From Rev. Enosa Auva’a’s Desk
Rev. Enosa Auva’a writes a Pastoral Message regularly, offering you a way to stay connected with the church family and its heart.
Cultural Identity With God
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Serve In Love For A Blessed Future
Last Sunday night I was invited to open the start of the Samoan Language Week in Auckland. This week's theme "Tuatua i le alofa, manuia le lumana'i" meaning "Serve in love for a blessed future".
We Make Plans, But God’s Plan Stands
We make many plans, but ultimately God's plan stands firm.
The Significance of Pentecost
This Sunday of Pentecost. It was the day when the disciples were together in Jerusalem. A sound like a mighty wind, filled...
Celebrating Mothers Day
This Sunday we celebrate the mothers who gave us life. I only managed to have 15 years with my mother before we came to New Zealand.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit
This week is the last week of the 40 days Jesus remained on earth since coming to life on Easter Sunday.
ANZAC Day – Lest We Forget
This week we remember ANZAC. Following are several reflections to help you in your remembrance.
Denial & Restoration
This week I have been thinking about disapointment as I prepare for this week's sermon titled "Denial & Restore". This is based around Peter the Disciple, who though he denied Jesus, is later restored and called "the rock upon which I will build my church".
Jesus Is Raised From the Dead
Acts :1-3 tells us it was a period of 40 days in which we find the disciple's dissapointment and grief was short-lived as Jesus appears to them in person.
Easter Sunday
Can hope be found in seemingly hopeless circumstances? Is it possible to find good in the darkness we face? Here are three ways Good Friday gives us hope regardless of what we’re facing.
Palm Sunday
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna, Hosanna!” Psalm 118:26. That is the chanting and adoration of the followers of Jesus this Sunday known as “Palm Sunday”.
Harvesting
When Felicity and I first moved down here we were amazed at the wonderful fruit and vegetable provisions of Tauranga Moana. The place has an abundance of orchards and gardens not found up in Tamaki Makaurau, Auckland, so it was wonderful yesterday to bring this aspect before the Lord in prayer.
The Lords Prayer
Today Friday March 7th marks the end of the coalition Government’s first 100 days in power. So how did they do? That’s a big question and many of us will have differing opinions. Some good some bad. But this made me think about my last 100 days walking with the Lord.
Meeting Together
What a wonderful blessing it was to have Iconz and the Boys Brigade as part of our service last week. I appreciated the involvement of the church family in all facets of our church worship ranging from singing, reading scriptures, short testimonies, praying for people in leadership, celebrating communion followed by fellowship over a meal.
Navigating the Unknown
On Wednesday, we heard of the sad passing of a Pacific member of parliament, Fa’anana Efeso Collins. He is my eldest daughter Sara’s, brother-in-law (her husband Ralph is the brother of Efeso’s wife Vasa Fia). I received the call very early from Latafale and her words were “Dad have you heard?” my initial reaction was shock and disbelief.
Above All
From the worlds point of view, it’s St Valentine’s Day, the day romantic love is expressed with affection, greetings and gifts to our dear ones. Historians offer origins, from both Christian and ancient roman traditions.
Period of Reflection
On Waitangi day I watched the live broadcast of the dawn service up at Waitangi and what a blessing. I was moved by the stories shared by those whose whanau were possibly eyewitnesses to the signing of the Treaty and the deep spiritual connection surrounding the Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Psalmist Reflection
I hope you all had a refreshing anniversary weekend. It was certainly very busy here in Tauranga with concerts, festivities at the mount with events like the surf lifesaving competitions and tourist cruise ships docking.
Change of Season
Kia ora koutou, greetings church family. Since the last pastoral message, we have elected a new party to form a government, Chris Luxon as Prime Minister elect, and a host of new faces to lead the country. This election had an element of the quarter final rugby match [...]
Light Amidst Chaos
Kia ora koutou, greetings church family. As I write this pastoral message my mind and heart are seeking the Holy Spirit to prevail in our understanding, in our reactions and in our witness as disciples of Jesus with the war-torn state of Israel and Hamas in Gaza. My [...]
The True Election
Kia ora koutou, greetings church family. For the last three months our environment has been populated with photos in large frames of men and women with the simple message “vote”. Our letter boxes have accumulated colourful brochures with the same message and has overflowed into in the privacy [...]
Running The Race
Kia ora koutou, greetings church family. It’s certainly been an exciting sports weekend in both the rugby and rugby league codes. If you are a rugby fanatic like myself you will be feeling the pressure as the All Blacks restarted their campaign for the Webb [...]
Encouraging Bold Faith Within
Kia ora koutou, greetings church family. Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, or Māori Language Week, is a language for all New Zealanders. To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo I have included snippets at the end of this message from the New Zealand History for your information. [...]
The Gospel Is Our Narrative Of Hope
Malo e lelei. It’s Tongan language week so Malo e lava mai greetings church family. Goodbye winter and welcome spring. “New Zealand bursts with new life. Colourful flowers bloom, lambs are born and waterfalls burst with springs rains. The fresh, happy atmosphere during spring makes this an inspiring [...]
Jesus Is The Same Wherever We Are
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. The other day I was listening to a conversation by a group of people about ‘what is faith’ and ‘what it means to have faith’. I appreciated them sharing their story of what God had done for them over their life journey. [...]
The Place We As Christians Call Our Spiritual Home
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. Those of you interested in sport will know that in the last few months the country has witnessed the celebrations as well as the dejections of players in the FIFA women’s world cup as teams have been based all over New Zealand. [...]
Sharing Faith With Those Around You
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. Last week my wife Felicity and I and my sister-in-law Jennifer went for a walk to the top of Mt Maunganui. It was a beautiful day with the sun streaming behind our backs making the challenge a real pleasant experience. The opportunity [...]
Fellowship 21st Century
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. Fellowship is so important, and it was great to have another small group hosting our luncheon after the service Sunday. Big thanks to Tuesday’s 7am men’s small group. What a blessing to share in conversation and catch up with other over soup [...]
Guidance Of The Holy Spirit In Our Daily Lives
Tena koutou, greetings and a special kia orana for Cook Islands language week. This week we had our house inspection for the manse, so Felicity and I were busy spring-cleaning and preparing. It can be quite daunting and very worrying if you’re renting a property. In my younger [...]
For The Lord is Good and His Love Endures Forever
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. Last Sunday morning was a wonderful intergenerational celebration of families! Five families committed themselves to the nurture and care of their children in the ways of the Lord. What a blessing for the church to see some of these families who have [...]
Living Out Christ
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. Last week we all experienced the new public Matariki holiday, and it was interesting to see so many talking about the theme of new beginnings. The Lord speaks about this star constellation in Job (Pleiades) as an example of the Lord's power [...]
Matariki Together This Year
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. What a wonderful family service we had last week, great fellowship culminating in lunch after church. Special thanks to Peter, Maria, Corne and Jaco’s home group for hosting this, loved the soup!!! I am away this week so enjoy the Matariki 2023 [...]
My independence is my dependence on the Lord
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. It was lovely to see many of our new church family become full members of St Peters the other week. It was a great celebration and a special thanks to the events team for the waffle breakfast. This week we will be [...]
Pay attention to our condition
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. As an avid sports follower, last week was the pinnacle of the Super Rugby Pacific championship with the final between the Chiefs and Crusaders played in Hamilton. What a match played by amazing athletes at the top of their game. While I [...]
Ready on the spot
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. Yesterday Felicity and I visited some friends in Omokoroa and then took the ferry across to Matakana Island. This was the first for us as we often talked about Matakana Island while walking up the summit of Mt Maunganui. Most travellers were [...]
Friends sharpen Friends
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. While praying about the pastoral message for this week the words that came to mind were: prayers, community, faith and friends. I have chosen “friends” as a topic for some reflection for this week. This week Felicity and I had our friends [...]
The Ebenezer stone
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. What a rainy wet King’s Birthday weekend we had. The sun was barely seen and the sky grey. What was a ray of sunshine, was the turnout at church on Sunday. Despite the rainclouds people came out to have fellowship and hear [...]
Practise Fellowship often
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. I love the fellowship and social gathering we have following the church service on Sunday morning. As I move around talking with people there is always a different story and a topic of sharing. There is a sense of belonging generated as [...]
Honour Jesus in my life
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. I woke up this morning talking to Jesus about my day. I started by asking the Holy Spirit to guide me and help me to honour Jesus in my life. What does that mean to “honour Jesus in my life”. Well the [...]
Risen and Ascended
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. As I look out at the blue sky and sun streaming into my study it is hard to believe that we have had consistent rainy weather for weeks. It reminds me that every day is a new beginning and that God’s mercies [...]
The 40 Days to Pentecost
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. What a wonderful week of celebrations and blessings we witnessed last week. Praise the Lord! A message of thanks is pouring forth to this wonderful church. Firstly, Pastors Arpana and Prasana shared of God’s transformation work in the lives of unwanted girls [...]
Let the Children come
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. Last week Felicity and I had four of our 10 grandchildren from Auckland to stay for a couple of days over the Easter break. They joined in with skits, and songs in our Sunday worship and it was lovely to see (16/4) [...]
What happened after the Resurrection?
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. Happy Easter! The Lord has risen. On Sunday our church family celebrated this very statement, with much joy and thanksgivng. For those of you who missed our Easter service I encourage you to take a look on You tube, search St Peters [...]
Passion Week
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. What a wonderful Palm Sunday church service last week. It was great to see everyone waving all the greenery and expressing the joy of Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Holy Week started on Palm Sunday (2/4) and ends Easter Sunday (9/4)[1]. Here [...]
Jesus a model for Prayer
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. As we continue our journey into the fifth week of Lent (started on 22/2 Ash Wednesday and ending with Easter on 9/4) I find myself more in intercessory prayer for my family, friends and the church family. The power of prayer brings [...]
Dig a little deeper
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. We are now in our fourth week of lent leading up to Easter and my encouragement for you all is from Psalm 19. The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts [...]
God is Just and Upright
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. We are now in our third week of lent leading up to Easter and my encouragement for you all is from Deuteronomy 32:3-4. “ascribe greatness to our God! 4“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness [...]
Lent Bible Reading Plan
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. Recently I spoke to a friend who has been a Minister for a decade about Lent and to my surprise Lent had not been part of his experience growing up in the church. He said Lent was not an emphasis of the [...]
What is Lent?
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. Well what a week this has been! As I write this the sun is shining over Tauranga, but the evidence of the horrendous effects cyclone Gabriel caused are devastating. It is hard to believe that this time last week we were in [...]
How do we Strengthen our Faith?
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. This week I have been dwelling on faith building and how we strengthen our faith. Hebrew 11:1 tells us “faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (NIV Heb 11:1). Events like the [...]
Proceed to the Route
Tena koutou, and greetings church family. My encouragement for you this week is based on 1 John 4. “Proceed to the Route” Today, it's almost impossible to get lost, no matter how hard you try. Whether you're speeding down the freeway or scrabbling up Mount Maunganui, you’re always [...]
Happy New Year
As I write this first edition of my Pastoral Message for 2023, I am reminded of how great is our God and His love that endures forever (1 Chronicles 16:34).
Christmas Blessings and a Happy New Year
Christmas blessings and Happy New Year to all our church members. What a blessed and hope filled time of the year Christmas is as we remember how God sent his son Jesus to save us and give us eternal life.
Giving Thanks
As we celebrate God’s greatest gift to the world we remember His blessings to us during the year. Felicity and I want to thank St Peters congregation for welcoming us to the St Peters church family.
What Is the Candle of Love?
What Is the Candle of LOVE? The love candle also known as the Angel candle, represents purity. Here are some scriptures to meditate on as we come to the end of Advent season: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
What Is the Candle of Joy?
The joy candle is also known as the Shepherd’s Candle, to highlight the joy the shepherds experienced when they received the good news about Christ’s birth (Luke 2:8-20). They received the joy that comes through Jesus’ arrival, and through the salvation he has gifted us. Philippians 4:4-5 captures the JOY that is gifted to us for his glory in sharing the Good News with our neighbours.
What Is the Candle of Peace?
How did you get on with your wreath and candle organisation? It is not too late to join in. Start this week with the second candle of PEACE. Join with the rest of the church family and take part.
Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Light (Christ Jesus)
We will celebrate the four Sundays with three activities. Felicity and I invite you and your family and friends to journey with us together in this season of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Light (Christ Jesus).
