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Rejoice Together and Mourn Together

"Kia hari tahi me te hunga hari, kia tangi tahi me te hunga tangi"."Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn". —Romans 12:15 In Romans 12:1 Paul urges us: “...brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship”.Paul then reminds us in verse 15 to: “ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn”. Through God’s mercy in J...

A Grace-filled Genealogy

"Ko te pukapuka o te whakapapa o Ihu Karaiti, tama a Rawiri, tama a Aperahama". "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham..." —Matthew 1:1 Jesus’ genealogy is a mess. A genealogy in a first century middle eastern context acted a lot like a CV does for us today. Four of the women in Jesus’ CV are tainted by sexual mess. Each historical era is filled with human messiness.The first era is the 750 years from Abraham to King David.The second is the 400 ye...

He Stays with Us

"Na ka tohe raua ki a ia, ka mea, E noho ki a maua: kua ahiahi hoki, kua titaha te ra. Na ka tomo atu ia, ka noho ki a raua"."But they urged him strongly, 'Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over'. So he went in to stay with them".— Luke 24:29 Confusion, despondency, and bewilderment mark the conversation. They could not be closer to the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection and yet the dots in their hearts and heads don’t all join up. Our curre...

Seeing WHO'S in front

"Ka mea a Ihu ki a ia, E Meri"."Jesus said to her, Mary".— John 20:16 Mary who sees the tombstone has moved.Mary who weeps. Mary who doesn’t ‘see’ what’s going on.Mary who couldn’t be closer to the most significant event in history; and yet couldn’t be more confused.Mary who sees angels sitting but not Jesus standing.Mary who is looking for Jesus in the wrong place and in the wrong way.Mary who doesn’t ‘see’ who's in front of her.Mary who mistakes the God ...

Breakfast on the Beach

"Ka mea a Ihu ki a ratou, haere mai kai te kai. heoi kihai tetahi o nga akonga i maia ki te ui ki a ia, Ko wai koe? i mohio hoki ko te Ariki. Na ka haere a Ihu, ka mau ki te taro, a hoatu ana e ia ki a ratou, me nga ika. Ko te toru tenei o nga putanga o Ihu ki ana akonga, i muri i tona aranga ake i te hunga mate"."Jesus said to them, 'Come and have breakfast'. None of the disciples dared ask him, 'Who are you?' They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to t...

He is not here, He is Risen

"Na ka oho te anahera, ka mea ki nga wahine, Kei wehi korua: e matau ana hoki ahau, e rapu ana korua i a Ihu i ripekatia. Kahore ia i konei: kua ara ke, kua pera me tana i mea ai. Haere mai kia kite i te wahi i takoto ai te Ariki. ""The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay". — Matthew 28:5-6The women were expecting to see the b...

Light of the World

"I te timatanga te Kupu, i te Atua te Kupu, ko te Atua ano te Kupu. I te Atua ano tenei Kupu i te timatanga. Nana nga mea katoa i hanga; kahore hoki tetahi mea i kore te hanga e ia o nga mea i hanga. I a ia te ora; ko te ora te marama mo nga tangata. I roto i te pouri te marama e whiti ana; heoi kihai i mau i te pouri"."In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without hi...

The Queen's Way

By CCCNZ Ambassador Mark Grace I've come to cherish HM Queen Elizabeth II deeply. I’ve cried a lot today at the news of her death, aged 96. I cherished the Queen because she knew Jesus as the King of Kings, and he knows her.  In a beautiful short booklet about the Queen's faith called The Queen’s Way (which you can read here), Mark Greene writes:  “Almost every time the Queen speaks about her faith she relates it directly to Jesus. And she is effusive in her appreciation. He...

Bible studies with the seeking or sceptical

While I was in student ministry, Rebecca Pippert and Ada Lum helped many of us by showing us how to do simple, investigative Bible studies with seeking and sceptical friends.Ada used these simple questions when doing an investigative Bible study about Jesus’ encounters with people:What’s the situation?Who are the people and what are their needs?What’s Jesus’ solution?What are their responses?Under the leading of the Spirit, these questions acted like flood lights that woul...

Who is the harvest?

I'm profoundly grateful for Lui and Ane Ponifasio from LifeChurch Manurewa who helped me see something in Scripture that I had not seen previously (to my shame).  Come with me to Matthew 9:18-38.Who does Jesus compassionately interact with in these verses?Shattered parents and their dead girl; a bleeding, isolated woman; blind men; and a man who had been demonically possessed.These are people crippled by trauma, pain, isolation, poverty, and demo...

Horizon of Hope

Jesus asked the man at the pool in John 5, “Do you want to get well?”The man replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me”. What is remarkable is how low the man’s horizon of hope is. He has been an invalid for 38 years. His life is one of lying down.He does not understand who is asking the question, he can’t see beyond his circumstances, he can’t think outside the square his life ha...

The Mark Drama

By CCCNZ Ambassador, Mark Grace It’s 7pm on Sunday night, 200 people are at Te Awamutu Bible Chapel. From the centre of the seating a group of young adults begin a re-enactment of Mark's gospel, The Mark Drama is underway.It is a delight to know that 50 people from Te Awamutu’s Alpha Course are in the audience. Church members from Hillcrest Chapel, Agora Church, and Hukanui Bible Church are also present with friends and family who ...

Lament

Jerusalem is a living hell. Utterly destroyed. Desolation. Bodies everywhere, rubble and ruins. Starvation stalks the living. Mothers eating children. This is the crushing reality confronting Jeremiah, the prophet in the wasteland that is the city. This is the judgement of God brought about by the Babylonians in 582 BC. In Lamentations chapter 3, Jeremiah reflects on the heavy hand of the Lord that has come to rest on him amongst the wreckage.  'He has driven and brought me i...

Time to make a change

A baptism at one of The Street Church's local services. ...

Grace found in the finished work of Jesus

I want to do something I’ve never done before, to take us back to reflect on the same text I shared last week. I’d like to invite you back to 2 Timothy 2. We are in the second season of the pandemic. Timothy’s in his second season at Ephesus.  "Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus..."- 2 Timothy 2:1  Paul invites Timothy in chapter 2 to do the work of a church leader: To teach and disciple, to suffer, to remember and endure. But notice what he leads with...

Finding your second wind

Several years ago, one of our church family members competed in the Coast to Coast.Can you imagine arriving at the finish line of the Coast to Coast only to be told you’ve also got to turn around and run back to the beginning?That’s what leadership in this second season of the pandemic feels like. After navigating traffic light restrictions and mandates, we’ve headed into a very wet winter, a heightened flu season, the second wave of COVID, inflation is ravaging family budgets, and va...

Preach the Word

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 2 Tim 4:1-2 Paul knows his life is coming to a close. In this moment he weighs every word. He gives a profound weight to the charge in verse 2 by affirming the One in whose presence he is making it...

Have you considered a prayer intern?

The idea of interns is not a new concept in our churches and currently, it’s a word that’s been thrown around a lot by the media, not necessarily in a positive light either. In short, an intern would work and study for a fixed term, in a ministry context. This affords them the opportunity to learn on-the-job while also studying in that field. I have come across interns within many denominations and ministries, but I recently heard about Riccarton Community Church’s prayer internship. I po...

Creativity Birthed From a Place of Prayer

Chapel Hill Community Church in Hamilton recently held a week of prayer. In preparation for the week, they encouraged everyone to focus on a Psalm. Philip Renner, pastor at Chapel Hill, writes: “Psalms open the door. Although prayer is a Christian’s native language, we sometimes find ourselves tongue-tied and not sure what to do. "So to help us pray as a community, we tried something a little different. We challenged one another to ‘adopt’ a psalm—Scripture's prayer book&...

Holiday Camp at Riverbend

By CCCNZ Children and Family Ministries Enabler Julie McKinnon Last school holidays Toby Young and a team ran a Kids Camp on site at Riverbend Bible Church in Hastings.  This camp was attended by 47 children and almost half of them were from the community. 12 teenage leaders from the church helped care for the children throughout the week. “At the camp the kids enjoyed various activities, games, challenges, and of course our fun and interactive chapel time! A number of children responded ...

Rally at Paengaroa

By CCCNZ Children and Family Ministries Enabler Julie McKinnonI had a great conversation with Margaret Scrimgeour from Paengaroa Bible Chapel this week. She shared how they are slowly getting their Rally programme up and running again after a break due to COVID. “Last year we had around 20-25 kids from the local school coming along to Rally. We start at 6pm with some games and then share a simple meal together before the children share in a time of learning from the Bible. The food in the tumm...

Reaching the community in Roslyn, Palmerston North

Around nine years ago the team from Church on Vogel in Roslyn, Palmerston North, had a vision to build a community centre and begin connecting with their surrounding community in intentional and meaningful ways.  Roslyn is a high deprivation area with incidents of drug abuse, youth crime and domestic violence all prevalent in the community.  Volunteers from the church began working in Roslyn School, the local primary school, helping out with reading. They'd meet up one-to-one with stud...

Connecting with local schools

By Julie McKinnon, CCCNZ Children and Family Ministries Enabler I recently caught up with Joy Wallace from Manawarū Bible Chapel and heard about the ministry of Launchpad that she and her husband Dennis have been involved in for over 40 years. Involvement in the local school has always been part of the strategy of Manawarū Bible Chapel. “This is what we do as a church, it’s always been part of the fabric of the church to be involved in the school. We feel very supported by the church. Scho...

Matariki

"...he who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land - the Lord is his name". - Amos 5:8 'Matariki' is the Māori name for the cluster of stars known from Greek Mythology as 'the Pleiades'. In the Māori Bible, Amos 5:8, Job 9:9 and Job 38:31 name the star cluster as 'Matariki'. In our English Bibles, 'the Pleiades' is found in the same places. In Amos ...

Good or Bad?

"Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,  to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone."   Titus 3:1-2 It’s a difficult time: The ruling caesars are worshipped as saviours, the Roman authorities enslave hundreds of thousands of people, and colosseums are full. Chuck Swindoll suggests, “Paul writes this letter to Titus from Nicopolis in AD 63, after his first Ro...