Browns Bay Presbyterian Church Auckland, North Shore Presbyterian Church, Albany Church, Mairangi Bay Church, East Coast Bays Church, Torbay Church, Long Bay Church, Mainly Music, Mainly Music Browns Bay, Messy Church, Youth Group Browns Bay, Reformed Church Browns Bay.

Welcome to Browns Bay Presbyterian

We're glad you're here! We hope you will find all you need to know about Browns Bay Presbyterian.
      With Gods help we can get through this.

We are a community church comprised of people of all ages and various cultures. Our desire is to help people find and follow Jesus. This means we are discovering what it means to love God, love one another and love the community around about us.

You'll find more information about us from the links on the menu on the left.

From the Pastor’s pen:

Welcome to BBP Family Church’s weekly newsletter.
Prayer is available daily through the prayer chain and email list.

If you click on Readings and Vids for each week’s readings are in English or Korean/English parallel when you click on the Reference, Footnotes link.

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17 November 2024

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I encourage you to join one. Speak to Dave, Val or Rob.

TRANSCRIPT FROM LAST WEEK’S WORD
I like to write a full sermon text each week. I’ve sometimes wondered what happens when people pray before the service and ask God to give me the right words. Last week the sermon took a different turn. Here’s part of the transcript from YouTube. I was discussing the news and the many things we can’t do anything about:

“You can fast forward (the news), but you can't really do anything about it. What you must do is not allow it to rob you of your peace. Just as Jesus was the Prince of Peace coming into Jerusalem, He also taught, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God." He said, "My peace I give you, not as the world gives. Let not your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. Trust in me."
What is the most challenging mental health or emotional issue at the mo- ment? What do you think people are suffering with the most around the whole world? One word: anxiety. Are we centres of anxiety and stress? When we walk into a room, do people say, "Oh no, look who has arrived," or do they say, "Oh, I love it when she's here because she brings peace with her"?
We call it a “non-anxious presence”. I want to be that because that's what people need. Just as we write in our bulletin every week, it says, “Always be ready to give a reason for the hope that you have”. Always be ready to give a reason when people say to you, "Why doesn't this bother you?" You can say, "Well, this is why." Tell them the story. We find peace in God's word, in worship, studying His word, and in prayer. We find peace waiting for Him in the morning before we go off to do what we have to do. When we spend that time with Him, we find peace. You don't have to go for a lovely walk on the beach or be on a high mountain; that's also good. But in your little place where you pray, He can speak peace and then give you your task for the day to be a non-anxious presence and person. Isn't that good? I think it's wonderful.

I want us to read the psalm that's on the front of the newsletter. This psalm is set by the lectionary today as well, and when I read it, I thought there are some interesting things in the psalm that relate to the widow and the whole situation of who we trust in. This is from the New Living Translation. Let's read it together (Psalm 146).

"Let all that I am praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to God with my dying breath. Don't put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them. But joyful are those who have the God of Jacob as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He made Heaven and Earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. Isn't that good? He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.”

That rings a bell; that's exactly what Jesus said at His first sermon. Do you remember when they wanted to throw Him over a cliff? He referred to that woman in Zarephath. He reminded them who would have said, "We're the chosen people." He said, "Don't you remember that God didn't choose someone from Israel, but someone from Lebanon?" Then He goes on to talk about Naaman the Syrian who was healed - not Jewish, not Is- raeli, not children of Abraham. That's why they got so angry with Jesus because they thought they were so special. That's exactly what we mustn't be.
In the middle (of verse 8) we have - the Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly. The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but He frustrates the plans of the wicked. The Lord will reign forever. The Lord will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations

Now we've got another word that's too localized. Jerusalem, the actual word in the Hebrew is Zion. Now you've heard of Zionism, right? The whole passion for the states of Israel is through Zionists. Zion is the name of the mountain, and Jerusalem is built on that mountain.

If you go to Hebrews 12:22 You'll find in a Christian context discussion about Zion that we actually come to Zion. There's a Christian hymn that goes, "Those glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God." (Response to Jessie:) You've got that written down? Yes, of course you have. Friday, there we go, sing it on Friday and explain it to the peo- ple at Aria Bay what it means. Zion is a spiritual place where God is. You see, the temple was the place where God was in their understanding.

That's why they had those layers - you know, the Gentile courts, the courts for the women, then the other men who were important, and then behind the holy of holies, nobody except the priest once a year taking blood in to sprinkle it on the Mercy Seat. They tied a rope around the priest's waist, and he had a bell attached because if he died, they had to pull him out because they couldn't go in because it was too holy.

The whole Bible is actually a story about the presence of God. When you go back to the Garden of Eden, it starts with the presence of God. Adam and Eve are walking in the garden, and God is talking with them in the cool of the day. It's a normal conversation; he's talking with them, and they talk to him. Of course, they chucked that away because they want to be powerful and in control. They want to be a president of some sort in their world, and they separated. The whole Bible is about people being drawn back to the presence of God and them turning away.

Then we come to Jesus. Who is Jesus? God incarnate - God in the flesh. God becomes a human being; his presence is in Jesus so that he can say, "When you've seen me, you've seen the Father," and then Jesus, as he prepares them to go, prepares them. He said to them, "Don't let your hearts be troubled; don't be afraid. I will be with you." When he leaves at his Ascension at the end of Matthew, he said, "I will be with you till the end of the age. Go and wait in Jerusalem for the gift my Father prom- ised. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you."

How is he with us? Through the power of the Spirit. Where is God pre- sent? In us, and especially when we gather. Because there's something different when we gather; it's a sense of worship and his presence to- gether. It's not just me on my journey.

At the end, the New Jerusalem, the Zion, the city of our God will be the final place where everybody gathers. It's amazing, isn't it? It's a wonderful thing. He will be your God.

Now we can't say Jerusalem; we can't say Zion, but we can for now say church because that's us, and God is with us and in us.

What do you think? You try this: the Lord will reign forever. He will be your God, oh Church, throughout all generations.

Be at peace.
Let his peace transform you into a non-anxious presence very day.

Amen.

Robin

Recorded Services and Resources are here on our website.

On the menu on the left side of the screen you can click on
Readings & Vids to find each week's readings in English or Korean/English parallel. Previous services and readings are also found there. There are pages with each week’s newsletter, rosters and various other resources On the Browns Bay Presbyterian website. See https://bbpsermons.wordpress.com/ for written sermon texts.

  

‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (1:14)

GREAT NEWS:- Messy Church

Messy Church has arrived! Come and Join us for Church with a Difference. First Friday of the Month! for information click here.

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recoded November 2019