If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
Ki te whaki tatou i o tatou hara, e pono ana ia, e tika ana, a ka murua e ia o tatou hara, ka horoia atu hoki o tatou he katoa.
1 Honai 1:9
We all want to grow. We want to grow like healthy shoots after good rain in good soil, rather than stagnating. Or, to change the metaphor a little (and borrow from someone who knows a few things!), we want to be good soil that produces abundant growth.
How do we grow? One way that I am convinced will be key for us to grow as individuals and as a church at St Peter’s on the Rock is our small groups. Which is why we are calling them Growth Groups.
I think they will be key for our growth in at least two ways: 1) growth in knowing and delighting in God’s word about Jesus; 2) growing in our prayerful care for one another. And Growth Groups are especially good at helping us to do those things together – because each week we have the opportunity to share our lives in a deeper way than we can on Sunday alone. And we can do that in the context of Jesus wonderful lifegiving (and growth giving) message in the Scriptures. And we have the chance to express that care through prayer for one another with people we regularly meet with and deepen our trust in over time.
Growth Groups are a great thing to be involved in. Please be in touch if you’d like to know more or want to get involved!
Manaaki te Atua (God bless), Chris
After two weeks inclining our hearts and minds to the wisdom of the book of Proverbs, we are heading back to the Gospel of Luke this coming Sunday. We pick up Luke’s extraordinary story of Jesus at a vital moment, when Jesus returns to his hometown and engages with the people there. And in this moment he will set the tone and the agenda for his mission, for what we will see him do in the rest of the Gospel.
I still have a bit of work to do on understanding (and standing under) this passage, so I am excited to see and feel more of how it pans out, and what it will inevitably say to me that I need to hear. And I look forward to sharing it with you this Sunday. Back to Luke we go!
Yours in the One whom the story is all about, Chris
In two weeks time (Feb 14) the Sunday School will be making pancakes as they think about Jesus and his time in the desert. If you are planning on joining us your child/children can bring their own toppings so their pancakes are ‘just right’ There will be a gluten free option available.
If you would like more information or your child has allergies, please contact Saskia to discuss.
Although the year technically starts on January 1, in New Zealand things don’t really get going until about now. So as many kids go back to school and work moves into full flight, we are going to spend a couple of Sundays listening to some wisdom – wisdom to help us start out of the blocks in a great way.
The Book of Proverbs is the classic book of biblical wisdom. What better way to get things started in earnest than hearing the wisdom of the Lord of the universe?
We’d love to have you join us over the next two weeks (Jan 31st and Feb 7th) as we drink from this wellspring of life-giving wisdom.
