Weekly Notices - 27th July 2025
This week, we look at Jesus’ teaching on prayer. Many people are nervous to pray, either alone or in a group setting. Many think that a quick mutter of “Thanks’” will suffice… WRONG!
The idea that prayer is a passive activity has no place in our journey together as Christians. Prayer is persistence, conflict and spiritual warfare. Prayer is at the very heart of the life of faith. Prayer is simply talking to God and listening to Him.
Someone once said it’s like falling in love. Suddenly your life takes on a whole new meaning. You’ve got a new centre, a new relationship with a person that gives you excitement and joy. You are talking to the person you love, and you can talk to him or her all through the day, driving, showering, walking down the aisles of the supermarket, going to sleep or waking up.
Prayer is a matter of faith-taking God at His word and trusting His promise to work on His people’s behalf-even when His work is invisible, when the answers are long in coming, and when He seems to be withholding His blessings. The act of persistent prayer proclaims a believer’s commitment to Him.
Let us always know that we can turn to God in confidence and know that He will respond, maybe not right away, maybe not how we would like Him to, but He WILL respond because His love is enduring!
May God always bless St Aug’s
Your Friend and Vicar, Kofe.
Vicar Kofe
This Sunday’s Service (27th July)
Theme: Praying to God with confidence and trust
Sentence: ‘Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.’ Luke 1:9
Collect:
Almighty and merciful God,
more ready to hear than we to pray,
giving more than we desire or deserve;
pour upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgive those things of which our conscience is afraid,
and give us those good things which we are not worthy to ask,
except through your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Readings: Colossians 2: 6 – 15 & Luke 11: 1 – 13
Tiny Town at St Augs!
On Thursday 17th July we hosted the first session of ‘Tiny Town’ in the Lower Hall.
What is Tiny Town?
Tiny Town is a mobile role-play town, crafted for ages 0-6 to dive into play that’s easy and enriching with a curated setup of wooden toys for beautifully designed areas such as a supermarket, post office, vet clinic and garage. See below for some photos of this very cool/cute concept in action in the Lower Hall at St Augs!
The Tiny Town crew hope to hold another session at St Aug’s later this year. ‘Watch this space!’ To find out more about Tiny Town, visit their website: https://www.tinytown.nz/
Messy Church at St Augs!
On Saturday 28th June, we held a very successful ‘Messy Church’ activity day for Pre-School & Primary aged children in the Hall.
Many grateful thanks from Rowena, Thelma and the team to all those that contributed to the success of this day. We hope to hold another session before the end of the year!
What is ‘Messy Church’? Messy Church is a church for everyone who may not feel comfortable attending a ‘normal’ church service and who don’t yet belong to a church. It typically includes a meal, hands-on activities such as arts, crafts, meeting God in the outdoors, science activities and more, which are suitable for all ages.
Check out the NZ ‘Messy Church’ website! www.messychurch.nz
Recently, we were absolutely privileged to have members of the ‘Sumner Silver Brass Band’ lead our 10am Combined Service.
With all the scaffolding still in place, it was especially apt to see how the band seated themselves around the 'mess' of our repairs and just fit in so calmly with what we had to work with.
We look forward to hosting them here at St Aug’s again, at the end of November.
The first concert in our current Organ Concert Series featuring Sea-am Thompson was a huge hit with a full house (check out the photos below!).
Get in quick for the next one! (Click here for more details about this series.)
Please be warned that with the commencement of our roof repairs we have LOTS of scaffolding around the place to be aware of. In particular this affects parking near the Hannan Centre ramp.
Be careful out there!
(And here are a couple of shots of the team in the skyline recently.)
Please remember to use our Diocesan Prayer for Regeneration: As the kotuku gently rests upon the tree, come and rest upon us Holy Spirit as we pray for the regeneration of our Diocese… Ever living God, through your Spirit you constantly renew the whole creation; bring regeneration to your Diocese of Christchurch, grant us courage to grow disciples of Jesus, give us vision to reach young people and their families, and strengthen us to create vibrant communities of faith. All this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Helpful info
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Groups
It’s easy to connect and get involved with some great social and faith-focused groups that meet regularly across the parish. You can find out about all our regular groups on our Groups page. If you have any questions, just click the contact button to connect with the group’s organiser.
Need prayer?
We’d love to pray for you. See the ‘Prayer Support’ section on the Help & Support page for more information on how we can help with your prayer needs. There are confidential and anonymous options available.