I had a severe case of whiplash on Monday this week.

We had a massive Sunday where there was so much to celebrate in the life of our church. 

• The joy of new life in Jesus celebrated through the baptisms of many of our brother and sisters in Christ at Wellington City and at the beach in Island Bay. (Also followed by a church swim!)

• The privilege of welcoming dozens of new people into our church community across all three of our congregations with Hutt running its first Newish Dinner and Night Church welcoming a bunch of new students with Sundae Sunday.

• The encouragement of seeing people maturing and stepping up to serve across our whole church, even at personal cost. 

How have you found our summer in the book of Colossians?

A highlight and verse I’ve been dwelling on is Colossians 1:28-29:

“He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.”

When I was learning to ski I remember crashing into a tree. It was strange because there was a nice wide run, with plenty of space, and yet the lone tree seemed to be like a magnet, drawing me in until eventually I was face down in the snow and wondering where my ski had gone.

After I had brushed myself off and retrieved my ski from 50m down the slope, the instructor told me the key to avoiding the tree. Don't look at it! He said, ‘Where ever you look is where you will end up going. If you don’t want to hit the tree, don’t look at it!'

2025 has the opportunity to be a very significant year in the life of our church. Here are some of the things we are hoping to see happen:

God willing, we will launch our new congregation in the Hutt Valley in February. This will be a place and a platform for us to reach more and more people in this region with the good news of Jesus.

God willing, we will recruit another pastor for 2026. This will be essential for future church planting around Wellington by increasing the capacity of our team to make the most of new opportunities.