This Sunday we start something unusual. Over the coming weeks, together, we are going to write a letter. To ourselves. The Letter to the Church in Box Hill.
We take our cue from the book of Revelation, where the risen Christ writes to seven real churches in seven real cities. Every letter opens the same way: “To the church in…” and then a place. A name, and an address. He does not send a group email to “the church <everywhere>.” He writes to particular people in a particular place, and he tells each of them, “I know.” He knows this church, because he has been to this address. We are addressed by name. Christ knows where we live.
Which makes us ask what our address says about us. Say it slowly. The church in Box Hill. What does that stir in you? It is a place, not a preference. We are named after a suburb on a map, not after the people who happen to think like us. And a place comes with whoever else lives there.
That is where it gets interesting, because our name and our address may not always match. We know who we are. But do we know where we are? And what happens when the two rub against each other?
Over these weeks we will sit with some questions:
Who has Christ addressed us to be, here, at this particular address?
What did we once love about this place, and has some of that love gone cold?
Are we ever tempted to pick up our lamp and find somewhere more “like us,” and whose choice is that to make anyway?
How do we hold on to what we believe without letting our certainty outgrow our love?
We are not going to answer all of those this Sunday. But we are going to begin listening.
Because every one of those ancient letters ends the same way: “let anyone who has an ear hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” A word spoken to one church, at one address, is meant to be overheard by all of them. And by us.
So this week, just sit with the name. The church in Box Hill. Ask what it might mean that Christ has addressed us here, on purpose.
We welcome those who have returned for another ‘Back to Box Hill Baptist’ Sunday.
+ Worship Leader: Eddie Chapman; Interview Sermon: Geoff Pound with Graeme Garrett.
+Theme: ‘Sing a New Church’ (which is the title of the chapter in our forthcoming History of the Box Hill Baptist Church, in which Lorraine Mitchell reports and reflects on the 1970s when Graeme Garrett was Pastor.
+Scripture Readings: 1 Peter 2: 1-10; 2 Corinthians 5: 17-20.
+ The Morning Tea in the Barn that follows the service will be a great opportunity for people to catch up with Graeme Garrett and other former members and friends who will be attending.
Order of Service
Call to worship
Song: Come thou font of every blessing.
Prayer of Adoration and confession
Song: Alleluia Sing to Jesus
Community News
Reading – 1 Peter 2: 1-10
Song: God who’s giving knows no ending
Reading – 2 Corinthians 5: 17-20.
Interview/Sermon
Song: Sing new church
Pastoral Prayers
Song: Fed and gathered, named and chosen,
Benediction
Community News
+ Our Bakehouse Teams: A great achievement by our Bakehouse teams was acknowledged when Lynne and Keith Dyer attended the Round at Nunawading on 22 July and were presented with a Community Achievement Award (2026). This has been a great encouragement to the two teams (Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning) who feel rightly proud to be part of this group who have been recognised in this public way. Do remember these team members in your prayers. Some of them have suffered illness recently, some are grieving the loss of a loved one while still others have been hospitalised for surgery and care.
+ Work: A Masters student who attends our church is looking for work after losing a job. If you have some ideas, please contact Geoff who will pass them on or link you up.
+Service and Sermon Series: We are about to begin a new ‘Letters to the Seven Churches’ series from the book of Revelation where our challenge as a church will be to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church at Box Hill Baptist. We hope that with all the looking back we have been doing in our Anniversary year, that this series will help us as a unique church to look forward to what we are being called to be and do in the future.
+ Our Deacons met last Monday. Some of what was discussed included:
The upcoming anniversary service and book launch.
Continuing to explore and expand the rental of our spaces
Preparations for the upcoming working bee
Considering a heritage grant to replace the front doors of the church
Some positive conversations with Christian finance around our potential property redevelopment project
Preparations for the upcoming church meeting on the 23rd.
Upcoming Events
+ Church Working Bee – 22 August, commencing at 10am.
+ Church Meeting – 23 August (after the service)
+ Save-the-date: 125th Anniversary on Sunday 18 October: Service of Thanksgiving at 10am, morning tea/lunch at 11.30am, book launch at 12.15pm. All former members and friends invited
This Week
Monday
+ 4.30pm-8.30pm Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
Tuesday
+ 9.30am The Box Hill Community Choir. Newcomers are welcome to join. No audition needed.
+ 7.15pm The Bible & Chats Group meets for a cuppa and at 7.30pm a study begins on Revelation 2: 1-7.
Thursday
+ 11am-1pm The Social Chat Group (upstairs in the Village Well) will be learning basic English, playing table tennis and other games, drinking tea and coffee and making friends.
+ 1.30pm-2.30pm Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Friday
+ 4.30-8.30pm: Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
Saturday
+ 7.30am-8.30am Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Food for Thought, Prayer and Action
+ Reflecting on Census Day, 11 August: F W Boreham, who was a frequent guest preacher at Box Hill, writes about the need to see people as unique human beings rather than as numbers. Link: Names and Numbers.
+ “Jesus did not spend a great deal of time discoursing about the trinity or original sin or the incarnation, which have preoccupied later Christians. He went around doing good and being compassionate.”
— Karen Armstrong
+ On a cold June night, a group of Jewish friends gathered at Melbourne airport to welcome a Muslim family they’d never met. One year later, they share their story of friendship and hope across religious and cultural divides. ‘Sky’s the limit,’ Australian story, iView.
Small Groups @ BHBC
Box Hill Baptist Church runs a number of small groups which create opportunities to build friendships, study the Bible and other resources, pray and strengthen our spiritual journeys.
If you are interested in any of the groups below, feel welcome to contact the convenor, or speak to one of our pastors. (And if you’d like to be part of a group but these don’t work for you, come and speak to us and we’ll see if we can start something new!)
Bible & Chat: Currently each Tuesday, 7:15pm for 7.30pm start at the Village Well (5 Ellingworth Pde). The group normally reflects on a Scripture passage for the following Sunday service. Convenor: Geoff Pound
KYB (Know Your Bible): Tuesdays fortnightly via Zoom. (Convenor: Helen Timms)
Next Sunday 9 August at 10am.
+Worship Leader: Keith Dyer; Preacher: Eddie Chapman.
+Scripture Reading: Revelation 2: 1-7.
+ The beginning of a new series, ‘Listening to the Spirit.’
Offering details
BSB: 704-922 Account name: Box Hill Baptist Church Account number: 100005657 Please use the reference ‘Offering” in the reference line
If you have any issues in making an offering, please contact office@boxhillbaptist.org.au
+Theme: The Sounds of Silence, as Geoff explores the role of silence and space in our Rediscovering Worship series.
+ Scripture: Psalm 62: 1-12
Order of Service
Call to Worship
Opening Prayer
Song – Be Still
Welcome and Community News
Offering
Reading – Psalm 62: 1-12
Song – We Seek Your Kingdom
Sermon – The Sounds of Silence
Song – Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Communion
Prayers for the Community
Sung Benediction – Deep Stillness
Community News
+ Next Sunday we have another “Back to Box Hill” special event, as we welcome Graeme Garrett back to share with us. The time for proclamation in the service will take the form of an extended Interview-Sermon led by Geoff Pound with Graeme. It will involve reflections on the Garrett years at Box Hill Baptist with thoughts and convictions about faith and being the church today.
Upcoming Events
+ Church Working Bee – 22 August
+ Church Meeting – 23 August (after the service)
+ Save-the-date: 125th Anniversary on Sunday 18 October: Service of Thanksgiving at 10am, morning tea/lunch at 11.30am, book launch at 12.15pm. All former members and friends invited
This Week
Monday
+ 4.30pm-8.30pm Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
Tuesday
+ 9.30am The Box Hill Community Choir. Newcomers are welcome to join. No audition needed.
+ 7.15pm for a cuppa and at 7.30pm the study begins based on 1 Peter 2: 1-10; 2 Corinthians 5: 17-20 and the theme ‘Sing a New Church.’ The Bible & Chats Group meets in the Village Well and studies the Scripture that will be the focus in the next Sunday’s sermon. Questions are available beforehand. Ask for a copy. Newcomers are most welcome. Convener: Geoff Pound.
Thursday
+ 11am-1pm The Social Chat Group (upstairs in the Village Well) will be learning basic English, playing table tennis and other games, drinking tea and coffee and making friends.
+ 1.30pm-2.30pm Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Friday
+ 4.30-8.30pm: Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
Saturday
+ 7.30am-8.30am Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Small Groups @ BHBC
Box Hill Baptist Church runs a number of small groups which create opportunities to build friendships, study the Bible and other resources, pray and strengthen our spiritual journeys.
If you are interested in any of the groups below, feel welcome to contact the convenor, or speak to one of our pastors. (And if you’d like to be part of a group but these don’t work for you, come and speak to us and we’ll see if we can start something new!)
Bible & Chat: Currently each Tuesday, 7:15pm for 7.30pm start at the Village Well (5 Ellingworth Pde). The group normally reflects on a Scripture passage for the following Sunday service. Convenor: Geoff Pound
KYB (Know Your Bible): Tuesdays fortnightly via Zoom. (Convenor: Helen Timms)
Next Sunday 9 August at 10am.
+ Worship Leader: Eddie Chapman.
+Theme: ‘Sing a New Church’ (which is the title of the chapter in our forthcoming History of the Box Hill Baptist Church, in which Lorraine Mitchell reports and reflects on the 1970s when Graeme Garrett was Pastor.
+Scripture Readings: 1 Peter 2: 1-10; 2 Corinthians 5: 17-20.
+ The Morning Tea in the Barn that follows the service will be a great opportunity for people to catch up with Graeme Garrett and other former members and friends who will be attending.
Offering details
BSB: 704-922 Account name: Box Hill Baptist Church Account number: 100005657 Please use the reference ‘Offering” in the reference line
If you have any issues in making an offering, please contact office@boxhillbaptist.org.au
A woman went hiking to escape the noise of the city. As she climbed, she kept listening to music and the news through her earbuds. Near the summit, the battery on her phone died. Annoyed, she pulled out the earbuds and continued walking.
For the first time on her walk she heard the wind moving through the trees, birds calling across the valley, and the distant sound of water. She stood still for several minutes.
Later she reflected, “I thought I had come to see the mountain, but I had been carrying the city with me.”
Many congregations live with the same condition. We arrive at church carrying news headlines, phone notifications, family concerns, work pressures and internal chatter.
A moment of genuine stillness in worship is not an empty gap in the service. It is a moment when, for a brief time, we stop carrying the city and allow ourselves to become aware of the presence of God, of one another, and of our own hearts. In that sense, silence is not the absence of worship; it is often the doorway into it. The moments of silence then give us energy and perspective for taking up again the concerns of our lives.
This Sunday in our series, ‘Rediscovering Worship,’ we’re thinking of the vital role that silence can play when we come together to worship.
+Theme: It’s a Last Breakfast service , as we continue i our current series on ‘Rediscovering Worship,’ with discussions around “The Worship Wars”.
+ If you can, please bring something along to share for breakfast.
+ Scripture: Romans 14:1-9, 13-19
Community News
+ Geoff Pound is away on annual leave from 16-31 July, and Eddie will be away next week from 31 July to 2 August.
+ A thank you from Kendall Bryant, following the very successful Winter Gathering last Saturday evening:
Thank you! Not just for letting me use your building. Thank you for letting your church become a place. On Saturday evening your sanctuary was filled with music, conversation, laughter, stories, soup, strangers, friends, artists, deep questions and more than a few cups of tea. It became a place where people gathered—not because they all believed the same things, or came from the same backgrounds, but because they were looking for beauty, connection and a reminder that they weren’t journeying through life alone. I wanted you to know that.
One of the dreams behind these gatherings is to create rooms where strangers become less strange. To build little pockets of community in a world that can so often feel disconnected. On Saturday night, your church beautifully held that dream. Many of the people who came would probably never have walked through the doors of a church on an ordinary weekend. Yet they came. They felt welcomed. They felt safe. They lingered long after the event had finished. They met people they hadn’t known before. They shared stories. They laughed together. Some cried. Many have written to me since to tell me how deeply moved they were and how much the evening meant to them.
Those stories happened in your home. I find that incredibly beautiful. Buildings are wonderful things. But what makes a place sacred is what happens inside it. On Saturday night your church became a place where people encountered kindness, curiosity, creativity, hope and one another. I can’t think of a lovelier use for a building. So thank you.
Thank you for trusting someone you barely knew. Thank you for opening your doors so generously. I also hope that, over time, some of you might become part of these gatherings yourselves.
Thank you for helping make them possible.
Upcoming Events
+ Church Working Bee – 22 August
+ Church Meeting – 23 August (after the service)
+ Save-the-date: 125th Anniversary on Sunday 18 October: Service of Thanksgiving at 10am, morning tea/lunch at 11.30am, book launch at 12.15pm. All former members and friends invited
This Week
Monday
+ 4.30pm-8.30pm Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
Tuesday
+ 9.30am The Box Hill Community Choir commences for the new term. Newcomers are welcome to join. No audition needed.
+ 7.15pm (cuppa) for a 7.30pm start: The Bible & Chats Group, which meets in the ground floor of the Village Well will be studying the Scripture for next Sunday’s service. Leader: Keith Dyer.
Thursday
+ 11am-1pm The Social Chat Group (upstairs in the Village Well) will be learning basic English, playing table tennis and other games, drinking tea and coffee and making friends.
+ 1.30pm-2.30pm Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Friday
+ 4.30-8.30pm: Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
Saturday
+ 7.30am-8.30am Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Small Groups @ BHBC
Box Hill Baptist Church runs a number of small groups which create opportunities to build friendships, study the Bible and other resources, pray and strengthen our spiritual journeys.
If you are interested in any of the groups below, feel welcome to contact the convenor, or speak to one of our pastors. (And if you’d like to be part of a group but these don’t work for you, come and speak to us and we’ll see if we can start something new!)
Bible & Chat: Currently each Tuesday, 7:15pm for 7.30pm start at the Village Well (5 Ellingworth Pde). The group normally reflects on a Scripture passage for the following Sunday service. Convenor: Geoff Pound
KYB (Know Your Bible): Tuesdays fortnightly via Zoom. (Convenor: Helen Timms)
Next Sunday 26 July at 10am.
+ The Last Breakfast: Eating breakfast or brunch around the tables (bring food to share); A great opportunity to discuss with others.
+ Led by Eddie Chapman.
+Theme: Continuing our series on ‘Rediscovering Worship’ this Sunday we are considering ‘the Worship Wars’ or How do we make peace in our worship?
+Scripture: Romans 14:1-9, 13-19
Offering details
BSB: 704-922 Account name: Box Hill Baptist Church Account number: 100005657 Please use the reference ‘Offering” in the reference line
If you have any issues in making an offering, please contact office@boxhillbaptist.org.au
Somewhere, right now, someone is having a very strong opinion about a fog machine. Somewhere else, someone is defending the pipe organ like it’s a hill worth dying on. Both of them think they’re being reasonable. Both of them are convinced the other side has, at best, questionable taste and, at worst, missed the point of church entirely.
Welcome to the worship wars.
They’ve been running for roughly two thousand years, and this Sunday, we’re calling a ceasefire (over breakfast).
A short, deeply biased history of people fighting about worship
The pipe organ, now treasured by traditionalists everywhere, was once denounced as “the devil’s bagpipes” for daring to bring theatre-adjacent instrumentation into sacred space. Clapping in church has been condemned as undignified and celebrated as alive with the Spirit, sometimes by the same denomination a few decades apart. Drums were once the front line of a very serious argument about whether God could be worshipped with a backbeat. Hymnals gave way to projector screens, which some experienced as liberation and others experienced as a personal loss. Incense, candles, liturgy, silence, shouting, pews, bean bags, choirs, worship bands: every generation seems to inherit a war it didn’t start and add a new front to it.
Here’s the thing nobody wants to admit mid-argument: almost none of this is actually about God. It’s about what feels like home to us. And when something else feels like home to someone else, we tend to experience it as a threat rather than just a difference.
Paul had this argument too
Romans 14 wasn’t written about guitars or organs, but it might as well have been. Paul’s Roman church was fighting over food (who’s allowed to eat what) and sacred days (whose calendar counts). Deeply, sincerely important to the people involved. Paul’s answer isn’t “here’s who’s correct.” It’s something more interesting:
“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters.” (Romans 14:1)
“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” (Romans 14:19)
Paul’s move is to relocate the argument. Instead of “who’s right about the worship style,” the question becomes “what actually builds each other up.” Instead of “my way is the true way,” it’s “am I loving the person next to me, whose walk with God looks different to mine.” That’s a much harder question, and a much more useful one.
So, this Sunday
We’re taking Romans 14:1-9 and 13-19 and putting it to the test at this month’s Last Breakfast(itself a controversial form of worship!), and the theme is exactly this: the worship wars, and how we make peace in worship.
We’ll be looking at forms of worship, old and new, the ones we love and the ones we can’t stand, and trying to figure out how it all actually fits together. Come with opinions. Come with your most-loved worship memory and your most rage-inducing one. We promise not to make you defend either.
As always with Last Breakfast, there’s no sermon and no singing, just a shared meal and honest, open conversation. Whatever your worship tribe (organ loyalist, guitar-and-drums, silence-and-candles, or “I just want to sit down”), you belong at this table.
The details:
When: This Sunday, 26 July, 10am
Where: Box Hill Baptist Church, corner of Station Street & Ellingworth Parade, Box Hill (a short walk from Box Hill Station)
What to bring: Something to share for breakfast if you can, but come regardless if you can’t. There’s always plenty.
What to expect: No sermon, no singing, just food and real conversation about worship, then and now.
Bring your strongest opinion about worship. We might not resolve the war, but we can at least share breakfast with the other side.
+ Worship Leader: Andy McCulloch; Preacher: Eddie Chapman.
+Theme: In our current series on ‘Rediscovering Worship,’ we’re looking next Sunday at ‘Worship and Corporate Prayer.’
+ Scripture: Acts 4:23-31.
Order of Service
Confession – Reflection on Nehemiah 9 & Psalm 146
Song: The Heavens Shall Declare
Welcome & Community News
Offering & Prayer
Reading: Acts 4:23-31
Song: This is my Father’s World
Sermon
Corporate Prayer
Benediction & Close
Community News
+ We wish Ethan Chapman farewell and bon voyage as he departs for several months of study in Kuala Lumpur.
+ Geoff Pound is away on annual leave from 16-31 July.
+ Our Deacons met last Monday – Some of the things discussed included:
Welcoming Vahid, Rae and Lucien into membership, and reflecting on the joyful morning of Grazia and Lucien’s baptisms
Planning for our 125th Anniversary on Sunday 18 October – a Service of Thanksgiving, morning tea/lunch, and the launch of Lorraine’s history of BHBC
Progress on the Ellingworth Project, with Andy taking a lead role and initial conversations underway with Christian Finance
Endorsing next year’s budget for presentation at the Church Meeting on Sunday 23 August, including a small increase to our regular contribution to the Cambodian mission (CCCA) in line with rising interest rates
Joining the Open Baptists as a new member church, and considering how we might contribute and be represented – and we need 2 more church representatives, so let a Deacon know if you’re interested!
Growing engagement from newer attenders across a range of ages, and the emerging conversations about a young adults group
Continuing strong momentum in the Bakehouse Network Project, with three new partner sites confirmed and more on the way
The next Community Musicale coming up in September, with some of the funds being reinvested to enhance future events (piano tuning, better recording equipment)
Planning a working bee on Saturday 22 August, with barn lighting as the priority job.
+ Last chance to sign up for the new Exploring Faith course. Whether you’re new to this fuzzy question of faith, or something that’s been part of your journey for years, this is a great opportunity to ask questions, share with others, and explore what faith may be for us. We’ll be organising a time that will hopefully work for everyone, so we’d love to have more people involved.
Feel free to share with others in your own networks too!
Food for Thought, Prayer & Action
+ Francis Sullivan asks, ‘If we know gambling ads cause harm, why are they still everywhere?’ Eureka Street, 8 July 2026.
+ Blessings from Kate Bowler (historian at Duke, author, podcaster):
Bless you who are exhausted from carrying the polished version of yourself from room to room; may you find relief in setting it down.
Bless you when the truth slips out before the edited version arrives, for it is our vulnerability that tells the truest story.
Bless you who risk saying, I don’t know, I’m struggling, or I could use some help, because mutual connection is possible only where someone opens the door first.
Bless you in that sweet place where competition ends and community begins; may you be loved not for what you achieve, but for who you are.
Upcoming Events
+ Church Working Bee – 22 August
+ Church Meeting – 23 August (after the service)
+ Save-the-date: 125th Anniversary on Sunday 18 October: Service of Thanksgiving at 10am, morning tea/lunch at 11.30am, book launch at 12.15pm. All former members and friends invited
This Week
Monday
+ 4.30pm-8.30pm Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
Tuesday
+ 9.30am The Box Hill Community Choir commences for the new term. Newcomers are welcome to join. No audition needed.
+ 7.15pm (cuppa) for a 7.30pm start: The Bible & Chats Group, which meets in the ground floor of the Village Well will be studying the Scripture for next Sunday’s service. Leader: Keith Dyer.
Thursday
+ 11am-1pm The Social Chat Group (upstairs in the Village Well) will be learning basic English, playing table tennis and other games, drinking tea and coffee and making friends.
+ 1.30pm-2.30pm Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Friday
+ 4.30-8.30pm: Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
Saturday
+ 7.30am-8.30am Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Small Groups @ BHBC
Box Hill Baptist Church runs a number of small groups which create opportunities to build friendships, study the Bible and other resources, pray and strengthen our spiritual journeys.
If you are interested in any of the groups below, feel welcome to contact the convenor, or speak to one of our pastors. (And if you’d like to be part of a group but these don’t work for you, come and speak to us and we’ll see if we can start something new!)
Bible & Chat: Currently each Tuesday, 7:15pm for 7.30pm start at the Village Well (5 Ellingworth Pde). The group normally reflects on a Scripture passage for the following Sunday service. Convenor: Geoff Pound
KYB (Know Your Bible): Tuesdays fortnightly via Zoom. (Convenor: Helen Timms)
Next Sunday 26 July at 10am.
+ The Last Breakfast: Eating breakfast or brunch around the tables (bring food to share); A great opportunity to discuss with others.
+ Led by Eddie Chapman.
+Theme: Continuing our series on ‘Rediscovering Worship’ this Sunday we are considering ‘the Worship Wars’ or How do we make peace in our worship?
+Scripture: Romans 14:1-9, 13-19
Offering details
BSB: 704-922 Account name: Box Hill Baptist Church Account number: 100005657 Please use the reference ‘Offering” in the reference line
If you have any issues in making an offering, please contact office@boxhillbaptist.org.au
+ Worship Leader: Eddie Chapman; Preacher: Geoff Pound.
+Theme: In our current series on ‘Rediscovering Worship,’ we’re looking this Sunday at ‘The Element of Confession.’
+ Scripture: Psalm 32: 1-11.
+ This is a ‘Back to Box Hill Baptist’ event with BruceRumbold reflecting on the Rumbold years at Box Hill..
Order of Service
Welcome
Bible reading 1: Psalm 32:1-2
Song: Great is Thy Faithfulness
Prayer of praise and thanksgiving
Community News
Offering (inc. offering prayer)
Interview with Bruce Rumbold
Bible reading 2: Psalm 32:3-10
Song: Come as You Are
Prayer of Confession
Song: We Seek Your Kingdom
Sermon
Song: God, We’ve Known Such Grief and Anger
Pastoral Prayers
Bible reading 3: Psalm 32:11
Hymn: How Great Thou Art
Benediction
Community News
+ At our Church Members Meeting last Sunday we discussed
The church’s current financial situation.
How we will be responding to the financial situation with some changes to our priorities and staff workload.
The progress of the Ellingworth Project, and received an update from Andy about what’s happening around that space, the Suburban Rail Loop, and planning changes.
The next steps to our involvement with the Open Baptists association.
+ We had two concerts last Sunday afternoon at the Community Musicale—the first at 2.30pm when 14 adults or adult groups played music (piano, cello, flute, violin, ukelele, cor anglais and tuba) or recited poetry and the second at 4.30pm when 20 children and young people played instruments (violin, clarinet, piano, cello) and one young girl sang. The talent was exceptional and the occasion also gave an opportunity to those just learning an instrument a chance to play in front of a live, appreciative and encouraging audience. People commented positively on our church sanctuary—noting the wonderful acoustics, the lighting and the fantastic piano. $600 was raised for the Community Shed. Don’t miss out on attending the next one!
+Holiday and the New Term: The Bible & Chat Group recommences this Tuesday night but the Box Hill Community Choir is taking another week and they will restart on 21 July.
+ Last chance to sign up for the new Exploring Faith course. Whether you’re new to this fuzzy question of faith, or something that’s been part of your journey for years, this is a great opportunity to ask questions, share with others, and explore what faith may be for us. We’ll be organising a time that will hopefully work for everyone, so we’d love to have more people involved.
Feel free to share with others in your own networks too!
Food for Thought, Prayer & Action
+ If you love the way our Bakehouse saves food from going into landfill, feeds the needy and eases scores of family budgets, you’ll want to watch ‘Furnished With Love.’ (ABC iView) In this Compass programme you’ll see how every week 25 homeless families come through Re-Love’s Sydney warehouse to furnish their home. Known as the Oz Harvest (or Second Bite) of furniture, Re-Love diverts furniture from landfill and plans to spread their love across Australia.
+ How good are Australians at addressing race? Grace Lung writes about ‘Diagnosing Racism in Multicultural Australia.’ The WADR Project, 6 July 2026.
+ 500 years ago the Biblical scholar, William Tyndale, translated much of the Bible into English and for his efforts he was executed. On this anniversary, Oxford history scholar, Diarmaid MacCulloch, uncovers the importance of Tyndale’s translation and its place in history. St Paul’s Cathedral, London.
Upcoming Events
An evening of stories, music, creativity, conversation and community (run by Kendall Bryant)
+ 4.30pm-8.30pm Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
+ 7.30pm Our Deacons are holding their monthly meeting.
Tuesday
+ No gathering of the Box Hill Community Choir
+ 7.15pm (cuppa) for a 7.30pm start: The Bible & Chats Group, which meets in the ground floor of the Village Well will be studying the Scripture for next Sunday’s service. This is a good time for newcomers to start attending this group.
Thursday
+ 11am-1pm The Social Chat Group (upstairs in the Village Well) will be learning basic English, playing table tennis and other games, drinking tea and coffee and making friends.
+ 1.30pm-2.30pm Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Friday
+ 4.30-8.30pm: Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
Saturday
+ 7.30am-8.30am Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Small Groups @ BHBC
Box Hill Baptist Church runs a number of small groups which create opportunities to build friendships, study the Bible and other resources, pray and strengthen our spiritual journeys.
If you are interested in any of the groups below, feel welcome to contact the convenor, or speak to one of our pastors. (And if you’d like to be part of a group but these don’t work for you, come and speak to us and we’ll see if we can start something new!)
Bible & Chat: Currently each Tuesday, 7:15pm for 7.30pm start at the Village Well (5 Ellingworth Pde). The group normally reflects on a Scripture passage for the following Sunday service. Convenor: Geoff Pound
KYB (Know Your Bible): Tuesdays fortnightly via Zoom. (Convenor: Helen Timms)
Next Sunday 19 July at 10am.
+ Worship Leader: Andy McCulloch; Preacher: Eddie Chapman.
+Theme: In our current series on ‘Rediscovering Worship,’ we’re looking next Sunday at ‘Worship and Corporate Prayer.’
aka “How Confessions Have Become Braver and More Blatant Over 125 Years.’”
If this was the title of our forthcoming history of the Box Hill Baptist Church, on 18 October (our BHBC Anniversary date) at the launch, the book might sell like hot cakes.
The media uses the word ‘confessions’ to signal an intimate disclosure designed to capture the audience’s attention. Such confessions might be brave and vulnerable but they are designed to garner readers and recognition rather than to bring about contrition and lead to a change of life. In a film entitled, ‘Confessions of a Window Cleaner’, viewers become an interested witness to things forbidden not participants who seek to support personal transformation.
This Sunday in our series on ‘Rediscovering Worship’ we are examining the element of Confession in public worship. It might be tempting to call the sermon ‘True Confessions’ but we’ll hope to learn from the Scripture why confession is essential and how genuine confession is not about exposure and revelation but about experiencing release and restoration.
+Theme: In our current series on ‘Rediscovering Worship,’ we’re looking this Sunday at ‘Worship with Scripture and Preaching.’
+ Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10.
+ Our Church Meeting will take place after Morning Tea.
+ At 2.30pm and 4.30pm the Community Musicale will take place in the sanctuary. See additional note.
Order of Service
Call to Worship
Prayer of Gathering
Song – Be Still for the presence of the Lord
Welcome and Community News
Offering
Song – Taking Shape
Reading – 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10
Sermon – Worship through Scripture and Preaching
Song – Jesus calls us here to meet him
Communion
Prayer for the World
Benediction Go out to the world in Peace
Community News
+ Church Meeting: Our next church meeting will take place after morning tea this Sunday. The short agenda will include reports from the Pastors, the Treasurer and an update on The Ellingworth Project.
+ Our next Back to Box Hill Baptist event will be on Sunday 12 July when Bruce Rumbold will be interviewed about the Rumbold years in the life of Box Hill Baptist. Let Eddie know of former BHBC people who may be interested in coming on that day so we can write and send them an invitation.
+ Many of our regular events (Box Hill Community Choir, Bible & Chats) are taking a holiday break in this coming week.
+ In case you missed our ‘Music that moves you‘ service last Sunday, we’ve put together a Spotify playlist so that you can share in the music that moves at least one other person in our community.
+ Historian, Heather Cox Richardson, writing about some new voices in US politics, reports on James Talarico, a seminary student who weaves his Christian faith into his political messaging.
+Religion News reports that religion is all over the 2026 Soccer World Cup.
+ In a comprehensive essay, Whitley College lecturer, Jason Goroncy contends that Pauline Hanson’s policy of monoculturalism runs deeper than politics. It is religious at its root and monoculturalism is a heresy.
Upcoming Events
This Week
Monday
+ 4.30pm-8.30pm Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
+ 7.30pm Our Deacons are holding their monthly meeting.
Tuesday
+ No gathering of the Box Hill Community Choir or the Bible & Chats Group during the holidays (this week and the next).
Thursday
+ 11am-1pm The Social Chat Group (upstairs in the Village Well) will be learning basic English, playing table tennis and other games, drinking tea and coffee and making friends.
+ 1.30pm-2.30pm Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Friday
+ 4.30-8.30pm: Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)
Saturday
+ 7.30am-8.30am Bakehouse in the Barn: Saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste by giving food to those wanting to ease their weekly budget.
Small Groups @ BHBC
Box Hill Baptist Church runs a number of small groups which create opportunities to build friendships, study the Bible and other resources, pray and strengthen our spiritual journeys.
If you are interested in any of the groups below, feel welcome to contact the convenor, or speak to one of our pastors. (And if you’d like to be part of a group but these don’t work for you, come and speak to us and we’ll see if we can start something new!)
Bible & Chat: Currently each Tuesday, 7:15pm for 7.30pm start at the Village Well (5 Ellingworth Pde). The group normally reflects on a Scripture passage for the following Sunday service. Convenor: Geoff Pound
KYB (Know Your Bible): Tuesdays fortnightly via Zoom. (Convenor: Helen Timms)
Next Sunday 12 July at 10am.
+ Worship Leader: Eddie Chapman; Preacher: Geoff Pound.
+Theme: In our current series on ‘Rediscovering Worship,’ we’re looking next Sunday at ‘Worship with Confession.’
+ Scripture: Psalm 32: 1-11.
+ This is a ‘Back to Box Hill Baptist’ event with BruceRumbold reflecting on the Rumbold years at Box Hill.
Box Hill Baptist Church 