Hawera Baptist Church
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Helping Hands

30/11/2012

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We all know the value of helping out others. The truth is that this is part of being human, but it's also part of modelling good Christian community. In a sense we are called to look after one another. 

I am always so blown away when people help me out in a time of hardship and find that it's a real privilege to walk alongside someone else when the going is tough. 

But it's not just in tough times that we need to stick together. We need to be constantly looking out for one another, encouraging each other and walking this journey together.

Jesus said that people will know that we are his disciples because of our love for one another. That is what this is all about. Helping is witness; caring is outreach; walking the journey together opens the doors of the Kingdom of God so that we can tell others of the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

So let's strive to uphold one another. Let's give of ourselves in a way that uplifts others and also sets us free. 

Grace and Peace, 
Pastor David Auty 

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Sitting on Aeroplanes 

28/9/2012

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Its amazing the people you meet when you're stuck on a plane! This year I have found myself on planes more often than usual. Everyone on a plane has an interesting story to tell...actually I'll let you in on a little secret - everyone (full stop) has an interesting story if you'll just take the time to listen! 

It makes me think, how often do we really take the time to listen to some-one else's story? How much attention do we give to others, valuing their journey, hearing their dreams and concerns? 

I think it's true to say that this comes more naturally to some than it does to others, but does our comfort level really give a legitimate reason to opt out of engaging in heart felt listening? Much of the time I think not. 

In a world which is obsessed with me-ism, we have an opportunity as Christians to model an alternative way. We can buck the trend and seek to truly engage with the story of other's lives. We can show that we care by having a genuine interest in people's journey. Who knows, maybe we might even get a chance to share some of our journey of faith in Jesus with someone because we have first earned the right to share by listening. 

Or maybe we could just stick our heads in the koru magazine or a book, filling our lives with more of me! The choice is ours to make. 

Blessings, Pastor David 

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Reaching Out

28/5/2011

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What does it mean for us to “reach out” to others with the love of Jesus? There are so many ways that we can look at the Christian life to try and evaluate what it’s all about, but none more compelling to me than a simple question: “Am I sharing my faith?”

In many ways this simple question cuts through much of the politics and posturing that can happen in Christian community and gets to the heart of God’s mission in the world—transformation—a mission that he invites us to join him in, for ourselves and with others.

Yes, “sharing my faith” will look a little different from one situation to the next. It may be that in our workplace our honesty and integrity as a Christian will speak volumes, or that a warm response or friendly care might be essential in our relationship to friends. However I want to suggest today that all the good works and great intentions are not enough for us to say that we are fully sharing our faith.

Social action and care alongside “friendship evangelism” are great—and important, but not enough. Our actions need to be backed up with words. We need to share our faith by what we say as well as what we do—to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

This means that we need to have integrity enough to let our actions and our words speak together. It is said that “actions speak louder than words”, but words that back up and support good actions are essential to truly sharing our faith—let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water.

So how do we do this? Work on your communication skills; work on your evangelism skills; remember to tell people why you do what you do; and live a consistent life of actions and words.

Blessings,
Pastor David Auty
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