We gather together to praise God, to rededicate ourselves to faithful living and to draw strength from one another to face what lies ahead. “Will Your Anchor Hold?” is a realistic hymn - a hymn that asks us about the strength of our faith as we deal with the difficulties of living in God’s world: Will our ANCHOR hold in the storms of life or in the straits of fear or in the floods of death? When challenges and difficulties confront us, will our faith be strong enough to withhold those difficult times?We can learn and grow with every wave, with every disturbance to our peaceful life, with every challenge to the calm waters of our faith. Knowing that God is present with us, we have the ability to learn from our mistakes and missteps and CHANGE, making ourselves more secure and confident in the Anchor of God. Thank you to Megan Wright for reading our scriptures, to Pastora Jeanie for writing the Intercessions and to Pastora Krista for reading them, thanks also to Pastora Krista for the inspiring sermon on the hymn “Will Your Anchor Hold?”, and finally José Cueto for recording the service.

Today, we come together to reflect on the nature of God’s grace and the forgiveness offered to each of us. We come to seek the guidance and direction of God and to be in community. The sermon today tells the story of the author of that wonderful hymn “Amazing Grace”. John Newton was a hard-line, swearing sailor who became a slave trader. Sometimes he recalled his early faith from his younger days but then reverted back to his slave trader persona. Until finally “he saw the light” and wrote “Amazing Grace” – which describes how he became saved from the wretch he absolutely had been. We’ve been given the gift of Grace. May we use that gift to love as God has loved us. May we, too, spread the message of redemption and forgiveness, to our neighbours and to ourselves, in the name of the God who forgives. Amen. Thank You to Howard Cook for reading our scriptures, to Pastora Krista for the intercessions and for the enlightening sermon on “Amazing Grace", and to José Cueto for recording the service.

Today we continue our sermon series called “Our Favourite Hymns” with the hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness”. It is not that we keep reaching out to God, but that God keeps reaching out to us! God is constantly giving us another chance to renew our commitment to be His people. Morning by morning, God is meeting us where we are and encouraging us to follow. Let us listen and learn, that as we strive to run with perseverance the races set before us; as we attempt to love God with our heart, mind, soul and strength; as we go through the process of salvation again and again, we can be grateful for the God who reaches out to us, who provides us with strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, and may the blessings be yours with ten thousand beside. Thank you to Lindsay Mitchell for reading our scriptures, and Gordon Newlands for the intercessions, Pastora Krista for the encouraging sermon on “Great is Thy Faithfulness", and José Cueto for recording the service.

Today we begin a sermon series called “Our Favourite Hymns” and we begin with the hymn that describes our unique relationship with Jesus. “What a Friend We Have in Jesus" was written as a poem by Joseph M. Scriven in 1855 for his mother. The song encourages us to communicate with God, and through that communication we can develop a personal relationship with God; he will bear our burdens, give us peace, and share our sorrows, if we “take it to the Lord in prayer.” In our hymn, we are assured that Jesus is our friend: he listens, he bears our burdens, he loves us and comforts us. But are WE good friends to Jesus? Do we listen when Jesus is speaking to us, or do we just expect Jesus to do all the listening? Do we follow the example he is setting, or do we ignore his guidance and his teachings? A special Thank You to Alan James for reading our scriptures, and Rick Boyle for the intercessions, Pastora Krista for the enlightening sermon on “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, and José Cueto for recording the service.