Renewal - Pastor's Pen for 17th August 2025

Lake Rotorua panorama Aug 2025

The aphorism "a change is as good as a rest" seems to hold true. It was restorative to get away the last couple of weekends, to Paihia, then Rotorua. Being in different places and enjoying different spaces can be healing and energising. Some highlights; running the coastal trail between Paihia and Opua, experiencing the virtual reality recreation of the Tarawera eruption at Te Wairoa (The Buried Village). The waterfall track is pretty cool as well. Soaking in a hot mineral pool after a trail race was also very pleasant..

This kind of experience brings renewal to body and mind. Human nature demands that it is also necessary to take a fresh look at how we experience God, spirituality or religion from time to time. In John chapter 3, the Pharisee Nicodemus has become very interested in this new rabbi Jesus and comes to meet with him by night, quietly. Their conversation is robust, as Nicodemus wrestles with the ideas about living faith Jesus is bringing. They seem new to Nicodemus although some have been present all along. Jesus says; "Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'you must be born from above.'" He hears about a transformative renewal of what it is to faithfully follow and experience God.

We are well acquainted with the John 3 text as it seems pretty central to understanding faith in our various Christian expressions. We are so well acquainted, maybe we don't think about it enough? I invite you to meditate on the themes of new birth, water, wind and Spirit we find here. The God who loves the world so much would desire us to experience renewal as we do so. Shalom