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God, the Creator of the universe

By Sophia Sinclair, CCCNZ Communications Manager'Ko koe, ina, ko koe anake a Ihowa; nau i hanga te rangi, te rangi o nga rangi, me o reira tini mea...'Neemia 9:6 'O oe, na o oe lava o le ALI'I; na e faia le lagi o le lagi o lagi, ma 'au uma o i ai o le lalolagi ma mea uma o i ai.''You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host...' Nehemiah 9:6 Towards the end of Ezra-Nehemiah we find a community of God's people gathered ...

Reaching the community through camping

Kingston Community Church (KCC) hosted 19 leaders from the Manawatū region for a delicious breakfast and kōrero about how churches can be working together with local campsites to reach our local communities. Leaders came from KCC, Feilding Bible Chapel, Highland Home Christian Camp, Crossroads Church and Church on Vogel (some of us are pictured together below). ...

Growing together in prayer

On Saturday, Rutland Street Church (RSC) hosted a Prayer Workshop for their church community, organised by Warren and Maree Frost and led by CCCNZ Prayer Enabler Jackie Millar. RSC extended the invitation to churches in the area, and people from Bryndwr Chapel, Westchurch and Wairakei Road Bible Church joined in too....

Team Update

The staff leadership team will lead the staff team while I am on sabbatical. The team is Tim Hodge, Julie McKinnon, Sophia Sinclair, JC Marais and Mark van Wijk. If you want to contact them, email my EA Paula Almada and she will forward it to the appropriate person. Also don’t hesitate to contact them directly. They’ll be touching base with Gordon Fountain (CCCNZ Board Chair) fortnightly. I’m immensely grateful for the staff team and t...

Manawatū PastorLink Regional Gathering

On Tuesday morning Gary Gilpin Pastor at Feilding Bible Chapel hosted a meeting with CCCNZ PastorLink Enabler Mark van Wijk and pastors from the Manawatū-Whanganui region, including Kingston Community Church, Church on Vogel, and Crossroads Church. A huge thank you to each of you for the way you point people to Jesus through the gospel from the Bible....

A Heart for Prayer

On Wednesday, CCCNZ Prayer Enabler Jackie Millar met with a team of 10 people from Church @ 109, Taupō, to discuss their heart for prayer and weaving prayer throughout church life. ...

Hospitality, an act of love

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorWhakamanuhiritia tetahi e tetahi; kaua e amuamu.‘Ia feagaleleia‘i o le tasi i le isi, e aunoa ma le muimui.Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:9I love the logic of 1 Peter 4:9-11. The end of all things is near. So, 1) be alert so you can pray, 2) love one another, and 3) offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Put simply, Christ is coming; therefore, pray, love, and practice hospitality towards one another. Here i...

Sermon Sharing

On Sunday 16 June, Pati Leiataua (pictured below) preached his first sermon from Ephesians chapter 6 at Church on Ingestre as part of a sermon share with Pastor Doug Benn. Doug writes, “Sermon-sharing is something we have done on occasion over the years to introduce a young person to preaching for about 7-10 minutes, with support from a more experienced mentor completing the message.”...

Canterbury Gathering

Last Friday Rutland Street Church hosted visiting speaker Dr Darrell Bock for a Canterbury region gathering of churches on cultural engagement, with 60 people in attendance. Darryn George, elder from Bryndwr Chapel, said “Darrell gave us some good tips related to reaching the unchurch culture for Jesus and the gospel and he had good illustrations. What we took away was a better understanding of how we can build gospel conversations.” For Geoff Stark, f...

Churches coming together at Otago Summit

52 leaders from Caversham Community Church, Cornerstone International Bible Church, Elles Road Bible Chapel, Orwell Street Church, Riverside Chapel, Rosedale Bible Chapel and Anchorage Church came together for the Otago/Southland Summit on Saturday at Riverside Chapel in Henley, outside of Dunedin. A huge thank you to Stafford Ferguson and the other elders from Riverside Chapel for your hosting and hospitality....

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...

Church, Camp and Ministry Conversations

It’s encouraging seeing churches and support ministries working together to point people to Jesus.  On Friday seven leaders from three Northland Churches (who are also involved with Coopers Beach Christian Youth Camp) came together to explore further how more Northlanders could hear and experience the gospel....

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...

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. ...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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...

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. ...

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 ...

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. ...

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...