1. Lent commences THIS EVENING with our Ash Wednesday service, 6.45pm in the church.
2. Details of our Lenten Studies for this year are now posted here; there are presently three groups in place for these studies in Nth Melbourne, the city (Syond office) and Hawthorn. The studies commence next week. It will help if you indicate which of the groups you’d like to attend via the registration page.
3. If you are planning to attend the first of the Lenten studies on Wednesday night (March 4), please let Craig know whether you can assist with the catering…
4. We are planning to run an children’s ‘Easter workshop’ in the first week of the school holidays (morning of April 2). This will be a morning program of learning, playing games, singing songs and working on the new Paschal Candle for Easter. If you are able to help in running this, could you please let Craig know…
5. The latest (Feb 20) Synod eNews is here.
6. During Lent (on the Sundays Craig is preaching) we will be considering the songs of the ‘suffering servant’ in Isaiah as our Sunday focus texts most weeks. See here for more information.
7. THIS SUNDAY March 1: the focus text will be Isaiah 42:1-9; See Howard Wallace’s commentary on this text here or Anna Grant-Henderson’s here. The gospel and the psalm will be from the RCL readings for Lent 1A; some online comment on them can be found here. These weekly commentary resources now include a link to the new lectionary  podcasts from the Synod’s Centre for Theology and Ministry

Old News

1. This Sunday we will continue with the new communion setting for use during Lent and Easter. If you would like to familiarise yourself with in or refresh your memory, the melody line is available in PDF here; a simple audio version can be heard via the following links (will download or automatically open a media player: ‘Lord, have mercy‘; Holy, Holy,…Blessed is he who comes…’; ‘Christ has died‘; ‘Blessing and honour‘; and ‘Lamb of God‘. The ‘Gloria’ will be introduced late March for Easter.
2. Details of our Lent and Easter services are now available here.

Advance Dates

1. The MtE congregational AGM will follow morning tea on Sunday March 29
2. Sunday April 5 – Our morning service will be built around a hearing of the Passion narrative of St Matthew

1. Our series on the prophet Jonah concludes this Sunday Feb 23, considering Jesus’ offer of ‘the sign of Jonah’ in connection with the designation of this Sunday as Transfiguration Sunday.
2. This Sunday there will be a sermon feedback discussion following morning tea, looking back to the recent series on Jonah, including the sermon to be presented this Sunday. Please stay if you are able… The sermons presented up till now are available here if you want to look back over them… 
3. This Sunday we will introduce a new communion setting for use during Lent and Easter. If you would like to familiarise yourself with in or refresh your memory after last’s week’s after-worship practice run. the melody line is available in PDF here; a simple audio version can be heard via the following links (will download or automatically open a media player: ‘Lord, have mercy‘; Holy, Holy,…Blessed is he who comes…’; ‘Christ has died‘; ‘Blessing and honour‘; and ‘Lamb of God‘. The ‘Gloria’ will be introduced late March for Easter.
4. Lent commences next week, February 26, with our Ash Wednesday service, 6.45pm in the church.
5. Details of our Lenten Studies for this year are now posted here; there are presently three groups in place for these studies in Nth Melbourne, the city and Hawthorn. It will help if you indicate which of the groups you’d like to attend via the registration page. Another great little Lenten devotional resource which might interest you is Walter Brueggemann’s, A Way other than Our Own: Devotions for Lent.
6. We are pleased to welcome Br Peter Bray back to Melbourne to speak more on the work of Bethlehem University; this time his public address in Melbourne will be jointly sponsored by Wesley Uniting Church (and the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network), and hosted at Wesley at 630pm on next Monday, February 24. See the flyer here
7. ADVANCE NOTICE! During Lent we will be considering the songs of the ‘suffering servant’ in Isaiah as our Sunday focus texts most weeks. See here for more information.

1. POST UPDATE — Forgot to mention that there’ll be a hymn-singing session following worship this Sunday Feb 16 — after morning tea!!
2. Our series on the prophet Jonah continues this Sunday, considering chapter 2. See here for more information on the series.
3. Details of our Lenten Studies for this year are now posted here; there are presently three groups in place for these studies in Nth Melbourne, the city and Hawthorn. It will help if you indicate which of the groups you’d like to attend via the registration page. Another great little Lenten devotional resource which might interest you is Walter Brueggemann’s, A Way other than Our Own: Devotions for Lent.
4. We are pleased to welcome Br Peter Bray back to Melbourne to speak more on the work of Bethlehem University; this time his public address in Melbourne will be jointly sponsored with Wesley Uniting Church and the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network, and hosted at Wesley at 630pm on Monday February 23. See the flyer here
5. ADVANCE NOTICE! We’ve still got a week or two with Jonah but during Lent we will be considering the songs of the ‘suffering servant’ in Isaiah as our Sunday focus texts most weeks. See here for more information.
6. Details of our Lent and Easter services are now available here.

Services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday will be available online – in time for their normal time slots – Early evening Thursday, Friday morning and Sunday morning.

Links to the services can be found on the home page as the services become available, and on the online services page.

 

In Lent 2020 we will again move slightly off the Revised Common Lectionary to consider on Sundays those readings from Isaiah’s ‘Servant cycle’ which appear in the readings for Holy Week. While these readings are heard in congregations which observe a full Holy Week service cycle, they are not often preached on there. The readings also appear in other parts of the three year lectionary cycle but not as a group.

These readings are concerned with God’s intention to reconcile Israel to Godself through a chosen and somewhat mysterious ‘servant’. For this reason the servant songs have been an important element in Christian interpretation of the work of Jesus.

Preparing for the series

For an introduction to chapters 40-55 of Isaiah — so-called ‘Second Isaiah’ — within which the servant songs are found, see the first few paragraphs Anna Grant-Henderson’s commentary page here.

A video/audio introduction to Second Isaiah and the servant songs by Christine Hayes can be found here. This lecture covers also Ezekiel; the material on Second Isaiah begins at 31:58 and the material on the servant songs at 38:00

Another useful online video source is Sandra Richter’s general account of Second Isaiah (including the songs) here.

If you’re interested in a commentary on the Songs, Walter Brueggeman’s comment on Second (and Third) Isaiah is both accessible and solid. Available in hard copy and electronically via Amazon and other sources. Some online commentary for each passage is also indicated below.

The focus texts for the series will be as follows:

• Sunday March 1 (Lent 1) Isaiah 42:1-9; See Howard Wallace’s commentary on this text here or Anna Grant-Henderson’s here. SERMON 1: On seeing what is there
• Sunday March 15 (Lent 3) Isaiah 49:1-7; See Howard Wallace’s commentary on this text here or Anna Grant-Henderson’s here.
• Sunday March 22 (Lent 4) Isaiah 50:4-9a; See Howard Wallace’s commentary on this text here or Anna Grant-Henderson’s here.
• Sunday March 29 (Lent 5) Isaiah 52:13-53:12; See Howard Wallace’s commentary on this text here or Anna Grant-Henderson’s here.

1. Our series on the prophet Jonah continues this Sunday, moving to chapter 4. See here for more information on the series.
2. Details of our Lenten Studies for this year are now posted here; there are presently three groups in place for these studies in Nth Melbourne, the city and Hawthorn. It will help if you indicate which of the groups you’d like to attend via the registration page. Another great little Lenten devotional resource which might interest you is Walter Brueggemann’s, A Way other than Our Own: Devotions for Lent.
3. We are pleased to welcome Br Peter Bray back to Melbourne to speak more on the work of Bethlehem University; this time his public address in Melbourne will be jointly sponsored by Wesley Uniting Church (and the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network), and hosted at Wesley at 630pm on Monday February 23. See the flyer here.
4. Most recent eNews from the Yarra Yarra Presbytery (Feb 3)
5. News from the Justice and International Mission Cluster.