Waranga Uniting Churches

Colbinabbin, Murchison, Rushworth, Tatura

FAITH | HOPE | MEANING | GRACE | COMMUNITY

The King We Didn’t Expect

Sunday 22nd November- Communion Service Led by Brian Spencer – Streaming from Rushworth

On Zoom at Colbinabbin, Murchison, Tatura, and for folk at home.

This Sunday, we gather on Christ the King Sunday, a day to celebrate the reign of Christ over all creation. But this King is not what the world expects. In the Gospel of Mark, this truth reaches its climax not in glory but at the cross, where a Roman centurion—representing worldly power—proclaims, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

Jesus, crowned with thorns and enthroned on a cross, shows us a kingship rooted not in dominance or conquest, but in humility, love, and sacrifice. In a world that often chooses power, control, and the comforts of the familiar, Christ calls us to a different kind of kingdom—one where the last are first, the meek inherit the earth, and greatness is found in service.

As we reflect on this theme, we are invited to open our hearts to The King We Didn’t Expect, recognizing his call to follow him in ways that challenge our loyalties, priorities, and understanding of true power.

Join us as we share, sing, pray and reflect together on these stories and open our hearts to the ways God is at work, 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, 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!

Click on the link below to join the Waranga Cluster Zoom Church Service or watch it on Facebook.
Click the link to join Zoom Meeting
The link above should work without the need for a password, but if it doesn’t you can use the meeting id and password below.
Meeting ID: 932 9667 8964
Password: 491339
______________________________________________________________________________________
 

 

Watch on Facebook Live Streaming

Watch the service here on Facebook

Watch on Facebook

Watch the recorded service later

Facebook records the service and it will be available to watch later or share with others in your family and friendship circle.

 

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)
  • Your name also appears in the bottom left of their picture in Zoom. This name will be the one you entered at sign-up. At any time in the meeting you can right-mouse click on your name and change or delete it.
  • 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.


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.

Quixote Thinking Blog

Quixote Thinking “sees things different” I live my life by it 

When a friend dies

Reflections on loss and life. The price we pay for love is grief. The death of a long-term friend raises lots of questions and challenges. Although I am now in the “My Aged Care” generation, I like to think of myself as being in midlife, provided I live to be 140!  As...

read more

Sleeping Rough

It’s a long time since I tried to sleep the night sitting up in the front seat of my car. Actually, I had no intention of doing so. It was just one of those occasions when one hour leads to two, two hours leads to four, and so it went on, until, in the early hours, I...

read more

“And the roof fell in.”

If I received ten dollars every time someone said to me, “The roof will fall in if I come to church.” I’d have no fear for the future finances of the little congregations that I care for. I hear the statement many times every year during my work as a minister, or when...

read more

The underwear trap.

We were sitting around having a cuppa after church, when the conversation among some of the men turned to the subject of underwear. One chap announcing he had just re-stocked his supply of underwear, saying it had been a difficult decision as the old underpants were...

read more

The Gospel According to Neale

I’m 30000 ft above the Great Australian Bight, flying to Western Australia on my way to visit my best friend. I’m listening to Neale Daniher’s audio book “When all is said and done.”  Neale has spearheaded the fight against Motor Neuron Disease (MND). He, along with...

read more

Walk a mile in my shoes

I’ve been buying the same style of shoes for the last twenty-five years. It’s now 40 years since my knee reconstruction and comfortable, shock absorbing shoes are a necessity. I’ve settled on ‘Rockport Walking Classic shoes as my go to footwear, when I’m not wearing...

read more

Quixote Thinking

Don Quixote is a character in a novel by Miguel de Cervantes, first published in 1605. In the “real world” of La Mancha, Spain, Quixote is known as Alonso Quijano, a thin country gentleman, familiar to all as kind and friendly. He lives with his daughter and two servants. As a gentleman, he spends time studying medieval romance stories, full of knights, chivalry, castles, and jousts. This all goes to his head to the point where he goes crazy and actually starts outfitting himself as a knight. He believes that he has been called by voices to change the world and right all wrongs.

At this point in the story, art imitates life and life imitates art as the innkeeper doubles as a duke of a castle who dubs Don Quixote officially as “knight,” and a peasant girl at the inn becomes the princess and lady love for our knight errant. Don Quixote then goes out to fight perceived foes, both real and imagined in the name of his ladylove who stands for purity and perfection. Don Quixote has selective vision of the real world. Windmills are giant brutes, sheep are attacking armies, and slaves are oppressed gentlemen. Quixote is an idealist seeing things through rose-colored glasses at times. He fights impossible symbolic battles while the rest of the world says it can’t be done and mocks him for trying. It is ironic that a crazy man is showing humanity the “right way” to live. This character has survived the centuries demonstrating his universal appeal to all. Don Quixote is something of a Jesus figure, who saw meaning and purpose beyond the surface but endured mockery and humiliation from the crowd. This “fight for the right without question”, having moments of clarity in a sea of confusion and a belief in the transformative power of a crazy vision is what the essence of Quixote Thinking.