Colourful Dreamer

Over the last two Sundays the Parish of Gate Pa has hosted public lectures on the battle that took place here in 1864 . It is one of the most significant battles of the New Zealand wars and it legacy is still felt today in Tauranga . Nearly 500 people have turned up to listen to these talks . This has blown us away. We thought maybe 50, maybe 100 at the most. We feared 10.  It is really encouraging, if not a little daunting to have this number turn up. If you read the papers, Tauranga is full of people who think Maori get too much, that we should all be one and move on, and that rather than being villains the European settler were generous civilisers. To have our church over full two hot Sunday afternoons in a row ( l ast Sunday was one of the hottest days on record) with people who both appreciat ed the time taken to tell the story, and the content of that story has been very encouraging. P eople really do want to know the story, and from that, to understand the Treaty Settle...

This morning’s reading from Isaiah was written for those who had returned from exile in Babylon, only to find a destroyed Jerusalem, a shattered remnant, and little hope that the great days of the past could be restored. Their hopes had turned to dust, and they lived in a dark place. In that darkness the writer offers hope. Hope of God’s presence. Hope of God’s activity, restoring them, announcing them to be God’s beloved, God’s bride, with God the bridegroom. What does God say to our hopelessness in these words? Today we also hear of another bride and bridegroom. Set on the third day, Jesus is at the wedding feast in Cana as a guest, his mother with the women creating the feast. The temptation is to call this a miracle, and get hung up on that. John doesn’t call it a miracle, but a sign. A sign that points to who Jesus is. A sign that points to the fact that the reign of God is in their midst. It is more important to focus on what the sign points to than the sign itself. This...

  Gate Pa – Epiphany 1 2013 Readings: Hebrew Scripture:       Isa 43:1-7   Psalm:                          Psalm 29          Epistle:                         Acts 8: 14-17 Gospel:                        Luke 3:15-17,21-22 What I want to say: 1. I want to explore the assumptions that prevent us really reading stories of scripture, particularly the gospels 2. I want to explore the story of Jesus’ baptism to ask again:             who are we             whose are ...

One could ask why Jesus would need to be baptised. Especially by John, whose baptism was one of repentance? What could Jesus possibly have done to need a baptism of repentance? John’s baptism was also about identity. One way to understand John’s baptism was that those who were baptised repented of all that separated them from others, (all others) and were numbered now among those God cared for and worked on behalf of. And who does God care for and work on behalf of? Everyone! It involved letting go of a theology that their sense of belonging to particular people, confined God’s care to one group, and an acknowledgement that all were their brothers and sisters in God. Their identity (who they were) shifted from belonging to one group to belonging to God (whose they were) and this was to be lived out in their daily lives (what was theirs to do). So why was Jesus baptised? Not to repent. But to embrace this identity, and to begin his ministry as the one declaring Gods care a...

 Gate Pa – Advent 4 2012 Readings: Hebrew Scripture:     Micah 5 : 2-5a   Psalm:                          Luke 1: 46-55 (Magnificat) Epistle:                        Hebrews 10: 5-10 Gospel:                        Luke 1: 39-45   What I want to say: use this story and Magnificat to explore who Mary is and what that might mean for us as we approach Christmas who is Jesus in light of who is mother is What I want to happen: people to be inspired by strong courageous Mary to ask what does she offer us this Christmas as we look to the Christ amongst us   The Sermon      1.  ...