Pastor’s Message

Gaining humility

This last Saturday, we had the privilege of attending the CCCNZ regional summit. The theme this year was “The message of the cross”.

The speakers/facilitator did a superb job of pointing us to the message consistently, and the sessions were not only informative but also engaging, practical and spirit-centred.

Our very own Tim Hodge did a very good job of facilitating the programme. He gave me, among others, an opportunity to share where we are at as a church and got people praying for the various CCCNZ-affiliated churches in Canterbury.

The keynote session was very encouraging for me. Andre Posthuma from Emmett Street Community Church opened God’s word for us. He was reading from 1st Corinthians 1:18-31. Here is part of it:

The church in Corinth was broken. The church at large is broken as well. It is encouraging to remember that in this broken state, the message of the cross is made complete. We realise that we exist, and the church exists because of the power of the cross. In the past, especially during the Roman ascendancy, the cross was always an instrument of violence and torture. The Romans did not invent crucifixion, but they perfected it. It was to serve as an example of what would happen to you if you disobeyed Rome. Part of our English name, “excruciating”, has its roots at the cross. To mention the cross was offensive (think of someone putting a chain on their neck with a rifle on it, displaying that they believe violence is okay). Please note that the message was not the power of the gospel, which is still key, but the power of the cross.

 This message encourages powerlessness in two ways.

1. How God saves. He saves through a foolish message. Worldly wisdom failed to reach God because that was how he designed it. You cannot logic your way to God, nor can you have God on your terms, e.g., 'I will only believe a God who…' or 'I will only believe a God who does not…'How come God is not… 

This is why it is a stumbling block to so many, especially if we do not want to give up autonomy.

2. Who he saves: In this text we see that God saves the weak and the lowly. The things of God have been hidden from the wise and those who feel they are intelligent in their own eyes. This does not mean that our faith is not intelligent, and it certainly does not mean that we believe without questioning or investigating, but it does mean that the moment we rely on our own strength and power, we are no longer candidates for God’s power. God designed it this way so that he alone gets the glory.

We become candidates at the cross when we realise and embrace our need. Or brokenness and how much our righteousness is like filthy rags before God our father. In this state, something even deeper happens. We gain humility. This comes from the realisation that in our broken state, God still sees us worthy to love and bless, and that is not based on anything we have done or not done, it is purely based on him. This posture is how we gain humility.

So, for this week, here is a challenging question. How is God's strength being shown in your weakness?

Have a week filled with humility.

Church Sundays

Coming up this week…

We have just concluded our resilience series. Here is the challenge from our last week. This is from Daniel 11 and 12.

• Resilience in PRAYER (How/what do you pray?)

• Resilience in PRESENCE (How/who do you encourage?)

• Resilience in PRACTICE (How do you live?)

The last part of Daniel 12 is also a reminder of how to live well and how to leave this world well. This is what the angel told Daniel after these visions, and I hope this is what God says about us when we exit this world.

We now move into the New Testament, where we will stay for a while. Possibly all of 2026. 

As a start, we are in James. The series is called “Dead Faith”. We may have a faith, and we may believe all the right things and say all the right things, but our goals and perspectives may be mismatched with God’s word and God’s way. We would view the world through a worldly lens, not a scriptural lens. How do we captivate this faith? James is short, practical and very convicting. We will spend four weeks here. Each week will have a different chapter. I would like us to pause this month and ask ourselves the question: What is the state of my faith? Is my faith alive or dead? 

Using the imagery of the functions of our human body, and specifically the primary senses, there are many things Dead Faith cannot do:

• Dead faith can't SEE – because sometimes our faith is only visible in our trials 

• Dead faith can't TOUCH – sometimes our faith is only believable in our actions. 

• Dead faith can't SPEAK – sometimes our faith is only transferable in our words. 

• Dead faith can't TASTE – sometimes our faith is only desirable in our humility.

For those who are unaware, James is the brother of Jesus. I believe that is the biggest argument we have for the deity of Christ. Think about this: what would your brother have to do to convince you he is the son of God? James believed that his brother Jesus was the son of God, and he lived his life focused on him. He was the first “Bishop”, that is, overall leader of the church that we know. He is often called James the Just because he was very honest in his dealings and assessments with people, and he is said to have had rubber knees because he spent so much time in prayer. He then writes instructions to his “congregation” that are so simple and practical that most of it is either too difficult to comprehend its application or too simple, and we think it does not work.

Community

The holidays are coming up, and I believe children’s church will still be running during this time. There are also two events to consider attending. For the older kids, Beckenham Baptist is putting together a children's programme.

For families, the lovely Josh and Anna are running their Kingdom Circus in Wigram. The dates are on the poster below. This show is very well done, so make a point of coming down to watch it with the family. Even if you do not have young kids, it is still worth your time.

Youth ministry

This is the last week of the term. We have much to celebrate as a youth ministry, especially having some of our youth coming to our Sunday services regularly and interacting with the church members and developing those mentoring relationships. That’s the next big step. Is it possible for us to mentor these young people to spiritual maturity? Is that something you as an individual would like to do? Just get in contact with either Zack or Sinead, and we can arrange something.

Community

Are you following on the socials?

As mentioned by Rachel, who is now running our HCC socials, please help us out by giving us a follow on our pages. Every bit of engagement (a like or comment) helps!

Instagram here:

And our Facebook page:

Community

As promised, here are the first details of our Family Fun Day.

Josh will give us more details in time regarding what he needs help with for the event.

HCC giving details

Halswell Community Church

Account Number: 06-0601-0867216-00

Reference: Tithe/Offering

Particulars: Your Name