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Where do we put our confidence?

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorE matawaia tonu ana o tatou kanohi i tatou e titiro ana ki te awhina tekateka noa mo tatou: i a tatou e tiaki atu ana, i whanga noa tatou ki te iwi e kore e whakaora.A o tumau i matou sa fole o matou mata i vaai i lo matou fesoasoani le aoga; sa vaavaai atu i matou i o matou fale matāmoe i le nuu e le mafai ona faaola mai. Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us.Lamentations...

Community outreach efforts recognised

It's encouraging to see youth and community workers working together to reach their communities, and a bonus to have this work supported and acknowledged by local councils....

Encouraged to stand firm

Heretaunga Community Church, Upper Hutt organised and hosted the Stand Firm Conference, last weekend (13-14 September)....

God at work in elderships: Rowley Bible Church

One of the great privileges the CCCNZ staff team has is the regular opportunity to meet with elders across the movement as they are invited into various elders' gatherings.We're blessed by the ways we see elderships praying together for their church families, opening God's Word with each other, working through issues and shepherding God's people. It's also a privilege to share some of these insights with you for your encouragement....

A dedicated prayer space for Chapel Hill Community Church

Christine Renner and Judi Shepherd from Chapel Hill Community Church in Hamilton recently shared about the new prayer space at their church. ...

Hamilton Prayer Breakfast

What a delight to see CCCNZ/Open Brethren Heritage church leaders joining together with others from across the Waikato region to pray. ...

Rutland Street Youth Camp

Rutland Street Church in Christchurch held their annual youth camp on Saturday at the beautiful Mt Hutt retreat centre in Canterbury.Craig Barrow (CCCNZ Youth and Young Adults) writes:"The weekend was a fantastic combination of fun, teaching, and community. On Friday night there was a hilarious game of 'Bible smuggling' using glow sticks all over the property."Three talks focused on how we can be easily distracted in our relationship with the Lord. Rutland Youth has an ‘eve...

How is Revelation 7 displayed in your church?

A couple of weeks ago South Island Regional Enabler Tim Hodge shared a devotion on Revelation 7:9 and asked: How is Revelation 7 displayed in your community already? New Plymouth Community Church has a great response, coming together every year to celebrate the diversity of languages, cultures and nationalities within their church community.This year was the third time the church family get together to celebrate with food, dancing and singing.Brian Ropitini is a&nbs...

Don't miss the climate

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorI pera ai he hara no ona poropiti, he he no ona tohunga kua whakaheke nei i nga toto o te hunga tika ki waenganui ona.Ona o agasala a ona perofeta ma amioletonu a ona faitaulaga e na faamaligi le toto o e amiotonu i totonu ia te ia;But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteousLamentations 4:13Jerusalem has fallen. Solomon’s Temple has fallen.Lamentations 4 paints a harrowing p...

GC3's Headspace is relaunching

Jon Slack and Christa PicklesJon Slack, along with his wife Mari, and Christa Pickles have joined the GC3 team to relaunch Headspace.Headspace is a year-long mission focused discipleship initiative, designed to equip young adults for lives of serving and loving God. It’s about diving into God’s mission and discovering your unique place within it.It's a chance to go deep and set foundations for the rest of your life before life gets too busy, integ...

Waikato/Bay of Plenty/Auckland First Training

“Where are the leaders of tomorrow?” is a question we hear often from church leaders.We'd like to share a glimpse of an answer to that question. Grant Birks was one of several youth leaders who came along to First Training with a group of young people at Willow Park over the weekend for the third First Training event across Aotearoa, NZ this year.  ...

Jesus took the cup instead of us

By Mark Grace, CCCNZ AmbassadorKia hari, kia koa, e te tamahine a Eroma e noho na i te whenua o Uhu; ka tae atu ano te kapu ki a koe; ka haurangi koe, ka whakarere ano koe i ou kakahu.Ina olioli ia ma e fiafia oe le tama fafine a Etoma e, o loo nofo i le nuu o Usa; e oo atu ia te oe lava le ipu; e onā ai oe, ma e faalelavalavā ai.Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked.Lamentations 4:21The ...

Father's Day at Tuvalu Brethren Assembly

Tuvalu Brethren Assembly celebrated Father's Day on Sunday, CCCNZ Auckland Enabler Richard Fountain shares how blessed he was by the memorable service: “All the dads, uncles, and grandads participated. They performed several skits and dramas, sang action songs in amazing harmony, and three dads shared their testimonies about trusting Christ as Saviour.”...

Growing a firm biblical foundation with theological study

Last year Arron Hockly from Crossroads Church was invited to help care for a group of children while their parents attended English language class at the church.This began a journey which has seen him join the 2024 mid-year intake for the Pathways Bible College internship programme.Being involved in the children’s group at 'Let’s talk English' sparked a passion in Arron to learn more about ministry with children. He started volunteering at Crossroad Kids on Sund...

Jesus calls us his friends

By Tim Hodge, CCCNZ South Island EnablerIn Matthew 26, Jesus prophesies that by the end of the night, each one of his disciples will have left him. He pointedly tells Peter in verse 34, “This very night, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times.” Later, in the garden of Gethsemane, the disciples fall asleep instead of praying, as Jesus had asked. In verse 46, Jesus says, “Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”Jesus knows his betrayer. He knows his disc...

Prayer at Lightouse Church

Lighthouse Church in Tutukaka started life as a church plant out of Clark Road Chapel in Whangārei, and is now a thriving group that meets in a small coastal community in the Far North. This week, CCCNZ Prayer Enabler Jackie Millar had a great conversation with Trish Ellis from Lighthouse Church about prayer, and she comments:“Trish and her husband Greg open their lounge room, during various times of the church calendar as a 24-7 Prayer R...

Lower North Island First Training

What an encouragement to hear that Lower North Island First Training was such a meaningful and fruitful time for developing leaders (aged 16-18) from CCCNZ/Open Brethren Heritage churches.Young people from Kingston Community Church, Onslow Community Church, Church on Ingestre, Feilding Bible Chapel, The Anchor Church, and New Plymouth Community Church came together with their youth leaders at Highland Home in the Pohangina Valley....

Te Awamutu Bible Chapel's Women's Retreat

Te Awamutu Bible Chapel held a Women’s Retreat on 9-10 August. Women of all ages spent time worshipping, fellowshipping, studying Psalm 107 together and considering what it looks like to ‘cry out to the Lord’ and ‘give thanks for his unfailing love’ in all circumstances. Women’s Discipleship Coordinator Carey Ireland said she was very encouraged to see so many women invest time and resources into attending the retreat and engaging in everything it offered....

Wellington PastorLink Regional Gathering

On Thursday Pete Rhodes-Robinson (pastor at Onslow Community Church) hosted a gathering with CCCNZ PastorLink Enabler Mark van Wijk and pastors from the Wellington region, including Heretaunga Community Church (Upper Hutt), LifeSwitch and The Anchor Church....

Movement of the Word: Bay of Plenty

Friday night and Saturday saw the first “Dig & Discover” course held in the Bay of Plenty, at Lifezone Church in Tauranga.Sixteen people from Paengaroa Bible Chapel, Lakes Church Rotorua, and Lifezone Church came together to learn principles for digging deeper into God’s Word....

Every nation, every tribe

By Tim Hodge, CCCNZ South Island Regional EnablerI loved watching the 2024 Olympics that were recently held in Paris—the drama of top-level sport, the surprises of who won and who didn’t, the “what are the rules of this sport” conversations, our collective marvelling over Dame Lisa Carrington, and hearing our national anthem several times over. But the aspect I loved the most was the sheer number of nations present. In all their brilliance, the Olympic games are but a shadow of...

Kingston Community Church's women's retreat

Last Saturday, Kingston Community Church held a women’s retreat at Highland Home Christian Camp. The theme "Joy in the Seasons" highlighted that although seasons change, God’s character doesn’t....

New creation

By Julie McKinnon, CCCNZ Children and Family Ministries EnablerKua kakahuria nei te tangata hou, e whakahoutia nei i runga i te matauranga kia rite ki te ahua o tona kaihanga.A ‘ua ‘outou ‘o‘ofu i le tagata fou, o lē ‘ua fa‘afouina i le iloa, e fa‘atatau ‘ia foliga i lē na faia o ia.You have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.Colossians 3:10Have you ever looked at a child and immediately seen a resemblance to their parents? T...

PastorLink Retreat

Last week pastors and their spouses from churches across the movement gathered for the annual PastorLink Retreat at MiCamp Taupō. For nearly 30 years this week has been a significant and much-loved fixture, and 2024 was no different....

Movement of the Word—Waikato

From Wednesday to Friday this week, a group of nine people from Northgate Community Church, Chapel Hill Community Church, Raleigh Street Christian Centre, Hillcrest Chapel and Lifezone Church joined together to learn how to train people for Christian ministry with the Bible. Led by Philip Wheeler and Todd Kelly, they worked on the “Dig & Discover” Bible study principles course....