Agora Church

In this episode, Elyse Wallace explores Matthew 7’s teachings on judgment, humility, and grace—sharing personal stories and practical steps for self-examination, persistent prayer, and living the Golden Rule. Tune in for honest reflection, encouragement to water your own spiritual lawn, and ways to extend mercy in everyday relationships.

This Sunday we had a deeper dive into what Jesus meant on "Our Daily Bread" and how to properly pray according to the bible.  

Well, we managed to get through the first two words of the Lord's Prayer last week. It was an important foundation for this week, when we looked at the next three words; "Hallowed be Your Name". What does hallow mean? It’s an old word we never hear in everyday English but it's still in our Bibles because it's a very important word and there's no modern equivalent for it.

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...

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...

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 –...

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,...

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.

This week, we’ll begin exploring Sacred Pathways, a framework developed by Gary Thomas that reminds us God has created each of us to connect with Him in different, meaningful ways. Just as branches grow uniquely while sharing the same vine, our spiritual lives are shaped by the way God designed us to love Him. Abiding isn’t about copying someone else’s spiritual habits—it’s about discovering how y...

we continue our journey through the Beatitudes by exploring Matthew 5:5–6, the third and fourth blessings Jesus shares.

Join us as we investigate the opening lines of the Sermon on the Mount. We’ll be tracing the concept of the "Blessed" from the Old Testament through to the mountainside in Galilee to see how Jesus’ message was both deeply rooted and shockingly new. Whether you feel "poor in spirit" or find yourself in a season of mourning, come and discover why Jesus calls these very states the gateway to His comf...

Graham will share a bit about what is in store for Agora in 2026 and introduce a new teaching series on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Ch 5-7). 

we look at the third gift of the Wisemen, Myrrh, and we also look at what some commentators call the fourth gift - a gift that is even more important than the Wisemen's treasures and so easy to overlook, as we get caught up in the busyness of the season.

Gifts of the Wisemen - frankincense Jesus is our perfect high priest appointed forever, who is able to deal with whatever you facing - even oppression of the evil one  

Why would you give a child a huge gift of Gold? Seriously, when you think about it that is not every kids dream Christmas gift. So why do the Magi give the child Jesus this significant gift? You know God is saying something very profound in the three gifts. We will be thinking about the implications of the gift of gold from the Magi. Scary question to consider - if it is a gift to a king, then wha...

In our final message of Discipleship According to Paul, we’ll uncover Paul’s powerful last words from a Roman prison his urgent call for Timothy to stand strong in God’s grace and carry forward the mission that meant more to him than life itself. Together, we explored how a simple, intentional chain of discipleship one person investing in another can multiply into a movement of transformed lives....

Key verse: 1 Corinthians 11:1 Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ. The idea of being, an example or a model is key to understanding the ministry of both Paul and Jesus. On Sunday we will look at the key components of the ministry of Paul and of Jesus. As we have been tasked to make disciples we need to clearly identify exactly what that means. What does it mean to be a follower of...

As disciples of Christ, Paul calls us in Rom 12, to not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of our minds so we might know what God’s will is. this Sunday, we considered how are our minds are renewed, and what we should fill them with? You might find that the answer is much broader than you thought.

Unity is elusive. It is uncommon in much of the world and, unfortunately, also among Christians. Why do we have so many denominations? Perhaps it is because we all think that we are right. Jesus' prayer for us (John 17:20-21) was: I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.