To be fair, we kind of operate with the posture that, “I’ll love you if you’re lovable,” or “I’ll help… if I’m not too busy,” or “I’ll give, but only out of my excess.” But really, Jesus’ standard is actually one that really raises the bar for us. Think about an expression of love that might make us feel uncomfortable, like washing someone’s feet, like forgiving after deep betrayal, like giving to the point where it might hurt!

Our passage this week is one that should give us great comfort and assurance because when people let us down, the perfect Shepherd will not. When our loved ones leave us, our Lord remains, the only One who truly knows us and loves us completely.

After a night of fruitless fishing, the disciples share breakfast cooked by the risen Jesus over a charcoal fire. And after they had eaten Jesus turned to Peter with a searching question: "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He asks this not once, but three times. This isn't a question to shame him further after Peter's three denials, but to restore him, and I think it highlights a crucial truth that we all should remember, that failure need not be final; that God’s grace is on offer to each one of us.

As we remember the spirit of ANZAC this Sunday, our lectionary reading takes our thoughts to Acts 5:27-32. Here we find the apostles facing the high priest and council, who demand they cease teaching in the name of Jesus, and despite previous warnings Peter and the apostles stood firm, declaring, "We must obey God rather than men.”

Even in this corner of the North Shore, in the hustle of this city of Auckland, it is prestige and power that often screams the loudest. Yet, despite our society’s constant pressure for us to submit to these values, there is a whisper of humility that resonates with a radical truth: that real strength lies in sacrifice, that true love is most clearly experienced in peace and reconciliation in an outward expression toward the ‘other.’

What do you do when life feels like a storm—when everything seems out of control and fear begins to take over? When the waves of uncertainty crash against you, do you see God in the chaos, or do the challenges cloud your perspective? It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the immediate struggles, but what if the real question isn’t whether the storm will come, but how you choose to see God in the middle of it? Is He just a comforting presence in the boat, or is He the One who holds the power to calm the storm?

In our lectionary passage this week, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Paul reveals a particular way of being and of serving which goes against our proclivity for conflict, this is what Paul calls a “ministry of reconciliation.” This may seem a radically different endeavour for us to engage in, because often tensions arise from the human tendency toward satisfying ourselves at the cost of caring for others.

We live in a world that is constantly buzzing with the opinions of others, in amongst these voices we are also trying to give voice to our own opinions, but where do we ultimately turn for an authority that might settle our hearts? Is there someone or something to whom we can turn that might truly satisfy us? Our lectionary passage this week, Isaiah 55:1-9 points us to a place where there is a banquet of true wisdom and authority.

We currently live in a world which is constantly in flux, change is a constant companion, and technology continues to accelerate forward, our society and the seemingly infinite sub-cultures within continue to bubble and shift. So much has changed and yet when it comes to the human heart at least, so much is still the same.

Our lectionary reading this Sunday is taken from Romans 10:8-13 and this passage offers a beautiful foundation on which we might rest our faith. We will explore the simplicity of the grace that is offered to us, we will also explore the universality of the grace that is offered to the world. There is real hope here, hope that transcends sacrifice, reminding us of the amazing work of Christ on the cross that is the basis for this season of Lent.

We all have ups and downs. But sometimes we experience emotional turmoil and mental health experiences that are hard to make sense of in our own faith journey. Sometimes these are experiences of our own, and sometimes of those around us. This Sunday’s sharing will focus on understanding mental health from the point of Christian faith, recognizing that it is part of all of our lives and what we can do as a community of believers.

With Isaiah 45 as the passage for Rev Pedro’s message this Sunday, the author writes four times, ‘This is what the LORD says…’ indicating that Isaiah is speaking on behalf of God and that God is really drawing our attention to what is about to be said. With this in mind, as we read and meditate on scripture, may we have the humility to truly bring our full attention to the Word of God.

This Sunday, we will be looking at the Psalm 48 which is a wonderful Psalm that presents an amazing picture of what praise might look like, especially when given to One to whom it is rightfully due.

So, is the resurrection just a nice story? Well, we’ll do our best to consider the resurrection and allow you to decide for yourselves about whether the scriptural accounts are resu-fiction, or resu-fact. My prayer is that as we delve into these questions it at least puts us on a path of finding the unshakable hope that the resurrection provides.

I think some of the richness of our faith is lost when we lose touch with how we got to where we are. One way to understand who we are and why we do and believe some of the things we do, is if we delve into the history of the wider Christian journey.

We as Reformed Presbyterians believe that the children of believers are part of God's covenant community. This isn't a new idea as we recognise this in scripture with Abraham in the Old Testament. The idea or concept of a covenant community is important to understand when we consider the children of believers.

Last week we began to explore the significance of what baptism is in our lives as Christians. We had viewed this from a Reformed Presbyterian perspective which is something that is important for us to recognise because it should help us to understand why we baptise the way that we do. Hopefully we saw last week that baptism is more than just a ritual, that it is deeply rooted in theology which our forebears had wrestled with for centuries, and that it represents a profound spiritual reality of what God has done in our lives.

This week, we will delve deeper into some of the fundamental ideas that shape our Reformed Presbyterian view of baptism.

Why do Presbyterians baptise infants? What about the Great Commission to baptise everyone? Do we have to be baptised to be saved? How much water do we actually need to be baptised? Well, I was Christened as a baby, do I have to be fully immersed now that I’m older and believe? Don’t we have to believe before we are baptised?

There’s a lot there to cover, so it might take two or three Sundays (at least) to cover it, but I’ll do my best to keep it “concise!”

2025 presents a fresh opportunity to embrace our identity as being "in Christ,” and to take this profound perspective into the new year. It's a call to live out the holiness and blamelessness to which we are called, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who is our seal and guarantee of the inheritance to come.

As we begin this journey through 2025, let us hold to these truths from our passage in Ephesians to guide our steps, reminding us of the unchanging love and faithfulness of our God. Happy New Year family!

It makes me wonder however, whether setting spiritually shaped new year resolutions might be a useful exercise for us as Christians to engage in?

I suppose any opportunity for us as Christians to reflect on who we are, our purpose, and God’s plan for us moving into the new year is beneficial.