We want to be a church constantly learning to love one another like Jesus has loved us. This is the hallmark of Christian community. In fact, the term ‘one another’ comes up around 60 times in the New Testament so it’s an important theme we’ll continue to revisit again and again. Loving like Jesus loved us can’t be practised if church is just an event on Sunday. This has to go deeper than simply a shared faith. This can only be worked out in the intimacy, joy, and mess of real church community. In this series we begin the journey by looking at three areas that need to be informed by a sacrificial love for one another: hospitality, conflict and singleness. Join us from 27th August for this important new series.

Our missionary couple in Mexico, Rachel Duff and Nelson Carreño need to increase their financial support for the coming year. This is for a number of reasons, for instance, the exchange rate has dropped by 20% since 2019, which has had a big impact on Rachel's budget. Their living costs have increased with them now shared between 2 people, not a group of flatmates as previously. Also, all outreach expenses are covered by Rachel and Nelson themselves. Rach is involved with the Medical Ship ministries and when the ship is deployed, it costs her up to USD$20 per day for ten-day voyages.

If this is something you would like to do, either as a one-off or as regular support, get in touch with Merrie at missions@thestreet.org.nz and she can pass on the details for GC3, who manage their funds in NZ.

There’s a theme in the New Testament that we’ve neglected over the years and I’m not sure why. It’s the area of ‘one anothers’. Jesus made our sacrificial love for one another the ultimate measure of how we interact as a church community when he washed the disciples’ feet and told them to follow his example.

I don’t think he was making a rule of foot washing (although that would make Life Group interesting). Rather footwashing was the most humble and sacrificial way of serving someone else and putting their needs ahead of your own. The question that arises for us is, what ‘foot washing’ needs to be done for the people around you? As pastor and author, Andy Stanley often says, “what does love require of me?”

It’s in this light that I’ve reflected on the relationship of David and Jonathan this week. Over the years, I have found encouragement that when David was in a dark and difficult time he “found strength in the LORD his God” (1 Sam 30:6).

It’s something I’ve tried to emulate when I am in a dark and difficult time. But this week I’ve noticed something deeper. You see, it wasn’t the first time David had been distressed. Not long before, David was fleeing for his life and, “Jonathan went to David…and helped him find strength in God” (1 Sam 23:16).

Finding strength in God was something that Jonathan knew how to do and he showed David. In fact, he showed him so well that, from then on, David knew how to do it for himself. The Psalms are full of David’s songs about finding refuge with God. Could it be that the gift of this theme in the Psalms to us is the result of Jonthan’s service of David? Do we have more to thank Jonathan for than we’ve realised?

David and Jonathan’s relationship was rich and deep but we shouldn’t be surprised by this because it was a relationship forged in trials. I wonder how much richer church community will become as we seek to serve one another in and through times of distress. Who are the David’s in your world right now? Who are the followers of Jesus in your world who are struggling? How can you help them find strength in God? 

Much love,

Simon

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

The apostle Paul was a man who knew what it was like to be pushed and pulled by different circumstances and yet it was this movement that led hm to a profound conclusion:

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14).

Paul knew that while he was being pushed around by circumstances, God was at work spreading the message of Jesus through his ministry. As we emerged from the most significant Covid restrictions in the early part of this year, there is a sense in which we have been pushed around. And yet our confidence is in how God has worked through the very circumstances we would never have chosen and has done so for his own purposes and glory.

It was therefore important for us to learn everything we could about the church from what we had been through. Times of trouble often lead people to turn in or shrink back and we were determined to do neither. We were concerned at how much Covid revealed a lack of depth in discipleship and in connection with one another. Rather than try to bring back everything we did pre-Covid, we felt that the future needed to be focused on the main things like a simple devotion to Jesus, a commitment to discipleship, a determination to share the Gospel more broadly, and a deepening of our service of the poor and marginalised in our city.

Covid also brought about an opportunity to progress our multi-site strategy more quickly than we could have previously imagined. The local gatherings that began as a response to vaccine passes gained traction and afforded deeper connection among people and greater accessibility to people in the local community. By the end of the year, there was a determination to keep these going alongside a great need to develop and establish strong and sustainable local leadership.

2022 was a year that we would not have designed for ourselves and it did not pass without significant challenges. Yet there is a sense that it was a year we needed because it enabled God to bring about a direction that we would not have thought possible. As he continues to build his church and use us to spread the aroma of him everywhere, may he grant us the faith to keep trusting him in the midst of uncertainty and change.

Much love,

Simon & Jenny Gill
Senior Pastors

Hopefully you’ve caught up with the news that we will lose the use of the Miramar Uniting Building after 8th October this year. We have begun to make various enquiries and don’t have anything to report so far. Please keep praying for this process that the Lord would provide the right place for the next season for us as a Location.

Thanks to those who came to St Aidan’s last Sunday evening to pray together with the other churches of our local area. It was a really precious time of prayer and worship as we united our hearts as followers of Jesus across our suburbs. Please look out for the next one of these events as we continue to strive for unity with the other churches around us.

“I completed a trip from Brisbane to Cairns on a push bike in July. It was 1903 km. The trip was a test of my gear, my physical strength, and my mental capacity to take on a much bigger trip: An overland bike tour from New Zealand to Denmark, where I grew up. The test trip was a success, so when you read this, I will be biking through Indonesia heading north through Southeast Asia.

I’m planning to go to church every Sunday if circumstances allow. I’m aware that some of the countries I will be travelling through are not as friendly towards Christians as New Zealand is. Today, 360 million Christians face persecution for their faith. Believers may be rejected, abused, imprisoned, or even killed – simply for following Jesus. If interested, there are ministries that support the persecuted church by providing Bibles, discipleship training, socio-economic development, and trauma care. They strengthen the most persecuted believers in some of the most difficult places to follow Jesus. I’m excited about the adventure ahead and all the people I’m going to meet and the stories I will get to tell.

I will be writing a blog here: https://gunillaelleholm.wixsite.com/blog. The blog will have no obvious mention of my faith, political opinions or position on women’s rights to protect those I meet on my way, and enable me to cross borders into certain countries. However, it is my hope that I may raise awareness about these things and inspire others to take on projects they didn’t think they could do. It would be great if you support me on my journey by praying for me.”

Everyday in our culture, there are challenges to the gospel. Was Jesus real? Did he really die? Do you actually believe he came to life again? 

But recently, I’ve noticed another challenge sneaking up. It’s not about how someone gets saved but whether we actually need saving at all.

I watched a video by a guy with cerebral palsy asking the question “Should I want to be fixed?” I write this not to call the guy out but because he asked some good questions that are worth considering.

For the most part, he was simply looking at the benefits of certain treatments to alleviate symptoms in the absence of a cure. But then came the conclusion. If I could be fixed, should I even want to be?

Let’s be clear. People with cerebral palsy are wonderful people and at the same time they have a condition involving the development of or damage to their brain. But our culture struggles to hold these truths at the same time. We are desperate to accept people for who they are - which is a good thing. But in doing so, we have collapsed our value and our health into the same thing. As such, it becomes offensive to call an aspect of ourselves imperfect - it feels like we are insulting our very identity.

Moreover, if our worldview has no future hope, we have to make the most of here and now. If this is all there is, we should embrace it and call it good.

As Christians, we offer something better in both cases.

We believe that every single human being is made in the image of God irrespective of age, stage, size, or condition. The person in front of you has inherent and infinite dignity, value and worth. The way we treat them is a reflection of how we treat God.

Secondly, we don’t need to pretend there’s nothing wrong. We can call out sickness as part of the fallen world. When we sense that things are not the way they should be, God agrees with us. You’re right, pain and suffering are real but it’s not the way things should be.

That’s the reason Jesus came. On the cross he paid the price for our sin and when we rose again, he gave us the sure hope that he will one day raise us too with bodies better than they have ever been and prepared to live forever in the suffering-free world he is bringing about. That’s the nature of Christian hope.

That’s the beauty of the gospel. Humanity is more valuable, this world is more broken and our hope is more incredible that any of us could imagine.  This is why our culture’s posture here is so dangerous—it dulls our desire for Jesus!

Where are you noticing the consequences of the fall being minimised? I wonder what God might lead you to do as you pray about that. Is there a question you could ask to promote conversation that moves people towards seeing Jesus afresh today?

Grace and peace,

Simon

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

We will be gathering as a whole church “TOGETHER” again later this year. So get it locked in your calendar - Sunday 29th October! More information nearer the time.

We were notified recently that there may be some cults door-knocking in the Strathmore area at the moment. This is just a reminder to be wise and ask many questions if you are invited to an event or Bible Study. If they are a genuine Christian church, they have no reason to be secretive or to avoid your questions. They should be able to tell you the name of the church and exactly who they are and what they do.

If you are ever in any doubt about a religious group's motives, practices, and teachings, ask questions, expect answers, and tell a friend.

You can also check out these videos we made a few years ago in response to the Shincheonji cult to help you spot a cult.

When we greet each other, it’s easy to use casual, throw away language that we don’t really mean. People say things like, ‘Hey, how you going?’ ‘Good, you?’ ‘Good.’ We’re not really asking how people are. We don’t want their life story, it’s just an extended hello.

We can make the same mistake with Scripture. At some point in the greeting of each of Paul’s letters, he includes the words grace and peace. They appear so often, it’s easy to skim over them. To assume there’s nothing really there. But rather than an extended hello, these words are laced with meaning.

Grace is God’s great enabler. I love this word and I know I talk about it a lot. But that’s because it’s so important and appears all the time. Grace is the way God works out everything in your life as a free gift. It’s the way He chooses you, justifies you, equips you to serve Him, changes you to be like Him. It’s the way He’ll raise you when Jesus returns. Grace is how God does everything in a way that comes our way for free.

Peace is another rich word. Peace is the condition of perfect prosperity and security. It is everything as it should be. It’s the condition of the world our souls long for and that Jesus is bringing about. It’s the state of our relationship with God. And whereas earthly peace is fleeting, God’s peace in your life enables a calm to resonate deep in your soul even when all around you is in turmoil.

It’s hard to imagine Paul could give a stronger greeting. It’s hard to imagine praying a more powerful prayer for one another. In fact, it’s the prayer I’ve been praying for our church this week. May God work powerfully in each of our lives as a free gift. May God give you a glimpse of the world to come in the inner recesses of your soul. I wonder what you’ll notice as God answers this prayer? I wonder what He’ll do as we pray it over one another.

Grace and peace,

Simon

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

We are delighted to inform you of some pastoral roles that we have available. Please find more details below on these roles and get in touch with the office if you would like more information or if you would like to have a conversation with someone about these roles.

Children's Pastor Role:

We are actively searching for a passionate and caring individual to join Emma Roche in supporting our Children's Ministry. This part-time position will play a significant role in shaping the spiritual growth of our children across all of our Locations. If you have a heart for children and a calling to guide them in their faith journey, we encourage you to prayerfully consider applying for this position. Applications for the Children's Pastor role will be open until the 14th of August.

Part-Time Location Pastors:

In line with our multi-location direction, we are appointing part-time Location Pastors for our East, Hutt, Porirua, and Mt Vic locations. If you sense that God is leading you to serve and lead the people of your Location, we would love to hear from you. The role involves being the primary leader of your Location and leading the location leadership team. This role will be under the guidance and support of our Senior Pastor, Simon Gill. These roles can be fulfilled on either a voluntary or paid basis. Applications for the part-time Location Pastors will remain open until the positions are filled.

We believe that each of these roles is an opportunity to serve and grow within our church family, and we are excited to see how God will work through these new additions to our team.

If you feel called to apply for any of these positions or desire more information about the roles, please contact the church office. We will be more than happy to provide you with the necessary details and, if needed, connect you with someone for a conversation about any of these opportunities.

I had the privilege of working with Nick Field for almost ten years and there was a phrase he would often say, “don’t drag the start line with you.” His point was that we can easily get discouraged at a lack of progress in our lives and the things around us. Change happens incrementally and we can fail to notice progress unless we look back far enough for a true comparison.

One of the ways that we can combat this is to take moments to reflect and celebrate along the way. When Israel crossed the Jordan, they stopped and built an altar to celebrate the progress and remember what God had done (Joshua 4:1-9). The job wasn’t finished—they hadn’t conquered a single territory within the promised land—but they stopped to celebrate that they had moved forward.

This is important for us as a church. Sunday’s whole-of-church announcement was not the end of the journey. We’ve managed to establish Jerram as a Location Pastor for West and yet there are still East, Mt Vic, Porirua and Hutt to go. I have found this discouraging in my own life.

And yet when I reflect back over a longer period of time I realise the things God has done to get us even to this point. The redeployment of a staff team to better serve all Locations was months of work. The number of people leaned in and enthusiastic about being part of the solution at Locations is far higher than last year. Each Location has wonderful teams of people taking the lead who are passionate about seeing God move in their local area. And the stories of people who have come to faith or are growing closer to Jesus are new compared to last year. These examples are like stones on the altar next to the Jordan. Stones that would be missed if I was only comparing what’s going on with last week. Instead, by looking back over a longer period of time, we get a better picture and find reason to praise.

It’s also true in our personal lives. We’re prone to discouragement because we feel like we’re still praying for the same problems and still wrestling with the same shortcomings. But I wonder how this might change if we were able to compare ourselves and the situations we’re in now with the beginning of this year, or even a year ago. If you keep a journal or a prayer diary, maybe have a look back to see what you were processing or praying for back then. If you don’t record things, maybe take a few moments to think back. For me, I keep things I’m praying for daily on a small card in my wallet (no fancy prayer app for me!) and it’s been so encouraging to see the prayers I’ve been able to cross off—not in the last week—but since January.

Can I encourage you to take a few moments this weekend and reflect on how the Lord has led you and how far you have come.

Much love,
Simon

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

In the service today (23 July), we will share an important update from Simon and Jenny about the latest developments around the leadership of Locations across The Street. If you miss it, it will be emailed out to the whole church on Monday so please check you’re emails so you can stay up to date with what’s happening. This is an important update so please be sure to check it out. If you’re not yet on our database and don’t receive emails from us, please click here to complete our welcome form.

We know the Church was designed to function with every person playing their part. It works best when everyone does a little bit to contribute. We wouldn’t be able to do anything without our incredible teams of volunteers, so if you serve on a team at The Street, a huge THANK YOU for what you do.

We'd love to hear from you if you don’t yet serve on a team. There are particular shortages at the moment in the following areas

• School-age Kids Zone programme

• Worship team

• Community Dinners (Wednesdays at 5.30 pm)

If you want to know more about one of these or another area, please get in touch. The easiest way is to open your “Church Center” app and click the “Join a team” button. Or you can email us at east@thestreet.org.nz.

Thanks!

We have a really exciting event coming up on 16 September called “Panorama”. Panorama is a Saturday seminar with Brad Carr that walks participants through the story of the Bible to gain an understanding of how the whole Bible fits together and how the stories, songs and promises work together to tell a unified story of God’s love. If you’re looking to improve your understanding of the Bible as a whole and how it fits together, this will be perfect for you. It costs $49 per person, including morning tea, and you can register through the link under “Events” in this newsletter.

This week we’ve been confronted with awful news of the shooting in Auckland that resulted in the deaths of three and injuries to others. In moments like this our hearts go out to the people involved but it can be hard to know how to respond.

Some people are tempted to wonder whether the series of events in Auckland (they’ve had a rough time with floods and storms as well) is some sort of punishment from God. But comments like this just aren’t helpful. Jesus specifically taught that disasters are not the result of the sin of a city (Luke 13:1-5). Rather they are part of the fallen world we live in and which Jesus is redeeming. So how should we respond?

Firstly, it’s right that we pray. As a staff we spend a lot of our Thursday prayer time specifically crying out to God for Auckland. In moments like this, I feel helpless and yet I know that God is not. When we pray, we invite the power and presence of the living God into the situation and that is no small thing.

Secondly, events like this remind us not to put our hope in this world. Whether we believe in Jesus or not, our lives are lived out in a broken world riddled with pain and suffering. However, our hope as Christians is not simply that ‘when I die I go to heaven’ but that Jesus is returning to bring about a new heavens and a new earth. A world made right where we will be with him forever. A world of perfect peace, provision, and security. It’s only with hope properly placed in our secure future that we’re prepared to live well through all the trials of this world.

Finally, while Jesus could return at any moment, if he does not come back today, it’s another day where he is expressing his patience and keeping the window of opportunity open for people to believe. Moments like this disrupt people’s sense of peace and provoke many questions. It means that it’s important we’re awake to opportunities for spiritual conversations. Why not pray right now that as you go about your day, that God might bring about an opportunity for you to share Jesus with someone wondering about these things. After all, as Tim Keller used to often remind people, while we can’t fully understand why God allows evil and suffering, the cross reminds us that it’s not because he doesn’t care. He entered our suffering to make a way for us beyond it. Let us invite people into that.

Much love,
Simon

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

There are still a few tickets left to see Jesus Revolution at The Roxy on Monday, 24th July at 6.30pm. See the post under “Events” for more information.

This week has been a rollercoaster week for Markus and the Bain family. They started the week back in hospital for an x-ray and an enema which didn’t work. They were sent home hoping and praying for Markus to poop with a booking in theatre for Thursday if nothing happened. Then on Wednesday, Markus did a poo and has continued to do so regularly since then. This is such incredible news! Let’s keep praying for Markus, that his whole body would be restored to health so that he is no longer reliant on any kind of interventions.

Every Wednesday afternoon, we put on a free dinner for the community at Strathmore Park Community Centre. There are an amazing team of people involved who cook, set up the hall, sit and have dinner with people, and wash up and pack down afterwards.

This week due to school holidays, the team is a little depleted and we’d love your help if you can. We would particularly appreciate help with cooking something to bring, which you do in advance and bring to the Community Centre ready to eat at 5.30pm (costs can be reimbursed). Or you could come a bit later and help with washing up and packing down (anytime between 6-7pm)

If you could help this week with either of those things, please get in touch with Andrea Teng, and she’ll tell you everything you need to know! andreamteng@gmail.com