Pastors Letter (Page 21)

Dear friends As we kicked off term 4 a couple of weeks ago our Young Adults group decided Ecclesiastes would be a fun book for us to study for the term. I don’t know if you’ve read it recently or are familiar with the book, but it’s a deep reflection from a “teacher” who’s struggling with big questions. In the first few lines of the…

Dear friends Last Sunday we started to talk about church health – particularly, how we could know if what we think is God working in our midst is actually God’s work, or not. Jonathan Edwards, the US pastor from the 1700s, asked the same question of the revivals that were happening in his time.  What are the distinguishing marks of a work of God’s Holy Spirit? We…

Dear friends I’m writing the pastoral letter this week on Wednesday morning, and I’ve just been flicking through the news articles following the budget which was handed down last night. Big tax cuts, money for infrastructure and incentives for businesses to hire people seemed to be the big news stories – all designed to get our economy going again as we…

Dear friends Over the last few weeks I have been sharing some insights from John Flavel’s little book, Keeping the Heart, which is an extended reflection on Proverbs 4.23 – “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”  Last week I shared six particular actions Flavel recommended as helpful in guarding the heart. The initial element of…

Dear friends Last week I began to share with you some thoughts from John Flavel’s little book, “Keeping the Heart:  How to maintain your love for God”. The book itself is a reflection on Proverbs 4.23 – “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Initially Flavel makes the point that only a heart that has been regenerated by God’s Holy…

Dear friends With Matt preaching his series through Acts, over the last few weeks I have been able to spend a bit more time reading.  One book I have returned to is a book by a man by the name of John Flavel called “Keeping the Heart”.  Its subtitle is “How to maintain your love for God”. Now John Flavel is probably not familiar to many, if any, of you.  He was an English…

Dear friends I thought I’d take the opportunity this week to give you a quick update on our kids and youth ministries. In a crazy year both of these areas have been hit with some pretty big challenges. Those of you who watched our online services will remember our “Kids Zone” segments which we know were a big hit with our families and a lot of fun for…

Dear friends This week I was speaking with a pastor-friend and he mentioned someone he knew who was dying of cancer.  I was encouraged as he spoke of how her hope in God for the resurrection transformed the manner in which she approached death.  While obviously there is great grief and pain she endures these things knowing that the best is yet to come.  Christ’s…