Our last Sunday in Miramar Uniting will be Sunday 8th October. We are so thankful to God that we have just this week been able to confirm St Pat’s College as our new venue which we will use up until the start of term 1 next year!
We still plan to try and secure Miramar Central School from term 1 next year and we will keep you updated about those negotiations. Jenny will meet with the Principal again in October.
We have one Sunday each month with no worship team, where we allow time and space to be led in worship by one another. This is your one week’s notice to come prepared for that on Sunday 24th September. You might want to share a Psalm or another scripture. You might have a prayer on your heart. Or you might want to lead us all in a song. Or something else! Whatever is on your heart to bring, let’s do it joyfully in order to glorify King Jesus together as His church! It’s going to be beautiful!
Due to three of our team recently becoming unavailable for various reasons, we’re keen to bolster this team. Caitlin will be shoulder-tapping some people, but if this is a way you think you might be able to contribute to our Sunday services, please get in touch with Caitlin to find out more: caitlin.ormiston@thestreet.org.nz
My Mum once made porridge for us both using a new recipe I assume was Scottish. I assume this because one of the ingredients was salt. The problem was that there was too much salt for our liking, and we effectively spat it out. It is the one and only time in my life I have seen my Mum throw something out as inedible.
I wonder if this is the reaction that many people in our culture have towards Christians these days. While the message of Jesus and being identified with Jesus are inherently polarising, we have to take ownership of the fact that the posture of Christians has, in some ways, contributed to this reaction.
In Colossians 4, Paul gives us a recipe for correcting our posture in how we engage with people who do not believe.
“Let your conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Col 4:6).
Grace is the means by which God does everything in our lives as a free gift. Grace creates the environment in which we can thrive. Salt is mixed into a dish to enhance flavour. It’s clear that salt is a distinctive ingredient. As Christians, we bring a different perspective — truth from God designed to enhance people’s flavour of life (John 8:31-32). But too much salt — too much truth — will overpower the hearer and be rejected.
In any recipe, the proportion of ingredients is important. This recipe is no different. Our conversations are to be full of grace but only seasoned with salt. Let me give some suggestions of what I think that could look like.
Kindness
Grace means we’re to be warm, welcoming, and kind. No matter what someone believes, they are a person made in God’s image. We should love and care for them more than anyone.
Listening
We’re to listen well to people even when we disagree with them. We’re to listen long enough to make sure we truly understand why they see the world the way they do. Listening is a lost art but one of the greatest ways to love.
Common ground
Our culture is pretty post-Christian. It means people want the values of Christianity even if they have no desire to believe in Jesus. It also means there is plenty of room for common ground. The moves to embrace Māori culture or to welcome people’s gender fluidity arise because we’ve realised it is not okay to abuse and marginalise people of different cultures and worldviews. This is a good thing borne out of a desire to love others. We may not love all of the ways this plays out, but we can affirm the intention as a good one.
All of these things — and I’m sure there are more — are ways to build genuine friendships with people who are different to you. My favourite name for Jesus in the gospels is “friend of sinners.” Could it be that some of us might be called this over time?
And when we’ve built genuine friendships, when we’ve listened long enough to truly understand, maybe then we will have earned the right to sprinkle a little salt. To ask a question or share something small that helps people to see—from a place of friendship and common ground—a way to see the world differently and a way to see how Jesus meets their need.
Much love,
Simon
Questions to ponder:
Who are some people that don’t know God that you would call genuine friends of yours? If you can’t think of many, ask yourself who are some acquaintances or people you cross paths with that you could pursue a deeper friendship with? Pray for these people that God would draw them to Himself, and perhaps use you in that process.
While thinking of the people in your life that don’t know Jesus - do you think your past conversations with them have been seasoned with too much or too little salt?
Maybe you are someone who keeps your faith private outside of church and Christian circles. What are some ways your faith could be a natural part of everyday conversations, no matter the context?
Who is someone in your life you’d like to make more time to listen to?
What are some areas of ‘common ground’ you have with the non-believers around you? How could you use these areas to form deeper friendships?
If God is real, but you didn’t know Him — how would you want Christians to reach out to you?
This post is part of the Senior Pastor’s weekly blog. Go to the the blog feed >>
In addition to the pastors and other staff, The Street has an eldership board that carries out a combination of governance and shepherding for our church.
Elders are volunteers who provide spiritual oversight for the overall church, as well as being available at our local services to support the local leaders and be available to the congregation.
Now that we are meeting in even more multiple locations, we want to ensure we have a local eldership presence at each of our locations.
We want to propose Andrew Smaill and Peter Martin as potential elders. We are giving the church three weeks to pray and provide feedback before the elders decide whether they will join the eldership.
Andrew attends our Night Location, and Peter is part of our East Location.
If you have any feedback to provide, please contact elders.chair@thestreet.org.nz. Your email will go to the chair of our eldership board, Matt Conway.
Next Sunday we have the CEO of Christians Against Poverty; Sam Garaway, coming to help us celebrate 10 years of our CAP Debt Centre. He will be speaking live at East and we will be celebrating the impact of CAP in our city, and also hearing how we can support this incredible ministry. We hope to see you there!
For CAP Sunday next week, we’d love to have a cake to help us celebrate this 10-year anniversary. If you love to bake and would be willing to make a simple cake to help us celebrate, please email east@thestreet.org.nz.
Missions is a big part of who we are as a church. We love to support missionaries who have answered a call to go out and make disciples full-time. One of the missionaries we support is Sally Hong who is serving as a full-time missionary with Student LIfe and Tandem Ministries to reach university campuses across New Zealand with the Gospel. Sally is based on Victoria University campus, where she shares the Gospel, disciples students and equips them to take part in the great commission. Please be praying for her in the following ways:
For more students to have a desire to share Jesus with those around them. “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few”
Summer Missions trips - to Auckland, Nelson, and Sally is leading an overseas trip to Thailand. Pray for Sally as she leads that trip, that students in Thailand would come to know Jesus.
Ben Edwards—Youth and Families Pastor at Gateway Baptist—has helped Miramar Christian School organise a fair early in term 4 for the last few years. It is an opportunity for children and families from the local community to have a fun day, and it’s also a chance to promote the school and raise some funds. This year’s event is on Saturday, 4 November.
Another goal is for the Fair to be an opportunity for the churches in the area to bless the community by putting on a fun, quality event to demonstrate our creativity, skills, passions, and love for others. Ben would like to know if anyone in our church would like to get involved in some way.
There are lots of ways you could help:
Set up and pack down.
Running games and activities or welcoming.
Putting on an activity of your choosing - live music, face painting, outdoor games.
Donations to the silent auction or a cake for the cafe.
Run a stall selling crafts or goods (there would be a small cost to do this).
Helping promote the event with letterbox drops.
Pray for good weather and that people would be blessed and connections made.
If you would like to help with any of these things, please contact Ben by 22 September at youth@gatewaybaptist.org.nz or 022 401 5720.
As a church, we want to be a community that’s helping one another become total followers of Jesus Christ. One of the important aspects of this is that we’re doing so in the cultural context of Wellington in the 2020s. In this environment, I am increasingly hearing questions about what this looks like in the context of social and cultural expectations, particularly in the workplace. How do I follow Jesus in a workplace where people are asked to wear rainbow lanyards? Should I go along with putting personal pronouns in my email signature? When everyone has to stand and say the agency’s karakia, what do I do if I don’t agree with the words?
I can’t tell you what you should do and there aren’t always ‘right’ answers. However, over the next few weeks, I hope to lay out some thoughts that we might use as way markers—guidelines to help each of us come to conclusions we are at peace with before the Lord. Please be gracious with one another as we will sometimes come to different conclusions.
For this week, Daniel 1 is a great place to start. He was about 11-15 years old when the Babylonians first invaded Jerusalem in 605BC and he was taken 500 miles away from home to Babylon where he was put into the service of the king.
Why not have a look at Daniel 1 for yourself. Here are three thoughts I’ve drawn from it.
Daniel learned about culture
This is a nice way of saying Daniel was indoctrinated. He was purposefully taken away from his family and culture and immersed in the language and literature of Babylon. Moreover, God helped him and his companions to excel in their learning (Dan 1:17). I notice that Paul also took the time to learn about the culture of the people he was seeking to reach (Acts 17:16-34 is a masterclass of contextualised gospel-sharing). You may feel more immersed in our culture than you want to be but maybe it’s something God wants to use to help you minster to people in that culture.
Daniel excelled in the culture
Part of God enabling Daniel and his companions to learn was that they were able to excel in their work. At the end of their training, the king found them far better than others in his service. You would expect Daniel to be known for subterfuge and sabotage — for undermining pagan authority. Rather, Daniel was a blessing to his captors and his wisdom was sought after. As a follower of Jesus, you bring a unique perspective and posture into whatever environment you are in. You have a higher view of the inherent worth of humanity than anyone else. You know that leadership is about service, not subjection. What does it look like for you to do the best job while being generous and kind to others in the process?
Daniel knew where to draw the line
Daniel drew the line at eating the king’s food, potentially because it was sacrificed to idols. There came a point where he said no. Notice that he was discrete and polite about it but this didn’t compromise the firmness of the no. What I find interesting is that his line was probably further than he was comfortable. After all, he didn’t object to being given a Babylonian name. What’s fascinating about Daniel is that the first 11-15 years of his life had been lived out in the spiritual revival of Josiah’s day (2 Chron 34-35) when God’s word took prime place in Judah. It seems therefore that his upbringing was strong enough that even when taken 500 miles from home and immersed in a new culture, it was God’s word that became the plumb-line in his life. Can I encourage you to be someone increasingly immersed in Scripture and allow the Spirit to guide you in wisely knowing where to draw the line, even if it is further into the culture than you would naturally be comfortable.
Much love,
Simon
Questions to ponder:
Can you think of any areas of your life currently where you feel immersed beyond your comfort zone in the culture around you?
Ask God what He thinks about these areas of discomfort for you. Do you sense He’s asking you to draw a firm line and say no to something? Or rather do you sense He could be calling you to lean into the discomfort and embrace the opportunity that might be there?
When was the last time you truly took the time to listen and learn from someone who has very different perspectives and opinions from you? Can you think of anyone you could make space to listen to and learn from this week?
This post is part of the Senior Pastor’s weekly blog. Go to the blog feed >>
With Floyd moving out of Children's ministry we have been advertising for someone new to jump in. We are so excited to welcome Geneva Nevell, who will be joining Emma Roche as our new Associate Children's Pastor, starting September 18th.
Leading up to the election on 14th Oct, local churches are gathering together to pray for our nation and our leaders. If we are to see a move of God in our city and our nation, it will start on our knees in prayer.
Wellington Cathedral
6pm every Sunday evening from 10th Sep - 8th Oct
We are no longer able to hold our next Together gathering at Wellington High School, so we have a change of date and location for this. Please put Sunday the 29th of October into your calendar now and note this will now be held at Wellington College. We believe this is a significant moment as we gather as one church and celebrate the incredible work God is doing in and through us. More details and registration information will be made available later in September.
A group of people from across locations at The Street are leading a refugee resettlement group to welcome refugees from overseas and help them establish a new life in Wellington. This is a practical way for us to be known for making a difference and to be Jesus' hands and feet through these tangible expressions of love.
In the coming months, The Street Church will welcome two refugees to Wellington to help them establish new lives here—one from Iraq and one from Palestine. We all can be involved in this initiative, so check out this video from Mark and Jerram of the Refugee Resettlement Group.
Karina Mulvad Cole from East works for an organisation called “Hapai Taumaha Hapūtanga” or “Crisis Pregnancy Support” and she would like to invite you to an evening to find out more about their valuable work:
Thursday 28th September at 6pm
Willis Room at Life Centre, 21 Hania Street, Mt. Victoria, Wellington
“We would be delighted if you would come and learn more about our organisation, the work we do, and ways you can support our Vision. During the event, we will provide an overview of Hapai Taumaha Hapūtanga and our mission to help women facing crisis pregnancies in the Wellington and Lower Hutt region. Refreshments in the form of canapés and drinks will be available throughout the evening. We kindly request you to RSVP by September 22nd to lowerhutt@crisispregnancysupport.org.nz”
Fathers Day is this week and it’s a tricky day in church. We want to celebrate and honor fathers while acknowledging how polarised our experiences of fatherhood are. Some are celebrating today while others are grieving bereavement, abuse, miscarriages, and neglect. This list goes on and every one of those experiences will be represented as we gather on Sunday.
Whatever our experiences of fatherhood, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to reflect on God as our heavenly Father. Even if you have the most amazing experience of an earthly father, it pales in comparison to Him. There are few things in my pursuit of Jesus that have been more transformational for me than contemplating the love of the Father.
David wrote:
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful…” (Ps 139:13-14).
Before you had any sort of success. Before you took a step. Before you spoke one word. Before you were born. In fact, before your parents had any inkling that you existed - God knew you. He is the pre-eminient relationship in your life. He didn’t just set his affection on you and choose to love you. He made you. He imagined you. The thought of you existing brought him joy. And when you sinned, and failed, and struggled, he had already sent His one and only Son to make a way for you to be set free, cleaned up, and brought into His family that you might enjoy Him forever.
You are wonderful. You are incredible. You are so valuable. I know it because you have a heavenly Father who says so.
And so whatever your view of Father’s Day, take some time to step back and look up. Read and re-read Psalm 139 until the truth sinks in. The works of the Father are wonderful and one of those works is you. May you know His deep affection for you today.
Much love,
Simon
This post is part of the Senior Pastor’s weekly blog. Go to the blog feed >>
Hopefully, you are aware by now that we have been asked to find a new venue for our Sunday services, and our last service at Miramar Uniting will be on Sunday 8th, October. We have approached Miramar Central School, but their hall has work being done on it, which means it isn’t available until February next year. It could potentially be a solution next year though. Please pray over the continuing conversations with the Principal about that.
In the meantime, we are continuing to make enquiries with all the potential venues we can think of, but please do let us know if you have a helpful connection anywhere. And keep praying! We’re trusting that the Lord will come through for us like he always has done before.
Caitlin moved here from the UK to work for Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship which is an organisation that supports students to share the Gospel with fellow students and help them explore their faith. Caitlin is part of our East Leadership Team and a special part of our East Location. Check out the video to hear her update and please be praying for her as she serves the Lord in this way.
Last week, I shared a concept that is core to the New Testament and yet has been MIA in church conversation in recent years. It’s the concept of the ‘one anothers’.
In the Old Testament, Israel had 613 laws that were reinforced by many more rules and traditions to help keep the 613. However, it’s clear from the ministry of Jesus that all 613 hang on just two. Love God and love people.
Fast forward to the famous foot washing scene in the Upper Room, Jesus shows what loving people looks like in the context of the church. “A new command I give you: love one another. “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).
The context of this is that Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter was about to deny him. When they did what they did, they did so with clean feet, washed by the King of the universe in human flesh.
This way of love is radical. And our love for another is to be no less radical because we are to love one another AS he has loved us. This command becomes the hallmark of Christian community. The world should be able to look at the way we care for and serve one another and know that we belong to Jesus.
So how are we doing? Does the way we honor others show that we belong to Jesus? Do we serve others in a way that reflects him? Do we forgive others like we have been forgiven? I wonder what step Jesus would have you take today that we would be a church that more accurately reflects him.
As we head into a series called One Another this weekend, it’s the beginning of a journey for us. It’s a theme we will return to again and again. Loving in this way is not something we’ll ever master. But imagine if we could consistently grow. Just imagine what an incredible community we would be.
Much love,
Simon
Questions to ponder:
What are some moments you can recall from your own life where you have felt loved by other Christians?
What are some specific ways you sense God calling you to show love to others in the Church family?
Is there anyone you have an unresolved issue with? Do you need to forgive someone, or ask someone to forgive you? Make a plan today to do all you can to set things right between you.
The way the Church loves one another is meant to be a witness to the world. What do you want the world to see when they look at the Church? Does your church community currently look like a place that non-believers would be drawn to? Why/why not?
This post is part of the Senior Pastor’s weekly blog. Go to the blog feed >>
Over the last month, you’ll have heard about our good friend and gifted speaker, Brad Carr, coming to share his Panorama Bible Seminar on Saturday, 16th Sep. Brad will also be with us on Sunday the 17th to open the Word and teach us on the important topic of “When We Feel Inadequate”. We are so grateful to have him share his heart and understanding with us. Registrations close for Panorama on 7th Sep, so register via the APP today.
Watch a short message from Brad about what he’ll be talking about that weekend. Click here.
