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Choices and Conversations

“The kids are loving having a choice and we are having some awesome conversations…” This comment from Kylie Brown came from a chat we had about changes she has made this year in the Sunday morning kids programme at Lifezone Church in Tauranga. Kylie desired to see a more intentionally relational ministry and was wondering how to do this with a smaller than normal team of leaders. She decided to change from a big group - small group model where the children were divided by age, to...

Alpha Course at Kelston Community Church

Kelston Community Church (KCC) Pastor Paul Long shares that running an Alpha Course has become a key annual ministry activity and is “an important means of encouraging evangelism, teaching the basics of the Christian faith, providing avenues for service, deepening friendships, and developing newer leaders”....

Where is our trust?

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorKei whakawhirinaki ki nga rangatira, ki te tama ranei a te tangata, kahore nei he awhina.Aua tou te faatuatua i alii, po o le fanau a tagata, e le o i ai se olataga.Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.Psalm 146:3This psalm was likely written during the Babylonian exile. The people have been carried off from Jerusalem and are now surrounded by the incredible power and prestige of the rulers of Babylon. It’s possible that the Jewish e...

North and West Auckland Elders' and Leaders' Dinner

On Thursday 2 May, 20+ elders and leaders from Auckland churches came together at Orewa Community Church to hear from OCC pastor Dave Bradley (above, on the left with the mic) and others about how OCC is moving to hybrid house church planting and the continuing need to grow new leaders.Churches represented at the dinner included Birkdale Bible Chapel, Birkenhead Community Church, Lincoln Road Bible Chapel, Massey Community Church, New Lynn Community C...

Churches and camps working together in Nelson

This week, CCCNZ Camping Enabler Richard Davis had a few wonderful days in Nelson, where he visited churches and attended the Teapot Valley Christian Camp Board meeting.Richard writes, “It was wonderful to hear of how the camp was successfully operating and they spoke highly of their relationship with local CCCNZ churches (Hope Community Church, Grace Church, and Tasman Church) who all provide representation to the board”....

GC3 Staff Day

It was a privilege to host the GC3 team here in Palmy recently as they gathered together as a wider staff team. ...

Franklin Bible Church Plant

Our vision is to see churches (and the regional camps and national support ministries that serve them) working together to point people to Jesus through the gospel from the Bible.A brilliant example of the vision is the story of Franklin Bible Church....

Churches working together through Rally NZ

The NZ Rally staff team enjoyed holding their Manawatū Regional Training Day at Rongotea Bible Chapel.NZ Rally CEO Tony Foster writes,“Nicole Fleming kindly welcomed us in and Rally leaders from Woodville Gospel Hall, Feilding Bible Chapel, Crossroads Church, York Street Chapel, Queen Street Chapel, all joined us along with Rachel Hockly from Church on Vogel who brought a number of junior leaders. It was a real bl...

Churches and camps working together

It's exciting to hear so many stories this week of how churches, camps and ministries have been partnering together over the school holidays to share the good news about Jesus with children, young people and their families! ...

Ordinary people

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorNa ka karangatia e ia te tekau ma rua, ka hoatu ki a ratou he kaha, he mana, e peia ai nga rewera katoa, e ora ai nga mate.Ua faapotopotoina e ia ona soo e toasefulu ma le toalua, ua tuu atu ia te i latou le mana ma le pule i temoni uma, ma ia faamalolo i ma‘i.When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,Luke 9:1Jesus’ disciples were ordinary men. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were com...

Bethel Christian Fellowship Community Outreach

Bethel Christian Fellowship in Balclutha has recently started a Friday Fish & Chips. Anyone is welcome as they invite Balclutha in to eat yummy kai on the first Friday of each month, i.e. tonight! Jim Goatley will give a short Bible devotion as part of the evening. Tonight, they'll focus on the seven statements in Proverbs about friendship, how we all need friends, and that Jesus is the friend who is closer than a brother. Please do pray for Bethel Christian Fellowship with th...

Baptisms at Crossroads Church

We rejoice to see more and more people taking the step of baptism across New Zealand.Isaac Pettersen, Discipleship Pastor at Crossroads Church, writes, “This year Crossroads is considering ‘What is your next step?’ as our focus. The answer to this question could come in many forms but for many the next step has been baptism."So far in 2024, they have seen 13 people be baptised (some planned and some spontaneous), with three of them taking place on Sunday April 19....

Waikato - Bay of Plenty Summit

On Saturday, 130+ people from 22 churches were at Tōtara Springs Christian Centre for the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Regional Summit. What a blessing to see elders and ministry leaders from various churches chatting together. Thank you to Justin Thompson (below, right) from Manawarū Bible Chapel for opening God's Word for us and preaching on what it means to serve like Christ from Philippians chapter 2....

The power of God

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorA i a koutou ahau me te ngoikore, me te wehi, me te tuiri nui.Na ou i ai foi ia te outou ma le vaivai, ma le mata‘u, ma le gatete tele;I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 1 Corinthians 2:3What is the Apostle Paul saying? He didn’t come to them with confidence in his speaking ability. He didn’t come to them with confidence in human theories, philosophies, or ideas. He came to them in weakness. He came to them in weakness, wi...

Holiday programme at Kingston Community Church

It's encouraging to see how Kingston Community Church (KCC) is serving their local community, as they develop and disciple young leaders. They ran a school holiday programme this week, with around 60 children taking part.Joel Birkin, Ministry Pastor at KCC, writes:“Our youth leader Jed (Meads) is running our school holiday program alongside 18 of his youth leaders. It's been a joy to see a range of new leaders step up this year. “We have a majority of new children this ti...

Baptisms at LifeSwitch

I’m so encouraged to see people being baptised across New Zealand. On the last two Sundays, two people were baptised at LifeSwitch, and they are expecting to have three more in the coming weeks!Clint Craig, Lead Pastor at LifeSwitch, comments:"It has been incredibly exciting to see people taking the step of baptism. We are in the middle of a run with two baptisms over the last two Sundays and one planned for each of the next three. “We're now praying that we can keep the run g...

Manawarū Bible Chapel Church Day Camp

It’s encouraging to hear how churches are partnering with their local campsites across the country to point people to Jesus.I loved hearing about Manawarū Bible Chapel's church day camp at Tōtara Springs Christian Centre. The morning sessions were set up for church members with Daryl Bay, Lead Pastor at Hope Community Church, as the guest speaker. The message was centred on focusing on people in our community by speaking on 1 Peter 2:12. This time was followed by&nbs...

Reflecting on Scripture together at Auckland Bible Church

An old boss of mine would often ask "Why can’t creativity and gospel content go together?" I loved hearing about creativity and scriptural content going together on the Sunday before Easter at Auckland Bible Church.They ran Scripture Reflection Stations, where they cleared out all the chairs from their auditorium into their café space and set up different creative areas to interact with. Lead Pastor Hayden Johns writes,“We gave everyone a booklet with...

Conflicts

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorI takoto hoki toku whakaaro, kia kaua ahau e matau ki tetahi mea i roto i a koutou, ko Ihu Karaiti anake, ko ia hoki i ripekatia.Auā na tonu lo‘u manatu, ou te le iloa se tasi mea ia te outou tau lava o Iesu Keriso, o ia lava na faasatauroina. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.1 Corinthians 2:2Corinth is a train wreck. The church is no different. Chaos, conflict, and confusion mark its life. Abuse, war...

Baptisms at Kelston Community Church

Around the country, I get the sense that more of the churches are baptising more people. God is on the move. On Easter Sunday, two women were baptised at Kelston Community Church.Pastor Paul Long (pictured above baptising) comments,“Our Easter service was extra special (again) as we celebrated the baptism of Floras Ng (from our Mandarin-speaking service), and Yasmin Luatua (from our English-speaking service).”...

Men's Breakfast at Rutland Street Church

On Saturday, Rutland Street Church (RSC) hosted a Men’s Breakfast with 60 people in attendance. The speaker was Ross Bandury, who is passionate about the gospel and community ministries to reach people for Christ.Elder Lawson Scott says,“The Ministry is called Fuel Up and we had 60 men attend for this event which is held every quarter at RSC – from young guys to senior members....

North Island Easter Camp

On Easter Sunday, I visited the upper CCCNZ North Island Easter Camp at Tōtara Springs Christian Centre. I was encouraged to see around 160 people from various churches, including Northcross Church, Orewa Community Church, Hukanui Bible Church, Matamata Bible Church, Te Awamutu Bible Chapel and Putaruru Gospel Chapel.A big thank you to Billy Hanna (Hukanui Bible Church), along with Marina Shannon (Orewa Community Church)...

Combined Easter Service

On Easter Sunday, Hope Community Church and Grace Church celebrated a combined service at Teapot Valley Christian Camp. Daryl Bay, Lead Pastor at Hope Community Church, comments:“It was such a thrill to join together as two churches unified by our vision to see the gospel of Jesus flourish in the Tasman district. We celebrated the Risen Christ at the beautiful Teapot Valley Christian Camp, who served an amazing lunch and allowed us to enjoy their activities for th...

Thank you!

This past week Jeff and Averil Coleman along with their five children headed back to the United States indefinitely for Averil's cancer treatment. A huge thank you to you all: Jeff, Averil, Sophia (14), Noah (12), Abraham (10), Moses (8), and David (5), you’ve made such a significant impact on us. Thank you for your work amongst the Cornerstone International Bible Church, Caversham Community Church and Riverside Chapel communities. Th...

Lower North Island Easter Camp

It was an absolute delight to visit the Lower North Island CCCNZ Easter Camp on Easter Saturday at YMCA Kaitoke in Upper Hutt, with 170 people in attendance from 10 churches, including Feilding Bible Chapel, Kingston Community Church, The Anchor Church, Onslow Community Church, Church on Vogel, and Church on Ingestre.Joel Birkin, Ministry Pastor at Kingston Community Church and one of the Easter Camp organisers, writes:“It was wonderful to witness t...