In 2016 we celebrated and acknowledged the service of Cath Solomon to the Indigenous people of Gippsland and her work over many years with the Baptist Union of Victoria.
A service of recognition and thanks was held at Lakes Entrance Baptist Church with family and friends from the Gippsland area and beyond attending to Acknowledge ‘Aunty Cath’s’ faithful and fruitful service.
This Lent, Common Grace and Bible Society Australia invite us to rediscover Jesus's profound teachings veiled in everyday stories. As we come together, we're praying for ears to hear these teachings of Jesus afresh, to let them get past our defences and under our skin, as they transform us to make things right in this world.
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This series has been produced by Common Grace and Bible Society Australia.
For many years Wodonga & District Baptist Church has been recording their sermons in both audio and video and making them available online. Since the COVID-19 meeting restrictions, Senior Pastor David Hodgens and team, like many other churches, have been pre-recording their worship services and the congregation is encouraged to watch at the usual service time on a Sunday. Small groups are meeting online and other expressions of contact include sms, email and phone calls during the week so that the church community remains connected to one another.
One concern has been for those who do not have internet access, particularly in relation to Sunday services. This is where the local Christian radio station comes in! Albury Wodonga’s own listener-supported Christian radio station, 98.5FM The Light, is now broadcasting Wodonga Baptist’s service each Sunday at 10.30am. “This is just one of the many stories where we have seen God’s hand at work. This is a hard time for everyone, however, we continue to be encouraged by the high level of engagement and the stories we hear on a regular basis. God has his plans. We may not know what they are, but we can see he is in control” said Church Administrator, Steve Stokes.
This Lent, Common Grace and Bible Society Australia invite us to rediscover Jesus's profound teachings veiled in everyday stories. As we come together, we're praying for ears to hear these teachings of Jesus afresh, to let them get past our defences and under our skin, as they transform us to make things right in this world.
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This series has been produced by Common Grace and Bible Society Australia.
Earlier on in the year, the BUV informed our church leadership about the ongoing hardships the local businesses in the East Gippsland region were experiencing, due to the devastating bushfires. Hearing about this truly broke our hearts, and we all felt we needed to help these communities out in a small way. So, a group of approximately 20 people from our congregation took the opportunity to travel to the East Gippsland region during the March long weekend (before the current COVID-19 restrictions came into place), visiting the local cafes, restaurants and accommodation sites to assist them financially.
Our first stop on Saturday was brunch in Bairnsdale where we split into two groups to ‘The Old Grain Store’ and ‘Metung Hotel’. There, we were advised that one of the towns hit hardest financially was a town called Bruthen. So we decided to visit this town. When we arrived there, some of us had lunch at 'Bull Ant Brewery' and some had afternoon tea at ‘Bruthen Bakery’. The staff there really appreciated our efforts to come down here to help them out in this time of need.
In the afternoon, we all checked into our motels at Lakes Entrance, splitting our accommodation arrangements over several different businesses. Our next stop was to go see the bushfire affected sites in the area. Although we were very saddened by witnessing the remains of many burnt down trees, the new sprouts emerging from the trees gave a sense of hope that the bushland will recover and be fruitful once again. Our last stop for the day was Lakes Pizza, where we had a delicious dinner.
On Sunday we started off by attending the Lake Entrance Baptist Church service. We were warmly welcomed by Pastor Michael & the church congregation. After the service we shared tea and coffee with leaders and members of the church. It was amazing to hear from one leader of the church that in the midst of all the damages and hardship caused by the bush fires, they are still praying and asking for God’s guidance to plant a church in Orbost, one of the bushfire affected areas. We are glad that we helped the church community by contributing our tithes and offerings.
After church we decided to go to Orbost to have lunch where once again we split in to two groups for two different cafes. We then visited another bushfire affected area in Orbost. It was devastating to see how the bushfires have affected the whole area and the environment.
After the visit to Orbost, we returned to Lakes Entrance. That evening, as a church family we all had a great time over dinner at “Nick’s Café and Authentic Thai Restaurant”. We stayed one more evening before heading home on Monday .Throughout the whole visit we were encouraged and amazed of the church’s faith in God and the spirit of rebuilding the bushfire affected areas again.
This Lent, Common Grace and Bible Society Australia invite us to rediscover Jesus's profound teachings veiled in everyday stories. As we come together, we're praying for ears to hear these teachings of Jesus afresh, to let them get past our defences and under our skin, as they transform us to make things right in this world.
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This series has been produced by Common Grace and Bible Society Australia.