2015 Theme

At the end of each year I seek God for an overall theme for East Taieri Church for the year ahead.  The Thursday morning prayer breakfast prays with me about it and people share various scriptures and things they believe God is saying to us.  I also consult with elders and leaders.

The theme I have discerned for 2015 is: Streams in the Desert

In July-August we have a 5 week series in all services on this theme.  We will be encouraging life groups and individuals to use an accompanying study guide.  

Streams in the Desert speaks of personal refreshment and renewal in our relationship with God and with others.  Do you feel dry or thirsty? What personal spiritual practices do you find refreshing?  Is there a place you like to walk or sit and pray?  What is your plan or approach to reading and studying the Bible this year?  What might God be speaking to you about this year?  These are some of the questions we will address.

Streams in the Desert also speaks of renewal and refreshment when we meet as Christians.  What has been helpful in the past in worship services or group meetings?  Has it helped you love God and love others?  What might be helpful for you this year?

Streams in the Desert speaks of the refreshingly different life Christ brings.  How can our Christian lifestyle be as inviting and refreshing to other people as a fresh water in a dry and thirsty land?  What new mission steps is the Holy Spirit leading you into and what new spiritual gifts for serving others might he have for you?

May we all experience God’s renewing, refreshing work this year,

Martin.

Highlights from 2014

Stepping into 2015 I have felt challenged about my lack of posting on my blog.  I guess 2014 has been a very full year - but no excuses - other things have taken priority.

One of the helpful disciplines I have adopted is to give thanks to God for some highlights from the ministry year at East Taieri Church.  I find it encouraging to list the highlights and at the risk of being unintelligible to those outside of the church I post them below:

Some Highlights from 2014 – 200 Years of Good News

•          The year began with a large short-term mission team going to Thailand.
•          Sebastian Murrihy was appointed as our new Associate Pastor, and has given leadership at FUEL this year, and will lead the exploration of new Fresh Expressions in 2015.
•          Rodger has had a year of growth as an intern and been appointed as our new youth worker – beginning 2015 – replacing Erin as she moved back to teaching.  Carolyn (as well as getting married) has stepped up for us in taking on Outram Oasis as well as Ground Zero/Summit – which of course has gone fantastically well.
•          The role and significance of the Pastoral Care Team was developed, including ordaining some new pastoral elders. (Seb, Joy, Pam Crosbie)  Pam Grant has carried a significant pastoral load over this year, especially with her wide knowledge of who is who.
•          Visit of the Kenyan Evangelists to Dunedin and East Taieri hosting Charles & Maggie Ng’ang’a
•          We developed a partnership with Aurora Café for community evangelism events, including the Alpha course.
•          Ed led the computer upgrade project replacing our old Windows XP machines and our old Windows 2000 Network Server.
•          Strategic Plan 2015-2020 developed. (Ed and Everyone)  In particular our one hour forum/prayer meeting.
•          Simplicity: we have found some ways to combine or simplify things so we don’t exhaust ourselves and we model a simpler lifestyle.  E.g. the simple One Service at ET, and combining thanking volunteers with the lunch on the day of the Annual Meeting.
•          With the help of the Synod Mission Advisor we have engaged in a process with Coast Community Church about their mission and their future.  In 2015 we will trial a mutual discovery together, Bible Study Format on Sunday morning at CCC.
•          Brad Thorn’s visit combined with Brooke Hooper’s baptism was a wonderful occasion.
•          Joy has facilitated the initial development of a combined referral process for health and social services in Mosgiel.  The fact that we were asked to do this shows the respect Joy and our community ministries has earned in the health and social service sector.  This project is also lifting Joy and ET into conversation with a higher level of decision makers and policy setters in our community.
•          Alastair held the fort for some months for us with the 2pm congregation, but now under Joy’s leadership this congregation is moving on and linking with wider church and community.
•          Jeremy and his team have laid the groundwork for our new EPIC youth discipleship focus to launch on Sunday evenings in 2015.
•          Making Space for the Gospel – Theme series for the year.  We linked in with the 200^th Anniversary of Samuel Marsden’s sermon, and our celebration of that this Christmas.
•          We have stepped up our efforts to collaborate with other churches – meeting with Mosgiel Presbyterian elders, youth leaders, and addressing the dysfunctional TCMA.
•          As Ed and Louise are particularly aware, our giving is behind budget.  They don’t have control over that, but have ensured we have the information we need to be able to make course corrections.  While this has meant we have delayed appointing a children and families pastor, we were blessed to have Jess step into a leadership role for a time, and we have been able to recruit Philippa Lord into volunteer leadership for Kidzown and are exploring other ways to engage children and families in our community. In fact, the number of children at worship actually grew over the 2013/2014 year.
•          Leeanne gave great leadership to the big events of the year. Ministry Conference went very well.  Christmas Eve also went very well.  Leeanne has grown in participating in the Ministry Leadership Team.
•          Good result in resourcing our community ministry including youth – this has been achieved in a difficult environment.  Well done with funding applications Jeremy, Ed and Joy.
•          We have begun to address some of the tough issues, including: how we run CCC, how we can address the culture of R4M, and what are the leadership challenges at FUEL.
•          We have talked about Network Course for some time, but this year we have nailed that.
•          In the midst of all that ET coped just fine with Martin being away for a month of study leave.
•          In addition there were many other moments: baptisms, Christmas Lunch @ RSA, General Assembly, Sound System Training, Turning Point Parenting programme, Service of Hope, Martin’s Leadership booklet, Taieri Youth Showcase, Excel, OT and social work students projects Community Expo.

   Thanks be to God.

Hosting Kenyans in Mosgiel

I’m looking forward to the first two weeks of April when Charles and Maggie Ng’ang’a, from Mamlaka Hill Chapel in Nairobi, Kenya will be with us in Mosgiel.  Charles will be primarily with us and Maggie primarily with St Luke’s Anglican, but we are seeking to work together with all churches.  Charles & Maggie will be involved in a range of events from outreach activities to church services, training and equipping.  But I expect the biggest gift they bring us is their passion for Jesus and their expectancy that God will do powerful things.  Their church mission statement is “Empowered to Transform.”  Please look on my blog for updates on our planning for their visit. They are part of a 12 member team from their church, who have come to Dunedin to help us reach people with the good news of Jesus.  This is part of celebrating the 200^th Anniversary of the preaching of the gospel in New Zealand.

 

Please pray for this mission.  Check out www.mamlakahillchapel.org for more information about Charles & Maggie and their church.  You can watch him preach online.  I want us to be confident in their ministry so we can invite our friends who don’t yet know Jesus to events .  Please pray about the involvement you could have.

We begin with an evening service at East Taieri Church on Sunday March 30th.

Blessings,
Martin

Mission Team to Thailand 2014

This January fourteen people from East Taieri Church travelled to Thailand to join with two families we support in Chiang Mai.  It has been a full two weeks.  One of my highlights was preaching (with the help of some wonderful interpreters) in two church services and a young people's camp.  The team also did fantastic work building relationships with Thai people and people from the Karen hilltribe group.  We also tackled a number of physical tasks from electrical work (led by a capable electrician on our team) and painting, landscaping, and building raised vegetable gardens for a "hospice/home" for people living with HIV.  Most of this work was carried out working alongside (usually directed) by local people.

Our model of global mission is one of partnership - doing things with the local Christians and not doing things for people.  Clearly we had something to contribute, but we also had much to learn about Thailand, about how God is working in another culture, and about ourselves.  Our prayer is that God will continue to build these partnerships as well and help us to grow through this experience.

The objectives of our time were:

1. Giving people a taste of cross cultural mission to get them enthused and help raise up the next generation of missionaries, and people who will commit to praying and supporting missionaries.
2. Spiritual growth of those who go – especially teenagers.
3. Encouragement and support of missionaries we visit (including completing some practical project while we are there).  This includes the goal of not getting “in the way” of missionaries while we are there.
4. Build our partnership with the San Patong Community Church.
5. Raising the profile of global mission in East Taieri Church.

 We have made good progress on all of these.

I'm not sure I would lead as big a team next time.  Fourteen people made transport difficult.  But one of my overall highlights was the way our team worked together using our gifts and strengths for the benefit of the team.  Working together with missionaries and with Thai people in a similar way was also a highlight.  These very same things were also a challenge when differences or tensions emerged, but we worked through them pretty well.  Building strong teams and the different leadership styles I need to use at different times is one of my on going reflection and learning points from this trip.

We worked hard in Thailand, but we will also need to put in some work, thought and prayer, back in NZ if we are going to cement these experiences and grow as people through them.

Martin.

Week of Prayer - Discernment Questions

Our next week of Prayer at East Taieri Church is called "Seeing and Hearing What God is Doing in Our Local Community."  We are seeking to develop our missional eyes and ears to notice what God is doing in mission so that we can join in.  Bible verses that inspire us in this include:
John 20:21 Jesus said, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
and
Luke 10:8-9 "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The Kingdom of God is near.'"

Our mission statement as a church is:

One people in mission for God's glory,

Growing in Christ and making him known in love through word, sign and deed,

Because all people matter to God.

 

The challenge for this week of prayer is to choose one of the following prayer activities:

·         Visit a local café, buy tea or coffee, and observe what is going on around you.  Pray silently for someone in the café.

·         Go for a prayer walk along your street.

·         Catch the Mosgiel Loop Bus (which leaves every 40 minutes from the bus bay in Gordon Road by the Blackstone Café and costs $2) and notice what is going on.  Click here for more information. 

·         Pray that a neighbour would be willing to come over for tea or coffee and then invite them.  As you get to know them, listen for what God is doing in their lives.

 

Some Discernment Questions:

1. Who do you notice is around at that time of day? What age, race and gender are they?
2. What do you notice about the housing and architecture, age, and quality of buildings?  How does this change from street to street?  How many places are for sale?  Does the neighbourhood have a sense of permanence of change?
3. What public places and community gathering spaces do you see?  Are they inviting?  Who is making use of them?
4. What community services do you notice?
5. If you pass any churches or religious buildings, what do they communicate to the neighbourhood?
6. Where and when did you sense God's presence?
7. What good and beautiful things did you see that are worth celebrating?
8. What sad or sinful things did you see that concern or grieve you?
9. What compassion, heartache or empathy was aroused in you?
10. What would be good news for people in this neighbourhood?  What would church look like for people in this neighbourhood?

Happy noticing!

Martin.



Reflections on "Living Below the Line"

Living on $2.25 per day for my food was a challenge!
While the food was fairly bland and I got tired of eating much the same thing every day, I had sufficient to eat.  My $11.25 for 5 days bought me:

• A dozen eggs
• A loaf of bread
• A tin of baked beans
• A small bag of rice
• 5 apples
• Some vegetables (some from our garden, but I factored in an approximate cost)

Sue kindly made the vegetables into a delicious soup.  I was very careful not to drop the soup as I put it away in the fridge, realising that it was my main source of flavour for the week.  I was surprised how protective I was of my meagre larder.

It struck me that my budget didn't allow for "luxuries" such as tea, coffee, milk, sugar, or meat.  I did get tired of only drinking water.

Early on in the week I had some mild headaches (probably caffeine withdrawal), but overall I felt quite well.  I played four games of squash that week and had sufficient energy from all those good carbohydrates, although I lost about a kilogram in weight.

One family who took part told me that the parents had eaten less so their teenagers could eat more.  I wonder how often parents go without food so their children can eat - even in New Zealand.

The experience challenged me to simplify my lifestyle, so I have more resources to give to those in need. 

Simplicity

Following up the last post about "Living Below the Line", I am interested to hear of people's experiences of taking up the challenge.  Sue and I, for a number of reasons couldn't tackle the challenge last week, but are planning to do so this coming week.

This topic has raised issues of simplicity.  How do we simplify our lives? This is not easy, especially living in a relatively affluent nation like New Zealand.  There are some classic resources to help us such as Ron Sider's "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger" and "Living More Simply".

John Wesley was a great revivalist and preacher. But he was also careful with money.  He was born into a poor family, and when he followed his father by becoming a preacher he had no illusions about financial rewards.  His income began at 30 pounds a year – more than enough for a single person to live.  He determined to live on 28 pounds and give the rest away.

In the years that followed his income rose dramatically: 60 pounds one year, 90 the next.  Instead of letting his expenses rise, he kept the 28 pound ceiling, and gave the rest away.  Wesley felt that Christians should not merely tithe but give away all extra income once family and creditors were provided for.  Wesley’s income peaked at 1400 pounds per annum, but he kept living on 28.

This was so unusual that he was investigated by the English tax commissioners.  He limited his expenses by refusing to buy items considered essential for someone of his income.  His simple rules were: “Gain all you can, Save all you can, Give all you can.”

Some other key steps:
1. We need others around us for mutual encouragement.
2. Make it a spiritual exercise, not a religious rule.  (I paste below some insights I've gathered)
3. Don't forget to celebrate.

Simplicity – as a Spiritual Practice

Simplicity is an inward reality that results in an outward lifestyle that is not extravagant, not lusting for status or power, and not dominated by material possessions. 

Some Hints:

·  The key is in Matt 6:33 “seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”  God’s Kingdom comes first – even before a simple lifestyle.

·  Try having a simple (and cheap) meal once a week and giving the money you save to someone in need.

·  Instead of asking, “How can I earn more?” ask, “How can I spend less?”  The greatest saving is the ‘bargain’ you decide you don’t need to buy.

·  Learn to enjoy things without owning them.  Enjoy the beach without feeling we have to buy a piece of it.

·  Avoid making new ‘laws’ about Christian lifestyle, but discover what ‘treasures’ you have that may compete with God for your heart.  “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  (Matt 6:21)

·  But, don’t be stingy, shabby, small, or mean.  God is not poor.

 Some Benefits of Simplicity:

Ø  Simplicity trains us to be comfortable without having all our wants and desires met.

Ø  It helps break the power of mammon (wealth) over us and sets us free to give.

Ø  Simplicity helps us to be free from anxiety.

Ø  We learn more about being grateful for God’s gifts to us.