Notices 30th August 2026

A special welcome to everyone joining us in worship at Kingston today.

Matthew 16:21-28

Simon must have been walking on air. He was the first to be given a Christian name, “Peter”, meaning rock. Quite a compliment really. It means solid, firm, immovable…but it can also mean thick. Let’s not be too hard on Rock though. We know that the formation of Peter into the first church patriarch was actually one of deflation and debasement. Jesus issues him huge kudos and then in the very next breath suggests that Peter’s simple words of concern are the words of the devil! Peter walks on water, then sinks, He tells Jesus that he will never turn away, then denies any knowledge of Jesus thrice when it becomes unfashionable and risky. What a rollercoaster!

Rock’s (Peter’s) only flaw is that he is viewing the situation through the eyes of reason and common sense. Oh, and also that sense of survival and self-preservation common to most of God’s creatures. How often do we look at things only through the perspective of what is possible for us and not what is possible for God? Even many church growth manuals often implore us to vision from the point of view of our limitations.

Why?

Whose church is it anyway?

Get behind us Satan!

Rev. Michael Duke