Today, we continue our exploration of prayer with an exploration of ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ which I hope draws us into a fresh encounter with a God who calls you His own child and friend. Let us see how we might delve into a deeper connection with this prayer which we all have probably prayed thousands of times. May you be blessed as you meditate on our passage for this week: Matthew 6:5-14, and may your hearts and minds be open to the Wisdom of the Spirit, the Grace of the Son, and the power and majesty of ‘Our Father.’

This Sunday, we continue in our series on prayer and although it’s more of a ‘how to pray’ reflection, this might hopefully help us consider a mutual Friendship with God that is cultivated through prayer. And it’s not about saying the right words or having the perfect prayer routine, it’s about being vulnerable enough to reveal our every struggle, in humility and with confidence that you are seen and heard. Join us as we explore how prayer can become the bridge to the ultimate Friendship, a bridge to a companion who knows you better than you know yourself. Take a moment to read our passages, Psalm 25:8-15 and John 15:13-17 and may God bless you as you meditate on His Word.

Have you ever knelt to pray only to find your mind wandering to that thing that you’re worried about, that programme that you watched on TV last night, or even just that lunch you’re craving for. Maybe like me in those times of distraction, you feel flat, you know you’re not focused or engaged with God and your words feel disengaged and lifeless. You are definitely not alone, as Christians we all have this romantic idea of time standing still as the glow and presence of God descends upon us and we are lost in prayer and worship. I wish that experience was the case for us all every time, but it’s rarely the case, and the struggle to pray is real.

I’m sure that we’ve all noticed that our societies have become a lot more insular, isolated, individualistic. It seems that despite the decades of secularisation in the world which has had an effect on faith communities, this has also had an effect on the way people pray. Personal prayers are whispered in silence, almost as if it’s embarrassing for one to pray. But what are we missing out on by keeping prayer to ourselves, what might happen if we prayed together, if we prayed openly for others, with others?

What does it mean to truly forgive someone who has betrayed your trust, wronged you deeply, or challenged the very fabric of your world? Well, I think it’s obvious that we live in a society where divisions or distinctions like our appearance, our economic status, our ethnicity, our achievements or even our past mistakes can often define how we see ourselves and each other. It can also affect how we might engage with one another, so how do we overcome this so that we might see others as Christ sees them? How does Christ see us?

Some of you might have watched the TV series ‘Downton Abbey’ which was quite popular 10-15 years ago. It was set in the early 1900’s during the period of World War 1, telling the story of an Aristocratic family grappling with changing times. I bring it up because there are many scenes of dinner parties which illustrate the layers of etiquette, rules, behaviors and expectations governing these gatherings. It reminded me also of an aunt in Napier who saw fit to try and educate my siblings and I on the arsenal of cutlery that was set before people in formal gatherings, each with a particular use and the ridicule one might receive if they got it wrong.

We are all busy. When I first started to engage in pastoral care for retirees, a few years ago now, in my naivety I thought, “Ok, it should be easy to book appointments as they’re retired and don’t have the commitment of work.” I soon found out that for a lot of retirees, they got busier, they joined other groups, they travelled more, their families demanded more of their time as babysitters! They weren’t as retired as they or I might have thought. So for everyone it seems, those who work, those who have retired, and all those who are in between, the world never stops, and rest can, and still does feel like a fleeting dream.

Maybe that’s why, at the inception of creation we are given a peek at something that we might take more seriously. It’s a conversation that the church came to the hard way for their ministers and volunteers, that people burn out, and even when we might carve out moments for ‘Sabbath,’ often our souls remain restless. Why is that?

Imagine getting ready for a marathon, lacing up well used shoes, but this race is different, it stretches beyond the horizon and you’re not sure what route you’ll be taking, also you don’t know when it’s going to finish. The Christian journey is kind of like that, it’s a race with peaks and valleys and you know that there is going to be pain in places, trials through which you have to persevere if you mean to finish well, but there will also be moments of exhilaration, glorious views that you might never have seen if you didn’t start the race.

What if you could walk a path where everything just worked out exactly as you hoped, where you knew exactly what would happen with each step? A lot of us try to live our lives that way, ‘control freaks’ is probably the best term for them. Seems like a lot of hard work to me, it also seems like a somewhat dull way to live. And when things don’t go according to plan, for many of these ‘control freaks,’ their world seems to fall apart because they’ve put their hope in themselves, they've put their faith in themselves. Actually we all do this to some degree or another.

You know it’s funny how life has a way of leading us to unexpected places. We might start with big dreams and hopes and so often we find ourselves mired in a place where our dreams lay broken around us, and at these times, in these places, it might seem like we’re stuck in a cave of despair.

Have you ever wondered why we gather for worship? Unfortunately for many it’s just what we do on a Sunday, what we’ve always done, its habit, maybe it’s just tradition to go at Easter or Christmas, for others, maybe something deeper draws us into God’s presence each Sunday?

In a world full of distractions where our attention is constantly pulled in a thousand directions, it’s so easy to go through the motions. We might sing the words on the screens or listen to the sounds that the words make during the prayers, but we are not really hearing or engaging with the words. And especially for followers of Christ, with this type of disconnect, it seems we are missing the heart of why we’re here.

You know, today we live in a world that is very much defined by busyness, overwhelming needs, and distractions. In amongst all of this we are challenged with the question of how we might discern where our true responsibilities should lie? This means that we might very well find ourselves grappling with our own concerns and needs that we become less mindful of the struggles that we see around us. This week we are blessed to have our Session Clerk Karen Mitchell share a reflection that invites us to explore some profound questions that might challenge our place in the world and how we might live a life of meaning that blesses our neighbours.

What if the God called a wandering migrant who drifted around to be the one who births a nation that will eventually be a blessing to all of humanity? As Christians, we look back to Abraham who was that migrant, who is our father in faith and yet we still often find ourselves grappling with questions of identity, purpose, and our place in God’s unfolding story.

In our passage this week (Luke 9:51-62), Jesus challenged His disciples to embrace a radical, truly inclusive (i.e. without a focus on a specific demographic), and an unwavering commitment to His mission. This can be a difficult passage for us to read because it challenges our tendencies (conscious or otherwise) toward exclusivity, retaliation, and apathetic devotion, a form of discipleship unworthy of the perfect, Almighty and Loving God of scripture.

What we will explore this Sunday is how we might consider diverse expressions of faith and be open to the idea that maybe Christ is also working in and through those expressions despite how different it might be for us.

Materialism cannot address these deep needs of the soul because these are rooted in the spiritual, emotional and existential dimensions of the human experience. My contention is that these issues can actually find resolution in a mystery that is older than time.

Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter and marks the day that the Spirit descended on the apostles like fire, catapulting the Church into the missio Dei (mission of God). But what does this event mean for us today?

We have come through the Easter season and now sit in a season of the church expectant of the coming of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, marking the birth of the Church and empowering believers for mission. But did you know that before Jesus’ journey to the cross, He prayed specifically for you?

With a focus on the Gospel, Father Mark might well unpack the theme of peace, contrasting the transformative peace of Christ with our own understanding of peace which is often the fleeting “peace and quiet” that we so often seek.