Kia ora e te Whānau
I was inspired again this week to read the following extract from John Tucker and Andrew Picard’s article on what it means to be Baptists:
Our forebears believed that when they gathered together, Jesus Christ was present in their midst and his presence changed everything. The text in the bible that gripped their hearts was Matthew 18:20: “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Not “I might be there among them,” but “I am there among them.” It’s this promised presence of the risen Christ in the gathered church that is the beating heart of the Baptist vision, and it has profound implications for discipleship, leadership, worship, resourcing and mission. (Tucker & Picard: What we believe)
What I like about this especially is the sense that it is in gathering together and “listening” together to what the Spirit is saying (as we worship and share our thoughts and hearts) that we hear and discern God. We each journey individually with our own faith – but there is a corporate “together” dimension to journeying that we undertake, which is especially important as we seek answers to questions such as “what sort of community are we?”, “what shapes us and explains us?”, “what is our vision for how we might engage with life…the world around us?”… and so on. We’ve been reminded recently from our services following the book of Acts just how much the early church needed to be discerners of where the Spirit was leading – something they did together. I love that we still do this today – it is a big part of being church!
Also, as a Baptist Church we form part of the NZ Baptist movement!. The Baptist Union has just very recently developed a new digital communication channel giving the chance for all of us to be more up to date with what is happening nationally (and internationally) in the church. The following is from the latest Baptist Union church mail-out:
New Baptist NZ app
Replacing the printed Baptist magazine, there is now a new app that will share our stories of gospel renewal to people and places, articles that encourage, inspire and inform, as well as podcasts and video to support and resource. It also includes discounts to more than 30 retailers, including Bunnings, Warehouse Stationary, Noel Leeming and Pita Pit.
To install search ‘Baptist NZ’ on your app store.
There will also be a printable email every two months full of content from the app for those who don’t use devices or need to read from paper, sign up for this newsletter at https://baptist.nz
IBY Alpha Camp – this weekend!
If you don’t have younger generation in your household, you may not be aware that IBY will be away this weekend at Woodend Christian Camp for their Alpha Course weekend. There will be around 20 young people plus another 9 or so helpers up at Woodend – please be praying for them, for an awesome time together and some great discussions around faith and what it means for their lives!
Ngā mihi nui
Peter