Rātapu-led service

Kia ora whānau,

Thanks to the Rātapu kids for their participation in the 10:30am service on Sunday. It was fun to see what they have been up to in Rātapu on Sundays. It was also a privilege to help Pete and Fiona Roberton dedicated little Holly to the Lord. A few weeks ago I mentioned in my sermon that Daniel and his friends grew up during the reform/revival movement under King Josiah (2 Kings 22-23; 2 Chron 34-35). I expressed my desire to see St Tom's be the kind of environment that would produce children like that: young people that were so convinced and committed to their God that they would not compromise their identity as the people of God even when living in exile. It is true, however, that in order for that to happen, us adults need to have hearts that are fully alive and fully devoted to Jesus. We normally cannot just 'try harder' in order for that to happen. But we can ask for it and we can put some things in place in our lives to seek it.

One of the things that we are going to do next month along those lines is to relaunch St Tom's Chapel as a focused prayer space again. We are going to give the chapel a bit of a spruce up over the next few weeks to help create a physical space conducive to prayer. We have had a few seasons of 24 hour prayer (well, at least close to that) in the chapel over the last few years that have been pretty meaningful. But I am sensing a renewed need to seek God with a desperate heart. Many of our St Tom's people lead very missional lives in their homes, at work, and in the neighbourhood. Many of those people have also discovered that that kind of life is only effective and sustainable with a deep connection to our living and powerful God. Our efforts at mission alone are not enough to change the world. They never have been. I remember early in my ministry days in Minneapolis being criticised by someone for being 'too desperate' in my prayers. My response was, "well, I am desperate." I think I need to get back to that. With the shape of our world these days, I think that is probably the proper response.

The gospel reading for Morning Prayer today was from Luke 18. It included Jesus' parable of the widow and the unrighteous judge. It is a story of a desperate woman who refused to stop asking for justice. Jesus used it as an example of prayer - pray as if you have no other options; no other hope. He also used the parable to contrast the difference between an unrighteous judge who doesn't care about anyone and a Heavenly Father who loves to give good gifts to his children. So, in our desperate prayers let us remember that we are being held in the arms of a tender loving Father.

Keep your eyes on Jesus.

Mark