Peace is available to every one of us. Jesus Christ is declared the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and through Him we have access to peace anytime and anywhere, in every circumstance. The question is: are we truly leaning on Him, or are we still trying to do life in our own strength?
Peace does not always mean quiet or the absence of challenge. Rather, it is the deep assurance that God is in control, and that His grace is sufficient for everything we may face. His peace is His gift to you.
Here we are - only a few weeks before Christmas, the celebration of the greatest gift ever given to humanity: Jesus Christ. His birth represents hope, salvation, and reconciliation with God. Life can often feel clouded by hopelessness, and the illusion of social media tells us that if we’re not constantly happy, something must be wrong with us. Yet the kind of happiness the world offers is shallow and lacks true substance. But as followers of Christ, we carry a genuine and enduring hope - one that God invites us to receive fully and to share generously with a world longing for something real.
As we wrap up this series on mission and lean into the greatest mission of all—Advent—let this be our declaration: we are all on mission. Every moment of our lives carries an opportunity for mission. Whether in your home, your workplace, the grocery store, or right here at church, what we need are eyes to see and a willingness to step into the commission of God’s Kingdom. God has chosen you as His mission-person. So let’s be encouraged, stirred, and ready to take action in the mission before us.
Missions is for all times, anywhere, anyone - all of us are called to be part of mission. So what does this look like abroad, and what does this look like at home? Guest speakers Jono & Destiny MacLeod share their amazing 8.5 year journey of missions in South Sudan, and what missions looks like for them in Mahurangi today. May this message inspire you to take notice of the opportunities around you today.
Over the next four weeks, we’ll be leaning into Missions — a perfect lead-in to Advent, which represents the ultimate mission for humanity: the gift of Christ Himself.
We’ll begin this series by exploring the Great Commission — the call (and command) for every believer to take part in the Kingdom mission of sharing the Good News of Jesus, our only means of salvation and our hope of glory.
How do we hold the tension of the promises of God and the hardships of life that come with being a broken people living in a broken world? What is our perspective when suffering comes our way? We need to take our eyes off the situation, and instead gaze upon the face of Christ. For by Him, we have both the promises of God and the sufficient grace to walk down the path ahead.
Life is full of hard things we have to face, and some of them can leave us feeling weak or defeated. Yet, while we are not called to live a defeated life, we can take comfort in knowing that weakness is actually a position of Kingdom strength. The paradox of “when I am weak, then I am strong” is not because we possess strength in ourselves, but because our strength is found in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit is our advocate, and His fruit equips us with everything we need to face life’s challenges.
This message is a call-back to child-like faith. Focusing on the words of Christ in Mark 10, where Jesus explicitly says that unless we become child-like in our faith, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. This message dives deeper into what it means to embrace such a faith, and the fun we can have along the way.
It was great to gather at Central Vineyard for our Combined Service. Guest Speaker Adam Russell shares on the need for friendship in our discipleship journey and looks at the relationship between David and Jonathan as an archetype of covenant friendship.