Waranga Uniting Churches
Colbinabbin, Murchison, Rushworth, Tatura
FAITH | HOPE | MEANING | GRACE | COMMUNITY
Easter 3: On the Way: The Road You Didn’t Recognise
Sunday 9.30am 19th April– Streaming from Rushworth
– Led by Brian Spencer
via Zoom at Colbinabbin, Murchison, Tatura, and for folks at home.
This has been one of those weeks when theology has not stayed in the sanctuary.
The ceasefire around Iran appears, for the moment, to be mostly holding, though recent talks ended without a breakthrough and further negotiations are still uncertain. At the same time, the United States has announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, with hopes that it might create space for something more lasting. It is a fragile moment, but even fragile peace is better than open fire.
What has also become clear this week is that belief is not a side issue in public life. Theology matters. Religion matters. Biblical literacy matters.
President Trump has been in a very public dispute with Pope Leo XIV after the Pope criticised the war and warned against the misuse of religious language in support of violence. Trump responded angrily, and then deepened the controversy by posting, and later deleting, an AI-generated image that appeared to depict him in a Christ-like role, healing a sick person.
Then came another extraordinary moment. Vice President JD Vance, himself a relatively recent convert to Catholicism, publicly suggested that Pope Leo should “be careful” when speaking about theology, invoking the Church’s just war tradition as if the Pope needed tutoring on the subject.
Then came another moment that would be laughable if it were not so revealing. Pete Hegseth led a Pentagon prayer and invoked words he suggested came from Ezekiel. They did not. The language was widely recognised as a version of the famous monologue from Pulp Fiction, only loosely and theatrically related to the actual biblical text. The Pentagon later defended the reference, but the episode was still a reminder that sounding biblical is not the same thing as being biblical.
All of this is a reminder that what we believe shapes what we bless, what we justify, and what we are prepared to call good. Bad theology is never just a church problem. It can become a public problem, a political problem, and sometimes a deadly problem.
That is one reason biblical scholarship matters. Context matters. Careful reading matters. Humility matters. If scripture can be cherry-picked, distorted, or confused with movie dialogue in the service of power, then the church has work to do. We are called not only to read the Bible devotionally, but to read it truthfully.
This Sunday’s gospel takes us to the road to Emmaus. The disciples are confused, disappointed, and unable to recognise Christ walking beside them. It is a story for times like these. We do not always understand the road we are on. We do not always recognise truth immediately. But we keep walking, keep listening, keep breaking bread, keep returning to the story, trusting that recognition comes in time.
In a noisy age, where religious language is so easily used as decoration, propaganda, or performance, Christians are called to something better: depth instead of slogans, truth instead of theatre, and the way of Christ instead of the baptising of power.
Whether you’re joining us in person or online, we look forward to welcoming you this Sunday. Join us as we sing, pray, and reflect together on these stories. Let us open our hearts to the ways God is transforming our lives and the world around us. And remember, the most important things in the world are not things at all; they are love, hope, joy, courage, grace, faith, peace, perseverance, and friendship.
The live Zoom “room” will be open for you to log-in to from 9.00am. Log-in, chat to others, be the church!
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Rather stay anonymous?
We understand that you may prefer to remain anonymous. It may have been a while since you went to church, maybe you’ve never been to church and are just curious. We understand that you don’t want to be hassled just because you were curious.
If you want to remain anonymous there are four ways you can do it.
- Choose the “Join without video” option. You will be able to see, hear (and talk if you want to)
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- You can choose to attend via the Livestream option.
- You can watch the recorded service later on the website
Our church needs your support.
Please consider donating your offering online via the button below
or by direct bank transfer:
Account name:
Waranga Uniting Churches.
Bendigo Bank:
BSB 633-000
Account No:162 446 371.
ABC Radio Shepparton
Matt Dowling interviews Brian Spencer. Monday 5th July.
About us
The Waranga Uniting Churches comprise congregations from the towns of Colbinabbin, Murchison, Rushworth, and Tatura.
You are welcome to join us at any of our worship services or activities.
Many faces… Many places… Many forms
Our congregations throughout the district are caring communities to which all people can belong.
Some of our congregations may be a tiny community of a dozen people, but they are warm vibrant and alive.
They have many faces. There are older people and young, families and single people, people of one culture or many.
While our congregations can be different, each aims to embrace all people… to unite them with each other and with God. This is expressed in part by our having an open table for Holy Communion, to which all baptised people are invited, welcoming children for baptism and being willing to marry those who are divorced.
We are by no means perfect, but we know that God loves us as we are and as we grow. Our congregations are communities in which people seek to follow Jesus, learn about God, share their faith, care for each other, serve the local community, and seek to live faithfully and with real joy. This is the kind of engaging church to which we belong.
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