Welcome to the Finnish Lutheran Church of Melbourne
We offer a welcoming meeting place for all Finns in Melbourne, and provide spiritual care and a broad range of activities for all age groups.
On these pages you can find information on our background, services, usual activities, and calendar of activities.
On these pages you can find information on our background, services, usual activities, and calendar of activities.
Changes to upcoming events
Welcome to the regular Pastor's Column!
While we are experiencing a new way of life in temporary lockdown, we continue to provide pastoral support and care, and this includes a regular column in place of our usual face-to-face services.
Here is Pastor Ian's latest post:
Pastor’s column 2
When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy (Matthew 8:1-3)
A leper—a man “full of leprosy,” according to Luke’s account—had heard the word of Jesus’ love toward all people, including those who were sick and isolated from other people. So as soon as Jesus was done preaching the Sermon on the Mount, the leper approached him, knelt down before him, and prayed a perfect prayer: Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this miracle, and they all record it the same—with the same need, the same prayer, the same reaching out and touching the leper in compassion, and the same answer, I am willing. Be cleansed.
What made leprosy so devastating in biblical times, was the view that it was viewed as a curse from God, often connected with sin. It was not a lethal disease, but neither did it seem to cease. Instead, it remained for years, causing the skin tissues to degenerate and disfiguring the body. The sufferers of this dreaded disease were not only isolated from the ‘healthy’ community due to their illness, but were labelled as ‘wrongdoers’ and ‘sinners.’ So imagine how much courage it took of the leper in our bible story to come in contact with Jesus who was surrounded by a large crowd. Imagine the desperation that this poor man had to be experiencing in order to make contact with the wider community. But he had hope. He had placed his trust in Jesus. The great faith of the leper was evident in his plea, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’
When catastrophes, like the Coronavirus hit our communities, we feel helpless, isolated, lonely and even fearful. Yet, as Christians we are not alone. The beauty of incarnation, God With Us, means exactly that—God with us in the midst of our helplessness, isolation and loneliness. We read in our story how Jesus did not shun away from this desperate leper. He did not even stop the leper and healed him from a distance. He could have done that as he did in so many other cases. But, in this case, because the sufferer was discarded by the society, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.
God’s nature in Christ has not changed. If you are feeling helplessness, isolation, loneliness or even fear, Jesus is ‘a very present help in your trouble’ (Psalm 46). As an extension of his presence we also have the many Christians around you, praying, making phone calls, sending messages through email and social media. Even if you have not been contacted by others you can make that phone call or send a message to someone.
So God continues to reveal himself to you again today as the one who is ready and willing to help all who place their trust in him The truth about Jesus is exactly what you see from him in today’s reading, where he shows himself to be the very God of Psalm 46, the God who is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Pastor Ian
Finnish services are broadcast on Yle Areena - to view the programs, follow the link here:
areena.yle.fi/1-50278008
You can also get a lot of information, devotionals etc, from Finland's church website, including English translations if needed. Visit:
www.evl.fi
Join the church
You can join the Mikael Agricola Finnish Lutheran Church by completing the attached membership form. Please print out, fill in, sign, and scan the form, and email it to ian.vainikka@gmail.com. You can also post the form to the church manse, 72 The Strand, Point Cook, 3030.
| seurakuntaan_liittymiskaavake.pdf |
