Kia Ora. If you would like anything posting here please email me at support@stpetersoftherock.church 😊, or speak to me in church.

“To whom will you compare me?
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these? Isaiah 40:25-26

25 Na ki ta koutou, kei to wai he ahua moku? ka rite ranei ahau ki a wai? e ai ta te Mea Tapu.

26 E ara o koutou kanohi ki runga titiro ai, na wai enei mea i hanga, na wai o ratou mano i whakaputa mai he mea tatau tonu: karangatia ana e ia nga ingoa o ratou katoa, maroro rawa, pakari tonu te kaha; e kore tetahi e ngaro. Ihaia 40:25-26

                                                       

A Message from Chris

Kia ora dear people of St Peter’s of the Rock,
On Sundays we have been looking at some very challenging teaching of Jesus in the sermon on the plain. Some of it takes hard work to discern how to understand it and how it applies to us. And more of it is just very hard to hear and accept, Jesus’ standards being so very high. Some of his teaching touches on sore points in our personal lives or experience (it has for me!), and some of it pushes us in areas we are weak.
In the light of that, I just wanted to remind us all of something else Jesus says. Yesterday I learned (from a very good book I have started reading) that Matthew’s Gospel brings us the one place that Jesus speaks of his own heart. He says this:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)
He is gentle and humble in heart – at the very centre of his being. This doesn’t change the fact that he says powerfully challenging things – and follows them up with his own self-sacrificial action for us. But it shows that all he says and does comes from his heart of gentleness and humility, a heart that seeks our best in all things and loves us with an everlasting love. 
That is a reminder that strengthens my heart, and I hope it does yours too. In Christ, Chris


Meet the Family – Saskia and Sarah

This week Chris spoke to Saski and Sarah (his wife). Both Saskia and Sarah work hard, along with a small team of helpers, to keep the Sunday school running. They spoke about the importance of the Sunday school, and the encouraging growth they have seen. With this in mind, please consider if you feel called to help in this important work. The teachers and helpers are rostered on every other week. At present we only have enough helpers for one team; it would be great to get the classes running weekly. See Saskia if you would like more details, or use email support@stpetersoftherock.church and I will forward message.

Thanks to everyone who works so hard on behalf of the children of SPOTR.

 Quite a modern video, but I thought it went well with our theme of loving our enemies.

Tono Karakia/Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

  • The upcoming music workshop.

For those who regularly attend SPOTR, more personal prayer requests are included in the weekly email.

DON’T FORGET: we have our church prayer meeting Friday, 6:45 – 7:15 a.m. at the church office. Phone Phil for details: 027 557 4762. There will be no Thursday prayer meeting this week.

Other Bits and Pieces

Bible reading for 13/06/21 : Ruth 1:19-22; Romans 5: 6-11 Luke 6:27-36.

Thanks to Deborah, Tessa and Nathan who read the scriptures this week, and to Mathias for the prayers of intercession.

Date for the diary: We are having a barn dance on Saturday, August 7, Ohoka Hall. More details to follow.

GAFCON Video: a message from Jay our Bishop:  We have been asked to get a few of our parishioners saying a few words on camera on what they appreciate about Gafcon. These videos normally show people from around our global fellowship and so it would be wonderful to have some Kiwi faces and voices expressing our thanks. 
If you are interested, please be in touch with Chris.

Growth Groups – If you would like to be involved in one please contact Chris.

Preschool Children – The church has been given the go ahead by the building owners to put gates onto the drives of the church. This will make the back of the church building a safe play area for children.

Church Directory – SPOTR Church Directory is a useful place to go if you need to contact a church member. It is password protected. If you would like your details adding please use contact form to send me your details ( no addresses on the page).

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). Thank you.

Youth Group meets on Friday, 7:00pm during term time.

Sunday School – Sunday school meets every other week during term time. (We are hoping to change to weekly as soon as we have sufficient helpers; see Saskia if you are interested.) See Kids’ Page for details for term two.