Last night I tried to evoke our imaginations to picture ourselves as someone close to Jesus during this week leading up to Easter. He spoke a lot of confusing things about him having to go away and that the disciples will mourn him, and it’s hard to really imagine how they felt because, of course, we know what he’s talking… Read more →
jonathanbarb
Hello, I'm Jonathan, but you can call me Jono, Barbie, Jbarb, J-dog, Bear, Papa Bear, or Jonathan, if you like. I'm the new ministry intern for Hope Hornby and in particular with the Living Room and pastoral care for young adults. I'm originally from Atlanta, GA, but moved to Christchurch 7 years ago to marry my wife, Joce. The last 9 years of my life I've been serving God in youth ministry (2 years back in GA before moving here), and now I'm moving into a new chapter of ministry as I train for ordination in the PCANZ. Joce and I have a baby girl, Emersyn (Emmy), 2 dogs (Tahi and Chipper), 3 cats (Romeo, Winston, and Peppa), and a bunch of fish (yes, they all have names too, but I won't bore you with all of them). We love animals, and all of God's creation. I love music, movies, sports, acting, and of course, theology. And I love working with people and sharing life experience, the love of God, and whatever knowledge I have on whatever things I know.
You, Me, And the Pharisees
Last night at the Living Room Daniel preached on Jesus’ parable of the Wicked Tenants… Matthew 21:33-45 (NIV) The Parable of the Tenants 33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved… Read more →
Who Is The Servant?
Last night, Daniel (our guest preacher) raised a thought provoking and challenging question…”who is the servant?” or perhaps more appropriate, “who is A servant of God?” Our reading was the 4th of the Servant Songs in Isaiah found in within chapter 52:13-53:12. And if you don’t have a Bible of your choosing with you, you can read over that here:… Read more →
Re-learning Reliance on God
Last night at the Living Room (or Sunday 19/3/17 depending on when you read this) I talked about the Servant’s strength based off Isaiah 50. And the basic meat of the message was that back in Isaiah’s day the words of the prophet rang loudly because the people had stopped relying on God for their help – their basic strength to… Read more →
Lent Devotions
Hey there, not sure how many of you are giving Lent a go this year, but I really want to encourage you to try. I know not many of you are familiar with the season of Lent and the practices that accompany it, but it can be really special and really formative in your faith and in your relationship with… Read more →
What’s your call? What’s your mission?
Last night at the Living Room Gabe, Vinnie, and I all talked about being “light in the world” and shining that light to all the world. Gabe and Vinnie both shared the message, pulling from Isaiah 49:1-6 (the second of the servant songs), and challenged us, not to find our calling, but to recognise it. Gabe pointed out that not everyone… Read more →
Suffering With Us: Reflections on the Living Room Week 1 Lent Service
Hey. I wanted to share some thoughts with you and flesh out some more content that I wasn’t quite able to do last night. My hope is that you can engage with this blog either on your own time or with a group of friends or your family, and that in doing so you generate more conversation with God. So… Read more →
Unashamed But Apologetic: Reflections on The Living Room, Feb 26
Hi. So, last night was a little uncharacteristic of me. I don’t normally do responses quite like that, but I really felt led to do so based on the message and content of 1&2 Timothy (plus, in retrospect, I think I have a bit of a habit to do something quite bold to introduce myself, lol). If you weren’t there,… Read more →