Six Step Process for Healing Confession

John Ortberg in his book the Life You’ve Always Wanted breaks up the process of confession into a six step process. First step – preparation. We begin by placing ourselves in the care of the Spirit and asking for help.  Key point – to see sin as God sees it (agree with God ) involves the Holy Spirit – it involves taking time to be still and let the Holy Spirit show us the parts of us that God wants to work on at the moment.  We tend to be too hard or too soft on our sin so we need the Holy Spirit to show us the sin from Gods perspective.  We need the Holy Spirit to have a…

Youth Ministry Team

At the start of every term the Youth Ministry team gets together. We debrief the term that’s gone and get ready for the one to come. It always involve food, laughter, fun and prayer. This year our theme has been taken form the Hobbit books (and movie) “An Unexpected Journey”

I Never promised you a Rose Garden

For those who are interested , last Sunday we played a rap song by Shad called Rose Garden.  It came from musing on why Mark sandwiches the story of the death of John the Baptist into the middle of the sending out of the disciple’s story in Mark 6. There was a sense that Mark wants us to eat a ‘reality sandwich, toR know that things don’t always go easy or the way we want.   He wasn’t promising us a Rose Garden. Listen to the song, and let the lyrics wash over you, and you’ll see what sticks. And for those who want to know what he said here are the lyrics : I didn’t promise you a rose…

ParkWHAT? Unplugged 2016

Last year we had our first ever Unplugged Camp – a chance to get away and spend some time getting to know God – using different Spiritual Disciplines.  This year we didn’t get away, but stayed put at church and committed to digging deeper into the riches of God. It is always amazing and encouraging to see young people seeking God an in such ways as stillness, confession, solitude and silence.

ACTIV8 Photo of the Week

PIZZA Night…..over 30 young people making pizzas and of course eating them. Great work team and great patience as we rotated in and out of the kitchen.  I never knew that Baked Beans was an option for a pizza topping! 

AMPED CAMP 2016

Ok ACTIV8 peeps…..AMPED Camp is happening at the end of the term.

Honour ?

6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on…

ACTIV8 Picture of the Week

It’s crazy to think we are already three events into the term!!  Friday night was a blast with 36 young people cramming into cars and racing around the neighbourhood to see who made the best hot chips!!  That’s right it was our infamous “HOT CHIP HUNT”, it’s amazing how much salt and grease a young person can eat!!  By the time we returned to church some were already done and had chips to spare!!

Where Jesus is …

A famous British theologian is often approached Americans asking him to fit into their theological labels. He tells this story “There is an old story about a gang of youths in Belfast stopping an Indian gentleman on the street. “Are you a Catholic or a Protestant?” they demand. “I’m a Hindu!” he answers. “Okay,” they say, “but are you a Catholic Hindu or a Protestant Hindu?” He tells the story to highlight how sometimes questions come from your background and where you live and goes on to say ?So, am I a fundamentalist creationist or an atheistic scientist? Answer: I’m a Brit.” Remember this story, because today we’re looking at the Bible, but also at something unique about New Zealand…

Be Still – Mark 4:35-41 Study Notes

In life we face storms, some that we can see coming others that surprise us. Jesus can be trusted to be with us in the storm, and may even calm it for us.