He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.

na ka whakahoki ia, ka mea, Kia whakapaua tou ngakau, tou wairua, tou kaha, tou hinengaro, ki te aroha ki te Ariki, ki tou Atua; me aroha hoki ki tou hoa tata ano ko koe.

Luke 10:27

This week’s sermon can be listened to here.

A Message from Chris

Kia ora all,

Our Growth Group has loved getting into the book of Ruth in the last couple of weeks. It is a wonderful story of God’s faithfulness in working through adversity, as well as much else. 

Ruth is set in the time of the Judges. And there is a pattern in the book of Judges where the people cry out to God for help, he helps them, but then they become complacent and forget about him.

I noticed that God sums up a similar pattern in the book of the prophet Hosea, written centuries after the time of Judges: 

“I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of burning heat. When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” (Hosea 13:5-6)

This is a danger for us to watch out for. God has been good to us in many ways, including as a church. But we need to watch and pray that we don’t become complacent or proud. Instead, let us remember both that it is God who blesses us, and that we are always in need of his blessing and mercy.

May he help us all remember that this week.

Yours in Him, 

Chris

Tono Karakia/Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• Those in our community who may be struggling with Covid.
• The new Bible class
• The leadership at SPOTR

For those who regularly attend SPOTR, more personal prayer requests are included in the weekly email. If you would like to be added to the email list, please contact Chris.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

Other Bits and Piece

SPOTR runs a number of growth groups. To join one please contact Chris. Details of groups below:

– Tuesday and Wednesday night mixed groups

– Wednesday daytime seniors’ group

– Wednesday night women’s group

Church Camp 2023: we will have a camp again next year – this time in summer! The dates to save are 24-26 February, at the same place (Woodend Christian Camp) with the same people catering for us. The cost will be similar to this year’s camp (this year’s costs were: Adult and Children aged 10+ $128; Children Aged 5-9  $104; Child under 5  $24; family cap of $450; Day visitors –  Adult and Children aged 10+  $78; Children Aged 5-9  $54; Child under 5 $24) . Start planning to come, and please be in touch with any questions or issues.

Caregivers room – We now have a video feed of the sermon playing in the parents’ room. If you want to take your young child out during the service, this is the place to go. Please note, this is an unsupervised room: parents/caregivers need to stay with their children.

There are also toys available in the main church room if you would prefer to stay in the service. Please do not worry if your children are acting like children: we are glad to have them (and you) with us on Sundays.

Church Directory – If you want your details adding to our directory, please email support@stpetersoftherock.church with your email/phone. This page is password protected. Only those who are in the directory have the password.



Giving – You may have noticed we do not take a collection during our services. If you would like to contribute financially to SPOTR please contact Trent (our treasurer) for details, use the box at the back of church or use this link (scroll to bottom of page when you are transferred). please note: for anyone who gives to the church by standing order, our bank account number is 03 0674 0274 673 000 Thank you.

SPOTR IRD Number: 134-501-266  The Treasurer has asked for this to be included here as it may be needed for dealing with tax donation claims. 

                                                     

Word search answers 02/10/22