On Sunday 22nd May we started a brand new sermon series. It’s based in the book of 1 Thessalonians and we’re calling it Blood, Sweat and Tears. 

This book is a celebration of a church that against all odds is standing up for Jesus and growing in maturity. Paul had to flee and didn’t return. They didn’t get the input he would have wanted them to have. They were experiencing severe persecution and yet Paul finds them standing firm. So what does it take to be a church of robust Jesus followers that press ahead in the midst of change and hardship? The answer is a gritty approach where we dare to share Jesus, where we live imitable lives and where we agonise in prayer, determined to see others mature. It’s a church more at home in a boxing ring than an armchair. It’s a church that’s giving everything to help as many people as possible follow Jesus. It’s a church of blood, sweat and tears.

In preparation for this series, why not try and read through the book of 1 Thessalonians each week. It’s only 5 chapters long and it’s so much easier to engage with scripture when it’s familiar. We’re looking forward to us growing together as disciples of Jesus through this series.

Christians Against Poverty is an incredible organisation that comes alongside people struggling with unmanageable debt. Through CAP, we can reach out and help those who are doing it tough in our local community. Our Debt Coaches are passionate about seeing people released from poverty and living life to the full, so if you are interested in being a part of something bigger, please get in touch. Lesley has just become a Debt Coach with CAP and she recently did an interview about it on our online service which you can check it out by clicking here.

We always need Support Workers to visit clients alongside a Debt Coach and take on the role of friend to the client. This can be just for one client, you don't need to commit to multiple clients. We also need people to pray, make meals, and help with gardens or other practical ways. If you’d like to know more about getting involved in CAP please let us know

One of my favourite stories in Scripture is Peter walking on water (Matt 14:22-36). It’s hard to imagine what it must have felt like to tentatively ease out of the boat and trust that the liquid lake would take his weight. It had never worked before but at the invitation of Jesus, Peter dared to try.

Maybe it’s the reason the song Oceans has been precious to me in recent years. It draws on the imagery of Peter and invites us to dare and dream.

“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders.
Let me walk upon the waters, wherever you would call me.”

My life has been punctuated by trust without borders moments. Times like selling up in the UK to move to New Zealand or stepping into the Senior Pastor role. The thing I love about these steps is that you get to see God move in miraculous ways. There was a time when I wrote those stories down because I wanted to remember them all. I love to share them with people and watch their eyes bulge and jaws drop as God defies their logic.

But then I’m reminded of the story of a wealthy businessman who felt God tell him to give everything away. He was sharing in a church service one day about how he had been obedient to that nudge and then seen God restore it all back to him. As people sat amazed, the man sat down only to be tapped on the shoulder by an elderly lady who said, “I dare you to do it again.”

It’s easy to say that we trusted God once or to talk about things we’ve seen God do in the past. However, I have come to believe that every step of faith is preparation for a bigger step in future. Faith is not a once in a lifetime decision but a daily determination to trust God with more.

Think about the tragic entry of sin into Eden. Adam and Eve ate fruit in rebellion against God’s clear instruction. It was a moment when complete reliance on God turned into complete reliance on self and every one of us has followed this pattern ever since.

This is why I see faith as a journey. In our following of Jesus, God is working Eden out of us. He is weaning us off of self-reliance and teaching us that He is completely capable of the full weight of our trust. Perhaps this is why steps of faith feel so hard. We’re giving up control and placing our reliance on someone else. This is why worship, Scripture and prayer are so important. They enable us to discover more about our incredible and faithful God so that putting our trust in Him becomes the most obvious thing to do.

So what does stepping out of the boat look like for you today? Where do you notice a hesitancy to trust the Lord? I dare you to take the lyrics of Oceans and make it a prayer: “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders…” I wonder where that step will take you.

Simon

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This post is part of the Senior Pastor’s weekly blog. Go to the blog feed >>

Last Sunday was Vision Sunday. If you missed it we’d really encourage you to watch it here.

You may watch it and wonder what it means for us. We already are gathering locally and have been for 4 years. We want to encourage you to allow this Vision Sunday message to reinspire you with the reason we gather here in Miramar. The reason we’ve put in so much effort over the years to set up and pack down a service each week. Let’s allow the Lord to refresh this vision in our hearts and renew our commitment to the mission of helping people become total followers of Jesus Christ where we live.

The recent months of vaccine passes and traffic lights have highlighted the breadth of views that can exist in a church. We’ve realised that we don’t always see eye-to-eye and I wonder how many of us were unnerved by this. Maybe we’ve struggled to reconcile being in community with people with whom we strongly disagree. Shouldn’t we just get along?

I want to gently suggest that I’m not sure this is true.

The core tenets of the Christian faith - those things someone has to believe in order to be a Christian - can be boiled down to about seven statements. Seven! That’s it. It leaves us with a lot of things we can see differently.

Secondly, the church has always been diverse. The very first church was drawn from a long list of different countries requiring the gospel message to be spoken in different languages. We can’t even rely on ethnicity or nationality to find common ground.

But finally, and perhaps most significantly, the church is made up of real people. It’s the only gathering where the requirement to belong is an acknowledgement that you don’t deserve to. It means none of us are perfect. We won’t always react very well and at times we’ll say things we really shouldn’t.

But, shouldn’t the church be different to the wider culture? Shouldn’t we be able to show people a different way? Of course. But perhaps our point of difference is not in the way we avoid disagreement but in the way we seek to resolve it when it happens.

For a start, we’re committed to one another. Baptism is the entry point into the church and it demonstrates that we’re committed to the people of the church. It means we don’t just walk away when it gets too hard. We don’t exclude people from relationship just because we disagree.

But I also take comfort from the fact that Jesus saw this coming. He gave us a daily prayer that includes the phrase… “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt 6:12). Jesus knew that we would disagree at times. He knew we’d fall out as we smooth one another’s rough edges. But he invites us to take these issues daily to prayer and ask Him to help us forgive those who sin against us.

I have found it helpful in recent weeks to use the Lord’s Prayer as a framework to guide my own prayer. Can I invite us all into this rhythm of prayer and forgiveness as a gift to one another and a powerful testimony to the world.

Simon

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This post is part of the Senior Pastor’s weekly blog. Go to the blog feed >>

9 Hania St, Mt Victoria
Worship Centre
10am Sundays

66 Albemarle Road, Northland
Cardinal McKeefry School
10am Sundays

17 Spey Place, Papakowhai
Papakowhai School
10am Sundays

180 Hill Road, Belmont
Maranatha School
10am Sundays

Simon and Jenny have introduced to the website a weekly blog. The idea is to share what is going on in the head and heart of the Senior Pastors and to speak into the current season.

You can read the blog here.

We are excited to inform you that we have released a new church app that replaces our old one. It’s called “Church Center”; you can find it in the Apple App Store and Android Google Play Store for free. This new app will be the place to sign up for events, see what groups you’re in and catch up on sermons. You’ll also be able to update your contact details so we can contact you. We’ll continue to add more features over the next few months. For example, you’ll need it to register for the Couplehood during Parenthood seminar that’s coming up. We’ll gradually use it more over the next few months. 

If you don’t have a smartphone, no worries. You can also connect through the Church Center website. Download it and log in today using the email address you have on file at The Street.

If you have any issues logging in, please contact us.

As you listen to Simon and Jenny’s Vision Sunday message, you’ll hear how much we value every person playing their part in our Sunday gatherings. Not just to get things done, but because our church is a richer community when we do.

How could you be more involved in contributing to a Sunday service if you’re not already?

We’d love to welcome you onto one of our serving teams if you’re not already on one. Please get in touch for a chat if you’d like to get more involved!

I love an inspirational quote. Things that encourage me to step up and out. The Bible is full of verses that can inspire us too. Many people share them as memes, write them in journals or even get them as tattoos.

And there’s nothing necessarily wrong with this. All of these things can be really helpful. But living these things out can be a different challenge.

As I read Joshua 1, one of the things that stands out to me the most is that five times God commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous. Five times! I think God really needed Joshua to remember it.

Strong and courageous is a pretty inspiring phrase but if we’re not careful, it can easily stay as just a phrase and little more. The reason is because of what it takes to actually live it out.

I don’t need strength and courage to eat ice-cream and watch Netflix. Instead, I really need strength and courage when there is every reason to be weak and afraid.

We need strength and courage to stand out as followers of Jesus. We need it to allow God to challenge an area of our lives. We need it as a church right now to step into the opportunities that God is opening up to us.

Joshua needed it because he was to lead God’s people into a land of giants. But what I also find interesting is that God wasn’t commanding Joshua to find it in himself and he isn’t asking us to either.

The secret is found in the other phrase that’s repeated in chapter 1 - “I will be with you.” God could ask Joshua to be strong and courageous because of the promise of His presence.

If this could be true of Joshua, how much more for us who have believed Jesus? The one who not only rose from the dead but has given us the Holy Spirit - the very power, presence and person of God in our lives.

We can be strong because we believe in the power of God. We can dare to do courageous things because we believe God is faithful. We can step out even when there’s every reason to be afraid because God has promised to never leave us or forsake us.

So what is the step you need to take today that is strong and courageous?

Simon

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This post is part of the Senior Pastor’s weekly blog. Go to the blog feed >>

I love optical illusions. Like the sketch of the duck that is also a rabbit. Two people can look at exactly the same set of lines and come to different conclusions about what is there.

In Numbers 13, twelve spies are sent out to scope the land that God has promised His people. They all see huge bunches of grapes and they all see giants. Joshua and Caleb see the opportunity God is giving them while the other ten see the scary giants that made them feel like grasshoppers. The ten spies have the louder voice and Israel stays in the desert. They saw the same set of facts and came to wildly different conclusions.

We all face situations like this every day. Do we focus on an awkward conversation or the opportunity to reconcile a relationship? Do we focus on the sacrifice of obedience or the freedom that results? Do we see a sickness or the opportunity to pray for healing?

It’s also true for us as a church right now. We’ve spent the past few months making incredible progress towards potential new locations. It’s like we’ve been scoping out the land. We see obstacles like buildings, leaders and discomfort. We see huge opportunities like reaching people in our city and deeper discipleship relationships. So where should we focus?

The interesting thing is that the next generation was led by Joshua. He sent out spies again who would have seen similar fruit and similar giants. But those spies discovered that God was already at work in unseen ways, preparing the way for His people. The people of the land had already heard about God’s power and knew nothing could stop His people.

The truth is that all of us are engaged in a work of God that is bigger than us. None of us has the power to open a single person’s eyes to Jesus or help anyone become more like Jesus. The challenges will always be too big for us. The only way we can ever make any progress is to step out in faith and trust God to work by grace in us and through us.

So what will we choose? Let’s choose faith.

Simon

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This post is part of the Senior Pastor’s weekly blog. Go to the blog feed >>

As a country we are currently at COVID level orange. This is what it means for us:

• There is no limit for indoor or outdoor gatherings.

• You do not need to wear a face mask at a gathering, but it is encouraged.

• Workers and volunteers at gatherings must wear face masks 

We will continue to ensure the hall at Hobart Street is well ventilated when we gather and there will be plenty of hand sanitiser available.

Simon and Jenny give an update on some opportunities The Street will explore this year.
We have learnt to do church differently due to the pandemic. How can we retain the best things from our new experience going forward?

With the number limits increased, we will now go back to one gathering on a Sunday evening at 5pm! You may wonder, why not 6pm as it has always been? WELL, we feel this is an awesome opportunity for hospitality. With an earlier gathering it gives everyone time and space to make dinner plans afterwards. This time change will happen for the next Large Gathering on Sunday 24th April. There will also be no need to register from that gathering either. 

This Easter we are going to do something a little bit different. We want to help each one of us journey through the few days of Easter right through to resurrection Sunday.

Starting Thursday we will be sharing a short devotion video each day for you to engage with as an individual, family or friend group so that we can really push into all that Easter means for us.

You’ll be able to find the devotions on social media, and also right here on the website at www.thestreet.org.nz/sermons . (They are in the series called “Easter”)

Then, on Easter Sunday, we’ll CELEBRATE that Jesus is risen! You’ll be able to do that in person at Hobart Street, or online!

Let’s adore Jesus together this Easter.

If you missed our in-person and online services on Sunday (10th), Simon and Jenny gave a Senior Pastor update that it would be awesome for you to see.

Although we are now back to one service on Sundays, our serving teams have taken a big hit - for many reasons, not just COVID. Can we ask you to consider getting involved if you don’t already have a Sunday serving role? This season more than ever we all need to play our part. 

We are working hard with ministry leaders to streamline things where we can, but we do require a bare minimum of about 11 people just to make things happen on a Sunday.

Please get in touch for a chat if you think you can help!