*The members of Wangaratta Benalla Lutheran Mission with their new sign and Pastors Matthias Prenzler, Christian Fandrich and Matt Anker.*

On Sunday 4 October, a Service of Reception was held at Wangaratta Benalla Lutheran Mission in Wangaratta.

The congregation was delighted to welcome members from neighbouring congregations St Paul’s Lutheran Mission Shepparton, Trinity Lutheran Mission Echuca, and Lake Hume Lutheran Mission, who came to worship with their brothers and sisters in Christ in Wangaratta instead of holding services in their own congregations. The congregation was also blessed by the addition of visitors from Callington and LM-A President Matt Anker.

The service began with the singing of ‘God’s Word is our great heritage’ (LH 266), skilfully led by visiting organist Joshua Walker. President Anker was the liturgist and preacher.

After the invocation, President Matt led the reading of the Confessional Statement and copies were signed by Wangaratta Benalla Lutheran Mission Chairman Graeme Schreiber, Secretary Shayne Schreiber and Elder Bruce Linke.

Pastor Christian Fandrich from Lake Hume Lutheran Mission read the Old Testament and Epistle readings. President Anker read the Gospel and preached on Philippians 3:4b–14.

President Matt noted that this text was ‘an excellent text for a day like today as it reminds us that our hope does not lie in our efforts at faithfulness. That our decisions do not make us perfect followers of Jesus. And that there is still a journey before us in which we are utterly dependant on the Lord Jesus and His mercy toward us.’

… Dear friends, you as a congregation have made a good and faithful and godly decision. You have stood up for the Word of God. You have held fast to the doctrine that the Lord has revealed in His holy word. And no doubt some of you have suffered for doing so and will yet suffer more. But none of that is cause for boasting. You see, our efforts at faithfulness do not make us perfect or achieve the kind of righteousness needed for salvation. Like St Paul says, he has not attained perfection despite his faithfulness, suffering and persecution. Instead, he presses on because Jesus has made him His own.
These are wise words indeed and vital for us to hear clearly at this pivotal point in the history of Wangaratta Benalla Lutheran Mission. Now is the time for us too to press on. To forget what lies behind and strain forward to what is ahead of us. Not to be distracted by either the grief that comes with separation, or the bitterness that can result because of the necessity of such. The great comfort of the Christian life is that because of Jesus’ resurrection, we know with complete certainty what lies ahead. Regardless of what we are enduring in this life – even as we share in Jesus’ sufferings and become like him in his death, we know that our eternal future is life with Christ for ever.

Warning against the temptations to self-righteousness or to bitterness and anger, President Matt encouraged the congregation

… Being certain of the forgiveness and life that is ours in Christ, we can face the future and those around us with humility because as Christians we do not receive what we deserve. Rather in Jesus we know that even now we are receiving far more than we deserve – and the best is yet to come! You will not be saved simply by being a member of LM-A or any other church body. You are saved only through faith in Christ who has made you His very own. So keep your eyes on Him. Rejoice in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life. And take this opportunity in the life of this congregation to point others to the only source of hope and joy for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Following the offering hymn, ‘We sing the praise of him who died’ (LH 75), President Matt, assisted by Pastor Christian Fandrich, installed Pastor Matthias Prenzler as pastor of Wangaratta Benalla Lutheran Mission. Pastor Matthias is also the pastor of St Paul’s Shepparton and Trinity Echuca, and serves as Vice President of LM-A.

Following his installation, Pastor Matthias led the prayer of the church and Holy Communion. The service closed with the modern hymn, ‘In Christ Alone’.

After the service, Chairman Graeme Schreiber welcomed Pastor Matthias, his wife Julie, and their family. Graeme also read greetings from Pastor Martin Scharnke, Calvary Toowoomba, St John's Jeparit, Emmanuel Perth, Pastor David and Veronica Buck, Good Shepherd Hamilton and Darren and Kerry Linke. Robin Leske brought greetings on behalf of Christ the Redeemer, Callington.

President Matt greeted the congregation and shared memories from his childhood in the region and his time serving in neighbouring Shepparton. He also brought greetings and encouragement from Bishop Pohjola of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland (ELMDF) who noted and thanked God for the ‘yearning for the peace that comes from the forgiveness of sins which continues to draw people into fellowship.’

Pastor Matthias thanked the congregation for welcoming him and prayed grace before a shared lunch in the hall.

Congregational secretary Shayne Schreiber writes,

What an uplifting Service this was. All praise to God for a fabulous Service. I must say it is a big thank you to Pastors Matt, Matthias and Christian for this wonderful Service. Also, a big thank you to Joshua and his father Jonathan for "restoring" our organ and Joshua for putting it through its paces!! What a blessing. The singing sounded like 180 people, oh how they could sing! Also thank you to our many visitors and the food they supplied - talk about feeding the 5,000!! Thank you, thank you.
Praise and thanks from Shayne on behalf of Wangaratta Benalla Lutheran Mission.