Month: June 2022

We looked at Pauls journeys in Acts 16.  Lydia and possibly the jailer get referred to as ‘people of peace’. The reference is to the phrasing in Luke 10:5-6 where Jesus sends his disciples out. The writer reckons “The Person of Peace is someone God has prepared for that specific time. It is no good trying to force open doors that God has not opened, and we must not be distracted so that we miss the doors he has opened.” How would we spot someone like that ? What would be some clues ? Can you think of anyone like this in your life? What space do you have for them ?

Notes prompted from the book “The patient ferment of the early church” by Alan Kreider. I think there are three main areas of discussion : 1) The early church saw patience as being crucial. Do we ? How patient are we ? Why ?    They saw it as being part of being faithful to God who was in control. Do we still think that? Why  or why not? 2) Visible difference. When someone became a christian they were often visibly different to others around them. This was both a result of their faith habits, and of the fact that mostly they lived in settings where you could see the difference (no tall fences).  How is that different to our…

This weeks message is an exploration of how we could respond to the new holiday Matariki. How do you feel about it ? We’ve explored 1 Cor 8-10 and Pauls response to the issue of meat being sacrificed to idols. What did you think of Pauls response ? Do you find yourself approaching the new with fear ? Is Paul right to say that other god’s aren’t really gods at all ? The following is an extract from a Christian Mission’s booklet talking of Matariki. read it out – do you agree ? Would you agree with it ? Let’s celebrate Matariki through a heart for Christ. For Mäori, Matariki was a time to harvest the crops and to celebrate the providence…