Thought for the Week 26 April 2026

Welcome to our service today and a special welcome to Jason Shaw from St Andrews, Geraldine who will be preaching and administering Communion today. Below is a snippet of our National Moderator’s ANZAC message. The full version will be in the next LINK.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,

We will remember them.

We will remember them.

This ANZAC Day, we are free to honour the fallen and remember them. We are honouring family members and their comrades who, despite being part of unjust wars, acted with courage in difficult circumstances. But let us be careful to recognise that there is no such thing as “Just War”. This is the exact opposite of Jesus’ teaching. “Love your   neighbour as yourself”. “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. ’But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also” (Matthew 5:38-39). Micah writes “The LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

War starts in one human heart that rejects God and diminishes human worth to nothing. War spreads when influencers with peace in their hearts remain silent in the face of the powerful. War exists when the voice of wrong power proclaims invincibility and the right to wage war. Lord, this ANZAC Day, help us to honour the fallen as we recognise the evil of war and the pain and damage of its aftermath.

Right Rev Peter Dunn

Moderator Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand