside …

Devotion – June 2023

Which Way? If there is one thing that unsettles me, it is when I am lost. Unlike my husband who has an inbuilt compass, I cannot go anywhere without my phone, and just in case technology may fail, I dust off the old “Melways” for good measure! I like to know where I am headed, the route I will be taking and the estimated time of arrival. So, I cannot imagine trekking through the wilderness …

Fruits of the spirit – Patience

Bible Study – June 2023

The Art of Waiting! (Patience) I always thought I was a patient person, until I was told I have to wait. I can be patient enough when I am not in a hurry, but when I am in a hurry or want things to get done and in my time frame, maybe I am not so good at waiting. Maybe I have fooled myself into thinking I am patient, when really, I am not. When …

Devotion – May 2023

Who do you think you are?

On 13 October, a long time ago, I was born. On 10 November one month later, I was born again.  And although my birthday is the day I celebrate each year, 10 November is even more significant. This is the day I was baptised. On this day God placed his mark on me and declared: you are mine! Often when I contemplate this, I think of how different my situation could have been. For instance, if I wasn’t born into a Christian home, I have no doubt my journey through life would have taken me on quite a different route.

Bible Study – May, 2023

“Blue mind” is a growing area of scientific research looking at what happens to our minds and bodies when we are in, or near, water. I immediately connected with “peace like a river”. Most of us can probably relate to finding psychological benefits to being near water. I find being near the beach is a wonderful sensory and calming experience, and I can relate to the research. Perhaps we don’t need research to tell us these things. Our Creator God knows it – because he made it all.

Let’s look at some different images from Scripture that begin to give us a glimpse and a beginning of the understanding of the peace of God.

Carlsruhe Ladies Guild 120th Anniversary

There are still a few of us who remember 50 plus years of guild. We were newly married young women trying to settle into a new life, in a new country area, mostly on farms. Very soon, we found we were “expected” to join the Guild, part of St John’s Lutheran Church, Carlsruhe, near Waterloo and Manoora and surrounded by farmland. In my case, my mother-in-law was thrilled to have another driver in the family, me! Thus, she did not have to ask her husband or sons to drive her to guild as they had in the past!

The blessing of scholarships

Most people are not overly excited at the prospect of supporting scholarships for international partner churches. When it comes to mission work, it just doesn’t carry the same thrill that comes when we see pictures of missionaries reaching out to tribes in the jungles of North Sumatra, or the sense of ownership that comes from helping build churches in the mountains of northern Thailand. Yet scholarships for pastors to undertake advanced theological studies remain the …

Devotion – April 2023

Joyful Tribulation Last year the Lutheran Women Vic/Tas Convention was held at Laverton, and I had arranged with three other committee members to carpool. I was looking forward to a road trip with these ladies; we planned to meet at my house for lunch before we headed off. The car we were travelling in was a beautifully maintained 1990 Toyota Cressida that my friend’s husband recommended we take. It reminded me of Dr Who’s Tardis …

Bible Study – April 2023

Joy: Identifying and living with the fruit of the Spirit Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. We will begin by looking at the background to the well-known Fruit of the Spirit passage. We teach songs to Sunday school children, we can maybe list off the fruit – but let’s go back to the “root” of this scripture and use the analogy to really explore what it means to have the joy of the Lord …