Agora Church

Like me, you have probably heard sermons on the Lord's Prayer before.

The ones I've heard seem to offer advice on how we can become more motivated towards prayer.

But rather than raising the level of motivation they have, for me, only raised the level of guilt without changing my motivation one little bit.

Has that been your experience too?  Let's look at fixing that.

Matthew 6:5-13

The Finale First: A Sneak Peek at the Stakes this week, we did something a little different. We fast-forwarded to the end of the Sermon on the Mount to see where this journey is taking us. We dive deeper into the "how-to" of Jesus’ teaching, we’re looking at the outcomes He promises in Matthew 7: the Two Roads, the Two Trees, and the Two Foundations. we saw the finish line now, so we could better orient our hearts to understand why the radical ethics of the Kingdom aren’t just suggestions, they are the blueprints for a life that stands firm.

This Sunday’s message explored the traditionalist pathway and how God can meet us through patterns and practices that reorder our days around His presence. We draw on Romans 12, we reflect on tradition not as empty ritual, but as a living way of worship that shapes our loves, forms our lives, and helps us walk more faithfully in the way of Jesus.

God is making great changes at Agora because He wants to bless us and use us, individually as well as a Church family.
But change always comes with disruption to the existing way of doing things. Think new cloth and new wineskins (Matthew 9:16-17). And Gideons army of 300 (Judges 7).
It's all about God getting the glory and our faith in Him increasing.

So what do we do? How we respond? 
By drawing near to Him. How? 
By boldly reminding Him that when we do draw near, He promises to draw near to us (James 4:8). And reminding Him of His promise to build His church so that even the gates of hell can not hold Him/us back (Matthew 16:18).

We moved into the next verses in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus tells his followers that they are the Salt and light of the world. Not salt and light in the world, but the source of the world’s saltiness and light. We unpacked these verses this Sunday and considered not only what it meant for us today but also look back at some of the surprising ways salty Christians have changed the world – changes we still benefit from.

we finish our dive into the Beatitudes with Jesus's words about peacemakers and persecution (Matthew 5:9-12).
Blessed for being persecuted? Can that be right? Surely this is a misprint or some metaphor for something far less unpleasant! Persecution is so far away from where we live as Christians in safe NZ (especially if we hide our light under a basket). 

According to 2025/2026 World Watch List, 1 in 7 Christians worldwide, approximately 365–388 million of our brothers and sisters experience "high to extreme levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. Even unto death."

So join us on Sunday as we look into this and learn how it is that God's people can face and deal with persecution, while even saying they are blessed for doing so.

We continued going through the Sermon on the Mount and learn more about the kind of life that reflects the Kingdom of God. We looked at the characteristics of 'Mercy' and what it means to be 'Pure in Heart'. These two statements from Jesus reach straight into the core of who we are, how we treat others and how we see God.