Carey Sunday

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Haere mai!

In August of each year, we celebrate being in the Baptist whānau of Aotearoa New Zealand by running CareySunday. This year, we provided three sermons as well as discussion questions and other helpful resources.

Carey exists to serve churches by training leaders for ministry and mission. It is a privilege partnering with churches across Aotearoa in this way. If you have any questions, or any suggestions as to how we can better serve you, please let us know.

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CareySunday Sermons

For CareySunday this year we have three sermons from Carey lecturers for you to choose from.

Emma Stokes, Michael Rhodes, and John Tucker have all prepared a sermon with the theme “Hear the Word of the Lord.” You might like to use all three on the day, or just one or two. You choose! You could even tuck one away for later in the year.

Hope for the Weary

To download the sermon , use the link above which will open the video in Vimeo. You can then select the Download option which is found below the video.

NB// Closed Captions for this video are available to be used if needed.

Emma Stokes
Lecturer in Bible and Mission
Isaiah 40:25-31

Where do we find strength when we are weary? Isaiah 40:25-31 lifts our eyes to the breath-taking grandeur, the holiness and incomparability, of our wise and mighty God. It calls us to put our trust in God’s plans and purposes rather than our own. When we look to God in trusting expectation, we find both that God does new and unexpected things, and that we are energised and summoned forward by radical hope.

“The strength that comes for the weary and ensures that they can walk is not a strength we can grasp for ourselves. It’s given to us by God as we understand who he really is and trust his plans and purposes rather than our own.”

What does it mean to be prophetic?

To download the sermon , use the link above which will open the video in Vimeo. You can then select the Download option which is found below the video.

NB// Closed Captions for this video are available to be used if needed.

Michael Rhodes
Lecturer in Old Testament
Jeremiah 4
What does it mean for God’s people to be prophetic? Jeremiah 4:11-28 invites us to pursue prophetic ministry by hearing, speaking, seeing, and feeling out of hearts closely attuned to God’s own heart. Doing so will invite God’s people to turn towards the Living Lord, both for our own good and for the good of our neighbours.

“…because the prophets had felt the hot breath of the Holy Spirit, the New Testament writers recognised that the words they wrote were God breathed. And that means that when we read those sacred words, with God and one another, we can feel the warm breath of God’s Spirit in our lives as well.”

Word and Spirit

To download the sermon , use the link above which will open the video in Vimeo. You can then select the Download option which is found below the video.

NB// Closed Captions for this video are available to be used if needed.

John Tucker
Carey Baptist College Principal
Ezekial 37:1-4
The Swiss theologian, Emil Brunner, once compared hope to oxygen. Take it away, he said, and we suffocate. Hope is the air we breathe. Ezekiel 37:1-14 is a message of hope for people who have lost hope. In this extraordinary prophetic vision, we see that God can breathe new life in us and through us as we acknowledge our dependence on both the word of God and the Spirit of God.

“If you want to see the Spirit breathe new life in you, and through you, it will mean attentive listening to the word of God and courageous speaking of the word of God. Because the word and the Spirit they go together. And together, they breathe hope.”

Supporting Resources

We hope that these resources alongside the Carey Sunday message can be used by your leaders and small groups.

We have prepared some discussion questions for you to use alongide the message.

Charles Hewlett, the National Leader of the Baptist Union of New Zealand, has written a short prayer for use on Carey Sunday. Would you, or one of your team, be willing to include this in your worship that day?

Promotional Resources

We have created some digital elements for you to use in your church communications.

This is a short introduction to Carey. Could you please show this during your gathered worship on CareySunday? Alternatively, or additionally, you might like to interview someone in your church who has studied, or is studying, at Carey.

*This will open the video in Vimeo. Select the Download button found under the video player to access this video offline.

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A banner that can be used for church newsletters.

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An image that can be used in powerpoint as a notice slide during your service.

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A tile that can be used for Facebook/Instagram pages and/or groups.

Previous Carey Sunday Messages

Carey Sunday 2022

In this message John Tucker, Carey’s principal, shares from Isaiah 43 on the promises of God to people in need of hope. What God said to the Israelite exiles, he says to us:

“I am passionately committed to you, my people. And I am present with all my power to bring new life, both to you, and to the neighbourhoods in which I have you placed you as my witnesses. See, I am doing a new thing!”

Carey Sunday 2021

Have you ever found yourself wondering, “What’s the point of the people of God?” Dr Michael Rhodes invites you to join him in listening to how Scripture, from Abraham to Matthew, Isaiah to Acts, calls the church to embrace God’s purposes for his people.

“At Carey we believe that the God of mission is at work in the world by the Spirit to renew people and places in Christ. Our calling is to equip Christian leaders with the convictions, competencies, and capacity to participate in that mission, bringing gospel renewal in churches and communities across Aotearoa and around the world.”

– John Tucker, Principal