Category: Sermon Notes

Forsaken

10 March (Colin)“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” E tōku Atua, e tōku Atua, he aha koe i whakarere ai i ahau?  At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).   When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”  Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.  With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.  The curtain…

Whānau

“Woman, here is your son… Here is your mother”  “E tai, nanā, tāu tama!”…Nā, tōu whaea! 25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. John 19:25–27 (NIV) Pete’s ponderings : Who are we responsible for ? The Intertwined branches and roots say something of the interconnectedness of us all. On the other side of the door is a much bigger picture. Being pushed by God on a…

Forgive

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are  doing.” “E Pā, houhia te rongo ki a rātou; kāhore hoki rātou e mōhio ki tā rātou e mea nei.” When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. – Luke 23:33–34 (NIV) Pete’s ponderings : The forgiveness door opens to another world. It is opened by God from the other side, not so we can come in, but to call us out. If you find yourself wondering about the…

A silence and Solitude Prayer exercise

If you’re unsettled at the start – maybe go for a walk. Sing a song ? what might help you slow down ? Choose a place that feels comfortable and safe to you, a place that allows you to be open and available to God—a favorite chair at home, your own backyard if it is quiet, or even a nearby chapel if you have access to one.   Settle into a comfortable position in your body and sit quietly for a few moments, breathing deeply,  becoming aware of God’s presence with you and your desire to be present with God. Sit quietly at the base of the tree that is your life and begin to notice what is true about…

A bigger table

When Paul writes about church he emphasises our connection with each other (1 cor 12-14, 1 cor 12:27-31) and talks about the nature of the love that weaves us together. In Romans 1:12 Paul talks of “that you and I maybe mutually encouraged by each others faith”. This is one of the core functions of church.  We explored three aspects of this:   The table of being Loved (being together): (When were you last aware of how much God loves you ?)   A deeper table (Growing together) : Colin suggested that in the West we tend to think this is an individual’s job – a kind of DIY, but that instead it’s God who transforms us, using life, faith…

Matthew 25 The start

We’re being challenged to take part in the matt 25 challenge with world vision. Have a go. Jesus told three types of stories. Stories of the Kingdom of God (which grows because of God not us), Stories of grace (I suspect because we struggle to understand this) and Stories of Judgement. The stories found in Matt 25 are stories of Judgement and I think they need to be read while holding the other stories in mind.  If we tend to lean towards judgement it maybe worth reminding ourselves that when Jesus quotes isaiah 61 in Luke 4:18-19, he stops before the judgement. It’s not that judgement won’t happen, but this was the time for it. There’s a story of brides…

Pay Attention to the light.

The metaphor of Light and darkness is used a lot in the bible, at creation and beyond.  Light is more relational than we think ? In 1 John 1:5-7 John reckons there’s something deeply relational to walking in the light. He goes further in 1 John 2:9.   How or why do you think that light might be so relational ? Why would hating someone affect light ? Can you think of an example. Light reveals what’s there – trust it. Colin told the story of dealing with bribes ? Have you any experience of this ? When have you prayed for the light to reveal something hidden.  Note that John suggests that we also have hidden stuff to confess.…

Where does it hurt ?

We’re making our way through a series seeking to help us love the people around us and alongside us, as we love God and ourselves.  At the moment we’re exploring things that might help us connect well with others. Todays Question is “Where does it hurt?” It’s a question that has some weight to it and not one to be offered lightly.  IN Mark 5:21-28 a women who has been suffering from an medical condition for a considerable time approaches Jesus. Everyone carries a level of hurt.  Some of the questions we paused to reflect on were : Where do you hurt ? What are you living your way through ? What is your hurt doing to you ?  …

Living into the promise.

On Sunday we explored some of Abram and Sarai’s story (they’ll get renamed as Abraham and Sarah).   Abram and Sarai have been given a promise of a future (in gen 12:3). Turns out it’s not always easy to lean into that. What they experience is that Sarai continues to be barren. We explored where Abram chooses a path of deception (Gen 12:10-20) and where he and Sarai try an ‘alternative arrangement’ (gen Ch 16).   In each of these cases they choose to live against the promise that had been made to them. In both cases they struggled to believe that God could do what he promised and let things unfold.    We noticed a theologian who said that…