Hukanui Bible Church

As we are still in Lockdown, Peter Sun looks at "God is Love" based on 1 John 4:8-10. Peter discusses the alarming decline of people identifying as Christians today, especially in the younger generation, and how this often hinges on the question "If God is Love, why is there so much suffering?" Peter looks at four aspects at the nature of Gods love - Gods love is sacrificial; Gods love focuses on the good of others; Gods love does not depend on reciprocity; Gods love is propitious. This message was pre-recorded for the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 5th of September 2021.

As New Zealand enters lockdown again we take a break from our series in Philippians, and Gavin Lynch looks at Psalm 118. Gavin shares what Church looks like for his family in lockdown before diving into Psalm 118, a Psalm of Praise. Gavin breaks the chapter down in chunks, and dicsusses the amazing promises declared in the praises throughout. This message was pre-recorded for the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 29th of August 2021.

We continue our series in the book of Philippians as Dan Pettersen takes us through Philippians 1:27-2:6. Dan looks at the context of the passage by taking a look at the time when Paul and Silas were in prison together, and how the results of that affected the Church at Philippi. Dan then looks at our passage for today and discusses how the church acted, especially with the local authority surrounding them. This message was pre-recorded for the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 22nd of August 2021.

This week is week two in the book of Philippians, and Peter Sun takes us through Philippians 1:12-26. Our message this week is opened with Isaac reading through our passage before Peter gives a brief overview of the book itself. Peter then goes on to explain why he changed the title of his message for today from "Paul's Imprisonment" to "Paul's Crucible Moments", explaining what a "crucible" is. Peter then looks at the crucible moments in Paul's life that lead up to the circumstances he talks about in our passage. Peter then looks over 3 points about the passage that we can learn from. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 15th of August 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

As we enter week one of the book of Philippians, Peter Cowie takes us through the first 11 verses of Philippians 1. Peter starts our book off with a bit of context around what the book is about as a whole, this letter Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, and why we as a church are going through it. Peter then starts reading through the passage, starting with the first 2 verses, and he looks at the significance of how Paul starts this letter. Peter then dives into the next nine verses, breaking them down one by one. Peter jumps over to Acts 16:6-23 and has it read out before discussing how the gospel plays a part in this letter. Peter wraps up with a practical application for what we've gone over today. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 8th of August 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

This month we are blessed to have Caleb Wilkinson Mackie speaking during our monthly Sunday evening service, this month discussing "Worship". Starting in Amos 5 from verse 21, Caleb discusses how we can't just be blasé about our worship. Caleb then looks at John 4 from verse 19, where Jesus discusses worship with the Samaritan woman. He looks at how this conversation paves the way for how we can worship from wherever, whenever, and what this actually means for us today. Caleb continues, discussing the "Biblical view of Worship" and looks at the three primary words that translate into our word "Worship". Caleb poses the question, "so how do we worship?" before looking at a couple of examples from David in Psalm 63 and Paul in Romans 12. Caleb wraps up with six "practical tips for worship" before closing with a section from Revelation 5. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church monthly evening service on Sunday the 1st of August 2021 during the 7:00 pm service.

This week is our final week in 2nd Samuel, and Alan Stanley takes us through 2nd Samuel 24. Our passage is read in its entirety by Mat before Alan dives into it. Alan starts by discussing how "religious people" tend to limit God to their beliefs, rather than experiencing Him, and poses the question "have you ever encountered/experienced God, or is He simply someone that you believe in?" Alan looks at the census taken by David in verses 1-8 and discusses why God would incite David to take this census that he then needs to be punished for. Alan then looks at the way that God can still use people, no matter what their life has been like, as David repents in verse 17. God forgives. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 1st of August 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

As we near the end of our study in 2nd Samuel, Gavin Lynch takes us through the first 7 verses of 2nd Samuel 23. Gavin starts by reading our passage for today, before discussing the probability of these verses actually being the "last words of David". Gavin then breaks the verses down, firstly looking at "the Grace of God" in verse 1, then he looks at "the Righteous King and the Faithful God" in verses 2-5, and finally, he looks at "the Judgement of God" in verses 6-7. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 25th of July 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

With a slightly different layout this week, Peter Cowie takes us through 2nd Samuel 22. Prior to the message, the congregation sang "When Peace Like a River", and Peter starts by discussing the significance of that song and why he asked for it to be sung before he started. As we start to look at chapter 22 of 2nd Samuel, Peter looks at the similarities between it and Psalm 18. Peter then breaks chapter 22 into sections, asking different people to come up and read these sections before breaking them each down a bit deeper. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 18th of July 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Back into 2nd Samuel this week, Peter Cowie looks at chapters 20-21 with us. Peter dives in deep from the start with the question, "How do we be men and women after God's own heart when things get comfortable?" Peter looks back at the story so far, showing the context of the journey David has been on, starting in Chapter 11 through to our chapters for today. As Peter comes into chapter 20, he looks at how David contrasts with those in this chapter. David is passive while everyone is trying to be active, and every time that David is passive, it ends up in disaster. But chapter 21 turns this around. Peter looks at what happened when David became active again, and he lived out his duty and faith, doing what God asked him to do. Peter wraps up by talking about how we need to be active in our faith and live out what it means to be men and women after God's own heart when times are good. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 11th of July 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Following on from last months message on "The Call to Serve", this month Gavin takes us through one of the three passages from our Young Adults study groups in Acts 20 - "Paul's Life, Work, and Mission" - during our monthly Sunday evening service. Mark Linton opens for Gavin by reading our passage in Acts 20 before Gavin dives in and gives us a bit of context into the passage we're looking at. Gavin then takes a look at how Pauls service to others has stemmed from his desire to serve the Lord, and he does this by putting Jesus first. So Gavin challenges us with a question, "are we putting Jesus first so that we can serve others by sharing the gospel, being an encouragement, and strengthening others through our words and actions?" Gavin then looks at how Paul practically lived out this challenge, breaking it down into 5 ways that Paul did this. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church monthly evening service on Sunday the 4th of July 2021 during the 7:00 pm service.

This week we take a break from 2nd Samuel to hear from Dan Pettersen, a church planter now working with WEC NZ/East West College, discussing our call from God, looking at the story of Jonah. Dan starts by posing the question "Did you ever get the sense that God was asking you to step out and do something?" He then jumps into the story of Jonah, starting in chapter 1. After giving some background of the area that Jonah was to go into, Dan looks deeper into the struggle that Jonah faced with the command he had been given by God. As Dan continues to journey through the book of Jonah and discuss what the outcome of Jonah's trip brought, he looks at the practical applications we can take from this story when we look at the journey that we are being called on by God, covered in 3 different steps. Dan wraps up his message with Romans 8:29, discussing God's "predetermined plan to make you more like Christ". Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 4th of July 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Billy Hanna dives into 2nd Samuel 19 this week, looking at David's response to the death of Absalom. Billy breaks our passage today into three pieces - the context of David's grief, the enormity of David's responsibility, and considers the failure of David's perspective. The key idea Billy wants to bring across from this passage is "a heart that looks only to its own interests, shows no regard for God's lasting glory". Billy looks at where today's message fits in the story throughout the books of Samuel before looking at the points outlined. He looks at why Saul, David, and Absalom were or were not fit to be kings, as is shown in this portion of the books. Billy looks at how Joabs response to Davids reaction shows this. But how can we apply this passage to ourselves? Billy looks at a couple of different points on what he learnt while studying this passage. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 27th of June 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Join us this week as Shane Wildermoth takes us through part 2 in the story of Absalom in 2nd Samuel 13-18 which he's titled "Overcome by Bitterness". How does a man born into royalty become so bitter? What brought Absalom to turn the people from their king to the point of war? Shane discusses how poisonous bitterness and revenge is in our lives, and how it can ruin lives, and how it created a murderer in Absalom. And what did this result in? It resulted in fear. It caused Absalom to flee, and he became a rebel, which in turn lead to his death. So how do you remove bitterness in your life? Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 20th of June 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Brett Falconer is back again with another challenge for our monthly Sunday evening service, this month discussing "The Call to Serve". Brett starts looking at three passages from throughout the Bible discussing serving. But why should we serve? How does it help the Church and the body of Christ? Brett breaks his message down to three different parts - Risk Is Right: Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It (John Piper), The Body and the Need for Unity, and An Encouragement to You Who Are Serving: Press On Towards the Goal. Are you answering the call to serve? How's it going for you? Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church monthly evening service on Sunday the 13th of June 2021 during the 7:00 pm service.

Itinerant Bible teacher Rhys Lamont takes a look at our passage this week, looking at how Absalom won the hearts of the people in 2nd Samuel 14-15. Why does this text matter to you? The Old Testament is not simply a collection of stories to pluck moral teachings from. Instead, it's redemptive history! Kingdom in crises points us forward to a kingdom in consummation. Throughout this text, Rhys considers three points - Absalom's return, Israel's heart, and finally, David's exile - before wrapping it up with how we might live in light of this text. If you would like to hear more from Rhys, or learn more about him, you can check out his website at www.captiveforchrist.com Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 13th of June 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

This week, Peter Sun takes a look at a difficult passage covering the sin of David with Bathsheba in 2nd Samuel 11-12. When approaching today's passage, Peter struggled with if he should hold back on what he talks about on this "sensitive topic" or go all in. Peter looks at how sexual sin can affect anyone, even David who was regarded as "one after God's own heart". But what does this actually mean? How can this affect us today compared to how it affected David? What was David's inner struggle? Peter looks at how the story played out and what the consequences were followed by David's repentance. But can God still use sinners for His work? Listen to hear what the Bible talks about this. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 6th of June 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Tom McIvor takes our Baptism service message this week, looking at the question "What Does It Mean To Follow Jesus?". As we are blessed to have 5 of our young adults getting baptised this week, Tom looks at what this actually means. Starting in Matthew, Tom heads to 1st Kings 19 where Elisha is called to follow Elijah. What can we learn from this short passage, and what can it teach us about following Jesus? Tom looks deeper at this in today's message. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 30th of May 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Andrew Lintons brings us a look at our passage for this week in 2nd Samuel 9. Today we are looking at the (hi)story of Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, grandson of King Saul. David wants to show kindness to the descendants of Jonathan, as he promised. But this man was crippled, so what will David do? Jonathan Linton starts by reading 2nd Samuel 9 from the NLT version before Andrew comes up to speak. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 23rd of May 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Join us this week as Tom Leslie looks at our passage for today in 2nd Samuel 7. Should we keep our promises? What about if your parents bribe you with a Playstation if you go to your school ball and then don't keep that promise? Tom talks about these things as he reads through 2 Samuel 7, which he splits into four sections - Houses and Covenants; The Past Promises; The Future Fulfillment; Our Present Response. Before going through our passage, Tom starts by giving an overview of what we've gone through leading up to this, then reads through 2nd Samuel 7, before diving into the four sections that he's outlined. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 16th of May 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Gavin Lynch takes our Mother's Day message for 2021, looking at the story of Jochebed in Exodus 2. Who was Jochebed, and what was her legacy in the Bible? Gavin looks at that this week as he looks at this story of Moses' mother. From defying the Egyptians edict which commanded that all Hebrew boys be killed when they're born, to raising her son for Pharaohs daughter, Jochebed was the mother of a pivotal character in the Old Testament. Gavin looks at how the people of Israel ended up in Egypt, and what this meant for Jochebed, and in turn, Moses, before diving into Exodus 2. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 9th of May 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

The awesome Luke Stevenson spoke this month during our monthly Sunday evening service, his topic being "How Do We Grow Spiritually?". Luke jumps straight into our question today with the statement "Growing spiritually is how do we become perfect by God's standards as we seek to love God with all our being, and love our neighbours?" He then asks if perfection is even possible, and goes on to discuss this before jumping into how we can actually grow spiritually with celebration. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church monthly evening service on Sunday the 2nd of May 2021 during the 7:00 pm service.

As we enter week 3 in our series on 2nd Samuel, Mikey Cooper looks at the moving of the Ark in 2 Samuel 6. Mikey starts by giving us an overview of the story covered in the books of Samuel up to where we are at this week. Mikey then poses us with the question, "How would you individually view God?" Before reading through today's passage, Mikey gives us some pretext on the Ark itself, leading into our passage in 2 Samuel 6. Mikey looks deeper into the actions of Uzzah, and how we view God when we read this passage. In light of this, Mikey looks back at the context of Uzzahs actions, based on the instructions given in Numbers 4 to the Kohathites. Mikey then looks at the lessons that we can learn from this passage. He then goes on to take a step back from our passage and look at Samuel and the Bible as a whole with the question for today in mind, "How do you view God?" based on Exodus 34. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 2nd of May 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

As HBC enters the second week in 2nd Samuel, Brian Goodwin looks at David's Coronation in 2 Samuel 5. After giving us a brief promotion for Lake Learning camp at Mi Camp in Taupo, Brian reads our passage for this week before diving into his message. He talks about the evidence given that the story of David is true, and how we can trust the Bible. How is this story relevant to us today where we are? Brian looks at this while discussing the significance of the city of Jerusalem. He wraps up by looking at why we can have confidence in God. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 25th of April 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Peter Cowie starts our new series in 2nd Samuel this week, starting with 2 Samuel 1:1-16. Peter challenges us with the concept of a "story" as we enter 2nd Samuel. What are the differences we see between Saul and David? Both Kings of Israel throughout the books of Samuel, but very different in how they lead and who they were to the people and God. Peter dives into 3 different aspects of this passage to help us know what God is trying to teach us - the contrast; the problem; and speech. In today's passage, David learns of Saul's death, and we see how he reacts to the news. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 18th of April 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Jeff Samuel takes our Easter Sunday message for 2021 Jeff gives us a detailed dive into the "Feast of First Fruits" from Leviticus 23. He starts by looking at 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, and the parallels found here. He then looks at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 which discusses what happens when a believer passes. Continuing on to Daniel 12:1-2, he looks at what will happen to the Old Testament Saints. From here, Jeff looks at the significance of these events leading to the Tribulation times in Revelation 20. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 4th of April 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Murray Stevenson, the Missions Ambassador for GC3 New Zealand, gives us an update on the ministry work provided through GC3. Murray talks to us about the mission work he and his wife Joy have recently left in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, now moving into their new role as Missions Ambassadors with GC3 NZ. Murray talks about how we are all called to be ambassadors for Christ, as in 2 Corinthians 5:11-20. You can learn more about GC3 at www.gc3.org.nz Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 28th of March 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Join us in the final week of our series on "The Seven Churches" in Revelation where Alan Stanely looks at the letter to the Church at Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22. Alan starts his message this week by reading our passage before jumping into a story about an encounter with his son at a young age. This leads into the crux of the problem with the church at Laodicea, as outlined by this letter. He drills in on the meaning of verse 16 where it talks about the church being luke-warm, and what this meant to them, before going on to discuss what verse 17 meant to them also. This leads to Alan's discussion of how this letter applies to us in the church today. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 21st of March 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Coming into week 6 of our series on "The Seven Churches" in Revelation, Hayden John looks at the letter to the Church at Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13. Starting by looking at today's passage, Hayden questions what the point is of reading a letter written to a bunch of people 2,000 years ago in a place most of us have never been to. Hayden divides our passage into 3 sections about Jesus revealing insights for the believers' life - Jesus reveals His character; Jesus reveals His approval; Jesus reveals His encouragement. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 14th of March 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

This week 5 of our series on "The Seven Churches" in Revelation, Paul Tabrum looks at the letter to the Church at Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6. Paul starts with a PowerPoint showing an overview of the seven churches in Revelation, before diving deeply into the letter to the Church at Sardis. Paul goes verse by verse through our passage and breaks it down, going into detail throughout the six verses explaining the background and understanding of each part. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 7th of March 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Entering week 4 of our series on "The Seven Churches" in Revelation, Peter Sun looks at the letter to the Church at Thyatira in Revelation 2:18-29. Peter starts of with an overview of where the city of Thyatira is today, what it is known for, and what it was back in the time of the New Testament, specifically in regards to trade guilds, to give some background to our passage from today. Peter then reads through Revelation 2:18-29 before breaking it down. He looks at the start of this reading at how the church seems like an amazing church, but as he continues on to verse 20, the tone sets in to show that it isn't all as it seems. Peter then looks at how the church ended up the way that they did, breaking down the rest of the passage verse by verse. Peter closes by challenging us to examine why we do the works that we do. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 28th of February 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

This is week 3 of our series on "The Seven Churches" in Revelation, and Mikey Cooper looks at the letter to the Church at Pergamum in Revelation 2:12-17. Starting with an overview of what the city of Pergamum was like, Mikey leads into our passage for today. Mikey builds a framework to help us understand the text and the application we can pull from it by looking back to the story of Balaam in Numbers, followed by the letter to the church at Corinth in 1st Corinthians chapters 8-10, which he uses to give us an overview of the theme that Paul writes across those three chapters that relate to today's passage in regards to eating food sacrificed to idols in verse 14. This all leads to his key question, what is the application for our age? - "What are the things in our culture that undermine our spiritual and moral heart, that we as followers of Jesus still engage in, that we have gotten so used to, that we do not even think about?" Mikey then gives us an example of this, by challenging us to look at this question specifically in relation to the entertainment industry. Mikey then wraps up with a look at the significance of the references in verse 17 before finishing with a couple of challenges. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 21st of February 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

As we enter week 2 of our series on "The Seven Churches" in Revelation, Alan Stanley takes a look at the letter to the Church at Smyrna in Revelation 2:8-11. Alan starts with a very brief overview of the purpose of the book of Revelation, before diving into our text for today. He takes a look back into Isaiah and challenges us to view how we can often try to take the place of God (play god) in our own lives. To put things into perspective, Alan looks at what it would have been like to live under the Roman Empire as the church of Smyrna at the time. Alan then looks at the church at Smyrna and the suffering they were warned of, and how this is relevant to the church today. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 14th of February 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

As we enter week 1 of our new series on "The Seven Churches" in Revelation, Gary starts us off with his last sermon as our pastor at Hukanui Bible Church, looking at the letter to the Church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-5. This week we were blessed to have 2 baptisms during our service, which Gary was able to tie the theme of this letter to quite nicely. Gary starts out by looking at the state of the Church in Ephesus as it stands when this letter is written and looks at how this is the second letter written to this church in the Bible. Referencing the book of Ephesians, Gary looks at the changes seen in the church between the two letters. Gary looks at what hardships the church at Ephesus had to face with the sin-filled city that they lived in. As he continues into the passage, he looks at the lost love of the church and how it affects them and is still relevant in places today. As he wraps up, Gary looks back on three things personally related to his walk - his salvation; his baptism; when he wept last. Gary wraps up his message with a challenge to the church - "Why do we do the things we do?" Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 7th of February 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

This week, Sam Crosbie looks at "Food Laws and the Observance of Sacred Days" from Romans 14. Sam starts by discussing not what Paul says in this passage, but what he doesn't say. This leads to Sam's first point - "We are called to have convictions". He looks at how at no point in this letter is Pauls aim to correct the readers. Instead, it is to place personal responsibility on each reader and hearer of the letter that their opinion is right. Sam then looks at how this thought applies to us today in the 21st century, especially in matters of moral neutrality, e.g. drinking alcohol, personal spending vs tithing, or absorbing media with witchcraft present. Sam then looks into the divisions that building our own convictions from the Bible can create, leading to his second point - "Our convictions are to be our own". In this, He looks at how Christians generally agree on the fundamentals of the Christian faith and the Bible, however, no two faiths are identical, because, "Our God is too big". Sam looks at how we can apply these lessons in our life, especially in "honouring Christ, by acting on our convictions in the smallest of matters", thinking of how we often let small compromises enter our lives because we don't see them as being a big deal. He wraps it up with a final point - "We are called to walk in love". Sam looks at how we can make our convictions work together. He challenges us to be a church that is characterised by denying ourselves of things, rather than living in our Christian liberty at the expense of our fellow believers. Sam closes with three questions - "In what things are you the strong brother, and are you willing to give them up for your weaker brother?"; "In what way are you the weaker brother?"; "Are you convinced in the way that you should act, do your prayerfully seek out God's guidance in how you live your life, or do you do anything less than that?" Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 31st of January 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

This week, Billy Hanna looks at the Rich Young Ruler from Mark 10. Through this passage, Billy looks at 3 key points - The righteous discernment of Christ (v17-21); The tragic delusion of the young ruler (v22); The contrasting response of Zaccheus (Luke 19); He discusses the difficulty of evangelism and how Christ was able to discern this man and share what is relevant to him. However, even through all of this, Billy looks at how the young ruler was so quick to make the sad decision not to pursue Christ fully. Billy challenges us to view this passage and look at how we're trying to fill the voids in our life. As Billy closes, he discusses the similarities and contrasts of the story of Zaccheus from Luke 19 and challenges us to consider which of these two we look more like. Due to technical difficulties, the first couple of minutes of this message were not recorded. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 24th of January 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

This week, Damien Peden looks at Biblical Faith from Mark 5. Damien looks at the story of Jairus and the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years and dives into the faith that they had to have to be able to approach Jesus for His help. He looks at the significance of who these two people were in the time, and the vast differences in their stories. Damien then looks at how we view hope vs faith as Christians. Due to technical difficulties, the first 5-6 minutes of this message had to be re-recorded. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 17th of January 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

This week, Jono McMillan looks at "Our Hope" in the new year. Jono reflects on what has happened to the world in 2020, and how it has affected all of us in different ways. In reflection on all this, Jono challenges us where we are looking to for our hope. He looks at some passages that talk about how God is where our hope should be rooted. Jono then looks at what "goals" or "resolutions" we have set for 2021, and he gives us some ideas on how he's personally trying to manage his own, including the concept of a having a "word" for the year. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 3rd of January 2021 during the 10:00 am service.

Over the Summer break, our services are a shorter devotion time, and in this first week, Ernie Pene looks at the story of Onesimus from the book of Philemon. After reflecting over the testimonies we've heard at the evening services in 2020, Ernie goes over the story of Onesimus and his journey. He reads the letter that Paul wrote to Philemon, the master of Onesimus, and breaks it down into four areas for discussion as he covers the three people that are in this letter. Ernie looks at how Philemon may have reacted to the letter once he received it with Onesimus in front of him. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 27th of December 2020 during the 10:00 am service.

This last week of our end of year series, Gary Gilpin looks into the story of the birth of Jesus the Messiah, from Matthew 1 verses 18 to 25. Gary covers three different aspects of the birth - the scandal of it all; the spirit involved in the scandal; and the surrogate/substitute. He talks about each of these three aspects in the context of the time, and how it was so much more than what the prophecies talked about. Gary discusses how this would seem if it happened today. He challenges us to remember our Saviour this Christmas, and not to get wrapped up in the gift-giving traditions that surround us. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 20th of December 2020 during the 10:00 am service.

For our monthly Sunday evening service, this month we are challenged by Brett Falconer in how we live out our faith. Brett dives into how we as Christians can live for the treasures/trash on this Earth, but we can often fail to recognise what awaits us in Heaven. He challenges us to how we are living our day to day life to glorify God, rather than loving the life we live in this world. We are so often standing with one foot in each camp, not ready to give it all to God. Are you putting your faith into practice? Brett looks back to the early Church, and how they died for their belief, and how during the Reformation, the same thing happened. They died for their faith. Would you be prepared to do this? How much do you actually believe in your faith? Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church monthly evening service on Sunday the 13th of December 2020 during the 7:00 pm service.

As we enter week 3 of our end of year series, Paul Tabrum looks at how Jesus was rejected in the synagogue, from Luke 4 verses 16 to 30. Paul looks at the misunderstanding of Jesus when he was here on earth, and how there is still a lot of misunderstanding surrounding Him today. He looks at how religion stifles our Christian walk, and how this affected to Jewish people when the Messiah arrived. Paul breaks down what Jesus read to the people and their reaction to it. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 13th of December 2020 during the 10:00 am service.

This week we take a break from our current series "The Expected Saviour" as our annual Sunday School breakup service is held. Craig Jamieson brings us his message, "God's Amazing Gift of Love is Giving Himself". Craig shares how God has given His love through the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and he breaks down how God has done this through each of these three. Craig dives into what that actually means to us today as Christmas draws near, to remember the greatest gift of all. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 6th of December 2020 during the 10:00 am service.

As we take a break from our current series, "The Expected Saviour", Peter Cowie takes us through the intimacy of prayer. Peter dives into Matthew chapter 6, and looks at how Jesus lead by example in prayer. He looks closely at the connection we have with Christ as Christians and how this is shown in the Lord's prayer. Peter then discusses what prayer should actually be for us, especially in the "busy" lives so many of us live today, as he looks at how the world today is focusing on mindfulness to centre themselves. As Peter closes his message, he looks at one of the "Prayers of David" in Psalm 86 and discusses the use of liturgy in the Church. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 29th of November 2020 during the 10:00 am service.

As we enter week 2 of our end of year series, Hayden John looks at Job and his perspective of Christ, from Job 19 verse 25. Hayden gives us a brief overview of what Job is about, and why it's relevant to our topic. Hayden then goes into what he describes are God's three stability truths for the believers life of worship - God's character is awesome; God's redemption is awesome; and God's indwelling life is awesome. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 22nd of November 2020 during the 10:00 am service.

With our series on 1st Samuel now finished, Gary Gilpin starts our end of year series, "The Expected Saviour", starting with the story of John the Baptist in John 1. Gary looks into the story of John the Baptist and how he prepared the way for the Saviour. Gary discusses how John reacts to meeting the Saviour, and ponders why we call Thomas "Doubting Thomas", but we don't call John "Doubting John", based on the passage of Matthew 11. This gives him a segway to question doubt, if we've ever doubted the Bible, and why. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 15th of November 2020 during the 10:00 am service.

This week, Alan Stanley closes 1st Samuel for us looking at the story of Saul's death. As Hukanui Bible Church wraps up 1st Samuel, Alan discusses death and how we approach it. Saul loses three of his sons in the war with the Philistines, and Saul himself is wounded severely. Saul ends his life, causing the Israelites to flee, and bringing 1st Samuel to a close. Alan talks about how the Israelites responded to the death of their king, who they relied on. He discusses how this relates to us, and our "weekly Gospel" we may rely on to get us through. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 8th of November 2020 during the 10:00 am service.

This week, Tom McIvor looks at the story of Saul consulting with a medium. Samuel has died and the Lord refuses to respond to Saul's pleas, so in his fear, Saul seeks out a Medium to consult with Samuel from the grave. As Hukanui Bible Church continues our journey through 1st Samuel, Tom talks about fear in the Bible, and how fear can affect us. Tom discusses how when we are controlled by fear, we are trying to turn to our own internal strength, rather than the strength of God. He looks into how this affected Saul when he was faced with the army of the Philistines, and distraught and gripped with fear, he turns to something evil that he has banned from the nation instead of repenting to the Lord and asking for His help. Tom concludes with how we can overcome the fears we face as we turn to God. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 1st of November 2020 during the 10:00 am service. N.B. Due to technical difficulties, there may be some issues with the audio quality of this file

As we take a break from our current series in 1st Samuel, Peter Sun takes us through Daniel's prayer and the results of his visit from the angel Gabriel in Daniel chapter 9. Peter breaks down Daniel chapter 9 and discusses how this is the backbone of Biblical prophecy and how Daniel misunderstood Jeremiah's prophecy of the 70 years of desolation. Peter then goes into depth explaining the 70-week prophecy and the maths behind it as he understands it in the lead to the Messianic Kingdom. He discusses the current day Israel and its roll in this prophecy, and how events today show how we are living in the time of "birth pains" and the rapture of the Church which can happen at any moment. He wraps up discussing how these events should affect our prayer lives based on Daniel chapter 9. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 25th of October 2020 during the 10:00 am service.

As Gary Gilpin looks at what he thought was the story of how Samuel dies in 1st Samuel 25, he quickly realises this is only a small section at the beginning of the passage and continues on to take us into a deeper look at the conflict between David and Nabal. As Hukanui Bible Church nears the end of our journey through 1st Samuel, Gary takes us through the story of David as he approaches the property of Nabal near the town of Carmel. Gary looks at the response of Abigail to her husbands answer when David asks for help, and how she spared their households slaughter from the wrath of David and his men. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 18th of October 2020 during the 10:00 am service.

Join us this week as Jonathan Linton dives into the story of "Saul's descent into madness" and how David responds to this in 1st Samuel 24. As Hukanui Bible Church continues our journey through 1st Samuel, Jonathan takes us through the story of when Saul enters a cave where David and his men are hiding, and while David has a chance to kill Saul, he simply cuts his coat in the darkness. Jonathan discusses the significance of this gesture as he goes over 8 points he gleams from this chapter, and how we can apply these to our lives as Christians. Recorded at the Hukanui Bible Church morning service on Sunday the 11th of October 2020 during the 10:00 am service.