Engage Conference

3rd Oct 2009 Eden Community Church
Presented by Pathways Bible College and PastorLink.

Engage is a one day conference designed to inspire and equip Christians to more effectively Engage their church, their community, their Faith. The speakers and workshops throughout the day will be practical so you will leave with information and resources you can use straight away.

Two key note addresses will be given by Paul Windsor and Russell Burt.

The following workshops will be presented:
Lui Ponifasio and Russell Grainger: Both of the churches these men pastor are engaging their communities in very effective, but different ways. What exactly have they done? How can i take some of their ideas and apply them to my own church context?

Chris Opie: Chris is the Music director for the Street City Church, Wellington. Chris will cover a range of topics from identifying biblical principles for corporate and personal worship, to considering how different approaches to worship can be applied in local contexts, to exploring possibilities for interpreting worship in ways appropriate for contemporary congregations. This elective will be beneficial for anyone involved in any level of worship in their local church.

Craig Barrow: Preaching for Life Change. The word of God is indeed powerful! This elective will discuss how to preach God’s word in a way that will impact people and lead them to life change. Some of the areas to be discussed are the importance of application, illustrations, exposition, audience engagement, and the personal impact of the sermon.

Debbie Bossé and Katie Ward: Debbie and Katie work with Children and Youth at NorthCross Community church. This elective will look at how you can get a New Ministry/Programme up and Running. It will be very practical, moving from inspiration and vision, through to the building of a team to implement it.

Emma Stokes: GCiM, Headspace. What are the benefits to your church in engaging in Missions. Emma will provide guidance and resources to help your church organize a short term missions trip, and to engage much better with the missionaries you currently support.

There are two other electives still to be confirmed.

(Please note: the community, worship and preaching electives will go for the whole four hours, but each 2 hour session will be taught independently. So, for example, you could go to Children and Youth in the morning, and worship in the afternoon).

For more information please call the pathways office, or email craig@pathways.ac.nz
http://www.pathways.ac.nz/engage

Global Day of Prayer this SUNDAY

Sent to Represent

2 Cor. 5:20. “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, …….”

I have been meditating on this verse for a while now. ‘Ambassador for Christ’

We are called to be representatives of Jesus Christ

Let’s ask ourselves today “How WELL are we doing?

How WELL are we representing Christ?

Do we say what’s in his heart? Do we speak for ourselves and try to argue our own opinion or do we say and speak the truth of God’s Word .   

Are we doing what he did and wanting us to do? As good ambassadors do we report back to him and check with him to make sure that we are on the same page with God or we do what we think is best to gain popularity and please people.

Is our agenda different from that of Christ’s

How about the way we conduct ourselves both privately and publicly. Have you checked lately how Jesus conducted himself, even when things turned ugly for him. He maintained godly composure. He even asked God to ‘forgive them for they do not know what they do….’

Remember as ambassadors for Christ ‘We are sent to Represent”

Do WELL today!!

Let the SERVOLUTION begin………

Yes the wait is over. Today is Servolution day!!!

We kicked off the revolution of service with an awesome time of prayer at 5 this morning, laying the servolution foundation for the next 3 days!!

In a couple of hours our first team will hit the streets with a massive cleanup strategy. The goal is to pick up rubbish in every street, avenue, crescent, place, road, lane, boulevard, vale, drive, close, court, way, in Manurewa.

So if you want to be part of the Servolution, just come down to Clendon Recreation Centre Car Park and join the fun!!
This is the Day the Lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it.!!!

Practical Righteousness Pt2

The word Righteousness has two root meanings.

1. “straightness”
2. “conforming to a standard or a norm”

When it comes to righteousness, that authoritative standard is God Himself. Therefore Biblical righteousness means to live a life that conforms to the standard of God which is the holy character of God.
In human terms that is impossible because ‘all have sinned’ according to His Word. God is holy and just and therefore he will not let sin go unpunished. The only option is for His righteous Son Jesus Christ who knew no sin to take the punishment so that we can be made righteous, which is the what standard God requires.
I found this quote somewhere: “The righteousness of God is all that God is, all that He commands, all that He demands, all that He approves and all that He provides through the gospel of Jesus Christ, the perfectly Righteous One”

So Biblical Righteousness is accepting the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ which is the only way for us to receive Salvation.
But here is the challenge for every Christian. Jesus Christ did something practical in order for us to receive righteousness. The work on Calvary. Before he died He demonstrated righteousness. He lived a straight life and a life conformed to the standard of God or the will of God.

Two ways to live out Righteousness:

1. Live straight and conform to the standards of God. (Obey His Word)
2. Do something practical to bring others to the Saving knowledge of Christ.

Practical Righteousness is LIVING out our Salvation in Christ and BRINGING others to receive the Righteousness of Christ.

What would happen if….

Local churches partnered together to reach out to their community

We put works to our faith

We became serious with our prayers for those who don’t know Christ

Church leaders stop being so territorial about their church

The church became so bright in the community

The Body of Christ became so generous

We are not ashamed of the Gospel

Christians were so committed to their faith

All the Local churches came together on a Sunday morning to worship together in one location

We stopped playing church and start being the church

We started interceding for our political leaders and our nation

Church leaders would stop thinking about their own local church and start thinking about the Kingdom of God

We acted on truth – The Word of God.

We Christians stopped living in sin, clean up our act and pursue holiness

Christians believed what they believe

Weekend Reflections

Had breakfast with our leaders at our place 6am Saturday morning. That’s crazy…. Great fun… we probably woke up the neighbours…… time to catch up. Our guys are so pumped with what God is doing at church and our next season as a church.

Spent the whole Saturday thinking, preparing, studying, reading, praying…..……..

Sunday morning on the way to church I prayed, “Holy Spirit bring conviction to our hearts”

Overwhelmed with the presence of God during worship.

There was a great sense of freedom and excitement. During worship I looked behind me and on the bleachers!! What a joy it is for any pastor to see young people worshipping God HARD OUT!! Church is the place to be on Sunday mornings!!

Preached my heart out.  Spoke on the heart of Jesus for the lost and the role of the church as representatives of Jesus …..along those lines…… Initially I planned to preach on the ‘Christ in the Community’ but after Saturday …..in my sermon preparations it ended up in a different direction…  The Holy Spirit answered my prayer and definitely brought conviction to our hearts.

On Sunday, we also launched our new season of Outreach. 2009 we will only be doing a few ‘Bridge Events’

Servolution: 3 days of Serving the Community

$2 Christmas.

Weekly Bread Run – Free to Randwick Park Community

Rubbish Collection – monthly

Paint Out – monthly

Global Day of Prayer

Prayer Walk

How many churches do we need?

I facilitate the ministers fraternal in our community of Manurewa and I have been talking to a lot of pastors over the last 15 months, trying to connect and build relationships and see what we can do together as the Body of Christ in Manurewa. Its been a very interesting task. Some have welcomed me and the idea of networking with open arms some are not quite keen at all. Some sat on the fence for a while and now finally decided to join us. Praise God!! Acccording to my last count there are 71 Christian Churches in our community. Next year there will be 3 more new church plants in Manurewa. Talking to one of the ministers this year he commented ‘great to have you here in Manurewa, the more the merrier’. I remember saying yes to him but now I am asking myself do we really need 71 churches in Manurewa. Is it really true theat ‘the more the merrier’. 

Some ministers may not like this but I am starting to think that if we have a lot of  churches in an area and the physical, emotional, social and spiritual condition of the community is not changed then I don’t think ‘the more the merrier’ is the right attitude. 

The church, the body of the Christ and the hands and feet of God in this world must engage in redeeming and restoring people, the community. We are saved to do Good Works. Ephesians 2:8-10.

I am excited with the relationships already established with other churches in the area, we are able to connect, pray, share ideas and support each other. Now I think we need to move to another level of engagement!! Thy Kingdom come!!!

(Image by executableoutline.com)

Let’s not go to church!

I believe that we’re placed here on earth to demonstrate the love of God. The essence of the gospel is love and we can’t just theologise it, we need to practisise it. (my own invented word). The bible talks about the church as the ‘body of Christ’. We are the hands and feet of Christ in our communties. I like what Rick Warren said: “It seems to me that today the body of Christ, that the hands and the feet of the body of Christ have been amputated in most churches, and all we are is just one big mouth”.

The church must be ‘one big functioning body’. Let’s not be a church on a wheelchair, bound to the four walls of our church buildings, we are the hands and feet of Christ. Our function as a church is much broader than what we do on Sunday mornings, because church isn’t the place where you meet. It isn’t a building. Church is who you are and what you do. Church is the demonstration of who Christ is, his person and his message. Let’s not go to church, let’s be the church.