WORD FROM OUR PASTORS MISSIONS CONNECT GROUPS UPCOMING EVENTS YOUTH MAY CALENDAR A word from our pastors NEWSLETTER in this issue MAY 2015 Hello Family, Is it May already? Wow, it certainly feels like 2015 is quickly passing by. Next month is our first all church Cross Central camp. Our theme is found in Hebrews 10:25, where we are told to stir each other up to love and good works. This well known story hopefully illustrates the importance of encouraging each other. Two men were seriously ill. They occupied the same room in the hospital. One of them was lying in the bed near the only window in their room. Every day he was allowed to spend some time sitting up in his bed to help draining the fluid from lungs. The other man was forced to spend all his days flat on his back. They talked a lot about their life, families, jobs, vacations. Every time, when the first man was sitting by the window, he described in details all that he saw outside the window. His roommate always looked for those moments, when his world was broadened and brightened up by the world outside. Amazing views of a park with a beautiful lake could be seen from the window of their room. Children delightfully played among ducks and swans. Couples walked arm in arm among colourful flowers. Also the stunning city skyline could be seen. When the man by the window had been thoroughly describing all that was happening outside the window, his roommate would close his eyes and imaged all the beautiful scenes of life that were told to him. One night the man, whose bed was near the window, died peacefully during sleep and his roommate was very sad. After some time, when the nurse came to visit him, he asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse agreed and kindly made the switch. When she left, the man slowly and painfully propped himself up on one elbow and took the first look at the world outside. He was stunned. The window faced a blank wall. When the nurse came to visit him the next time, he told her about beautiful things outside the window that his roommate described him. The nurse replied that his roommate was a blind man. She said: „Probably he just tried to encourage you.“ Join us for our all church camp, either for the whole weekend or for any of our sessions over the Friday night, Saturday and/or Sunday. In Christ Alone, Tepa & Jo
Transcript
WORD FROM OUR
PASTORS
MISSIONS
CONNECT GROUPS
UPCOMING EVENTS
YOUTH
MAY CALENDAR
A word from our pastors
NEWSLETTER
in this issue
MAY 2015
Hello Family, Is it May already? Wow, it certainly feels like 2015 is quickly passing by. Next month is our first all church Cross Central camp. Our theme is found in Hebrews 10:25, where we are told to stir each other up to love and good works. This well known story hopefully illustrates the importance of encouraging each other. Two men were seriously ill. They occupied the same room in the hospital. One of them was lying in the bed near the only window in their room. Every day he was allowed to spend some time sitting up in his bed to help draining the fluid from lungs. The other man was forced to spend all his days flat on his back. They talked a lot about their life, families, jobs, vacations. Every time, when the first man was sitting by the window, he described in details all that he saw outside the window. His roommate always looked for those moments, when his world was broadened and brightened up by the world outside. Amazing views of a park with a beautiful lake could be seen from the window of their room. Children delightfully played among ducks and swans. Couples walked arm in arm among colourful flowers. Also the stunning city skyline could be seen. When the man by the window had been thoroughly describing all that was happening outside the window, his roommate would close his eyes and imaged all the beautiful scenes of life that were told to him. One night the man, whose bed was near the window, died peacefully during sleep and his roommate was very sad. After some time, when the nurse came to visit him, he asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse agreed and kindly made the switch. When she left, the man slowly and painfully propped himself up on one elbow and took the first look at the world outside. He was stunned. The window faced a blank wall. When the nurse came to visit him the next time, he told her about beautiful things outside the window that his roommate described him. The nurse replied that his roommate was a blind man. She said: „Probably he just tried to encourage you.“ Join us for our all church camp, either for the whole weekend or for any of our sessions over the Friday night, Saturday and/or Sunday. In Christ Alone,
Tepa & Jo
missionsMissions Prayer Notes for May 2015 Cross Central Missions - We pray for your leading as we serve you in missions. Help us to remain constant in prayer, enthusiasm and commitment to missions both here and around the world. We pray for your leading and inspiration as our Connect groups continue to “get real” with Mission in 2015.
INTRODUCING INTERSERVE PARTNERS
BEN and LORIEN ATWOOD - Thank you Lord for connecting us with these new Interserve partners and the opportunity to meet with and hear about their imminent service as Interserve partners in West Asia. Help up to open our hearts and minds to the Atwoods, as they share their plans to serve you cross culturally, when they come to visit and present at Cross Central in July.
Compassion – We pray for your special protection over our Compassion sponsor child, Lyka Jane Villarin, who lives in the Southern Philippines. We pray that Lyka Jane will be blessed as she grows and learns both at school and in her spiritual life through the local church.
Nepal Earthquake – We pray for all those affected by the earthquake in Nepal. Give strength to the weak and suffering. Give skill and wisdom to those that are there to assist. Give endurance to the survivors as they recover and begin to rebuild their lives. We give you thanks that the children and workers at the Creative Children’s Development Program (CCDP) are all safe and that their building (the Children’s Home) appears to be undamaged. Help us to remain faithful in praying and giving for their needs.
Local Missions: We pray for our upcoming Biggest Morning Tea community event being held at church in May. Help us to use this event as an opportunity to show Your love to those that attend and to show our generosity through our giving and fundraising efforts as a church body.
Doug and Fiona Higgins – We continue to pray for the work in Thailand and look forward to an update from them in person on the 23
rd and 24
th May. We pray that we will be an
encouragement and support to the Higgins family as they share and commune with us in person. We pray that you will bless us as a church through Doug and Fiona as they minister to us.
Join us for a morning with Doug Higgins at
our Missions Brunch.
Saturday 23rd May
10am till 11.30 @ Cross Central Church.
missions
MISSIONS TRIP TO ALICE SPRINGS.
We are well on the way to our first
ever inland mission trip to Alice
Springs NT. There are six members
from Cross Central who will be
travelling to the Northern Territory to
serve the indigenous people of our
nation alongside Desert Life Church
http://desertlifechurch.org and
Desert Song (collaboration with
Steve Grace).
Please continue to pray for us as we
prepare to leave on July 20 and
return July 28.
missions
Join us for a Jesus adventure
in the N.T
ALPHA Alpha is an opportunity for us to invite our friends, family members, colleagues, and neighbours to come and explore the Christian faith in a friendly, open and informal environment. Format of the evening consist of; meet and greet, then the viewing of a DVD which runs for approx 20 minutes followed by group discussion in regards to what we watched during the evening. Topics include Who is Jesus? Why did Jesus have to die? What is Faith? Why and how do I pray? Is there more to life than this? How can I resist evil? and more. Monday nights at Cross Central 7pm – 8:30pm light refreshments will be served. Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
“Commissioned for Mission”
Connect Groups in Cross Central
Belinda, Family (ALPHA) / Surfside / Monday 7PM (Weekly)
Graham & Colleen, Family / Longbeach / Tuesday 7PM (weekly)
Jo, Women’s / Longbeach / Tuesday 7PM (Fortnightly)
Belinda, Family Discipleship Group/ Surdside / Wednesday 7pm (Weekly)
Tepa, Men’s / Longbeach / Wednesday 7pm (Weekly)
Nicole, Women’s / Sunshine Bay / Thursday 7PM (Fortnightly)
Nicole, Teen Girls / Sunshine Bay / Thursday 6PM (Fortnightly)
Sam (playgroup outreach) / Thursday AM (Weekly)
Discipleship connect
Discipleship Connect Group will be meeting at
Cross Central Church on Wednesday nights
from 7 – 8:30pm weekly. Come along and join
us as we study Gods word and enjoy fellowship
with our brothers and sisters.
Connect Groups... Some thoughts about
what has been happening in our groups
Our group surprised us by braving the terrible weather Tuesday night. We had a night of fun, food, sharing and encouraging one another. We welcomed Jan and Darrel who have just moved into their new home which is close by. Also Chris and Greg joined our group and they too are close by in their new home. “Happy days” All had studied the book on James and some enjoyed the way the book presented the study whilst others found it was not for them. There was to be found some good teachings in the book but some found they questioned where some of the questions were going, that it seemed prolonged and maybe a little too drawn out. It is good to experience different ways of studying God’s Word and each of us tend to find the best way for our own personal study. May we all keep growing in our love and knowledge of our Heavenly Father. Blessings, Colleen and Graham
Prayer Connect When? The first Wednesday of the month 7pm Where? Cross Central Church. Come and join us as we pray for our Pastors and Elder-ship at Cross Central, our community, our loved ones, for each other, for Gods direction and Vision for His Church, His people, His nation, His world. My house shall be called a house of prayer. Please be advised of the new time of 6pm to 7pm the 1st Wednesday of the month, next prayer meeting will be held on May 6th 2015.
MEN... GOLF DAY
Tomakin Golf Course 16th
May 930am start
$15 for 9 holes see Tim
Verdouw for more info
Upcoming this month...
CAFÉ CONNECT
Cafe connects focus in May is Become. We are all
becoming something. Do we allow our moods
and emotions to take over or are we intentional
with what we are becoming? Our cafe connect
team are excited about what God has done al-
ready this year through our monthly service.
We are continually praying that God will bring
new people into the kingdom through the door
of cafe connect. Music, Food, friendship and the
Word what more could you ask for.
Term 2 TEACHING SERIES
STAND FIRM - COURAGEOUS FAITH
1 Corinthians 16:13 (NLT)
“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.”
Wk 1 Sun APRIL 26
Psalm 27 - Tepa
Waiting For The Lord
Wk 2 Sun MAY 3
Isaiah 40:25-31 - Tepa
Renew Your Strength
Wk 3 Sun MAY 10
1 Tim 6:3-19 - Tepa
Investing In The Future
Wk 4 Sun MAY 17
1 Peter 1:3-12 - Tepa
Living In Hope
Wk 5 Sun MAY 24
Romans 8:18-27 - Nic
Longing For Glory
Wk 6 Sun MAY 31
1 Cor 15:35-58 - Tepa
The Ultimate Victory
(TABLE TALK)
SUNDAY JUNE 7- CAMP SUNDAY
Ron Thomas
Wk 7 Sun JUN 14
1 Thess 4:13-5:11 - Tepa
The Return Of The King
Wk 8 Sun JUN 21
Rev 21:1-8 - Tepa
When All Things Become New
Term 2 FINISH
Join us during our 9 & 10.15 am services
on Sunday 10th May as we honour the
ladies of Cross Central.
Men, please bring a plate of morning tea
to share and dress in your finest to serve
the wonderful ladies of the house.
)
REVOLUTI ON
YOUTH
The Youth Group I see is Connected. Even though our usual Saturday youth program didn’t run over April, we couldn’t help but get together for milkshakes at the Bodalla Dairy Shed and a movie night at church. God’s family really does benefit from being around each other. Young people particularly love hanging out together… and I think it is vital for Christian young people. For lots of our kids, they are the only Christians in their year at school. Sometimes it can be very isolating and even difficult to stand up for your Christian faith and values. But when young people come together, they encourage each that they are not doing this thing alone. We really value building strong connections in our youth ministry. We care about each other and want to build strong, edifying friendships.
The Youth Group I see is Discipled. Over the Anzac weekend, Jo, Nicole and ten of our older youth attended Kyck, a Christian Youth Conference in Katoomba. The kids were great company for each other and we had lots of adventure! The conference sessions presented good, solid teaching and our young people got so much out of it. Each evening we had muffins and hot chocolate and shared about what had really spoken to us from that day’s sessions. It was a fantastic time away and awesome to see God speak to each one of us in new and challenging ways.
mission report
MINISTRIES
Eldership Team - Jo & Tepa Faletoese, Gary Tilyard, Rod & Sam Zimmermann, Nicole Gorzalka Missions - First Sunday of the Month -Tepa Faletoese, Robyn Lack Pastoral Care - Nicole Gorzalka Service Co-ordinator - Sam Zimmermann Sunday Kid’s Programs - Jo Faletoese, (K-3) Nicole Gorzalka, (4-6) Jason & Karena Durden Motiv8 / Revolution Youth – Jo Faletoese Connect For Families (playgroup) - Sam Zimmermann Men's Club - Kenn Woods Music Ministry - Tepa Faletoese
CONTACT US Street: 1 Kerang Street, SURFSIDE Postal: PO Box 1113 BATEMANS BAY NSW 2536 Email: [email protected] Web: http:wearecrosscentral.com Phone: 02 4472 9419
