Thought for the week

Welcome to our special combined service and Annual General Meeting this morning. The AGM will follow at the conclusion of the service. The purpose of the AGM is to elect parish councillors, receive reports on the activities of the past year and to approve the budget for the coming year. All members and associate members…

Welcome to our services of worship today. Catherine and I have just returned from a very refreshing holiday on the Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba) and a 7-day cruise to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. One of the best things about our holiday was the decision not to activate our phones for Australia. This meant we had no…

It’s Father’s Day!! Many of us know the characteristics of a good father. A good father is loving. They care about the well-being of their children; they want the best for their children and they are the biggest supporter of their children fulfilling their purpose in life. God is no different. But then how do…

Speaking to people this week a comment that has often been made,  apart from the coolness of the weather, is how quickly this year has gone or they say we no sooner start this week and it is the weekend again.  Modern technology and communication, modes of transport and automatic appliances have all contributed to…

Welcome to our services this morning. We especially welcome the Timaru 3rd Girls Brigade Co to Trinity and Lois Shipley who will be leading worship. Outstanding people are often honoured in halls of fame. We have these for sports people, musicians and artist. In the Timaru District Council chambers there is a wall of portraits…

I have just come back from 11 days in Nelson attending the Caleb Leadership Course which is designed to grow and sharpen leadership skills in areas of relationships, communication, motivation, management, creativity and decision making. Some of the material was familiar to me and so was a good refresher, while much was new learning for…

Last week we were looking at the prayer that Jesus taught us in Luke 11. The Lord’s prayer is a model that covers the bases of what it means to orient our lives towards God in prayer. But the writer Henri Nouwen has a challenge for us when we are inclined to stick to prayer-in-general:…

Perhaps the biggest news in the world this week is the announcement of a new Prime Minister in the United Kingdom.  While each of us may have differing views on Boris Johnson and the bigger picture of Brexit, the whole saga reminds me of a deep paradox in our human lives. On one hand our…

Welcome to our services today at Trinity and St Stephen’s. If you are  visiting with us, I hope you find our services engaging, inspiring and even challenging!  Last Sunday we enjoyed a combined service at Trinity but I had to leave early in order to get to Ashburton for a congregational meeting to call a…

This week I will be preaching out at Pleasant Point.  We’re thinking about what it means to belong to the Body of Christ, based around the call of the prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 3, and the apostle Paul’s description of the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12. Thinking about this, I was reminded…