Bethlehem Baptist Church, NZ

Join us as we journey through the summer with a variety of different keynote speakers covering everyday topics.

Join us as we journey through the summer with a variety of different keynote speakers covering everyday topics.

Join us as we journey through the summer with a variety of different keynote speakers covering everyday topics.

Christmas, it’s a day that changed the world forever – it’s a day where hope entered our world. But what about the story that led us to this incredible event?

What would it have been like for Mary & Joseph, as they journeyed to Bethlehem with the promises relayed to them by Angels still ringing in their ears?

What would it have felt like to be there that night? To be a shepherd on the hill, confronted by the sight of a heavenly host.

Come and join us and celebrate together the coming of the New Born King.

Christmas, it’s a day that changed the world forever – it’s a day where hope entered our world. But what about the story that led us to this incredible event?

What would it have been like for Mary & Joseph, as they journeyed to Bethlehem with the promises relayed to them by Angels still ringing in their ears?

What would it have felt like to be there that night? To be a shepherd on the hill, confronted by the sight of a heavenly host.

Come and join us and celebrate together the coming of the New Born King.

Luke’s gospel records two very significant people within the story of Jesus’ birth.

Without a doubt, both Simeon and Anna will have been known to the city of Jerusalem. These old saints are identified within the story with a familiarity that assumes our knowledge of them.

“How did some foreign astrologers or wise men end up in the middle of a very Jewish story?” By turning up at Bethlehem what was the significance of their presence to the first audience of this story? In other words, who cares and why?

This is where we have to work backwards into scripture and tradition to join a series of uncomplicated links to identify who the Magi really were. Then we ask the question of why a Jewish audience valued their presence in the story.

Not surprisingly, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a person that the church throughout history has had trouble defining. From being perceived as a humble vessel who gave birth to God’s son, through to being a deified saint who sits next only to the Trinity in power and reverence.

Of course, the biblical text is the most accurate description of her life and place within then Christian story.

What's the deal with Angels? Why are they in the Bible? They do show up a lot in Scripture, there are 270 documented encounters in the biblical narrative.

What role do they play in the unfolding of the biblical story, and why did they play the part they played? Join us as we journey through some of these visitations, interventions, terrifying revelations, confronting and comforting moments that punctuate Scripture.

Luke’s gospel doesn’t begin his account of Jesus with Jesus. Luke begins his record by talking about Jesus’ Uncle Zechariah. It’s a story about an elderly couple with a relatively common problem - they were barren and therefore had not been able to have any children. Luke writes about their anxiety and their righteousness. Then something supernatural unfolds within the story of their lives.