Golden Bay Baptist Church

04/04/2026

26/03/2026

There is a service tomorrow 29th March.

We are choosing to not have a service on Good Friday 3rd April...
We are having the Easter Sunday Service 5th April.

13/03/2026

According to the book of Genesis, humanity rebelled against God in part because we wanted to be like Him in knowing right and wrong. We wanted, in other words, to be able to decide for ourselves whether something is good or bad. That sounds like a good thing – but consider how it has played out through history. The book of Judges speaks of a time when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Unfortunately, what one person thinks is right doesn’t always line up with what another person thinks is right. As I write this, war is raging across the Middle East. Some will say that it is right, others will say that it is evil. And if we can’t all agree, is there even such a thing as an objective right and wrong? Do all of our actions come down to what makes life best for ourselves?

As a Christian, I believe that there is right and wrong – and that the only one who can define it is the creator and author of all things: God Himself. If we grant that this is true, moral choice comes down to seeking what God’s will is, and living according to it. That isn’t always easy – but if He alone decides right and wrong, it is essential. There is the problem, however, of us thinking that we get to decide what God thinks is right and wrong!

Saul was someone who thought that he knew right from wrong. He was a deeply religious man, who based his life on the Old Testament rules and regulations. As a Pharisee, he was devoted to God, and to living a good life.

Then Jesus came along, claiming to be the Messiah – claiming, in fact, to be God. And then people started speaking of His having been raised from the dead. Saul knew that Jesus couldn’t be God. He didn’t want Jesus to be God. And so he set out on a campaign of ridding the world of Christians. In Acts 9, we read of his heading to Damascus to arrest any Christians he found there.

While on the road, something incredible happened. Saul found himself stopped by a bright light all around him, and a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” And, on Saul asking who it was, he was told, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The light disappeared, and Saul was rendered blind.

And Saul had a choice to make.

He could have continued along his path. He could have rejected the demands of the voice claiming to be Jesus. He could have redoubled His efforts to prove Himself good enough for God according to the laws and regulations of Moses.

Or he could surrender to Jesus.

Surrendering to Jesus would mean a radical change in the way that Saul lived his life. He would go from persecuting the followers of Jesus to becoming one of them. Rather than stomping out the group, He would join them in proclaiming that Jesus really is God.

Perhaps it’s fitting that in order to get Saul’s attention, God had to first bring him to a place of recognising his weakness. Saul was blind, and there was nothing he could do about it. But God was not powerless. He sent a man named Ananias to Saul, who laid hands on him. God’s Spirit filled Paul, and his sight returned to him.

Step 1 of being apprenticed to Jesus is realising our weakness. Step 2 is coming to know that God is strong. Step 3 is choosing to surrender to God – which is what Paul immediately did. Acts 9:20 tells us that Saul started to preach that Jesus really is the Son of God.

Prior to surrendering to Jesus, Saul believed strongly that he was in the right. He was doing what he did because he thought it was what had to be done. But when he surrendered to Jesus, it meant allowing Jesus to set the agenda.

What about us? Who is setting the agenda of what is right and wrong for us? And what does surrendering to Jesus being in charge look like for us?

https://www.goldenbaybaptist.church/right-and-wrong/

07/03/2026

This Sunday morning, we're meeting at the Coastal Community Centre in Golden Bay, as we continue to journey with Mark's gospel towards Easter.

When Jesus cleared the temple in Jerusalem (Mark 11), He made and entrenched quite a few people as enemies. Among them, no doubt, were plenty of Sadducees. The Sadducees, from whose ranks the High Priest came, were a powerful and wealthy religious group of priests. They were religious - but also very much focused on the here and now. They didn’t believe in any sort of resurrection, thinking that this life is all that God has given us.

I wonder how many of the Sadducees were financially affected by Jesus’ clearing of the temple. I wonder how many were professionally and personally embarrassed. Perhaps it is not surprising that they joined in the efforts to undermine Jesus. It seems to me that they weren’t just interested in doing away with Jesus. Their attack was more severe: they wanted to parade Him before everyone as a foolish simpleton.

Jesus, heading to Jerusalem to die and be raised to life again on the third day, was presented by the Sadducees with a scenario designed to highlight the foolishness of believing in a resurrection life.

Unfortunately for them, their plan backfires. They, and not Jesus, are the ones who come off looking foolish. Their ideas and assumptions weren’t based on a knowledge of either God’s Word or of God’s power. Resurrection is a real and definite future for God’s people - but it isn’t what the Sadducees, and so many people today, assume it to be.

Do we know God’s Word and His power? Where’s the best place to start? And what does it look like in practice to actually live in light of God's word and power?

Looking forward to exploring it together on Sunday morning!

This week’s text: Mark 12:18-34

PS: Here is a song to help you think through and prepare for Sunday!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyHOjTqXThE

07/03/2026

It had started out so well for Paul and Silas.

Following what seemed to be a vision from God, they had left for the region of Macedonia to tell the people there the good news about Jesus. People were putting their trust in Jesus. But there was something that completely exasperated Paul: someone known as a fortune teller followed the missionaries wherever they went. She persistently shouted out that they were servants of the most High God, telling everyone that they had come to tell people how to be saved. Free advertisement sounds okay – until you think about the implications. By having someone with an evil spirit announcing them, the gospel was being undermined. Eventually, Paul got so annoyed that, in Jesus’ name, he commanded the evil spirit to leave the woman – and it did.

I wonder why Paul only cast out the spirit when he got super annoyed. Perhaps it was because the person involved didn’t actually want to be free from the spirit giving her supernatural abilities. We simply don’t know the answer to that.

What we do know is that the people this woman worked for were not impressed. This woman, their slave, had been a money making machine for them. They dragged Paul and Silas before the authorities, where a mob quickly developed. The city officials fell into line with the mob, and had Paul and Silas stripped and beaten with wooden rods.

That night, Paul and Silas found themselves, badly beaten, sitting in the inner dungeon of a Philippian prison, with their feet in stocks.

It had started out so well for Paul and Silas.

And once again, they found themselves in the place of realising their inability to save themselves. There was nothing they could do. But they also knew something else: God is not weak!

Acts 16 tells us that “Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.” Paul and Silas knew that God was bigger than anything and everything that could happen to them. That’s step 2 of being apprenticed to Jesus. But they took it further to step 3: letting Jesus set the agenda. Rather than focusing on their terrible circumstances, they focused on God. They spent the night talking to Him and singing about and to Him.

It’s one thing to say that God is stronger than our circumstances. It’s quite another to actually live that out.

What do we do when we are brought back to a place of feeling powerless and weak? It’s so easy for us to focus on our weakness. Perhaps to wallow in the disaster, or get depressed. Maybe we try and fix things like Paul did – and find ourselves even worse off!

What if, instead, we remembered that God is bigger and stronger than anything and everything. And what if we went a step further and started living as if that was true? What would that look like for you and I?

PS: Find out more about what happened with Paul and Silas in Acts 16!

https://www.goldenbaybaptist.church/living-as-if-god-is-bigger-than-us/

27/02/2026

This weekend at church, we're looking at the third step of being apprenticed to Jesus: surrendering to God.

The first step in being apprenticed to Jesus is realising our own weakness and inability to manage our own lives, let alone the world. We want to be able to make it on our own, to be like God in our own right - but life always has a way of bringing us down to size, doesn’t it? The ultimate thing that brings us back down to human size is, of course, death. But our fears and failures are a constant reminder of our fallibility even before then.

The second step, fortunately, is coming to realise that God is not weak! He is stronger than anything and everything that comes against us. As a human, Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life. He can do what we cannot do - and offers anyone who trusts in Him His life.

Which brings us to the third step of apprenticeship - actually choosing to surrender control of our lives to Jesus. It’s one thing knowing that help is available - it’s quite another to actually do whatever it takes to embrace it.

This week, we’re asking what Jesus meant when He told us to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily, and follow Him. What does a lifestyle of surrender actually look like? How can surrender be the pathway to life, when to surrender is to cede control? How is it that holding onto life results in losing it, whilst giving up our life means saving it? How does this change the way we approach life - both as individuals and as a church?

This week’s text: Luke 9:18-27

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

26/02/2026

Can you imagine what it must have been like to be one of the ancient Israelites being led out of a life of slavery in Egypt? They had spent their whole lives in servitude, but were finally free. They were powerless to save themselves; Egypt seemed to have all the power. But God was anything but powerless. He rescued His people, displaying more and more of His strength to the Egyptians until Pharaoh finally let God’s people go.

Perhaps some were singing and dancing. Maybe others were still a bit shell-shocked at the whole thing. But they were on their way, and it seemed like everything had changed. They had decided to trust God, and discovered that He is eminently trustworthy!

But sometimes things that seem to be going well suddenly come crashing down all around us. Trusting someone else can be hard when life is tough.

In Exodus 14, we read that God told Moses to lead the people of Israel back on their tracks, and to have them camp between Migdol and the Red Sea. And it was here that the Israelites experienced their great escape faltering and falling all around them. On the one side of them was the sea. On the other side, they saw Pharaoh and his army come to drag them back into slavery by force. There was nothing they could do. They had been willing to trust God and leave Egypt – but against a situation like this, what could be done?

We’re told that they cried to the Lord for help. But they also complained to Moses: “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did you bring us out here in the desert to die? We could have died peacefully in Egypt; there were plenty of graves in Egypt. We told you this would happen! In Egypt we said, ‘Please don’t bother us. Let us stay and serve the Egyptians.’ It would have been better for us to stay and be slaves than to come out here and die in the desert.”

They had taken a risk in following Moses; they had taken a risk in following God. But now that danger loomed, it seemed that their fears had all been justified. Yes, life as a slave was terrible – but if they had kept their heads down, couldn’t they have at least died in something resembling peace?

The temptation right there and then was to run away. To try and protect themselves and their families. To be self-sufficient. Maybe one or two groups might escape unscathed?

In their fear, they forgot something important: God is not weak! The Israelites thought they were in trouble; but God actually had it all in hand. The start of Exodus 14 tells us that God actually arranged for this exact scenario to occur! He had it all in hand, and knew exactly what He was doing. Listen to how Moses encouraged the frightened people: “Don’t be afraid! Don’t run away! Stand where you are and watch the Lord save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again. You will not have to do anything but stay calm. The Lord will do the fighting for you.”

The Israelites had a choice to make. Would they surrender themselves into God’s hands, or would they run and try to save themselves?

Trusting God was, as it turns out, the right answer! 😄 The story continues with the parting of the Red Sea, the traversing of it on dry ground by the Israelites, and the watery demise of Pharaoh and his army.

This year at church we are working our way through the 12 steps of being apprenticed to Jesus. Step 1 is realising our weakness. Step 2 is recognising God’s strength. Step 3 is all about actually surrendering to God.

Having a theoretical understanding of our weakness and God’s strength is one thing. It’s quite another to choose to trust God when life seems tough. It’s easy to speak of God’s strength being enough when we don’t actually have to rely on it. Ironically, though, it’s when life seems hardest that we so often try and assert our control over our lives. It’s a self-defence measure; a deeply ingrained belief that we need to look out for ourselves. But what if we decided instead to trust God? What if He actually, in practice not just theory, is stronger than we are?

Can you imagine what it must have been like to be one of the ancient Israelites being led out of a life of slavery in Egypt? They had spent their whole lives in servitude, but were finally free. Th…

17/02/2026

In Acts 3, Luke introduces us to a man who had been born lame. Can you imagine what that must have been like in those days? Lots of people in Israel back then assumed that that sort of thing was a judgement from God. Did people avoid the family, not wanting to be tainted by whatever secret sin they weren’t admitting to? Did that little boy struggle to make friends? While his peers were running around, was he propped up at home, desperately longing to be part of their games? As he grew older, did he feel like the eternal outcast? As his peers started working and getting married, might he have fallen prey to depression and despair?

This man wasn’t completely alone; there was someone who would carry him to the Beautiful Gate at the temple, putting him down there to beg from those going into the temple. But there was no social security system for people like him – only the philanthropy, or the guilt, of others whose lives were going better than his. He must have been a regular sight for those going to worship God. Perhaps one of those people we try to tune out. Maybe people chose to use other entrances. Maybe they tried to walk as far away from him as they could.

There was nothing this man could do to improve his situation. At best, he could get enough to survive on.

Then, one day, Jesus’ friends Peter and John walked past him on their way to the temple. He called out to them as they were about to go in. That’s all he could do, after all: ask for a handout. But even as he asked, he looked away. He asked everyone for a handout, and most people walked past.

But these two were different. They stopped, and looked at him properly. They treated him with dignity, as more than his disability. They engaged with him as a fellow human being; someone made in the image of God. And they called him to look at them – to undo his hopeless posture.

He assumed they were going to give him money – but far, far better was being offered to him. “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

What was it that Peter had to give? God. Peter and John were filled with the Spirit, and what they had to offer was nothing less than the power of the Living God.

I can’t, but God can. That’s the good news of the gospel – that although we are weak, God is strong.

I wonder if the man believed Peter at first. We don’t read of him immediately jumping to his feet in triumphant faith. Instead, we’re told that Peter took him by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did so, his feet and ankles were healed and strengthened. The fault that prevented him from walking was rectified, and atrophied muscles were given the definition they needed to bear his weight.

And it’s at this point that the man starts jumping, standing, walking, leaping, and praising God!

The best thing about this? He went into the Temple with them. He had always been on the outer, unable to worship God fully – but suddenly, by God’s grace, everything had changed.

We all have lameness in our lives of various sorts. Perhaps we assume that there is no way that we could ever dare enter into the presence of God. Sit on the edges, maybe. Maybe even attend church now and again. But deep down, so many feel themselves broken failures, who don’t belong with God.

But God… God entered into our world.

What Peter and John offered that man is on offer to us, too. We may not be physically healed like he was. But know this: God is for us. He sees us and loves us. We are precious to Him. And what he wants is for us to be with Him, and to enjoy Him forever.

“I can’t,” we say. But God can. Will we take the hand that is being proffered to us?

To read: Acts 3

https://www.goldenbaybaptist.church/lame-leaping/

15/02/2026

God is so good! Today was a wonderful service! From the worship leader, to the share time, to the person who led confession time, to Nick's sermon, everything tied in so well and sent across a very clear message of trusting God. We felt so encouraged!

This song was linked in our newsletter this week; may it encourage you this week!

Official Live Video for “No One Else (Tear Down The Idols)” by Jesus Culture, Lindy CoferListen to the full album “Why Not Right Now?”: https://jcltr.lnk.to/...

10/02/2026

Can you imagine what it must have been like to be the priest Zechariah? He and his wife had dedicated their lives to following Yahweh. Their trust in God wasn’t an optional add-on to their lives; their faith was something they lived out on a daily basis. They were the real deal. And I don’t think they found that easy. Luke tells us that Elizabeth was unable to conceive. That’s hard for lots of couples today, and it was especially hard back in those days. I imagine that there were some people who thought that God must be punishing Elizabeth or Zechariah for some secret sin. Zechariah and Elizabeth surely prayed and prayed for a child – and must have struggled with why God would deny them this.

The years passed; wedding anniversary followed upon wedding anniversary. The couple got older. There must have been a time when they stopped praying to be parents, and accepted their lot in life.

And then Zechariah was chosen by lot to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. We’re talking about going into the part of the temple out of bounds to nearly everyone nearly all the time. It was an honour that you might receive only once in your life.
When Zechariah was in there, he saw something unexpected: an angel standing right next to the alter of incense! A terrified Zechariah was told not to be afraid: his prayer had been heard, and Zechariah and Elizabeth would have a son whom they should call John. The angel went on to describe John’s mission: to be the one to prepare the way for the Lord.

And Zechariah’s response? How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years? That’s nicely couched in polite language, but it comes down to this: But I am too old, and so is my wife.

But I.

All Zechariah could see was the impossibility of his situation. He had long ago come to terms with not being a dad. There was nothing he could do to change that. And Zechariah was right: there was no way that he and Elizabeth could be parents. The facts were clear.

Zechariah had, however, failed to remember one thing: God is bigger than our impossibles! To prove it to Zechariah, something else impossible was done: Zechariah had his ability to speak removed until the day God’s message was finally vindicated.

God is bigger than our impossibles. I find myself, so often, approaching life the way that Zechariah did. I trust God, but struggle to believe that what he says can be true. It seems impossible! But God is bigger than our impossibles; nothing is impossible for God.

For instance, God calls us to be perfect, as He is perfect. But we mess up all the time – and try and figure out reasons why Jesus wasn’t actually saying what he said in the sermon on the mount. It’s clearly impossible, we reason, for us to be holy like God. But God does the impossible: He made Jesus to be our righteousness and holiness.

God says we are forgiven. We believe that, but still beat ourselves up and assume that God is angry at us. It’s impossible for God to love me, we think – and yet He does.

God calls us to go and make apprentices of the world. But we are petrified of speaking, and don’t know what to say. Or we might think our church too small and insignificant for God to use it to change our community. But God is bigger than our impossibles – and He is with us by His Spirit, pointing us to Jesus and guiding our thinking and speaking.

As human beings, we have plenty of limitations. But when God calls us to do something, the equation changes. Too often, when God challenges us, we remind him why it won’t work. But nothing is impossible for God.

This year at Golden Bay Baptist, we’re working through the 12 steps of apprenticeship to Jesus. The first step is realising that we are powerless. The second, which we are exploring in the month of February, is that while we can’t, God can!

To read: Luke 1

https://www.goldenbaybaptist.church/impossible/

06/02/2026

A biscuit with a cup of tea or coffee is a treat. Sometimes, you get an extra special treat: a cream biscuit. Often, in offices or at church, you might find a pack of variety creams: a selection of different cream biscuits to choose from. In my opinion, the best of that pack is the Monte Carlo. it seems like there are only a few of the good biscuits in the pack, and it’s always nice to get one of them for your cuppa.

Apparently, the least favourite in the Variety Creams pack is the Orange Cream. Those are the biscuits left behind begging to be eaten so that a new pack with nice biscuits can be purchased. Of course, things could be worse: you could be eating from a classic pack, and be left with a sad row of Milk Arrowroot biscuits...

Imagine opening a variety pack of biscuits, and finding it 95% full of Arrowroots or orange creams. You might wonder how anyone would think to put a combination like that together.

In a way, though, that’s what the church is like. As we saw last month, the first step in following Jesus is realising that we are powerless to save ourselves. We can’t handle our own lives, let alone the world. We can’t overcome our own problems, let alone those of others. We are weak.

In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul reminds us that most of us in the church aren’t rich, powerful, or influential. We are the Arrowroots of the earth; the orange creams of society. And we are very aware of our limitations. We are “but I can’t, because... ” people.

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

We are powerless - but God is not. We are nobodies - but God is, well, God! And in Christ, we are somebodies. We are God’s children. Jesus’ righteousness and holiness is ours. God in His wisdom has shown His goodness, power and grace by choosing the worst in the pack to show up those who think themselves the best. Because the only opinion that ultimately counts is His.

Looking forward to exploring step 2 of our 12 month apprenticeship journey with you on Sunday. Step 1: I can’t. Step 2: But God can.

This week’s texts: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31