Update No. 417
Good Afternoon, Redeemer Family
Sermon Recordings
This week, Steve preached from Mark 1:1–8, kicking off a three-part Easter series by exploring John the Baptist’s announcement of Jesus’ mission. He reminded us that just as Israel wandered in the wilderness, we too live in a "liminal space", a broken world where God deliberately meets, shapes, and provides for us. Challenging us to examine whether our lives reflect our confession of faith, Steve encouraged us to repent of our natural crookedness and look past our present "wilderness" to Jesus, the Son of God, who alone can straighten our paths, fill our deep valleys, and save us through the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit.
If you weren’t able to make it on Sunday or if you’d like to listen to this sermon or any previous sermons, they’re all available here… or you can just listen below.
Can’t wait until Wednesday to listen to our latest sermon? Good news, you don’t have to! Our sermons are now uploaded by 5pm every Sunday.
ReMemer Church
Wednesday In The Word - Tonight!
Wednesday in the Word is on tonight, from 7:15pm at the Rogers (68 Fernleigh Street)! This is open to anyone and everyone (13+), and if you’ve got younger kids that need to come along, they’re welcome to hang out too!
Just a reminder of the questions that we will be asking/answering, so that you can come prepared!
What did you like about this story? Why?
What questions might someone have about it?
What do we learn about people?
What do we learn about God (or Jesus)?
After hearing this, what are you going to do this week?
Our discussions will be based around Luke 4:14–30, but feel free to engage with the rest of the context reading as well.
Context Reading: Luke 4:14–5:11
Focus Passage: Luke 4:14–30
Haven’t done the reading? Haven’t thought about the questions? That’s ok. Come as you are.
Redeemer Easter Series
This Sunday, we will be continuing our Easter series, Jesus the Redeemer: The Wilderness to the Cross, which will culminate on Easter Sunday.
Over the three weeks, we will be looking at:
Jesus Out of the Wilderness: Announcing His Mission
Jesus Into the Wilderness: Preparing for His Mission
Jesus Out of the Wilderness: Accomplishing His Mission
Easter is always such a great time of year to invite friends and family along to church to hear the Gospel message. I mean, anytime of year is good, but people are often much more open to visiting during Easter! We’d love to encourage you to be bold in sharing the Gospel and inviting the people you love (that should be everyone, right?) to join us.
Kurios Conference
Kurios Conference is on this Saturday! Registrations have closed, but I’m sure that if you wanted to go they wouldn’t turn you away.
Monthly Men’s Breakfast
Our next monthly men’s breakfast is next month, on the 11th of April, from 8am at Mike’s place (87 Veale Road). We’re meeting on the second Saturday of the month because the first Saturday is Easter weekend. All of the men of the church are welcome! You can also bring a friend, but he too must be a biological man (is there any other kind? I think not).
Tea & Testimony
Our next gathering will be on Saturday, May 2nd, from 7pm at the Rogers (68 Fernleigh Street)!
We are so excited to have Angie from King’s Church in Christchurch (part of our New Frontiers family) joining us to share her testimony that night. Angie is coming up with her husband Tim, who will be preaching for us on the Sunday.
Supporting Carli in Women’s Ministry
As we shared recently, we are thrilled that Carli Rogers is officially taking on the Women's Ministry leader role alongside her current deacon responsibilities!
To make this 8-hour-a-week role financially sustainable for Redeemer in the long run, we are stepping out in faith and asking the church family to consider targeted giving.
Our Goal: 10 partners at $24/week.
Current Progress: We already have 5 people committed (including larger one-time donations)!
Remember, $24 a week is simply a guide to help us track our progress. You definitely don't have to give that exact amount. Whether it is more or less, every bit helps us support Carli in this vital discipleship work, and hopefully even expand her hours as the church grows!
How to Partner With Us: If you would like to have "skin in the game" and financially partner with and support this ministry, you can use the details below:
Bank: TSB
Account Name: Redeemer Church
Account Number: 15-3953-0698528-000
Reference: As with your regular giving, please include your Name (for your end-of-year tax receipt) but ALSO the letters "WM" (so we know to apply it to this specific goal!).
Thank you for praying about how you can be a part of this!
What Are Our Kids Learning?
On Sunday, the children learned the serious truth that God is a perfectly just judge. We looked at the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities that were completely filled with people doing very bad things. We saw how much God cares when people are mistreated, and because He is good, He cannot simply let evil go unpunished. Before judging the cities, God listened to Abraham's heartfelt plea to spare anyone who was righteous. While there weren't enough righteous people to save the cities, God showed His great mercy by sending angels to rescue Abraham's nephew, Lot, and his family before the destruction came.
We connected this powerful story straight to the Gospel. Just as God took the sin of those cities seriously, He still takes our sin seriously today. None of us are perfect, and God's justice requires that sin be dealt with. But the incredible news of the Bible is that God has provided a way of escape for us, too! Jesus took the judgment for our sin when He died on the cross. When we trust in Him, we are completely forgiven and rescued. What an amazing sacrifice and demonstration of God's love!
Their memory verse is:
“It is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.” - Psalm 75:7
Baptism Class
Considering getting baptised but aren't sure of the next steps? Or maybe you're just curious about what this whole "baptism" thing is really all about?
Good news! We’ll be running a Baptism Class soon. If you're interested in joining, please come chat with Rex. We guarantee that after the class, you'll understand baptism at least as well as Delmar does!
Redeemer Socials
As some of you have already discovered, Redeemer Church is now on Facebook and Instagram. We’d love for you to join!
We currently post twice a week, sharing an inspiring quote from the week's sermon alongside our weekly reflection. It’s also the perfect place to stay up-to-date on upcoming events and easily share them with your friends and family. If you're on Facebook or Instagram, be sure to find us and hit follow!
You can use the QR codes above or find the links at the end of this newsletter.
Reflection For The Week
“There are intricate and crooked windings in the world, but through such appalling difficulties the Lord makes a way for himself, and breaks through, by incredible means, to accomplish our salvation."
- John Calvin