Thought for the week
Thought For The Week 9 December 2018
Welcome to our services today on this second Sunday in Advent, which focuses on the peace of God. Advent is all about waiting; we are waiting for Christmas day and the joyous proclamation that Jesus is born and he is Emmanuel- God with us. Jesus also spoke of his return at some undetermined time in […]
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Thought For The Week 2 December 2019
It’s the hope that kills you, so they say, but they’re wrong. Hope is that rarest of commodities in our fast-paced, rapid-growth, self-absorbed world. Hope is that simple thing, hard to measure and harder to define that allows us to see beyond our current circumstances and into a future where we might be free. Hope […]
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Thought For The Week 25 November 2018
Welcome to our special combined service this morning. According to the church calendar today is the last day of the year and is referred to as Christ the King Sunday. Traditionally the readings focus on the exalted nature of Christ and his sovereignty as King of kings and Lord of lords and remind us that […]
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Thought For The Week 18 November 2018
It is wonderful to see real progress with the St. Stephens foyer re-development. Since the windows have gone in, and the hoardings have come down, we can start to see the potential of this new space that we will use for worship, fellowship and mission. There are a couple of things that I have noticed […]
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Thought For The Week 11 November 2018
Welcome to our services of worship this morning. Today is a special day commemorating the 100th Armistice Day which marks the day and hour when hostilities ceased on the Western Front in World War 1. This was to be ‘a war to end all wars’ but as history has shown it was merely the beginning […]
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Thought For The Week 4 November 2018
At the moment I have the joyful privilege of helping two couples prepare for their wedding day. At the same time, we are moving into a month of services where reflect on our membership of The body of Christ together. What do these two things have in common? First, the “big day” when we declare […]
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Thought For The Week 28 October 2018
The other day my Facebook page showed pictures of us packing up our house in Rolleston and shifting into the manse in Timaru from 2 years ago, reminding me we have been here exactly 2 years. Which doesn’t sound like a very long time and yet to me it seems longer. That’s because of the […]
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Thought For The Week 21 October 2018
What, exactly, is a normal family? I think, sometimes, we assume that a normal family is one where everyone has “got it together”, where no-one struggles to cope, and everyone is happy and healthy. That would be lovely, but I suspect that it would not be normal by any stretch of the imagination. The truth is, […]
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Thought For The Week 14 October 2018
Last week I had the privilege of attending the General Assembly in Christchurch, which is only the third time I’ve been to such a gathering. The General Assembly gathers every 2 years and is the highest court of our church responsible for setting the rules and guidelines under which member churches and presbyteries operate. It […]
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Thought For The Week 7 October 2018
When I got a call this last Monday at ten to nine saying “The building consent has come through, we’re at St. Stephens, and we’re ready to start”, I was taken rather by surprise. It has been exciting to see the work begin on the remodeling of the foyer that we have looked forward to […]
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