Message in a Bottle
This is a message in a bottle from near the site of the first Presbyterian Church service in New Zealand held on Petone Beach on 23rd February 1840, where an Iona Memorial Cross now stands. So this message to you who have found it, is also a Christian message. It is a message of hope on this day as we move from level 3 of lock-down because of Covid 19, a virus that has spread around the world, to level 2, which gives the people of New Zealand greater hope for their future.
The key message of Christianity is the message that ‘God loves His Creation’. That creation includes you and me. That means that He loves you and me, because we are part of His creation. One of the key scriptures in the Bible is that of John 3 v 16 & 17 : ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.’
In times such as now, many people question what life is all about, what is the purpose of it all? When I asked that question a number of years ago now, the only answer that could satisfy me was coming into the knowledge that there must be a creator and that I was created by that creator for a purpose. As I heard Bible stories and sought to find the purpose for the life that I had been given, I came to understand and accept the truth of the words, ‘the chief end of man is to know God and enjoy Him forever’. It has been a journey of getting to know God through the words of scripture both the Old Testament of how God led the people of Israel and sustained them, and the New Testament of the life of Jesus, God’s Son, and His early disciples, as they experienced God’s teaching through Jesus on how to live a life honouring all of God’s creation in harmony with other people. It has been a journey of growing into a personal relationship with God the Father of Jesus and one that is continuing to grow deeper, wider and higher.
My encouragement for you, the reader of this message, is to consider this message which I believe is true and is the truth of our existence.
May God Bless you.
Richard Stevens.
14th May 2020
The name of the raft I attached this bottle to was called ‘Endurance’, as that is what I need to finish the journey or voyage, I am on with God the creator of all things. Shalom.