Pentecost - 24 May 2026

Pentecost - 24 May 2026

This week we celebrate Pentecost! Followers of Jesus celebrate this day as the birth of the Christian Church. Happy Birthday!In Acts 2:1–21, we read of the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples, empowering them to speak in different languages so that people from many nations could hear and understand the good news of Jesus. The crowd was amazed by what they witnessed, while others questioned what was happening and assumed the disciples had lost their senses. This moment revealed something extraordinary. Through the Holy Spirit, God was opening the invitation of Jesus to all people.Pentecost reminds us that the Church was never meant to be a building, but a gathering of people filled with God’s presence and sent into the world with love, courage and purpose.Many of us know that Benji is currently in Korea with the Uniting Church PROK group. How fitting that during this time of Pentecost, our minister is immersed in a culture that is so familiar and significant within our BCUC family. We look forward to receiving Benji’s Pentecost message via video this Sunday.Please join us as we celebrate Pentecost together, giving thanks for and celebrating the many cultures that make up our church family, and sharing in an international lunch following the service.BlessingsKaitlyn Phillips

Jesus invites us into Relationship - 17 May 2026

On Sunday we have the last in our “Jesus invites” series, with Jesus inviting us into relationship with Him. In the John reading Jesus explains the concept of remaining in deep relationship with God to the Jews using words and pictures the Israelites, an agricultural people should understand well - the vine, or vineyard. Jesus casts God as the gardener, himself as the vine, and us as the branches, which when tended well and remaining in relationship with the vine, will produce much good fruit. Just as a healthy vine and a bumper crop of quality fruit takes effort and attention, so too does abiding with God. The Israelites had fallen out of a close relationship and Jesus was now inviting them (and us) back.Relationships are defined by shared feelings, communication, trust and mutual expectations. They anchor us, give us identity, comfort and support us. Those same markers of secular connections are part of the deep relationship into which God invites us. He promised to remain close, so we need to hold firm to Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”. And the result? Being in relationship with God bears much fruit in us, as recorded in Galatians 5, “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”. A list of beautiful attributes and evidence we are abiding in God.To continue to produce good fruit we can come to God with our confession of sin and our profession of belief. We can follow God’s commandments. We can follow Christ’s teachings and example of forgiveness, mercy, inclusion, hope, humility, service and obedience to God. We can remain in contact with God through prayer and bible reading and we can relate in love to our church community. Last Sunday Kaitlyn said, “When we invest our time in prayer, bible reading, worshipping and in church community, God begins to do the work within us”. So, we don’t have to view the invitation to relationship as too hard, or lonely, as God is doing it alongside and within us. Matthew’s reading concludes, “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” We are invited into relationship with God and given the confidence that He will be with us, always.Jenny OlverMatthew 28:20 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPDJrz32bRw&t=1700s] and John 15:1-10

BCUC Talks episode 4

Megan, Bryan and Benji talk about BCUC for the fourth exciting instalment of BCUC Talks! Jokes, faith, heavenly slices and more. Special guest Kaitlyn!

Jesus invites Transformation - 10 May 2026

When you think of transformation, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, or simple ingredients like flour, butter, and sugar turning into a cake in the oven. Or perhaps it’s more personal, reflecting on your life before Jesus and your life with Him. Transformation is something we all recognise in different ways, and it often brings the beauty of new life.As we explore what transformation means for us as followers of Jesus this week, we are reminded that Jesus doesn’t simply ask for belief, He invites us into transformation. Throughout the Gospels, we see how deeply Jesus changes lives. One story that stands out is the story of Mary Magdalene, who was freed from deep spiritual oppression and restored to new life and purpose. Her encounter with Jesus changed everything, and she went on to devote her life to following Him.Transformation isn’t a one-time moment, it’s the ongoing lifestyle of a disciple. As a church community, we are more than people who gather. We are people being changed. We celebrate stories of transformation, encourage one another as we grow, and invite others into this same journey. So, the question we might ask ourselves is: how can we embrace this invitation to transformation, becoming disciples who make disciples, raising children of God together?Blessings,Kaitlyn

Jesus invites us to baptise - 3 May 2026

Dear friends of BCUCHow often in the last six months have you thought about baptism?Has the topic been part of your prayers? Do you have a passion to see and be part of the journey of more people being baptised? Do you consider what you are doing right now—even reading this message—as part of you “living out your baptism”?Jesus invited his disciples at the end of Matthew’s Gospel to go and make disciples of all nations, “baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” He clearly links discipleship with baptism and places it as one of the key defining features of his new movement, which would later be called Christianity. The apostle Paul later wrote to the churches and helped unpack what baptism means. In Romans 6 he writes about being baptised (immersed) into Jesus’ death and then into his resurrection life. We become dead to the power of sin and then have a new life of freedom that is alive with God. That’s pretty amazing when you stop and think about it.Wonderfully, some people can actually give a time and date to when the Holy Spirit, at their baptism, changed their personality for good in a way that others immediately noticed. They were different people either side of the waters of baptism. There are many who try hard to imagine a difference but can’t really pinpoint very much. Don’t let that diminish the importance of your baptism! For those reading this who have been baptised, the question is not just what changed for you in baptism, but what is still changing right now as you live out your baptism?For those who haven’t been baptised, the question is—what’s stopping you? Please get in contact with our ministry team. There may be some who would like to consider renewing or reaffirming their baptism, especially those who were baptised as an infant. Please get in contact with our ministry team.I take Jesus’ invitation to baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit seriously and often pray for many more baptisms here at BCUC and around the world. I invite you to pray with me in this important adventure.Your brother in Christ,Benji