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Who will I vote for?

In the mailbox this week I received my voting papers for those standing for public office in our local body elections. So many different people standing, so many different agendas, along with all sorts of promises of what they will or won’t do. How on earth are we supposed to choose?  We could choose the person who most agrees with our own agenda, whatever that might be. Or we can instead try and choose the people who will act with honesty and integrity, doing what is best for all those w...

Meet the candidates

One of our members has arranged the following event in which people standing for KCDC office can address our community in person. We have asked the candidates to address the question of how they will help develop well-being for our community on the Kāpiti Coast. The following people have agreed to attend and speak:-1. Maria Mc MILLIAN2. Ian POWELL3. Sophie HANDFORD4. Lawrence KIRBY5. Michelle LEWIS6. Rob KOTOED7. Kathryn SPIERS8.Martin FRAUENSTEIN9. David OGDEN10. Martin HALLIDAY The even...

A life of service

Whoever is the greatest should be the servant of the others - Jesus Regardless of our thoughts on the monarchy as an institution, Queen Elizabeth II demonstrated what it meant to live a life dedicated to serving others. These words penned by Matt Redman express what many of us may feel. “I cannot lead you into battle, I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else, I can give you my heart and my devotion.” This quote from the Queen’s 1957 Christmas broadcast sums...

Life!

The story of Jesus is supposed to be a message of Good News, of hope and joy to all who hear it. And yet so often it is not portrayed in that way. Far too often this message of hope, of life in abundance, sounds like a message of doom and gloom. Mark, the writer of the earliest Gospel, begins with the words, ‘This is the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God’.  A pretty bold claim to make but one which was and is good news. Here is God in-the-flesh come to live amongst us, and t...

You don’t deserve it

Have you ever been in a situation where someone else seemed to get treated better than you did? Maybe they got a pay rise and you didn’t.  Maybe they got a better grade on a paper. Maybe they got the credit for work you did. Maybe they got upgraded to a better seat on the airplane. And in that instance how did you feel? Maybe a bit ripped off, grumpy, annoyed. When it happens to kids they throw themselves down on the floor and shout ‘It’s not fair!’. Somehow they believe it’s unju...

You know there's always forgiveness

“I will never forgive them”.  How often do we hear those words today.  They cry out to us from the media outlets,  the movies we watch, our social media accounts.  I’ll never be able to forgive what he/she/they did.       Someone has to pay. One of the realities of living in a world filled with people is that at some stage, someone is going to hurt us.  At some point someone will lie to us, or rip us off and hurt us. And when that pers...

Have you found it yet?

The movie Jungle Cruise starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt tells the story of their search for the fabled Tree of Life. It’s a search that they will do anything to win even if it nearly costs them their lives in the process. No sacrifice is too large for them to make.  Jesus once told a story about treasure – it goes like this, 'The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when someone finds a treasure hidden in a field and buries it again. Such a person is happy and goes and sells ...

No action too small

A couple of years ago a video appeared on YouTube of a grandmother reading the story Wonky Donkey to her grandchild.  It’s read in a  beautiful Scottish accent but as she reads she begins to laugh at the story until she is so overcome with laughter, that she has tears in her eyes  and is almost unable to continue. This little video clip has gone viral on the Internet and has now been viewed by millions of people.  What’s more it caused a rush on the book which then sold o...

Some people are not what they appear to be

The news has recently carried the story of a rich lister who died while serving a prison sentence for drug and sexual-related offences. This self-made millionaire had it all but then let his own desires and addictions drag him into a life of crime. And he’s not the first such person – another of our economic heroes was convicted of child-pornography. Sometime it can be hard to separate good people from bad.  In fact Jesus told a story about wheat and weeds (you can find it in Matthew’...

Sorry

There’s a song released by Elton John  called ‘Sorry seems to be the hardest word’. It’s a reminder that most of us struggle to admit we were wrong, to apologise, to say Sorry. This week the Pope travelled to Canada with the purpose of apologizing to the indigenous people there for the actions of the Catholic Church toward them as people.  While it will never put right what happened to hundreds of children in the church’s care at schools, it does show a willingness to own th...

Own your own stuff

In the town in which I live there is a car with the word Accountability! written in big letters on the side. The owner is wanting to hold the local city council to account for decisions they have made. Accountability is something we all want for others – make them pay, hold them accountable, heads must roll, someone must be made an example of. We see and hear the cry’s for accountability all around us but not many of us want to be held accountable for our own actions or failings. It’s stra...

Enjoy Life!

Just do it is an advertising slogan released in 1988 by Nike, the shoe company and one most people are pretty familiar with. The writer of Ecclesiastes would have loved it because it summarises the message of his book. Life is short, get out there and make the most of it, especially while you are young. Don’t sit around, waiting for the right circumstances, worrying if you have got it all right because none of us knows what tomorrow will bring.  The time to act is now while you can! ...

It's not fair!

Most children have a pretty good sense of justice – they know when life seems unfair, and are pretty quick to tell us so.  I know my own children were quick to point this out when it seemed that one of their siblings got a special treat or were allowed to do something they weren’t. ‘It’s not fair’ was the anguished cry. We may all like life to be fair but unfortunately it isn’t, good people get trampled by bad people, accidents happen, and the lottery of where we are born and ...

The good old days

Listening to the radio the other night, the announcer was talking about how difficult things were in New Zealand/Aotearoa at the moment and as I listened to the others he was talking with, there was a hint of nostalgia for another time – a time when we were a much more caring, united country. The writer to Ecclesiastes warns against such thinking 'Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.' Eccl 7:10.  Why does he suggest that? Because...

Eternity in their hearts

Have you ever found yourself staring at the night sky, wondering if there was more to life than what we see around us. This idea that we were made for something more is found in all sorts of stories, movies, poems and quotes.  It’s as though we have it written on our DNA - the belief that this life is not all there is. C.S Lewis once said ‘If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.’ Th...

We have vacancies!

Due to families moving away and children starting kindy we now have space for new families. Why not come and join us?mainly music runs Wednesdays from 10am. Cost $2 per child or $3 per family. We do ask that you wear a mask. This programme is a fun way for parentsand their children to spend quality time together based around music and movement.It is an opportunity for us as a church to connect with and offer something back to the community of which we are a part. It’s also a way for us to demo...

All that glitters is not gold.

Every week people by the thousands buy a ticket in the lottery, hoping that their numbers will come up, and that life will somehow become better than it was before.  It’s this hope, dream or fantasy that keeps us coming back, even when we know the odds are stacked against us. But hey, you’ve got to be in to win don’t ya. Unfortunately, history tells us that all that extra money doesn’t mean a life of luxury and nor does it help life make sense. In fact it often brings a whole new se...

So this is it?

Have you ever wondered what the point of life is?  If so, you’re not alone – in fact the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, is a book written by ‘the preacher’ to grapple with just that question. It’s the book which coined the words for the song Turn, Turn Turn by the Seekers in the 1950’s and is often used at funerals. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which ...

Pentecost

This coming Sunday is a big day in the church year – it’s the day when the church remembers God pouring out his Spirit on the first disciples and what is in a sense the beginning of the church. From that day on, the church began to grow as the followers of Jesus, transformed by his Spirit, took the story of Jesus to the whole world. It’s fair to say that at times those followers have made mistakes and used the church for their own ends but Paul writing about the change the Spirit can produ...

Respect

Respect is a bit of an old fashioned word in many ways. For some it evokes images of standing in line and saying “yes sir, no sir”, when spoken to by teachers or an authority figure. For some it may mean not using certain words in the presence of others.  But respect is ultimately about the value we place on something, whether that be a person, object or even an idea. To respect another person then, is to consider that person of worth and value, even if we don’t see eye to eye. I wond...

Whakarongo

Through listening comes awareness, through awareness comes understanding, through understanding comes knowledge, through knowledge comes life and well being.This whakataukī reminds us that listening is the basis of understanding, not just of knowledge but also others and the world around us. This Wednesday we are hosting a meeting to listen and hear your views on the Governments Climate Change Adaption Plan. This is a plan that will impact all of us in some way and so we want to hear your views...

Climate Change Adaption Plan Hui

YOU ARE INVITED Wednesday May 18th 2022, from 7pm. to 9pm. Paraparaumu Baptist Church, Corner of Ruapehu and Kaimanawa Streets (please wear a mask) The Government has launched its Climate Change National Adaptation Plan which is out for Public Consultation. It wants to hear from Communities, like us, here in Eastern Paraparaumu. Our Church thinks this is important, so, in this hui we will look at: the overall Adaptation Plan, the nature of our particular community, and our climate change relate...

Something new

There’s an old idiom that talks about been ‘stuck in a rut’ which is used to describe a situation where every day feels just like the day before or where we always do the same old thing, nothing seems to change. The expression has its roots in a wagon wheel stuck in a rut made by other wagon wheels before it. The depth of the rut makes it hard to change direction. Perhaps you know the feeling in your own life. Sometimes in the church we too can get ‘stuck in a rut’ doing the same old t...

Mother

The other day it occurred to me that there seemed to be a lot of ads for perfume on the tv recently and then... I realised it’s coming up to Mother’s day and they want me to buy my mother some more perfume to show her how much I love her. It’s strange isn’t it that showing our mother’s we love them is now about spending money on them – the more the better. And I’m sure that while gifts are nice it isn’t really what our mothers want. At least it wasn’t what my mother wanted. Mor...

mainly music is back in person!!

mainly music kicks off again this Wednesday 4 May from 10am. Cost $2 per child or $3 per family. We do ask that you wear a mask. This programme is a fun way for parentsand their children to spend quality time together based around music andmovement. It is an opportunity for us as a church to connect with and offer something back to the community of which we are a part. It’s also away for us to demonstrate care, concern and support for those with young children....