This is a time of year where we spend a lot of time celebrating. Christmas, New Years, graduations, end of exams, team achievements, my birthday 😉.
When it comes time to celebrate, we can do it in two very different ways. Each way says something about our heart.
We can celebrate what we have achieved and what we have done. We can celebrate who we are and what's great about us. But when we celebrate like this we've overlooking something very significant and we're going to being to sound a bit like King Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel chapter 4.
"He said, ‘Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?’" (Dan 4:30)
As we saw a few weeks back, this way of celebrating robs God. It steals the glory and honour that belongs to him. We have nothing and don't achieve anything but for the loving, gracious and sovereign provision of the creator God.
So when we celebrate, we ought to do it in a way that thanks, praises and honours God, the giver of every good gift. And this isn't just something we do with our lips but is an overflow of our heart. A heart that has been captivated by God and humbled by the gospel.
This Sunday we are celebrating our birthday as a church. It will be a great chance, not to pat one another on the back, but to give God thanks and honour and praise for what he has done as he has multiplied and matured wholehearted followers of Jesus! And we will pray that he continues to do this work through us so that there will be hundreds and thousands of people in Wellington who are moved from death to life through faith in Jesus.
As Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
Grace & peace,
Andrew
eNews - 28th October 2022
Last Wednesday I was in Auckland with church and denominational leaders from across Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim of the gathering was to see how the NZ church can be better equipped and more effective at reaching the lost for Christ.
It was great to come back from that and dive right into our staff retreat where we are striving to do exactly that here in Wellington. […]
eNews - 14th October 2022
This week our family returned from our stint of long service leave. It was a great time of reconnecting with precious friends and family, having some adventures and making memories as a family. We're very thankful to God for the break and those who stepped up while we are away!
We've come home (yes, Wellington is our home!) excited about the next season of serving with God's people in this place. […]
eNews - 7th October 2022
One of the many things I love about Night Church is that after the sermon we have a Q&A time. We had some great questions on Sunday from Daniel 1.
One of them was this - “Is it possible for the same decision to be compromising for one person but actually Jesus-honouring for another?” For example (a scenario I mentioned in my sermon) deciding to skip community group to go to work drinks. […]
eNews - 30th September 2022
How’s life playing out for you?
What things are going well and what things would you change if you could?
Last week at church we unpacked the words of Jesus and his offer of Life to the Full. If you didn’t get a chance to listen to the sermon you can find it here. This Life to the Full Jesus offers doesn’t equal a life of bliss and happiness but a life lived in relationship with God. Life to the full is found with Him alone.