“His sheep follow Him because they know His voice.”
““Abba, Father,” he said, “Everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.””
“We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”
“‘Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’”
“‘Father in heaven, when the thought of you wakes in our hearts, let it not wake like a frightened bird that lies about in dismay, but like a child waking from its sleep with a heavenly smile. Amen.’”
This Sunday we kick off Prayer Week: a week of learning about, practicing and prioritising prayer in our day-to-day life, and seeking God about what He is up to in our church, our city, our nation and our world.
- We're leaving you to pray how you want, when you want and with whoever you want
- We have a week of training prepared that will be available daily here on our blog
- We're going to be suggesting focussed things to pray about for Central Vineyard, our city, our nation and our world
It's going to be a good week!
"Resolute" is our summer series over January, exploring what it could be to live with a resolution of living wisely in 2016.
We live making choices, and wisdom is the ability to make good choices; especially in the way we use our time, energy and resources – something we do all day, everyday.
What would it look like to live with a determined, purposeful and unwavering resolve to live Jesus-like ways in 2016?
Well come along and find out...
You don't have to get far into reading the Scriptures to see that God was serious about a balance of working hard and resting, so therefore, we're taking a good rest over the early-January summer weekends before cracking into a big year at Central Vineyard.
Enjoy the beach, the bach, or a BBQ at your place, and we'll see you on Sunday January 17th!
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.
To play our part in serving the city of Auckland this Christmas, we are gathering non-perishable food items for the Auckland City Mission as they head into their very busy lead up to Christmas. These food parcels go "to the homeless, families who are desperately struggling on very low incomes, and isolated elderly with little or no family support."
We're doing one collection date: Sunday, December 13th. We'll keep reminding you, but mark it in your dairies and put a reminder on your phone.
You can bring the good ol' baked beans, tinned tomatoes etc, but what the Mission have told us they run low on is canned meat/fish, toiletries like soap/shampoo/toilet rolls etc and just some niceties.
So add an item or two to your groceries and come ready with your contribution to serve those in need this Christmas on Sunday, December 13th.