Today is Mother’s Day! It’s a great Mother’s day for me because not only do I have the mother of my children with me, I also have my own mother staying with us this weekend...oh, and it’s her Birthday today too! When I was looking for something nice to say to my mum I came across this poem:

As I look back on my life
I find myself wondering...
Did I remember to thank you
for all that you have done for me?

For all of the times you were by my side
to help me celebrate my successes
and accept my defeats?

Or for teaching me the value of hard work,
good judgement, courage, and honesty?

I wonder if I've ever thanked you
for the simple things...
The laughter, smiles, and quiet times we've shared?

If I have forgotten to express my gratitude
For any of these things,
I am thanking you now...
and I am hoping that you've known all along,
how very much you are loved and appreciated.

I know that these are sentiments that are multiplied to many mums today! But the biggest, bestest thing I can thank my mum for is the way she nurtured faith in my life...and for that I will, quite literally, be eternally grateful!

Shout out to all the mums out there!
Have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Blessings,
Pastor David Auty

He is Risen indeed!

Here’s an excerpt from a very good statement made by leaders of the Churches of Auckland City in the " NZ Herald 

"...On the Passover Sunday, a strange thing happened. Some women followers of Jesus came to the tomb to find the stone rolled away, the soldiers gone, and the tomb empty. They were confused as were his other followers.  

Further strange events followed, with a series of appearances of Jesus in Jerusalem, Judea, Galilee, and Syria.  These experiences convinced his followers that Jesus had risen from the dead.

They pondered what had happened, remembering his teaching and the ancient prophecies. They realised God had come to save his world not as expected, by imposing himself with military force and suppression, but as a servant to save through humility, selflessness, sacrifice and death. In coming to die for the world, Jesus had become the final sacrifice for sin.

Jesus came to overcome evil, not illegitimately with compulsion, but through his refusal to yield to evil as it did its worst to defeat him. He overcame the worst enemy of humanity, death, ironically by dying himself, and being raised from the dead to overcome it..."

Amen to that!

Blessings,
Pastor David Auty

As a Baptist Church we practice “Believer’s Baptism” and we do it by full emersion in water. While other Christian traditions practice other forms of Baptism, for us, the significance of Baptism as a believer is important.

When you are baptized as a believer you are making a very public statement in a very public way—afterall, everyone can see you in that pool
and can remind you of the promise that you have made to Jesus. It’s a physical action which has a spiritual significance and it’s so exciting to be part of.

Today Michelle will be Baptised and for us at HBC this is a time of great celebration. Michelle is not simply doing something that has been “coming for a while”, she is taking a significant step of obedience to Jesus as a next step in her journey of faith—a journey which has brought her to accept Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. Praise God! This is a statement about the transformation that God has been working in her life...and wants to work in all our lives!  

So take notice! I believe this is the tip of an iceberg that God has for His transforming power to sweep over Hawera.  We can be part of that transformation by building the Kingdom of God and being faithful to our calling—let’s do it!

Lord, we pray that you will work with transforming power in and through us, and that we may see transformation throughout this community and the world—Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor David Auty

One year down!

Today is the one year anniversary of my induction as Pastor here at Hawera Baptist Church—how time flies!

All-in-all I’d say that it’s been a pretty positive year. We’ve seen numerical, financial and spiritual growth; we’ve covered significant themes like “Reading the Bible” (E100) and “Hearing from God; we’ve re-discovered God’s mission and are actively seeking to partner with Him in it (that’s what
“Honour God; Build the Kingdom of God; Connect with our Community” is all about); we’ve physically turned the church making a statement about a spiritual turning towards God; we’ve started to develop a whole Church vision that will take us through to 2020 with “Kingdom Impact”.

Yep, it’s been a good year...and God has been faithful to us through it all. The challenge for us now is in how we move forward from this place into ALL that God has in store for us. The challenge comes when we need to step out of our comfort zones and act on what God is calling us to. The challenge comes as we make the NEXT STEPS in this journey of following Jesus in this time and place.

Are we up for the challenge? I sure hope so! I am so excited about what God is doing among us, but I really feel that the next year is important in setting the right path for us to be part of significant Kingdom impact in Hawera.

Blessings,
Pastor David Auty

Last Sunday was a great time of fellowship as we sought to hear from God together during our Church meeting. The next step is to get the “Vision strategy team” (David Auty, Howard Wilkinson, Yvonne Evans, Herbert Denton and Olya Bartlett) to get together and have a look at all the info we gathered. This group will meet, discuss, and produce a paper for us to consider as we head towards our Vision Banquet in September.  

One of the great things about the meeting was the sense that we heard a consistent message from God. Although there were many ideas and thoughts on how to specifically achieve it, the over-riding (and quite obvious) thoughts revolved around RELATIONSHIPS...and both of the final
groupings came up with similar priority on relationship. In a way this should not be at all surprising to us. One of the key things that we as Christians believe about God is that he is a relational God. He seeks relationship with us and wants us to have good relationships with others—both in the church and outside of it.

Please continue to pray that, as we clarify our vision and start to form more and more strategy, we will continue to be in step with God and his plans for us as a church.  Thank you so much to everyone who contributed through the process and let’s continue to move forward together.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor David Auty