Reflection 19 November – Joy Kingsbury-Aitken
Reconsidering the Parable of the Talents by Joy Kingsbury-Aitken Traditionally, the parable of the talents has been seen as an exhortation to Jesus' disciples to use their God-given gifts in the service of God, and to take risks for the sake of the Kingdom of God....
Reflection 12 November – The Good Samaritan, or…?
The Good Samaritan or, something else? a reflection on Luke 10:25-37 by Dan Spragg In her book, Grounded: Finding God in the World, author Diana Butler Bass talks at length about the idea of compassion and how she believes it is a critical factor in remembering and...
Reflection 5 November – Psalm 107
A Reflection on Psalm 107 by Dan Spragg About a year ago I got really angry. At God. I’m not one to get angry all that often - or at least I’m not one to show my anger. I do tend to be a slow burner and then I ride my bike and all is well in the world. But, about a...
Reflection 22 October – What is the Nature of the Kingdom?
Matthew 13:1-9 | What is the nature of this Kingdom Jesus talks of? Some of my favourite books to read when I was around 11 or 12 were those ‘choose your own adventure’ stories. Do you know the ones? At the end of each chapter you got to choose what happened next,...
Reflection 24 September – Throw Away the Ledger & Do What is Right
Matthew 20:1-16 - Throw away the ledger and do what is right A reflection by Dan Spragg ‘Do the mahi, get the treats…’ This is a well-known Kiwi saying. ‘Mahi’ is ‘work’ in Māori, so, ‘do the work, get the treats.’ Do the work and get the rewards. It speaks of...
Reflection 17 September – Jesus, Beloved and Hungry
Matthew 3:13-4:2 - Jesus, Beloved and Hungry A Reflection by Dan Spragg In 1940, Warner Sallman, a commercial artist from Chicago, who worked in advertising painted an image of Jesus called, ‘The Head of Christ’ and through his affiliation with both the Protestant and...
Reflection 27 August – I will build my church
Matthew 16:13-20 - “I will build my church…” – Jesus. Reflection by Josh Olds For a large part of my life, my dad was in the police force. He went in when I was a baby and only retired from the police a few years ago. I found that there were many pluses and minuses in...
Reflection 20 August – The human side of Jesus…
Matthew 15:10-28 - The Human side of Jesus helps us become more… A Reflection by Dan Spragg What do you make of this text?! What do you make of Jesus in this text?! Be honest… It’s potentially one of those readings we don’t know what to do with. Jesus, especially in...
Reflection 13 August – Jesus Walks on Water
Matthew 14:22-33 - Jesus walks on water a reflection by Dan Spragg Each year we make our annual pilgrimage up the south island to the golden sands of Kaiteriteri. The sun shines, it’s warm, it’s relaxing and the beach and the water are beautiful. If you’ve been to...
Reflection 6 August – Peace Sunday
Peace Sunday - Micah 4:1-4 & Matthew 5:1-12 a reflection by Dan Spragg Shane Claiborne is the founder of The Simple Way, an intentional Christian community in Philadelphia which seeks to live simply and follow the ways of Jesus in all of life. Living in New...