Thought for the week

Welcome to our services today. I am looking forward to hearing Luke Blackbeard’s take on the parables in today’s reading from Matthew’s gospel. This is a challenge for any preacher as the reading selects 4    examples of what the kingdom of God is like; mustard seed, yeast,  treasure buried in a field and a pearl…

Welcome to our services today. Those attending St Stephen’s might have noticed something missing as they approached the church; the row of Silver Birch trees that lined the southern boundary were removed on Thursday morning. These trees had been a feature of the property for many years but due to repeated pruning to keep their…

Last week my family and I packed up the car and headed to Bannockburn for a few days to spend time with our wider family. As we looked at the weather and road reports wondered if we would make it through the Lindis Pass, or if it would be closed with snow. The roads ended…

It is a wonderful pleasure to welcome our National Moderator Rev Hamish Galloway to our combined service today. Many of you will know that Hamish’s first parish was St Stephens and he was a dynamicpastor and leader here. I also had the privilege of working with Hamish at Hope Presbyterian in Christchurch for a number…

This last Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending the winter lunch at St Stephens. This event provides a lovely image of our church, I think. A big team of people working together selflessly to offer something beautiful to our community. Food made in love, shared in love, and enjoyed together in love. One of those…

Kia ora te whanau! As you are no doubt aware, we are coming into the season of Matariki. Perhaps five or ten years ago I don’t think that I’d ever heard of Matariki, and now we have a public   holiday to celebrate. Many of our public holidays in Aotearoa/New Zealand revolve around the church   calendar…

In Gods creation we have four seasons in each year, all of them different but each year has a purpose. We tend to describe winter in words such as cold, freezing, bleak, raw, chilly, dark and frosty, a time when its hard to get motivated and tasks seem to take more time to achieve. In…

Whenever we explore something there is always the opportunity to learn something new or see something in a different light. We find that our learning and experiences can change and form us, making us into the person, and also the people that Christ made us to be. The following poem by David Moxon can be…

Last Sunday evening our family had a great time at the Illuminate Light & Sound Experience in the Botanical Garden. One of my favourite displays was the giant Astronaut and planets from our solar system. We often end up talking about space, our galaxy and the universe in our family. I think this is because…

At this week’s Presbytery Council meeting our Moderator, Rev. Phyll    Harris, gave a devotion on Exodus 6:6-8. In these three short verses, through Moses, God  outlines his promises for the captive people of Israel. There are three “I am” phrases: One at the beginning, one at the end, and one at the centre of the…