Well, what a year. When we began 2015 we were meeting monthly in our lounge for a BBQ, some worship and prayer.
Then we started doing a gathering in a cafe.
Then we decided to do it in a church hall in Mt Eden, and took a punt on moving to a Sunday evening.
Then, as of seven weeks ago, we began doing that at Auckland Normal Intermediate hall on a Sunday morning – oh, and just to add to the workload, doing it every week…
When we began 2015, I never thought this is how we would finish, but as I look back (which is a great thing to do at this time of year) I am thankful to God for such a good year of growing this plant into what it is. What a ride to have been on!
There are some great stories from 2015: we have had people share with us that they have found “home” at our church; we’ve heard stories from people of God-encounters during our gatherings; we got our hands dirty when we collectively gave three big trolley-loads of food to the Auckland City Mission for our Christmas Mission and I just heard a story this Sunday from a guy who has been sharing about Jesus to a young man at his work. That young man has made a decision to begin trusting in Jesus and our guy and his wife bought him a Bible this week. Exciting things have been happening, and I’m sure they will continue to do so.
In 2016 we will be launching our kids programme and we are excited to have people keen to play their part in what God is doing through us. There’s already people putting their hand up to lead new community groups, grow our experiences in worship, serve the needs in our city, and be generous in hospitality and connecting with people…
But hold the horses, that’s for next year, and we aren’t quite there yet. Now is a good time to be present to what we are in: a precious moment for a good rest.
“Now is a good time to be present to what we are in: a precious moment for a good rest. We hope you enjoy a good breather over the Christmas and summer break. May you be present to what the Lord is doing as you reflect and we hope to see you back for a great year at Central Vineyard on Sunday January 17th, 2016.”
We hope you enjoy a good breather over the Christmas and summer break. May you be present to what the Lord is doing as you reflect and we hope to see you back for a great year at Central Vineyard on Sunday January 17th, 2016.