Regional Training Days

Wellington

Jesus is Stronger: Seeing Jesus’ Power in Scripture and in our own Discipleship

Dr Jonathan Robinson

In this seminar we plunged deeply into the first half of Mark’s Gospel, where Jesus is presented as the One who is stronger. Mark’s Gospel shows us that Jesus is the One more powerful than John the Baptist (1:7), the One more powerful than Satan (3:27), the One more powerful than the wind and the waves (4:41). We engaged this Gospel portrait of Jesus on a number of levels. We looked at historical and cultural circumstances, which helped us gain a more accurate view of the text. We examined Mark’s use of the Hebrew Scriptures and how that adds to his portrait of Jesus. We considered what it meant for Mark and what it means for us to be a disciple of such a Rabbi. And through it all, we made time to worship the One who is stronger. 

Tauranga

Revelation and the Church on the Margins: Discipleship, Worship, and Ministry against the Grain

Dr Andrew Picard

In New Zealand today it can sometimes feel like the church is under pressure. It can feel like living for Jesus is to live against the grain of our society. The book of Revelation was written to believers who were also living at a time when allegiance to Jesus was difficult and costly. Revelation invites its hearers to see their present circumstances in the light of God’s ultimate purposes – the renewal of all things in Christ. In this seminar we plunged deeply into the book of Revelation to understand its message to those first hearers in the Roman Empire, and to hear what the Spirit is saying to us for our lives and leadership in Aotearoa today.

Auckland

Hear the Word of the Lord! Spirit-breathed messages for the church of Aotearoa

Dr Michael Rhodes, Emma Stokes, Dr John Tucker

The biblical prophets were Spirit-anointed preachers who spoke the word of God to the people of God. Through striking and often startling poetry, they painted pictures about the heart of God, the purposes of God, and what it means to be the people of God in changing and challenging times. In this seminar, through these same prophets, we asked together: What is the word of the Lord for the church in Aotearoa today?

Carey lecturers Michael Rhodes, Emma Stokes, and John Tucker each unpacked an Old Testament prophetic text, and together we discussed what the Lord might be saying to us in our current context.