New Series Coming Up

On of our Values as a church here at LifeChurch is ‘Relevance’. I know that’s a dirty word to some, especially those who think that in order to be relevant you need to compromise. I don’t think so! My desire is to teach/ preach the word of God without compromise. We just need to be able to relate to people’s situation, and environment. It is vital that we the church seek to communicate truth in ways that they will be able to listen, hear and understand. We need to be Relevant not Religious. 

Over the next 6 months we will be teaching/ preaching on some issues we believe are relevant not only to our congregation but also to our community here in Manurewa and South Auckland.

Here are some of the themes. We are yet to finalise the Series titles.

1. The Supernatural:  Angels, demons, evil, spirit world, horoscope, miraculous etc….

2. Sex: Opposite Sex, Pornography, Relationships, 

3. God: Who, where, when, how etc….

4: Death: Abortions, stillborn, life after death..etc…..

I asked the church the other day during church to txt me their questions. and issues they need answers to. Over the next 6 months we will bring answers from the Word of God to those questions and issues!

I think that’s being relevant!

Lastly, on a Vision Statement #8 we say:  

“We see a Church a with a clear and bold biblical message that changes lives. A message that is relevant to every situation of our lives. A message that brings restoration and healings in every relationship”.

Our Goal is Changed Lives!!

Michael Jackson – Man in the mirror

more about "Michael Jackson – Man in the mirror", posted with vodpod

Heres the proof!!

For those making fun of my cake making skills here is the proof. For the recipe..listen to last Sundays sermon. Be prepared to use unusual ingredients!!

Re Casting Vision

On Sunday night I stood infront of our congregation and once again do what I do as a leader – Cast Vision! It is what leaders do and we need to do it more often. I did something slightly different from what I originally planned as mentioned in my other post last week. I read out our vision statement and asked several people to come up and share their stories on how the LifeChurch vision has impacted their lives. It was awesome! I praise God for what  he is doing in the lives of the people, changing one soul at a time. Stories are POWERFUL.

People can argue or disagree with the vision of the church, but no can argue with a changed life as a result of the vision.

20 Kids gave their hearts to Jesus!!

I am so excited!!

Mike & Lisa Uini (our Lifekids Director) made the announcement on Sunday evening that in the morning 20 kids gave their hearts to the Lord (christianeese for ‘born again’) . Praise God!! Thats what church is all about!! a place where people can encounter our Lord in a special way. Last Sunday was the conclusion of the ‘Rock Solid’ series. Mike preached a message of salavation. The Rock Solid was a great series for the kids The aim of the 16 week series was to help children understand the importance of their relationship with Jesus. They learned that God wants them to take an active role in their choices and behavior.  Heres the outline of the Series:  Listen Up!  Quiet Up!  Slow Up!  Grow Up!  Pull Up!  Stand Up! Give Up!  Show Up!

Lifekids in the last 5 months!!

Full on!!

It been full-on in the last few weeks. Counselling and mentoring to leadership training and vision casting. I have been doing a lot of teaching lately, twice a week and weekend preaching. It’s fun and its hard work at the same time. The kids are on school holiday for 2 weeks, so it’s a balancing act at the moment, baby sitting and work. My wife and I work really well as a team and it’s been a tag team game for the last few days. She away with the kids in the morning while I stay home to write me weekly columns for the newspaper. In the afternoon she goes to work and I take the kids to the movies!!! We are planning to see ‘transformers’. I have a community meeting at 6 and she will be with the kids. It’s been like that lately at the Ponifasio’s and its all good!

3 Year old telling God to blow balloons in heaven

I sat Louise on my knee and we talked to God about balloons. My son Canaan took this photo of Louise praying. In her prayer she said, God please give Jesus a green balloon and help him blow it. Kids are funny!!

Conversation with a 3 year old

My little Louise woke up this morning and came rushing into my study with such urgency. She wanted me to ring God. The conversation went something like this

Louise: Dad can we ring God
Dad: Why
Louise: I want to speak to him
Dad: What do you wanna say to God
Louise: I want to tell him that Jesus needs a balloon
Dad: A balloon, what for?
Louise: Because he forgot his balloon on Sunday
Dad: Where?
Louise:  At his house
Dad: Where is Jesus house?
Louise: The church

………..my heart starting to melt at this point………….

Louise: Dad can we ring God now………….please………..
Dad: Sweetie God does not have a phone number
Louise: Im sure we can call him…..

Dad: What do you want to say to God
Louise: I want to tell him to give Jesus another balloon coz he forgot his one

Louise: Dad, can God blow a balloons….can he blow a green one for Jesus…….

…………..dad is speechless at this point…  I gave her the phone…. I reached for my camera…………after a few seconds she handed back the phone.

Dad: What did God say?

Louise: He is not talking? (sad face)

Dad: How come?

Louise: He’s sick, he’s got a sore throat like Canaan (her brother)….. I will talk to him again next time. may be on his birthday

Dad: When is that?

Louise: Next month….

I am thinking!!!!

 

How can I best build this generation and reach the next?

I am 40. I only have 20 more good years. I want to invest those years in something that is worthwhile. The next generation is worth it!!! I want to be involved in the future more than the present, even when I am no longer around!!

 

How can I best reach the people no one is reaching?

There are over 70 churches in Manurewa and probably more than 500 in our City of Manukau. I don’t think building another church building will reach them. We need to do something different. If all the churches are doing the same thing trying to reach the same people in the same way then the result will ALL be the same, which at this stage not very encouraging. More and more people are no longer in churches, even worse, don’t want God in their lives. I told my team on Sunday, I would love to have a building but I’d rather build people than buildings.

 

How can I best utilize what God has put in my hand to fulfill what he has placed in my heart?

This is a difficult one. Working on it.

 

 

LifeKids Volunteers Turbo Charged

Saturday

• Had great time wif LifeKids Team. They r a crazy bunch. Started 6:30am. Amazing Race. First task to buy 20 non perishable items from a Supermarket spend no more than $10. took us about 45 mins. Its recession and not that many items around 50cents. strict conditions….
• Climbed / ran to the highest peak of Mangere Mountain, slippery, cow poos, fog, cold and wet………….CRAZY!!!!!
• Human pyramid, blind fold, eat porridge, speed …..oops yes way over the limit…….sorry Lord.
• took  pictures, videos, find bustop with holden parked infron to a bus stop, buy 2 coconuts, …………..speed down the motorway again…..
• look for mailboxes, clues, people, rymes, called 018 gave us the wrong addy……..
• Bought fresh bread. cut to the chase…….so to speak…….we came third……………
• heres the funny thing. there was a Bible quiz and everyone said, pastor team is gonna win. My team came last. The Pastor must go back to Bible College… shame!!!
• During the day, i was encouraged & inspired by our teams desire to reach the children. Most of them are young and inexperienced but willing to love and share Jesus with the kids.
• Time to evaluate and plan, recharged and realigned for ministry, for the next 6 months.
• Gosh I laughed so much…….and a few practical jokes
• Michael and Lisa, our LifeKids Directors shared their hearts for the ministry and vision. New series for Lifekids revealed for the nxt 18 weeks
• Lisa preached a great message on ‘the wonder of God’ and creativity. Mike talked about God changing lives…..I like what he drew on the whiteboard to do with God changing lives. verry simple yet effective!! 
• We also got the change to pay tribute to Michael Jackson by performing the moonwalk. You got to see the video!!!!
• Suis Birthday!!! Hip! Hip!
• Prayer Time and Speaking to peoples lives was fantastic was refreshing!!!!!
• I will upload some photos later.