News & Events

Welcome to Worship this Sunday

Welcome to Box Hill Baptist this Sunday, 25 October 2026, at 10am. It’s our Last Breakfast, with food, talk and conversation around tables. Please bring food to share.

• Facilitated by: Eddie Chapman
• Scripture: Matthew 22:34-46

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Community News

• The service of thanksgiving for the life of Glennys Williams will be held this Tuesday 27 October at 2pm in our Sanctuary, followed by refreshments in the Barn. For those unable to be physically present, the service will be livestreamed: https://youtu.be/2FFsDGIVzCU
• Please keep Jean Trevarthen in your prayers. Jean has been in the Box Hill Hospital this week recovering from pneumonia.
• Khyun Yin CHU, mother of Judith Lim and known to us as Yin, turns 98 on Monday 26 October. Yin lives in Conder House, Uniting AgeWell, 75 Thames Street, Box Hill.
• A grateful thanks to all those who contributed to the 125th Church Anniversary service and lunch last Sunday: musicians, welcomers, Morning Tea overseers, those serving lunch, those who brought or paid for delicious food to share, the beautiful flowers, those presenting Cameos and the many others who worked behind the scenes. If you missed out or would like to be part of the organising team for our 150th Box Hill Baptist Church Anniversary, let us know and put in your diary the date: Sunday 19 October 2051.

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Upcoming Events

• Over three Tuesday evenings (10, 17, 24 November) Dr Keith Dyer will be opening the Bible and speaking about ‘Unwrapping Christmas.’ Before we get to Advent and Christmas this year, we have this opportunity to think about Christmas without all the wrappings. Each session will provide a segment entitled ‘You Can’t Ask That!’ in which people can ask questions they have longed to ask, such as ‘Did the Virgin Birth Really Happen?’, ‘What was God’s part and Joseph’s part in the conception of Jesus?’ and ‘What about the line in that Christmas hymn, But little Lord Jesus, No Crying He Makes?’ Held in the Gallery, starting with a cuppa at 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start and an approximate 8.45pm finish.

• Can’t get enough history?? If our anniversary celebrations and the launch of Lorraine’s history book isn’t enough for you, Canterbury Baptist are launching their own history book at the end of November and would love for you to be there too!

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This Week

Monday

• 4:30pm-8:30pm – Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)

Tuesday

• 2pm in the Sanctuary: Service of thanksgiving for Glennys Williams (see Community News).
• 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start in the Gallery: the Bible & Chats Group is looking at the Scripture passage for next Sunday, Matthew 23:1-12.

Wednesday

• 7.30pm-9pm in the Quiet Room and Barn: a reminder of the meeting with Danny Krivan for those who have offered to be part of his project on communal discernment, ‘Where Two or Three are Gathered Together.’

Thursday

• 11am-1pm – The Social Chat Group (Village Well upstairs): English language learning, table tennis and socialising
• 1:30pm-2:30pm – Bakehouse in the Barn: our food rescue program

Friday

• 4:30pm-8:30pm – Social Table Tennis

Saturday

• 7:30am-8:30am – Bakehouse in the Barn

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Food for Thought, Prayer and Action

In Sunday’s reading we see that Jesus is asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” He replies with #1 and #2:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Over food at The Last Breakfast this Sunday, Eddie is asking us to ponder:

• Who has shown you what love really looks like?
• What’s the difference between a question asked to win and a question asked to understand?
• If love is what it all hangs on, what might that mean for how we live this week?

Made any mistakes recently? Thomas Merton said: “It is true that we make many mistakes. But the biggest of them all is to be surprised at them: as if we had any hope of never making any. Mistakes are part of our life, and not the least important part. It is by making mistakes that we gain experience, not only for ourselves but for others.” No Man is an Island.

Sandwiched! Broadcaster Sarah MacDonald is caught in the sandwich generation, juggling work, ageing parents and kids. She meets the growing army of mostly women, coping with the consequences of a housing and aged care crisis. Compass, ABC iView.

Please pray! So much is at stake for Israel, the USA and the world when an election is held in Israel this Tuesday (27th) and the midterm elections in the USA are held on 3 November.

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Next Sunday, 1 November 2026, 10am

• 10am Communion Service. Worship Leader: Shueh Wah Kennedy. Preacher: Geoff Pound.
• Scripture: Matthew 23:1-12.
• As part of our offering on Communion Sunday we will receive non-perishable food items to be given to needy people in our suburb.
• On this Sunday it is All Saints Day, celebrated by the followers of Jesus around the world. At our 125th Church Anniversary Service we were looking up into the Box Hill Baptist ‘cloud of witnesses’, but this coming Sunday gives us a chance to think more generally of the ones who have gone before who still inspire us and speak into our lives. Who are the saints that inspire you?

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If you were at Box Hill Baptist last Sunday, you’ll remember the moment the sanctuary filled with clouds. As we celebrated 125 years, people wrote the names of those who had shaped their faith (grandparents, teachers, friends, ministers, neighbours) and clipped them up around the church. Hundreds of paper clouds, each one a life that made a difference to someone.

Those clouds are still hanging. And this Sunday at Last Breakfast, we want to ask what all those people had in common.

Our story this week comes from the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is in Jerusalem, days before his death, and the questions are flying. Some of them are honest. Some are traps. One religious expert asks him to name the greatest commandment, and Jesus’ answer is so simple it’s almost disarming: love God with everything you have, and love your neighbour as yourself. Everything else, he says, hangs on these two.

It’s a striking way of putting it. Not hundreds of rules, but two loves that hold everything else up.

So over breakfast, we’ll be talking about questions like these:

• Who has shown you what love really looks like?
• What’s the difference between a question asked to win and a question asked to understand?
• If love is what it all hangs on, what might that mean for how we live this week?

You don’t need to have been here last week, and you don’t need any church background at all. The Last Breakfast is relaxed, informal and open to everyone: good food, good coffee, and conversation worth having. Bring your questions, your doubts, or simply your appetite.

Last Breakfast
Sunday 25 October, 10am
Box Hill Baptist Church, corner of Station Street and Ellingworth Parade, Box Hill

Bring something to share for breakfast if you can, but don’t worry if you can’t. Just come.

Welcome to Worship this 125th Anniversary Sunday

125th Anniversary Service of Worship & Thanksgiving including a Commendation by Dr Ken Manley, an Interview with Lorraine Mitchell and the Blessing of the Book (Sing a New Church).

Worship Leader: Eddie Chapman
Preacher: Geoff Pound. The service will involve the telling of brief cameos on some who make up the ‘great cloud of witnesses’ at Box Hill.
Scripture: Hebrews 11:32-40; 12:1-2

The service will be followed by Morning Tea and a light lunch in the Barn – a great time to catch up with people who have been associated with the Box Hill Church over many years.

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Order of Service

Opening

• Call to worship: Hebrews 12:1-3
• Song: To God be the Glory
• Acknowledgment of Country
• Opening prayer
• Welcome
• News/Announcements

Blessing of the Book

• Commendation – Ken Manley
• Interview – Geoff and Lorraine
• Prayer of blessing of the book and its readers
• Song: Sing a New Church

Since we are Surrounded…

• Scripture reading: Hebrews 11:32-40, 12:1-2 – Graeme D
• Reflection: Looking Back – Geoff
• Cameos of people in the BHBC cloud – Geoff with others
• Contributing to our own clouds of witnesses
• Hymn 478: For all the Saints (vv 1, 2, 3, 7)
• Prayers as we move from the past to the future
• Offering and offertory prayer
• Reflection: Looking Forward – Geoff
• Song: Creativity
• Pledge of Commitment to the Future
• Closing song: God Gives Us a Future
• Benediction

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Community News

• A light lunch is planned for our Anniversary Sunday. If you can bring a plate of finger food to share on the day, please let Teang know.
• The price of the new book, ‘Sing a New Church,’ has been set at $30 to make it within everyone’s budget to buy a copy. On our Anniversary Day (18 October) we will have the opportunity of paying for our books by cash and card.
• Pray for Dean Hoath and his loved ones. Dean has had two surgeries on his brain this last week in Darwin. He is recovering well. Russell flew to Darwin on Thursday to be with Dean and his family.
• Apologies for the Anniversary Service: Barbara & Ray Whitford (in Qld), Stan & Debbie Innes (holidaying in Qld), Audrey & David Brown, Colin & Barbara Richards, and Robert Ashley.
• We report the sad and unexpected news of the death of Glennys Williams, who died in her sleep on Wednesday night at the Hedley Sutton Aged Care Community in Camberwell. Details of the Service of Thanksgiving have not been determined. Do keep the family and friends of Glennys in your heart and prayers.

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Upcoming Events

Unwrapping Christmas. Over three Tuesday evenings (10, 17, 24 November) Dr Keith Dyer will be opening the Bible and speaking about ‘Unwrapping Christmas.’ Before we get to Advent and Christmas this year, we have this opportunity to think about Christmas without all the wrappings.

Each session will provide a segment entitled ‘You Can’t Ask That!‘ in which people can ask questions they have longed to ask, such as

‘Did the Virgin Birth Really Happen?‘

‘What was God’s part and Joseph’s part in the conception of Jesus?’ and

‘What about the line in that Christmas hymn, But little Lord Jesus, No Crying He Makes?’

Held in the Gallery, starting with a cuppa at 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start and an approximate 8.45pm finish.

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This Week

Monday

• 4:30pm-8:30pm – Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)

Tuesday

• 9:30am – The Box Hill Community Choir practises in the sanctuary
• 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start in the Gallery – The Bible & Chat Group studies the Scripture for next Sunday’s Last Breakfast: Matthew 22:34-46

Thursday

• 11am-1pm – The Social Chat Group (Village Well upstairs): English language learning, table tennis and socialising
• 1:30pm-2:30pm – Bakehouse in the Barn: our food rescue program

Friday

• 4:30pm-8:30pm – Social Table Tennis

Saturday

• 7:30am-8:30am – Bakehouse in the Barn

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Food for Thought, Prayer and Action

• We are doing our best through the Bakehouse (Thursdays and Saturdays) to save food waste, but Adelaide Miller contends that ‘Food Waste is Costing Australian Businesses and the Economy Billions’ (ABC News, 13 October 2026).
• Andrew Denton addressed the National Press Club this week on the topic of ‘Voluntary Assisted Dying.’ View the address on ABC iView. What did you think?
• Sing a New Church, our new book on the Box Hill Baptist Church, should give us much food for thought, prayer and action.

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Small Groups @ BHBC

Bible & Chat: Tuesdays at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start, at the Gallery. We reflect together on the coming Sunday’s scriptures. Contact Geoff Pound.

KYB (Know Your Bible): Fortnightly on Tuesdays via Zoom. Contact Helen Timms.

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Next Sunday: 25 October 2026

10am – It’s our Last Breakfast with food, talk and conversation around tables. Please bring food to share.
Facilitated by: Eddie Chapman
Scripture: Matthew 22:34-46

Welcome to Worship this Sunday

11 October 2026 at 10am

Three Places at the Feast – Matthew 22:1-14

• Worship Leader: Andy McCulloch
• Preacher: Eddie Chapman
• Scripture: Matthew 22: 1-14

Order of Service

• Call to Worship
• Song: Gather us in
• Community News and Announcements
• Bible Reading: Matthew 22:1-14
• The Invited Guests
• Prayer of Confession
• Song: Come to the Banquet
• The Servants
• Pastoral and Community Prayers
• Song: A Place at the Table
• The Guest without a Garment
• Song: May the Mind of Christ My Saviour
• Offering
• Song: Go out to the world in peace
• Benediction

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Community News

• A light lunch is planned for our Anniversary Sunday on 18 October. If you can bring a plate of finger food to share on the day, please let Teang know.
• A meeting open to everyone is being held this Tuesday 13 October at 7.15pm in the Gallery to hear Lorraine Mitchell speak about significant moments and significant lessons in the story of the Box Hill Baptist Church. Lorraine will have copies of her book available on the night.
• The brief Church Meeting which followed worship on 4 October adopted these motions:
  
  1. That we agree as a church to be involved in the Rev Danny Krivan’s Research Project.That we agree to the participation of the following people in the Rev Danny Krivan’s Focus Groups: Suzanne, Rae, Sue, Graeme, Barbara, Shueh Wah, John, Pat, Keith, Lynne, Ethan, Jody, Andy, Wendy, Geoff.
• The price of the new book, ‘Sing a New Church,’ has been set at $30 to make it within everyone’s budget to buy a copy. On our Anniversary Day (18 October) we will have the opportunity of paying for our books by cash and card.
• The cost of publishing a niche publication like this Box Hill Baptist Church history, which has a specific and limited audience, amounts to several thousand dollars, which is why we are inviting financial contributions. Thanks to those who have already made donations. If you can assist, please put cash in an envelope marked ‘History’ and put it in the offering bag or give electronically, also marked ‘History.’
• Whitley College is planning an Open Day on Saturday 17 October in Box Hill. Check out the details and discover where this could take you.

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Upcoming Events

• Only one more Sunday until we celebrate our 125th anniversary as a church on 18 October at 10am, followed by Morning Tea and Lunch.
• Saturday 17 October, 7:30pm – Let Everything Praise!, a concert by The Salvation Army Melbourne Staff Band with special guests Dominic Longhurst (cornet) and The Altonatives jazz choir, at Box Hill Salvation Army, 1010 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill. Admission $20, tickets at salvationarmy.org.au/msb

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This Week

Monday

• 4:30pm-8:30pm – Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)

Tuesday

• 9:30am – The Box Hill Community Choir has a practice session.
• 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start – An open meeting in the Gallery to hear author Lorraine Mitchell speaking about writing the story of the Box Hill Church.

Thursday

• 11am-1pm – The Social Chat Group (Village Well upstairs): English language learning, table tennis and socialising
• 1:30pm-2:30pm – Bakehouse in the Barn: our food rescue program

Friday

• 4:30pm-8:30pm – Social Table Tennis

Saturday

• 7:30am-8:30am – Bakehouse in the Barn

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Food for Thought, Prayer and Action

• Pasquale Toscano tells ‘Why My Gen Z Students are Fascinated by the King James Bible,’ New York Times (open access), 4 October 2026.
• Paul Gallagher (an author and journo with Multiple Sclerosis) tells (podcast) Adriel Booker, ‘Those Scars are my Ministry: Suffering Changes Us. Even, Perhaps for Good.’ CPX, 1 October 2026.
• 35 years in urban communities, from Melbourne to Bangkok to Birmingham, Ash Barker is launching his most important book. Link.

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Small Groups @ BHBC

Bible & Chat: Tuesdays at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start, at the Gallery. We reflect together on the coming Sunday’s scriptures. Contact Geoff Pound.

KYB (Know Your Bible): Fortnightly on Tuesdays via Zoom. Contact Helen Timms.

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Next Sunday: 18 October 2026 – 125th Church Anniversary

10am – Service of Worship & Thanksgiving including the Commendation (by Dr Ken Manley) and the Blessing of the Book (Sing a New Church).

• Worship Leader: Eddie Chapman
• Preacher: Geoff Pound. The service will involve the telling of brief cameos on some who make up the ‘great cloud of witnesses’ at Box Hill.
• Scripture: Hebrews 11: 32-40; 12: 1-2

The service will be followed with Morning Tea and a light lunch in the Barn – a great time to catch up with people who have been associated with the Box Hill Church over many years.

Offering Details

BSB: 704-922
Account name: Box Hill Baptist Church
Account number: 100005657
Please use “Offering” as your reference. If you have any issues, please contact the office.

It’s still stuck to the fridge… The invitation you meant to answer weeks ago.

You did truly intend to go, but then the week happened. Work ran late, the kids had sport, the car needed a service, the inbox kept filling up. Nothing wrong with any of that. And then somewhere in the middle of all those perfectly reasonable things, the date quietly came and went.

Most of us have been on the other side of that, too. You book the venue, order the food, set the tables, and then observe the late apologies and the empty chairs.

This Sunday we’re looking at one of Jesus’ most surprising and unsettling stories (Matthew 22:1-14). A king throws a wedding feast for his son, with the best food money can buy, and the invited guests simply can’t be bothered to turn up. What the king does next is outrageous, generous and confronting all at once. And the story ends with a line that has puzzled readers for two thousand years:

“Many are called, but few are chosen.”

Is that a line about other people? Or is it about us? What does it mean to be invited, and what does it take to actually turn up?

The invitation is out. Come and hear the story.

Welcome to Worship this Sunday

+ Communion Service

+ Offering: On this first Sunday, in addition to our money, we bring non-perishable food items that are given to support needy people in our community.

+ Worship Leader: Shueh Wah Kennedy; Preacher: Geoff Pound

+ Scripture Reading: John 20: 19-23.

+ Theme: We are reflecting on the Blessing and the Benediction in Worship Services.

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Order of Service

• Call to Worship
• Passing of the Peace
• Song – To be God’s people in this place
• Welcome and Community News
• Interview with Danny Krivan
• Offering
• Song – Like a Candle
• Reading – John 20:19-23
• Sermon
• Song – Jesus calls us here to meet Him
• Communion
• Prayers for the World
• Benediction

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Community News

+ A brief Church Meeting will follow worship on 4 October, to give the congregation’s blessing to Danny Krivan’s project (on congregational discernment and the arts) and to formally appoint the Focus Group participants. The suggested motions:

• 1. That we agree as a church to be involved in the Rev Danny Krivan’s Research Project.
• 2. That we agree to the participation of the following people in the Rev Danny Krivan’s Focus Groups: Suzanne, Rae, Sue, Graeme, Barbara, Shueh Wah, John, Keith, Lynne, Ethan, Jody, Andy, Wendy, Geoff.

+ Thanks to Connie Killey for her gift of three new books for our church library.

+ The price of the new book, ‘Sing a New Church,’ has been set at $30 to make it within everyone’s budget to buy a copy. The cost of publishing a niche publication like this Box Hill Baptist Church history, which has a specific and limited audience, amounts to several thousand dollars, which is why we are inviting financial contributions. Thanks to those who have already made donations. If you can assist, please put cash in an envelope marked ‘History’ and put it in the offering bag or give electronically, also marked ‘History.’

+ Judith and Hong Sin Lim will be on holiday from 5 October to 12 November. Do let Geoff know if you are able to visit Judith’s elderly mother, Khyun Yin CHU, during this period. Yin lives in Rm12, Conder House, Uniting AgeWell, 75 Thames Street.

+ Whitley College is planning an Open Day on Saturday 17 October in Box Hill. Check out the details and discover where this could take you.

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Upcoming Events

+ Only two more Sundays until we celebrate our 125^th anniversary as a church on 18 October at 10am followed by Morning Tea and Lunch. It has been good receiving positive RSVPs from some former Pastors of BHBC, along with representatives from the BUV and a councillor from the City of Whitehorse. A light lunch is planned for our Anniversary Sunday on 18 October. If you can bring a plate of finger food to share on the day, please let Teang know.

+ A meeting open to everyone is being held on Tuesday 13 October at 7.15pm in the Gallery to hear Lorraine Mitchell speak about significant moments and significant lessons in the story of the Box Hill Baptist Church. Lorraine will have copies of her book available on the night.

+ It is the City of Whitehorse Seniors Festival in October and here is the link to their programme and other ways they are seeking to provide connections.

+ Saturday 17 October, 7:30pm – Let Everything Praise!, a concert by The Salvation Army Melbourne Staff Band with special guests Dominic Longhurst (cornet) and The Altonatives jazz choir, at Box Hill Salvation Army, 1010 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill. Admission $20, tickets at http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/msb

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This Week

Monday

+ 4:30pm-8:30pm – Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)

+ 7.30pm The Deacons have their monthly meeting.

Tuesday

+ Tuesday 9.30am: The Box Hill Community Choir resumes practice sessions after the holidays.

+ 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start. The Bible & Chat Group will be meeting in the Gallery and the Scripture for study is Matthew 22: 1-14.

Thursday

+ 11am-1pm – The Social Chat Group (Village Well upstairs): English language learning, table tennis and socialising

+ 1:30pm-2:30pm – Bakehouse in the Barn: our food rescue program

Friday

+ 4:30pm-8:30pm – Social Table Tennis

Saturday

+ 7:30am-8:30am – Bakehouse in the Barn

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Food for Thought, Prayer and Action

+ It is 50 years since the Zadok magazine was established so the Zadok team is planning a 50^th Anniversary Conference online and in person on 2-3 October.

+ Michelle Lim asks, ‘Young Australians aren’t alone, so why are they lonely?’ Eureka Street, 24 September 2026.

+ Andy Hamilton says, ‘Getting Tough on Immigration will have a human cost,’ Eureka Street, 23 September 2026.

+ As violence escalates in Nigeria, Christian and Muslim leaders unite, Religion News, 23 September 2026.

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Small Groups @ BHBC

Bible & Chat: Tuesdays at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start, at the Gallery. We reflect together on the coming Sunday’s scriptures. Contact Geoff Pound.

KYB (Know Your Bible): Fortnightly on Tuesdays via Zoom. Contact Helen Timms.

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Next Sunday 11 October 2026

+ Worship Leader: Andy McCulloch; Preacher: Eddie Chapman.

+ Scripture: Matthew 22: 1-14.

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Offering Details

BSB: 704-922
Account name: Box Hill Baptist Church
Account number: 100005657
Please use “Offering” as your reference. If you have any issues, please contact the office.

Someone said recently that our church has an ‘obsession’ with food, eating and hospitality. If you want evidence, think of the Bakehouse (food distribution to several hundred people every Thursday and Saturday), the earlier ‘Food in the Barn’ (when a meal was served each month by people from different churches), the ‘Last Breakfast’ (breakfast/brunch with worship on the side on the last Sunday of the month), our monthly Communion (first Sunday of the month), our Morning Tea in the Barn (every Sunday) and all the extra meals that happen.

An ‘obsession’ sounds like we have unwanted, intrusive thoughts about food that can cause distress. It may be more accurate to say Box Hill Baptist Church has a biblical passion about food and eating together.

One of the earliest references to food in the Bible relates to the leaders of Israel who “saw God, and they ate and drank.” (Ex. 24: 11)

The New Testament scholar, Robert Karris, made this famous observation about Jesus and food: “In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal”.

This Sunday, our Scripture from the last book of the Bible has the risen Jesus saying: “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.” (Rev. 3:20)

Food reminds us that we are dependent beings—“Give us this day our daily bread.”

Food shared can turn strangers into friends.

Food is about justice—ensuring that hungry people are fed.

Food is about welcome, when we give every person a place at the table.

Food reminds us that God is interested in every part of human life.

Meals can be the places where we may encounter God.

Can you hear the knock on the door? See you at the Last Breakfast this Sunday at 10am.

This year marks a special milestone for Box Hill Baptist Church: 125 years of faith, community and service in Box Hill. On Sunday 18 October 2026 we will gather to give thanks for 125 years of this church’s life, and to look forward to what we are being called to be and do in the years ahead. Whether you are a current member, a former member, or a friend of the church, you are warmly invited to join us.

When: Sunday 18 October 2026, from 10.00am
Where: Box Hill Baptist Church, Ellingworth Pde, Box Hill.

The day at a glance

• 10.00am – Service of Thanksgiving. A service celebrating the story of Box Hill Baptist, including a Commendation and Blessing of our newly published church history.
• 11.30am – Morning tea and light lunch in the Barn. A relaxed time to reconnect with old friends, meet new ones, and share memories.

About the book

Sing a New Church tells the story of our church across its 125 years, drawing on the memories and reflections of many who have been part of its life. Copies will be available to purchase on the day for $30, and it will make a wonderful keepsake of the occasion.

Can’t make it on the day?

We understand not everyone will be able to be there, but we would still love to include you:

• Send us your greetings. If you have a short message, memory or reflection you would like shared, send it to us and we will read a selection out during the celebration.
• Order the book. If you would like a copy of Sing a New Church but can’t attend, please email office@boxhillbaptist.org.au and we will let you know how to arrange one.

Help us spread the word

If you are still in touch with former members, or others who would treasure being part of this day, please pass this invitation on. We would love to gather as many of our extended church family as possible.

Get in touch

To let us know you are coming, to send your greetings, or to ask about the book, contact the church office at office@boxhillbaptist.org.au.

We hope you can join us as we give thanks for all that God has done, and celebrate 125 years of Box Hill Baptist Church.

Welcome to Worship this Sunday

This Sunday continues our Listening to the Spirit series, based on the Letters to the Seven Churches — the sixth in the series, reflecting on the Letter to the Church in Philadelphia.

Worship Leader: Shueh Wah Kennedy; Preacher: Geoff Pound.

Scripture Reading: Revelation 3:7-13.

Theme: We may feel small and insignificant, feeling that all doors are shut – but God might be pointing to a door we can’t yet see that is open.

Also this Sunday afternoon: two Community Musicales in the Box Hill Baptist auditorium – 2.30pm (adult performers) and 4.30pm (mixed-age performers).Gold coin donation, with proceeds going to the Community Shed. Bring your lunch and stay on for an afternoon of musical enrichment!

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Order of Service

• Call to Worship 
• Song – The Spring has come
• Welcome and Community News
• Offering
• Song – The Journey of the life we live
• Reading Revelation 3: 7-13
• Song – The Lord is my Shepherd, and I want to follow
• Sermon 
• Prayers for Our World
• Sung Benediction – The Lord bless you and keep you

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Community News

• Eddie Chapman (Executive Pastor) is taking annual leave from this coming Wednesday, 23 September, until Friday 2 October.
• ‘Sing a New Church,’ the new history of Box Hill Baptist Church, has been printed this week – well in time for the Anniversary Sunday launch. If you can assist with publication costs, please give electronically or via an envelope in the offering bag (both marked ‘History’).
• Author of ‘Sing a New Church,’ Lorraine Mitchell, is speaking about her new book at a meeting open to all at 7.15pm for 7.30pm on Tuesday evening, 13 October, in the Gallery. The working title of Lorraine’s talk is The Things They Didn’t Put in the Record: 125 years of stories, surprises and characters at Box Hill Baptist.
• One of our church members, Raymond Chow, has recently announced that he is running as an independent candidate for the North-East Metropolitan region in the State elections (Upper House) on 28 November. Raymond’s policies are on his website. Pray for Raymond and his loved ones in this busy time of campaigning and talking about the vital issues of Victoria.
• The Cambodian congregation that used to have services with us in Box Hill has moved from Dandenong to the RAFT Anglican Church in Rowville, because of the availability and suitability of their spaces for young people and the Sunday School. Several of their people are planning to attend our 125th Anniversary on 18 October.
• Many thanks to the fourteen people who indicated their willingness last Sunday to participate in the three Focus Groups for Danny Krivan’s research project. Danny will be attending BHBC on Sunday 4 October – after Morning Tea in the Barn, it would be great for him to meet up with participants for an initial orientation. Please let Keith or Geoff know if you can attend.
• Notice is also given (the usual two weeks) that a brief Church Meeting will follow worship on 4 October, to give the congregation’s blessing to Danny Krivan’s project and to formally appoint the Focus Group participants.
• There are two Community Musicales this Sunday afternoon (see Welcome to Worship above) – a real feast of musical enrichment, with performers ranging from beginners to seasoned musicians. Bring your lunch on Sunday and stay on for the afternoon concerts.

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Upcoming Events

• Church Meeting – Sunday 4 October, briefly following worship: to give blessing to Danny Krivan’s Focus Groups research project and formally appoint participants.
• Focus Group Orientation – Sunday 4 October, after Morning Tea in the Barn.
• Lorraine Mitchell book talk, “The Things They Didn’t Put in the Record” – Tuesday 13 October, 7.15pm for 7.30pm, in the Gallery.
• Save-the-date: 125th Anniversary – Sunday 18 October: Service of Thanksgiving, with our new church history book ‘Sing a New Church’ available for purchase. All former members and friends invited.

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This Week

Monday

• 4.30pm-8.30pm – Social Table Tennis (upstairs, 5 Ellingworth Pde)

Tuesday

• Owing to the holidays, both the Box Hill Community Choir and the Bible & Chats Group are taking a break this week and next.

Thursday

• 11am-1pm The Social Chat Group (upstairs in the Village Well): learning basic English, table tennis and other games, tea, coffee and making friends.
• 1.30pm-2.30pm Bakehouse in the Barn: saving bread, fruit and vegetables from waste for those wanting to ease their weekly budget.

Friday

• 4.30pm-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 for those wanting to ease their weekly budget.

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Food for Thought, Prayer and Action

• Many have asked for the links to songs written by Scottie McGuiness. His friend, Damien, has helped provide the accompaniment and vocals for these songs, many of which have a spiritual theme. They include For You, Love is Everywhere, Stay in My Life, Please, Miranda and You Come First. Have a listen and let Scottie know what you think of them.
• Still on a musical note, did you see and hear the new arrangement of the old hymn, ‘Abide with me,’ sung by a choir in the Oslo Cathedral at the funeral of King Harald V of Norway? Here’s the link.
• Graham Hill writes of moving from ‘lectio divina’ to ‘lectio missio’ in “Reading the Bible and Hearing God’s voice,” on Grace Unfenced.
• Tim Costello asks, “Can Corporate Philanthropy Do Genuine Good?” Eureka Street, 9 September 2026.
• Last week, around 30 leaders from across the Australian Baptist movement gathered in Canberra. They met with 30 Members of Parliament and Senators from all sides of politics to advocate for greater response to the issue of family and domestic violence. Read more.

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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: Normally each Tuesday, 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start at the Gallery — taking a break this week and next owing to the holidays (see This Week above). 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.

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Next Sunday – 27 September 2026

10am.

It’s our Last Breakfast, led by Geoff, in which we will focus on the final of the Letters to the Seven Churches. Sitting around the tables we have a chance to listen together to what the Spirit is saying to our church.

Scripture: Revelation 3:14-22.

Please bring food to share. The church at Laodicea may have been lukewarm, but the food we share will be piping hot or cold!

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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