When I became a Christian in 1977, I would hear brethren talk about the various congregations around the country. It became evident that (in Auckland) the ‘Gladstone,’ ‘Balmoral,’ and ‘Brixton Road’ churches of Christ were actually one and the same congregation.** In the early 1980s the congregation had purchased the current Leslie Ave property and has been known as Morningside since. I met the (back then, ‘Brixton Road) preachers and young people at the Ngaruawahia Christian Camp in the late 70s and met others at their Auckland Christian Camp in the early 80s; I was impressed. When I started preaching for the South Auckland Church of Christ in the mid-1980s the Morningside congregation supported me for a season. I received a lot of encouragement from them. They invited me to preach on a few occasions during that time, but I never thought I would end up returning to that pulpit full-time a decade or so later. The Morningside church brought Lynda and I from Benoni, South Africa in January 1996. I always planned to return to Africa, ‘as soon as I could,’ but nearly 25 years later, it seems that ‘as soon as I could’ has well and truly, ‘been and gone!’ A lot of people have come and gone from Morningside during that time. I am still impressed with the Morningside brethren. They are faithful disciples of Christ and my friends. Jesus was present on that first day of worship of the ‘Auckland church of Christ’ (Morningside’s official name) on Sunday 7 April 1968—He has been present ever since. Our Bible message hasn’t changed: We believe that Jesus Christ is God who came in the flesh. He is our Crucified Saviour, Risen Lord and Head of his body, the church. We preach faith in Jesus, repentance for sins, confession of Jesus as Lord and Saviour, baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and we call all Christians to a life worthy of the call of Christ—until Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. I am blessed to be a Morningsider.** (you can find the full story at: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/fd8378_697efed5081348558837708b83e8bf22.pdf)
0 Comments