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Horizon of Hope

Jesus asked the man at the pool in John 5, “Do you want to get well?”The man replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me”. What is remarkable is how low the man’s horizon of hope is. He has been an invalid for 38 years. His life is one of lying down.He does not understand who is asking the question, he can’t see beyond his circumstances, he can’t think outside the square his life ha...

The Mark Drama

By CCCNZ Ambassador, Mark Grace It’s 7pm on Sunday night, 200 people are at Te Awamutu Bible Chapel. From the centre of the seating a group of young adults begin a re-enactment of Mark's gospel, The Mark Drama is underway.It is a delight to know that 50 people from Te Awamutu’s Alpha Course are in the audience. Church members from Hillcrest Chapel, Agora Church, and Hukanui Bible Church are also present with friends and family who ...

Lament

Jerusalem is a living hell. Utterly destroyed. Desolation. Bodies everywhere, rubble and ruins. Starvation stalks the living. Mothers eating children. This is the crushing reality confronting Jeremiah, the prophet in the wasteland that is the city. This is the judgement of God brought about by the Babylonians in 582 BC. In Lamentations chapter 3, Jeremiah reflects on the heavy hand of the Lord that has come to rest on him amongst the wreckage.  'He has driven and brought me i...

Time to make a change

A baptism at one of The Street Church's local services. ...

Grace found in the finished work of Jesus

I want to do something I’ve never done before, to take us back to reflect on the same text I shared last week. I’d like to invite you back to 2 Timothy 2. We are in the second season of the pandemic. Timothy’s in his second season at Ephesus.  "Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus..."- 2 Timothy 2:1  Paul invites Timothy in chapter 2 to do the work of a church leader: To teach and disciple, to suffer, to remember and endure. But notice what he leads with...

Finding your second wind

Several years ago, one of our church family members competed in the Coast to Coast.Can you imagine arriving at the finish line of the Coast to Coast only to be told you’ve also got to turn around and run back to the beginning?That’s what leadership in this second season of the pandemic feels like. After navigating traffic light restrictions and mandates, we’ve headed into a very wet winter, a heightened flu season, the second wave of COVID, inflation is ravaging family budgets, and va...

Preach the Word

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 2 Tim 4:1-2 Paul knows his life is coming to a close. In this moment he weighs every word. He gives a profound weight to the charge in verse 2 by affirming the One in whose presence he is making it...

Have you considered a prayer intern?

The idea of interns is not a new concept in our churches and currently, it’s a word that’s been thrown around a lot by the media, not necessarily in a positive light either. In short, an intern would work and study for a fixed term, in a ministry context. This affords them the opportunity to learn on-the-job while also studying in that field. I have come across interns within many denominations and ministries, but I recently heard about Riccarton Community Church’s prayer internship. I po...

Creativity Birthed From a Place of Prayer

Chapel Hill Community Church in Hamilton recently held a week of prayer. In preparation for the week, they encouraged everyone to focus on a Psalm. Philip Renner, pastor at Chapel Hill, writes: “Psalms open the door. Although prayer is a Christian’s native language, we sometimes find ourselves tongue-tied and not sure what to do. "So to help us pray as a community, we tried something a little different. We challenged one another to ‘adopt’ a psalm—Scripture's prayer book&...

Holiday Camp at Riverbend

By CCCNZ Children and Family Ministries Enabler Julie McKinnon Last school holidays Toby Young and a team ran a Kids Camp on site at Riverbend Bible Church in Hastings.  This camp was attended by 47 children and almost half of them were from the community. 12 teenage leaders from the church helped care for the children throughout the week. “At the camp the kids enjoyed various activities, games, challenges, and of course our fun and interactive chapel time! A number of children responded ...

Rally at Paengaroa

By CCCNZ Children and Family Ministries Enabler Julie McKinnonI had a great conversation with Margaret Scrimgeour from Paengaroa Bible Chapel this week. She shared how they are slowly getting their Rally programme up and running again after a break due to COVID. “Last year we had around 20-25 kids from the local school coming along to Rally. We start at 6pm with some games and then share a simple meal together before the children share in a time of learning from the Bible. The food in the tumm...

Reaching the community in Roslyn, Palmerston North

Around nine years ago the team from Church on Vogel in Roslyn, Palmerston North, had a vision to build a community centre and begin connecting with their surrounding community in intentional and meaningful ways.  Roslyn is a high deprivation area with incidents of drug abuse, youth crime and domestic violence all prevalent in the community.  Volunteers from the church began working in Roslyn School, the local primary school, helping out with reading. They'd meet up one-to-one with stud...

Connecting with local schools

By Julie McKinnon, CCCNZ Children and Family Ministries Enabler I recently caught up with Joy Wallace from Manawarū Bible Chapel and heard about the ministry of Launchpad that she and her husband Dennis have been involved in for over 40 years. Involvement in the local school has always been part of the strategy of Manawarū Bible Chapel. “This is what we do as a church, it’s always been part of the fabric of the church to be involved in the school. We feel very supported by the church. Scho...

Matariki

"...he who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land - the Lord is his name". - Amos 5:8 'Matariki' is the Māori name for the cluster of stars known from Greek Mythology as 'the Pleiades'. In the Māori Bible, Amos 5:8, Job 9:9 and Job 38:31 name the star cluster as 'Matariki'. In our English Bibles, 'the Pleiades' is found in the same places. In Amos ...

Good or Bad?

"Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,  to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone."   Titus 3:1-2 It’s a difficult time: The ruling caesars are worshipped as saviours, the Roman authorities enslave hundreds of thousands of people, and colosseums are full. Chuck Swindoll suggests, “Paul writes this letter to Titus from Nicopolis in AD 63, after his first Ro...

Developing Leaders in Contemporary Culture

It was a joy to meet together as Auckland Leaders last week on Thursday 9 June to discuss 'Developing Leaders in Contemporary Culture'.  Visiting speaker Dr Darrell Bock led the conversation, followed by a Q&A format. Two topics were explored: Community Life—How to Help Get People Back to Church; and Christian Sexuality—How to Help People Journey in Their Faith. When sharing his thoughts on people coming back to church, Dr Bock said “check your community’s tone. Is it i...

Q&A with Haare Kutia

By Prayer Coordinator Jackie Millar One of the perks of my role is that I meet passionately prayerful people from across our group of churches, across New Zealand. Haare Kutia from Tāmaki Community Church in Auckland is one of those unique individuals who leave you feeling totally inspired. I asked Haare about her passion for prayer and community.  Haare, you tell me a little bit more about what you do at Tāmaki Community Church (TCC) as well as these two passions in your life&m...

Connecting Young Families

Leanne Brown from Crossroads Church in Palmerston North recently reflected on the number of families with young children who she hadn’t seen for a while. She writes: “I see a handful of families at church on Sunday mornings and I try and message families as regularly as I can by text. But I wondered how else can I facilitate connection? “I counted over 20 young babies or toddlers in our church family, and was keen to focus on helping these families connect with church and wi...

Recalibrating

We are in a season of reconnecting and rebuilding as churches.Leaders are re-evaluating and reconsidering plans and projects. Some leaders hope to resurrect programs that were on hold due to COVID.Leadership teams are recalibrating. In the midst of this, church life can feel tender, fragile, and hopeful all at the same time. In 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Paul seeks to recalibrate the Corinthian Church around two realities. The first: God’s resurrection life comes through the wor...

Churches and Camps working together

CCCNZ Ambassador Mark Grace...

Saying what matters

As Paul faces the end of his life in a cell in Rome, he writes to Timothy who has been pastoring in Ephesus for the past four years.With the time he has left, Paul focuses on saying what needs to be said; on saying what really matters. "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others". 2 Timothy 2:2 The things you’ve heard about Jesus in the presence of the many and the mu...

Truth in the Trial

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything".  - James 1:2-4 With the ability to gather back together in large groups, the situation might feel better and also harder at the same time. There are gospel opportunities everywhere we look. At the same time we can, as a ...

When Support Ministries Partner with Churches

Mark Grace, CCCNZ Ambassador It has been encouraging to hear the stories of the gospel going out in word and deed, in and through the churches.  I was encouraged to hear from Ian McBride from The Orchard Church in Te Puke. Ian mentioned the partnership between Word of Life and the church family, which saw the Youth Reachout Roadtrip from Word of Life assist in a weeklong children’s outreach holiday programme in the school holidays.It was a...

Worth it

Paul knows.He knows he's at the end of his life. Paul writes 2 Timothy from the dank confines of his cell in Rome. Timothy has ministered to the church in Ephesus for four years.Timothy’s facing an increasing array of personal, practical, and political challenges. Into this confronting and challenging moment, Paul writes words of clarity and comfort. "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point ...

Doable hard vs Destructive hard

"Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia".  Corinthians 2:12-13 Paul has gone from Ephesus to Troas to preach the gospel. Paul affirms the Lord opened the door for him, and people are responding to the gospel, in droves! We’ve arrived at a place where the lifting ...