It’s so easy to put out a sign saying ‘All welcome’ but it can be much harder to act like all are welcome. Many of us have been invited places or attended groups where one never feels welcome at all – in fact sometimes the vibe is very clear ‘Go away – strangers not welcome!’ Welcoming others is so much easier when the others are just like us but when they are different – not like us – then it is so much harder.
The Gospel story is that all of us are welcome – that God has invited every single one of us to join in with what God is doing to restore this world. Our task is to make sure that all who God invites, we make feel welcome. And sometimes that means we need to let go of somethings in order to make the others feel they can belong as well.
A maori whakatauki says
He tangata takahi manuhiri, he marae puehu
A person who mistreats his guest has a dusty Marae (Meeting house)
Someone who disregards his visitors will soon find he has no visitors at all. This accentuates the importance of Manaakitanga, or hospitality with Maori society and culture.
What can we do to make others feel welcome in our place?
This Sunday Andrew will be looking at Acts 16. Here we see Paul the Apostle going to a place where there is no church and the first people to belong are all outsiders – people who wouldn’t fit the Jewish profile of a person who belonged to God.
Mainly Music - Meets this Wednesday from 10.00am. This programme is a fun way for parents and their children to spend quality time together based around music and movement. It is a way for us as a church to connect with and offer something back to the community of which we are a part. It’s also a way for us to demonstrate care, concern and support for those with young children.
Small Groups are now up and running again. Contact the church office@pb.org.nz if you would like to join one
Oh and for those who are unable to join us we will still have an on-air service for you @10.30am and again @ 8pm on Thursday evening on Coast Access Radio 104.7FM or you can livestream at
http://coastaccessradio.org.nz/Listen/index.aspx The message and prayers will also be posted to the sermon page on this website.
If at this time you need someone to chat with then please call the church office 04 2987766 or email office@pb.org.nz and we’ll get back to you.
And we are also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/paraparaumubaptist
Grace and peace