Our world is addicted to comfort and allergic to suffering. We run after what feels good, making emotions the litmus test for right and wrong and making anything that hurts or appears difficult something to be eliminated rather than worked through. Resilience is lacking, anxiety permeates our culture, and it has infected the church, making us unprepared to cope with suffering and persecution. And we must be prepared. Blind optimism is insufficient in the face of suffering; we must have something solid on which to stand, something to put our hope in when all hope seems lost - and we do. His name is Jesus. Hear Simon’s heart of why we’re teaching into 1 Peter in this video.

I love the feeling when I open the box on a brand new pair of running shoes - bright, colourful, blemish free; the feeling when I stand back and admire the car that I’ve (finally) cleaned; the feeling when I tidy my desk and it’s free from clutter. The cathartic feeling of everything being perfectly in place—as it should be. What about for you?

I’ve been wondering why this is. I think it has to do with a deep desire for the world to be as it should be. God created a world of peace, prosperity and security. Shalom. A world as it should be, perfectly set up for us to thrive. But sin means that this is not the world we’ve ever fully experienced and there’s been a longing in our hearts to find shalom again.

The problem is that we’ll search in all sorts of places to fulfill this longing. We search in things that are temporary. The trainers will get scuffed, the car will get dirty, the desk will get untidy, and the search begins again. But rather than putting our hopes in the next spring clean or shopping spree, can I suggest we use these moments to remind our souls of the hope we have in Jesus. That one day he will return to rule over a world made right. To bring about a new heavens and a new earth that won’t ever fade away. To enable us to live forever in shalom.

As Paul wrote, “so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Where have you been searching for that feeling of a world made right? Why not offer that to the Lord today and fix your eyes on the future hope we have in Jesus.

Much love,
Simon

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

Did you know we have an amazing set up team that get all the AV equipment set up each week? The team has dwindled down to only 6 people, and a few of them are going to be away over the next few months, so we are in desperate need of a couple more people to join the team.

It involves arriving at 8am to help get the screens and speakers set up at the front of the church. Usually, you’ll be done by about 8.45, and you’d be free to go home and come back for the start of the service. You then need to stay and help pack down at the end which is normally done by 12. You don’t need to be a weight lifter, but you do need to be physically able and able to lift things - male or female!

Please get in touch if you’re able to go on the roster, even if it’s just over the next 3 or 4 months. Email eastadmin@thestreet.org.nz

Thanks!

If you missed the interview with Ben and Bekah Baker who serve as missionaries in Thailand with CRU, you can check out their interview with Jerram here. Please be praying for them and all of our missionaries. You can find a handy graphic below with details of all The Street’s missionaries

With all we are learning about Money in our current sermon series, we have the perfect follow up for you to take advantage of. CAP Money is a FREE budgeting course that is helpful for anyone who wants some advice about building a budget and being able to stick with it no matter your current financial situation. Register now for the next course which starts on Sunday 9th July. All the details and the link to register can be found under “events”.

Markus Bain was diagnosed with Guillian Barre Syndrome 3 years ago and we continue to pray for him to return to full health. It’s been a long road for Markus and the whole Bain family. Here are some things they would really appreciate us praying for specifically this week.

• He has surgery planned for 14th June to have gut reconstruction to close both stomas. Please pray that this surgery would be successful and that he would be able to poo by himself.

• Pray for protection from any respiratory illness before and after the surgery.

• Pray that he wouldn’t need emergency surgery before his op on 14th due to reoccuring prolapses of his intestine.

Thanks for praying whānau!

Are we nearly there yet? It’s a classic phrase associated with children on long journeys. When we hear a child say this, I think we tend to smile in a semi-patronising way. “Ah bless, kids just don’t get how long it takes to get somewhere.”

And yet I wonder how often God has to be gracious with us because we’re asking the same question.

We’re on a journey as a church towards being locally present in communities around the city. One of the challenges that’s taking longer than I hoped is working out the nature of how these can be led and who can do it. I know that God can answer our prayers in a moment. I know he can produce a solution out of thin air. However he hasn’t yet done so.

Are we nearly there yet? “Ah bless,” says God to me!

The thing I’m learning is that whatever challenge is in front of us won’t be a challenge forever. What feels like it’s going on for eternity is only actually temporary. And yet God is using the trials in our life to form a Christ-like character that will go on forever. He’s using this season in our church to mature and purify His bride and to prepare her to be with Him forever. He’s more interested in working in us than in the situation.

It’s here that we begin to understand the origins of the phrase, “God is in the waiting.” Waiting for us is so often pointless. The traffic in the morning, the queue for security, the endless waiting on hold. But when God allows us to wait, we can be sure that His timing is perfect and He’s doing what He promised. “...he who began a good work in you will carry on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:9).

So be encouraged in the waiting and follow the words of Paul: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12).

Much love,
Simon

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

Last year we mentioned the Open Home Foundation is in urgent need of more foster parents in Wellington. Jerram sat down with Leanne Singh from OHF last year to get a little more understanding of what fostering entails (which you can see here). 

OHF is holding an information evening where you can learn more about fostering and ask any burning questions you may have. 

Date: Thursday 8 June from 730-830pm

Venue: Level 1, 119 Queens Drive, Lower Hutt

RSVP by 1 June to leanne.singh@ohf.org.nz

In 2022 we wrote and produced a Prepare for Marriage course for engaged couples. We realised there are many aspects of a pre-marriage course that are beneficial to revisit throughout the stages of marriage. Therefore, we have modified the Prepare for Marriage course with married couples in mind, and encourage married people to set aside time to go back to basics and refresh your marriage from the foundational building blocks and beyond.

There is an option to attend a short course at 9 Hania Street on the 26th of June and 10th of July. Or option two will be to complete the course at home in your own time.

To register for either option, go to the events icon on the Church Center app or you can register via the link under “Events” in this newsletter. The cost per couple, whether you do it in person or at home, is $15 to cover the cost of the workbooks. (If cost is an issue, please let us know.)

One of the things I would love to see is every single person at The Street Church having a daily habit of reading Scripture. Although there are sometimes days that I miss, it’s a habit I’ve had for many years and it’s genuinely life changing.

I wonder if for some of us, this seems an unattainable challenge. Finding that amount of time in an already overcrowded schedule can seem impossible. And yet, all I said was a daily habit, not a daily amount. I believe that it’s great to try and read the Bible each year. There can also be great benefit in reading large chunks of Scripture at one time. However, the most important thing is to develop a daily habit, even if it’s something small. And sometimes it’s actually the small that is most helpful.

This week I was rushing through James and got stopped barely out of the first paragraph.

“Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…” (James 1:2)

It’s so counterintuitive. I can decide to count trials as pure joy, not because they are pleasant, but because God is using them to transform me into a perfect and complete person just like Jesus. It completely changed my perspective and my prayers around the trials in my life right now.

It was a profound insight for me and yet it came as I reflected on just a few verses. Alternatively there are days when I read a lot and remember nothing. You see the goal is not simply that we know more about Scripture but that we’re equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). My encouragement is therefore to build a habit. To make sure you’re reading and reflecting on God’s word, even if it’s just one paragraph a day.  Small habits done consistently yield big results over time. Why not start today.

Much love,
Simon

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

A great way to engage with the Word of God daily is to follow the Bible in One Year Readings! You can either see them digitally from here and screenshot them, or pick up hard copy at a Mt Vic/Night service.

Money is a subject people are really private about. At the same time, it’s an important issue that affects many aspects of our lives. This is especially true as the cost of living continues to rise in our country. It’s not a subject we can continue to avoid. After all, Jesus talked about it a lot!

According to Jesus, how we see money and what we do with money are a strong indicator of what’s going on in our hearts. It affects the sort of Jesus followers we are becoming. We need therefore to take time to talk about money together, to understand God’s perspective and to encourage one another to honour God with all we have - even our money.

Watch this clip from Simon sharing his heart for this series

We’re excited to gather again together for an evening of encounter with the Lord through prayer and worship.

For now, get the date in you calendar and there will be more info coming soon.

On the theme of BLESS, here is a way you could serve people in our local community.

Do you have room to host short-term international male students in term 3? (The dollar amount is the amount you would get paid for hosting)

1. Chinese students (4) for 3 weeks at $350.00 per week from July 22 until August 10

2. Chinese student (1) for 5 weeks at $350.00 per week from July 22 until August 25

3. Japanese students (2) for 4 weeks at $350.00 per week from August 01 until August 30

4. Japanese student (1) for 6 weeks at $350.00 per week from July 16 until 26 August

5. Japanese students (3) for 1 term at $315.00 per week from 15 July until end of term 3.

If you’re interested, please call or text Virginia Wilson from Rongotai College on 027 338 2837

The Street Church has launched podcasts! We have uploaded 500 sermons from the last 10 years so that you can now listen to sermons past and present from whatever device you usually access podcasts from. You will find The Street Church on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you access any of our more recent sermons from Spotify, you’ll also find them available as videos. Happy listening!

At Together last Sunday, Simon and Jenny introduced us to a tool as we each seek to play our part in the mission of our church by becoming disciples who multiply. The tool is called “BLESS” and you can hear its creator Dave Fergusson explaining it here in this video.

We gave out bookmarks on Sunday to remind us to do one thing from BLESS every day. I wonder what you have been doing this week?

Sunday 21 May - 10 am - 12 pm

Together is today, at Wellington High School! Here are some things you need to know:

• Doors open at 9.30 so please get there for 9.30 especially if you have children to check-in (there are going to be lots of people to get in and get seated)

• The main car park is at 1 Wallace Street but there will not be enough space for everyone to park there. There will be reserved mobility parking at the car park on Wallace Street.

If the main car park is full, there will be helpful car park attendants who will be able to direct you to alternative parking at the Dominion Museum Building, 15 Buckle Street. 

Please make sure you allow plenty of time! Another alternative for parking is to park at 21 Hania Street and walk over; it’s about a 10-15 minute walk. 

• If you have forgotten to register please just show up - there is space for about 150 extra people. If you have kids and you haven’t registered you will need to find someone on the door on Sunday morning to find out if there is space in the relevant programme for them.

• Other than that, we can’t wait to see you there! It’s going to be an amazing time together!

You may have arrived at this page because you've Googled "Shincheonji" and you're looking for answers. Perhaps you've heard about this new 'church' and want to know what it's all about? Or someone from Shincheonji - known as SCJ - has told you about it, but you want to know more?

Maybe you are part of SCJ,and you want to get out but don't know how? Or you recently left SCJ and you're looking for answers and some guidance, maybe a safe place to be for a while?

However you arrived at this page, please keep reading. What we want to say to you is so important for your freedom and for your spiritual life.

A quick look around Google and you will find dozens of articles and YouTube videos explaining that SCJ is a cult that has brainwashed its people and caused devastating harm to individuals and families through its extreme religious requirements and manipulative methods of recruiting people (fake Bible studies full of SCJ members posing as people who are exploring faith, for example). There is nothing about SCJ that delivers the freedom to believers promised by Jesus Christ in John 8:36, "Whom the Son sets free will be free indeed."

The Street Church is not unique in having experience with SCJ. Over the past years, numerous SCJ 'recruiters' have come to our church services - and many others - in order to 'convert' people to the SCJ way. We have also met with people who have left SCJ and are looking for answers and a place to heal and make sense of what they have been through.

Wherever you are at in your experience with SCJ, we want you to know that we are a safe place for you. We would love to meet with you (if you want someone to speak with) or simply provide a haven for you to heal and reorient yourself as you establish your life outside of SCJ. The Lord Jesus Christ said he came to give us “life to the full” (John 10:10b). You’ve been robbed of that freedom by SCJ, and we’d love to introduce you to this life!

So, if you have questions or are in Wellington and you need help getting out of SCJ, please email us office@thestreet.org.nz or call us on 04 385 7315.

We are delighted to offer a pastoral role to support our Night location team while our current pastor, Anna, is on maternity leave. This temporary position presents an excellent opportunity for a motivated individual to make a meaningful contribution to our church community.

As a member of our Night location team, you will play a key role in ensuring that our Night location runs smoothly. Working closely with our Lead Pastor, Tom Field, you will receive guidance and support as you take on this temporary pastoral role, where you will have the chance to learn and develop new skills while providing valuable support to our staff team and congregation.

If you are interested in this pastoral role, we encourage you to review the cover letter and job description for more information. If you believe this would be a good fit for you, we invite you to apply by filling out the provided application form. We look forward to hearing from you and potentially welcoming you to our Night location team.

Sadly the Davies family (David, Laura, Megan, Avery and Bryce) will soon be leaving us and going back to the US. They have been at East since the day we started, and we will miss them a lot. Their last Sunday here will be Sunday 21 May and there will be a chance to say goodbye to them that afternoon, as the Marks family will host a drop-in at their home between 1.30 - 3.30pm.

If you would like to see them at Nick and Kathryn’s on 21 May, please let the Marks know on 021 027 78814 and they can give you the address.