Kia ora Agora

Today we have two young lads being baptised! We will be talking about why baptism is so important and how it is not an extra option in our journeys as Christians. 

Last week we were reminded that our true identity is found in who God made us to be. The world tries to pull us away from our God given identity and lead us to make wrong choices. But God can redeem our mistakes and even our wrong choices if we anchor ourselves in who we are in Christ.

This Sunday we considered how well-meaning people we meet constantly ask us questions like: "What do you do?". "Where are you from?" "What are your plans after that?"  Are there answers to these questions, or how we look or feel, is what define us?  We explored why it's so important to know and hold onto the identity God has given us and not let that go when other pressures surround us, and we saw through an often skipped-over story in the Old Testament, that our true identity is found in who God has made us to be.

This Sunday, we will continue with the How to Thrive in Life series, but it will be a little different as we look at the topic of suicide awareness. We have the team from Scripture Union coming in to lead us through an excellent interactive service discussing how we can be better equipted to help someone struggling with this horrible burden.

As we continue in our series on How To Thrive In Life, today we will be looking at one of the biggest struggles that every single one of us has to deal with - the struggle of waiting.  We wait for so many things in our lifetimes, and the last few years has brought this reality into our lives with a greater intensity as we have had to wait for things we had previously taken for granted:

Kia ora Agora,

As Christ followers, our thriving in life depends on God being more than a concept that is fitted in alongside our existing beliefs and activities. He has to become our ultimate reality, overtaking all other aspects of who we are and what we do. Unless God is our ultimate reality, we can forget about a life of lasting peace, fulfilment, and joy. 

We will be looking at how we go through life picking up narratives about ourselves. Some of these can be positive, however it’s the negative narratives that seem to stick. These negative narratives can work to bring us down such that when we’re struggling, they become detrimental to our wellbeing. Today we want to look at these stories and put them to the test. We will open the word of God and challenge them to see if our worth is greater than what we tell ourselves. 

This Sunday we discussed the heavy topic of Anxiety. How do you THRIVE in life when it feels like you could explode or pop at any point? Does the Bible say Anxiety is a part of life, is wrong, or even did Jesus experience Anxiety? 

Kia ora Agora,

Today we are beginning the podcast with an interview between Josephine and Ann, where Ann shares her empowering testimony, followed by the sermon on thriving in life.

Kia ora Agora,