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Youth Groups Getting Together

Feilding Bible Chapel and Kingston Community Church had a combined youth group evening last Friday.Mikaela Hosking, Youth Group Leader at Feilding Bible Chapel writes:"We started off the night getting to know each other with a game of speed friendships, which also showed the surprising difficulty of youth knowing their left from their right!"We had a great time playing a large game of volleyball, followed by worshipping together and hearing a message on the Parable of the Good Sam...

God comforts the downcast

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorI nga whiunga, i nga hereheretanga, i nga ngangaretanga, i nga mauiuitanga, i nga mataaratanga, i nga nohoanga pukutanga; I runga i te kinokore, i te matauranga, i te manawanui, i te ngakau ngawari, i te Wairua Tapu, i te aroha tinihangakore.Auā e moni lava ‘ina ‘ua matou ō mai i Maketonia, sa leai se mapu i o matou tino; ‘ae sa puapuagātia i matou i mea uma; o tau‘a i fafo a o le fefe i totonu. 6Peita‘i o le Atua, o lē e fa‘amafanafanaina ē ‘ua ...

CCCNZ Team News

On Wednesday morning, some of our CCCNZ staff team were at Raleigh Street Christian Centre in Cambridge.Dr Murray Harris, retired Kiwi New Testament Professor from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, gave us a beautiful devotion on Paul and his fears from 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, 2 Corinthians 7:5-7, Acts 23:1-11 and 2 Tim. 4:9-18.We were reminded that Paul was one of us, a human, who like us became deeply discouraged and downcast. As much as we were moved by the devotion, we were a...

First Training in Canterbury

Three churches combined to run a First Training weekend for 16-18 year old developing leaders.Riccarton Community Church (RCC), Rutland Street Church (RSC) and Halswell Community Church came together for a weekend of discipleship and leadership sessions and discussions. A core part of the weekend was to teach and empower youth to spend time with the Lord one-on-one. Although many of the youth have been in church for years, they had not spent significant time al...

Facing the furnace

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorA haere ana ia ki tahaki tata atu, ka takoto tapapa, ka inoi, ka mea, E toku Matua, ki te mea e ahei, kia pahemo atu tenei kapu i ahau: otira kaua e waiho i taku e pai ai, engari i tau.Ua maliu faaitiiti atu i luma, ona faapaū fao ai lea o ia ma tatalo, ua faapea atu, Lo‘u Tamā e, afai e mafai, ia ave ese lenei ipu ia te au; a e aua le faia lo‘u loto, a o lou finagalo.Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it ...

HM Rage

HM Rage over King’s Birthday weekend saw more than 600 teenagers, most from CCCNZ/OBH churches, be pointed to Jesus, through the gospel from the Bible at Tōtara Springs Christian Centre. I appreciated hearing about the creativity and content throughout the weekend. Youth groups attended from Northgate Community Church, Mt Wellington Community Church, Eden Community Church, Paeroa Bible Chapel, Manawarū Bible Chapel, Hillcrest Chapel, Orewa Co...

Children and Families Ministry Regional Gathering

I loved hearing about the Waikato Children and Families Ministry regional gathering for key leaders that happened on Tuesday night.Really grateful for Karen Hopkins from Raleigh Street Christian Centre hosting the meeting. Thanks too to Abbie Gibson from Northgate Community Church, Meredith Stewart and Olivia Turnball from Te Awamutu Bible Chapel, and Frances Goddard and Jeremy Baldwin from Church @109 for ...

Langham Preaching Training Week

From Monday to Thursday this week, preachers from 20 CCCNZ/Open Brethren Heritage churches were at The Ark Ministry & Conference Centre outside Cambridge learning to be better trainers of preachers. ...

Lower North Island Summit

Last Saturday over 100 ministry leaders from 20 Lower North Island CCCNZ/OBH churches gathered for the Regional Summit. ...

Praise the Lord, my soul

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorNa Rawiri. Whakapaingia a Ihowa, e toku wairua; e nga mea katoa i roto i ahau, whakapaingia tona ingoa tapu.Lo‘u agaga e, ia e faamanū atu ia Ieova, o mea uma foi o i totonu ia te au ia faamanū i lona suafa paia.Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.Psalm 103:1Psalm 103:1 is the song of a life that has encountered God in loss, in grief, in joy, in pain and in pleasure. It is the expression of a life that has felt God’s provision ...

Serving Sundays at Onslow Community Church

I’m constantly encouraged to see ways church families are pointing their communities to Jesus.It was lovely touching base with elders and ministry leaders from Onslow Community Church (OCC) at the Regional Summit. Pastor Pete Rhodes-Robinson has been in contact this week with an encouraging update about Serving Sundays.“Serving Sundays” have become a regular part of OCC ethos. People of all ages work alongside each other to meet various needs in the commu...

The Mark Drama in Christchurch

Riccarton Community Church (RCC) in Christchurch held a Mark Drama production last weekend.The Mark Drama is a 90 minute, fast-paced presentation with no mics, no lights, no costumes, no props and the only script being Mark's gospel itself. Being theatre-in-the-round it's a very immersive experience. ...

There is no one righteous

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorKo te mea hoki ia i tuhituhia, Kahore he tangata tika, kahore kia kotahi: Kahore he tangata e matau ana, kahore he tangata e rapu ana i te Atua; Kua peka ke ratou katoa, kua kino ngatahi: kahore he tangata e mahi ana i te pai, kahore rawa kia kotahi.faapei ona tusia, E leai sē amiotonu, e leai lava se tasi, e leai se na te lagona, e leai sē saili i le Atua. Ua latou o ese uma lava, ua leaga faatasi i latou, e leai se ua amio lelei, ua leai lava se tasi.As it is w...

New Community Hub at Kingston Community Church

Kingston Community Church in Palmerston North celebrated the opening of a new community hub with a “Community Fun Event”, where the church family came together to engage with and serve their community. They served hot food, hired bouncy castles, and had face painting and craft stalls. ...

Invercargill Bible School

The Invercargill Bible School has been an annual fixture for several years, with a team from Invercargill’s Elles Road Bible Chapel and Rosedale Bible Chapel inviting Bible speakers over a whole weekend. ...

PastorLink Regional Gathering for North & West Auckland

On Wednesday last week, pastoral leaders from Kelston Community Church, Lincoln Road Bible Chapel, Massey Community Church, and Northcross Church came together for the first PastorLink regional gathering....

A visit to Hawke's Bay

Richard Davis, CCCNZ Camping Enabler visited Hawke’s Bay this week. He met with Benji Carey-Smith and Phil Henderson from Onekawa Bible Church in Napier. Benji is the Community and Kids leader, and he’s involved in Launchpad, music ministry, and speaking.Richard writes,“What was really inspiring was hearing how, in particular, the holiday program started and has grown to where it is today. Benji’s wife was a teacher at the local school and between them both ...

Jesus, Our Substitute

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorKo te aroha tenei, ehara i te mea ko tatou kua aroha ki te Atua, engari ko ia kua aroha ki a tatou, a tonoa mai ana e ia tana Tama hei whakamarie mo o tatou hara.O le alofa lava lenei, e le ona ua tatou alofa i le Atua, a ua alofa mai o ia ia te i tatou, ua na auina mai foi lona Alo o le togiola mo a tatou agasala.This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.1 John 4:10In the Old Testament, God lovi...

Children and Families Ministry Leaders Regional Gathering in the Bay of Plenty

Last night, Children and Families Ministry leaders from Greerton Bible Church, Paengaroa Bible Chapel, Lifezone Church and The Orchard Church gathered in the Bay of Plenty. CCCNZ Children and Family Ministries Enabler Julie McKinnon writes,“Generously hosted by Mikayla Crawford, Children’s Pastor at The Orchard Church, we enjoyed an evening of fellowship and discussion. It was great to hear encouraging stories about Rally, Mainly Music, and childr...

Growing in faith and service through practical theological study

“Last year I had a serious injury, meaning I was no longer able to pursue barbering, the career I had been working towards.”With an uncertain future, and certain types of work ruled out, Gordon Venter says he was, “lamenting and unsure of what I’d do.” After an experience with the ministry Student Life he began to look at his situation differently, and examine his heart and what God was teaching him during this time. He started to ask, “God, what do you want ...

Relational connections flourish at Junior Youth Group

It was encouraging to hear from Christina Edwards-Teope from Massey Community Church about the relational connections being made at their Junior Youth Group.A group of young people aged from school years 6 to 10 (approx. 10-14yr olds) meet for fortnightly for fun, low key social events with an emphasis on community, belonging and being together.Christina says, “playing games like mafia where kids have to look at each other and listen and work together builds community and b...

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...

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”....

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...

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. ...