In this fast-paced world of information overload there are so many things competing for our time and attention. There are the normal activities of our everyday lives at home: firewood, family, friends and fun...laundry, lawns, laughter and latrines! These things are ongoing and common to most of us. Oh, not to mention all those "extra-curricula" activi- ties that we enjoy: sports, music, clubs and social gatherings to name but a few.

Then there are our work responsibilities. Some of us are 9-5, others casual, part-time or shift work, others "on-call" much of the time and still others have to juggle additional responsibilities with home and family life.

Add to that all of the technological demands: emailing; texting; updating facebook status and catching up on all those 600 "friends"; watching our favourite cooking shows, or doc- umentaries or movies or "all the above"; playing computer games PSP/PS3/x-Box...etc.

Not to mention some meaningful engagement with the wider "concerns of the day": the IPO of facebook on Friday last week making Mark Zuckerberg an even richer multibillionaire at age 28 and the subsequent stories of greedy underwriters inflating prices; Finance Minister Bill English's "zero-Budget" on Thursday, the first "State of Origin" Rugby League match on Wednesday (that video ref needs glasses); the ongoing "Euro- crisis"; elections in Egypt....

Lots of stuff aye! So where does God fit into all of this? Where does His church feature amid the various demands that we face? Sadly, too often we can view God and church as being in competition to these other demands. "Can we fit in attending Church when we already have so much on our plate?"; "How can I spend time praying and reading the Bible when these other things just NEED to be done now"; "I'll make more time for God when I start to get on top of some of these other things".

The reality however is that God is involved in all of this already. He is present in all of our circumstances and is available for guidance and comfort as we walk the journey with Him. Likewise church...we walk this journey together! We shouldn't consider church as "just another activity" to fit into our demanding lives, but as an opportunity to walk the Christian life with others who face similar pressures and demands that we do.

If we can see it in this way, we can know the truth Jesus shares in Matthew 11:28-30

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

My prayer is that each of us will know that kind of life! 

Arohanui, Pastor David Auty 

Life can be like a Roller Coaster ride!  There is no real choice about the reality ofthis fact.  One day we're celebrating the joy of some wonderful success and the nextwe discover a loved one is seriously ill.  One day we're feeling on top of the world, and the next it feels like our world is falling apart.  One day we can see God in all his splendour and glory, and the next we despair about whether God even cares.  

One of the age old questions is this: Where is God when it hurts?  

C.S. Lewis in A Grief Observed, a collection of reflections on his wife’s suffering and death due to bone cancer gives a stark expression of this question: 

"Where is God?  When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, if you turn to Him then with praise, you will be welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is in vain and what doyou find?  A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside.  After that, silence.  You may as well turn away.

"Honesty at the emotional reality of the part of us that we cannot understand where life seems to be over run in grief and pain and God seems to be no-where to be found.

Yet even in that place there is hope.  Even when we're at the bottom of the Roller Coaster of life we can see a glimpse of the horizon.  Where is God?  He is in the memories of the high times; he is in the comfort of a friend; he is in the embrace of a loved one; he is in the prayers of a community who want to walk the journey with you, to carry some of the burden of your load.  

Matthew 11:28-30.

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, be-cause I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 Formy yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Turn to Jesus and he will give you rest! Take care and be a blessing to one another.

Arohanui,
Pastor David Auty

"I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains." - Psalm 121:1-2 

It's an amazing thing to contemplate isn't it! Often I find myself looking up at the mountain and thinking of the power and majesty of creator God. This is quite natural for anyone and in theological terms it's called "General Revelation" - it's the part of creation that speaks to all the earth about the presence of God. Everyone can see it and everyone is invited to consider God as we get a glimpse at his wonder. 

However the other day I found myself thinking about the mountain in a different way. I was driving through the Hub and I saw the sight above. It took my breath away and I quickly whipped out my phone to take a bunch of photos. The shot above is one of those photos. Being as humble as I can manage to be, I think that this is one of the most amazing photos from the Hawera side of the mountain that I have ever seen (modesty aside...hehe). 

It struck me that this mountain was saying something more to me than a Gen-eral Revelation of a powerful, majestic, creator God. It was also telling me about a God who is delightful and loves to delight us. All shrouded with cloud, sur-rounded by beautiful colours; as clear as can be, this mountain was speaking to me about the joy of God. My heart was thrilled by the sight and my spirits raised to praise our delightful God. 

God didn't just create the world to prove a point, his creation is there as part of the way that he shows his love for us. He loves to lavish us all by filling our senses and delighting our soul. He invites us to wake up and smell the roses. 

Arohanui, 

Pastor David Auty 

It’s been lovely to sit in front of a roaring fire the past few nights! I’m sure there will be plenty more opportunities for that as winter increasingly makes its presence felt. 

Along with the cold, for many people, comes financial hardship at this time of year. With electricity prices rising, the price of basic food and day-to-day items soaring, many people find it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. There can be a tendency in our culture to say “let’s give a hand up, not a hand out”…and this can be a good thing – when it happens! However, the reality is that so often people go without either a hand up or a hand out and have to make it through life in very hard circumstances. 

A couple of weeks ago I read an article that came out of research from the University of Waikato (can be found on our FB group). The article says that, “According to the OECD at least one in five New Zealand children live in severe or significant hardship…”. Researcher Professor Hodgetts of the University is quoted as saying that, “New Zealand had gone from one of the most equitable societies – in terms of income distribution – to one of the worst. And the cracks are getting bigger...” 

As Christians, how seriously do we take these issues? What is our God-driven response to such challenges? For me this is not a political issue, it’s a human one. How do we respond to people within our own fellowship who come against hard times? (maybe you or I are "that person"?) How do we respond to the person who we bump into on the street or who comes to Church looking for assistance? 

Jesus says “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Philip Yancey in his book “The Jesus I Never Knew” writes: “One commentary translates that ‘Blessed are the desperate.’ With no-where to turn, the desperate just may turn to Jesus, the only one who can offer the deliverance they long for.” (p. 114) 

So as we sit in front of the fire place let’s consider those who don’t have any wood for the fire. Let’s consider the opportunity we have to share the love of Jesus with others, and the possibility that they may just find the life of this Jesus that we talk about, lived out in our actions too. 

Arohanui, 
Pastor David Auty