Bethlehem News

Our Parish Picnic was held at the Lutheran School this year. It was a glorious day with heaps of delicious food to be eaten and a few friendly (competitive) games to play, which revealed some hidden talents among us! Everyone had a great time and hopefully we'll be able to do it all again soon. A beautiful day to sit and chat in the sun. Don't mind if I do! Kings of the Castle. So much to talk about! Ball-thrower extraordinaire! How did he do that? Just ease it in. Precision! Precision! The best fun of the whole day!

The title of Top Ten Pin Bowler has been decided for 2016.  Bethlehem members gathered at the lanes for the contest, which was hard fought by all in two tough games. Some great life-long rivalries were rediscovered.... ...and we saw some wonderful demonstrations of grace, style and skill (you know who you are) but there could only be one winner on the day (plus a "ladies" and a "junior"). Ian triumphed with a score of 236; Dawn carried off the ladies title with 168 and Steph, in the juniors, ended the day on an impressive 183. The day may remain long in some memories as "The Battle for Lone Pin".  The pain was shared by many but the struggle brought us together and next year we hope to gather again to remember.

We had a very little Sunday School class today, so we managed to have a bit of extra fun with our superhero-sized listening ears! The lesson was all about Samuel who heard a voice in the night. At first he thought it was Eli calling him, but Eli told him it was actually God speaking. Samuel went back to bed and said "Speak Lord, I am listening." And from then on, God spoke to Samuel many times and it was Samuel's very important job to tell the people everything that God had said. And in case you missed the news today, jump over to  www.waggawagga.lca.org.au  to see our church's new website.

The Year 3 classes of Lutheran School Wagga Wagga joined us to celebrate Pentecost on Sunday. Interestingly, the church was decorated with red balloons, which tied in well with Mr Weier's message to the children. Thank goodness we don't need to remember a phone number to come to the party! The students participated in most areas of the service which was lovely to see. The skit, "Pentecost Photos" was particularly well done. You can see the artwork that featured during the skit, as well as other photos of Year 3 during the service, over on the school's Facebook page .

As you're probably aware, we have had Pastor Kevin and Judi Bell in our midst the last few weeks. They very kindly travelled up from Portland to be with us for the Easter period and are now heading home. It has been wonderful to have them here with us for such an important time of the year and for Pastor Kevin to have been able to welcome Josh into God's family today. Pastor Kevin and Judi, may God continue to bless you both and keep you safe as you travel home. We hope to see you again.