MAY 2012 ISSUE NUMBER 3 You will - hopefully! - remember that God has been directing us in the Kingfisher Network to reconnect with him, grow closer to him and become more like him, in 2012. Of course, this is the goal of our lives for the whole of our lives, but this is a kairos moment, when He is challenging us to focus on this with a fresh passion and intensity. He is calling us to return to our first love in amidst all of the growth and outreach that we have been experiencing particularly in 2011. During that year of seeing over 100 new people coming along to Kingfisher Tredworth, the children's and youth ministry in particular, growing remarkably at Kingsway, and the launch of Brockworth church in October, God has been calling us to balance the growth and expansion with spiritual health and to focus on taking on the character of Christ. With this in mind, we started the year with a a weekly blog, focussing each week on a particular aspect of Christ's character and how we can apply that to our lives , as we are in Christ Jesus'. Many of us have been following this twelve-week series and have used it to draw closer in character to Jesus. Then, at the start of Lent, we supplemented this by launching a Bible Study series - The Character of Christ - that looked at the first six of these blogs. Launched across the whole Network, this Bible Study series encouraged every single Kingfisher small group to focus on the same challenges to grow together to become more like Christ. "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." (Proverbs 27:17 NLT). If you aren't yet in a small group, you're missing out on being sharpened in your Christian life by friends, and so you're missing out on something really special, and a key aspect of growth in your Christian life...see your pastor today about getting into one of our small groups! Now that we are post- Easter, we're moving into the next phase of our response to God's challenge of spiritual growth in 2012. Following on from our focus on the character of Christ, where we looked at the attitudes that Christ had at the core of his character, and how we, too need to grow those same core attitudes, now that we are In Christ Jesus, comes a shift in focus to the HABITS of Christ. What were the priorities in Jesus' life? What habits did he have in place that enabled him to live such an effective life? What habits must we adopt to live the effective life that Jesus Christ lived? To introduce us to the Habits of Christ, there will be a seven week blog (and, as before, in paper form for those who aren't on the internet). The Habits of Christ will take us from the inner attitudes of Christ to the outworking of those attitudes in his everyday life. The Bible tells us that... "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. (Philippians 2:5 NLT). To have the same attitude means you will adopt the same habits, and as you do that, you will grow to become like him. Then, later in the year, there will be a second, Network-wide Bible Study series - this time on The Habits of Christ. 2012 - this is the year that Jesus Christ is calling YOU back to him, to become a fully devoted follower of His. How are doing so far? We'd love to hear your story - why not feed it back to The Network, or to your pastor? Spiritual Growth in 2012 - where are we now? THE NETWORK
Transcript
M A Y 2 0 1 2 ISSUE NUMBER 3
You will - hopefully! - remember that God has been directing us in the Kingfisher Network to reconnect with him, grow closer to him and become more like him, in 2012. Of course, this is the goal of our lives for the whole of our lives, but this is a kairos moment, when He is challenging us to focus on this with a fresh passion and intensity. He is calling us to return to our first love in amidst all of the growth and outreach that we have been experiencing particularly in 2011. During that year of seeing over 100 new people coming along to Kingfisher Tredworth, the children's and youth ministry in particular, growing remarkably at Kingsway, and the launch of Brockworth church in October, God has been calling us to balance the growth and expansion with spiritual health and to focus on taking on the character of Christ.
With this in mind, we started the year with a a weekly blog, focussing each week on a particular aspect of Christ's character and how we can apply that to our lives , as we are in Christ Jesus'. Many of us have been following this twelve-week series and have used it to draw closer in character to Jesus.
Then, at the start of Lent, we supplemented this by launching a Bible Study series - The Character of Christ - that looked at the first six of these blogs. Launched across the whole Network, this Bible Study series encouraged every single Kingfisher small group to focus on the same challenges to grow together to become more like Christ. "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." (Proverbs 27:17 NLT). If you aren't yet in a small group, you're missing out on being sharpened in your Christian life by friends, and so you're missing out on something really special, and a key aspect of growth in your Christian life...see your pastor today about getting into one of our small groups!
Now that we are post-Easter, we're moving into the next phase of our response to God's challenge of spiritual growth in 2012.
Following on from our focus on the character of Christ, where we looked at the attitudes that Christ had at the core of his character, and how we, too need to grow those same core attitudes, now that we are In Christ Jesus, comes a shift in focus to the HABITS of Christ.
What were the priorities in Jesus' life? What habits did he have in place that enabled him to live such an effective life? What habits must we adopt to live the effective life that Jesus Christ lived?
To introduce us to the Habits of Christ, there will be a seven week blog (and, as before, in paper form for those who aren't on the internet). The Habits of Christ will take us from the inner attitudes of Christ to the outworking of those attitudes in his everyday life. The Bible tells us that... "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. (Philippians 2:5 NLT). To have the same attitude means you will adopt the same habits, and as you do that, you will grow to become like him.
Then, later in the year, there will be a second, Network-wide Bible Study series - this time on The Habits of Christ.
2012 - this is the year that Jesus Christ is calling YOU back to him, to become a fully devoted follower of His. How are doing so far? We'd love to hear your story - why not feed it back to The Network, or to your pastor?
Spiritual Growth in 2012 - where are we now?
THE NETWORK
Sometimes We Need More Clarity....Recently my wife Janet gave me a book as a gift. When reading it at night, the only way I could actually see the text properly was to hold each page right under my bedside lamp. "That's odd", I thought, "I've never had to do that before."
I struggled for a while, but finally gave up and went for an eye test. The optician prescribed reading glasses.
The day arrived and I went to pick them up. I opened the optician’s door with a resigned feeling in the pit of my stomach. The lady behind the counter handed me a sheet of paper with lots of words on it. I glanced at it. Then she handed me my first ever glasses - I put them on and I looked again.
WOW! My world changed. I could make out ALL the words…even the little ones. I took the glasses off, and the page swam in a general blur. Yet with the glasses popped on my nose again...everything easily snapped into focus.
My life - and my ability to read - has since become so much easier!
This reminds me of Luke chapter 1: "Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of
the truth of everything you were taught."
Luke's mission was to make the Christian gospel "snap into focus" for his readers. Only the truth sets people free. Luke set himself to express that truth clearly. Scripture is like a pair of spiritual glasses through which Jesus Christ snaps into focus.
...Clarity on Some Tricky Issues!Maybe we have friends who don't understand our Christian faith and seem to have really good reasons for not believing. They don't think miracles really happen, or someone told them that Science disproves God, or the Bible is full of mistakes. This leads us to either avoid discussing it, or bravely struggling to discuss it. What we need is what Luke was talking about - careful investigation and a clear understanding which brings personal confidence.
Maybe like me - we need some "glasses" through which we can look again at our friends' confusing barrier to belief. If the issue can "snap into focus" for us, then it will be easier for us to help clarify things for them.
Perhaps life has been difficult recently, and actually it's US who are grappling
with our faith. We could do with some clarity on some very real issues today.
The Kingfisher Tredworth RESPOND group grapples with tricky barriers to faith. It's a group for those of us from Tredworth, and anyone else in the network that wants to join us, who want to understand more clearly, so that God can use us to help navigate others around barriers to belief.
In March we discussed the topic, "Isn't it Daft to Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead?"
On June 14th we'll look at the topic, "Hasn't Science Buried God?”. In September we will discuss Christianity's uniqueness alongside the other world religions, and in time for Christmas we will investigate the truth of miracles like the virgin birth.
Why not join us? And if you have any topics you would like RESPOND to tackle in the future - please contact Stuart Gray ([email protected]).
Over the last year we’ve been lucky enough to hold Little Fishes at the Beacon Children’s Centre in Kingsway. We have the use of a lovely room that is purpose built for under 5’s, along with being able to use all the centre’s equipment and toys.
In January this year we had a decision to make - the room we were using was only really big enough to safely cater for about 20 children and their parents and we were getting up to 26 children each week. Our options were to either set a limit of 20 children each week and if any more than that turned up we would have to turn them away, or we could put on two sessions each Friday. At Kingfisher we never turn
people away so we went for the second option of putting on two sessions each week.
For a few months now Little Fishes has been running from 9.30-10.30am and then again from 11-12noon each Friday and across the two sessions we have been getting around 25-30 children and their parents.
Each term we invite the families at Little Fishes to something, either a guest service or sunshine club open morning at church or a specific event that we’ve put on for the families - we held a card making evening for the parents before Christmas and are currently planning an evening of pampering for our Little Fishes mums (or dads).
Every Friday 9.30-10am and
11-12noonduring term time
at The Beacon Children’s Centre, Kingsway
Call Kirsty on 725988 for more details
One Eighty Kingsway has seen some amazing growth over the last couple of years, not just in numbers but in maturity discipleship and character. The one thing that we have been lacking for a while is an outreach group, we have great sunday morning sessions and small groups, but no outreach.
We have found in the past that we have received the most growth through our small groups, but we wanted something to reach out into the community.
So I explored a local youth club and asked if we could use their building for a cafe, however, God had completely different plans and where that door closed, another one opened!
I went to this new coffee shop that had opened in Kingsway called CoCo, and God placed on my heart about One Eighty meeting there. So I had a chat with the owner about the possibility and although the shop had been only open for a couple of weeks, he seemed interested. I left a One Eighty poster with my contact details with him on the Saturday. On Monday he called me up and said, lets go for it, do you want to meet this week??!!!
This has developed into a brilliant partnership. One Eighty now meet every Wednesday at CoCo, we have been able to advertise this in the community, and we had our first new person come along in our second week there! So it turned out that where I thought I needed a cafe to start outreaching into the community, God had a slightly different plan, a coffee shop!
We have an exciting acoustic night coming up with Funky Horse Milk and a few others performing for us. CoCo are very behind anything we want to do, so please support them by dropping by and trying their amazing (really is amazing) hot chocolate!!
Please check out our Facebook page or follow us on twitter for more info on whats going on in this amazing ministry!! :D
FACEBOOK:- One Eighty KingswayTWITTER- 1EightyKingsway
Craig Tucker, Youth Leader Kingsway
TREDWORTH
Kingfisher Tredworth recently launched a great new Toddler group just for dads and their toddlers. There is such a need for a group like this, as many dads don’t have the opportunity to spend as much time with their young children as they would like, and so this new group was launched by Bev Lloyd two months ago. Running every other Saturday morning, around a dozen dads
bring their pre-school children along and spend an hour and a half having fun playing with them, as well as mixing with other dads. It’s a relaxed, fun environment, and a wonderful opportunity for children to have some quality time with their dads. Apart from Bev, the helpers who have volunteered to help run the group are all men, and this is a unique service thats being offered.
Contact Bev Lloyd via the church office for more details.
New group for dads and toddlers
Every year at Kingfisher Tredworth we have the joy of putting on two baptism services...one in the spring, the other in the autumn. April 22nd saw the first of our 2012 baptism services, and it was a great celebration. 7 people got baptised: Jo Jenkins, Peter Akano, Lucy Cowmeadow, Callum Merry-Taylor, Phil Blackwell, Helen Blackwell and Aidan Blackwell.
The Bible says that the normal start to a person’s spiritual life follows a pattern...repent (change your mind about where you are going in life, and, therefore, make the decision to change direction); believe (in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross on your behalf) and be baptised (the public proclamation of the personal decision to
believe in and follow Jesus). Over the years, hundreds of people have followed this pattern at Kingfisher, and each baptism has been a real celebration. Have you made a decision to follow Jesus Christ? Have you marked that decision by being baptised? If not, why not take this next step at the next baptism service?
Our Spring Baptism Service
April 8th, 2012. 9am. Six months to the day after the successful launch of Kingfisher Brockworth, this was the re-launch of Tredworth’s 9am service. In the light of sending out 40+ people to launch our third church, we had amalgamated our two morning services back in October 2011, but now was the time to move forward and attempt to re-introduce the 9am service. Would anyone come to this new service? Would it mean that our 11am service, which had been comfortably full for six
months, would now look empty?
It was such a joy to see people arriving in the car park and walking up the drive...children excited about the launch of our new Breakfast Club for pre-school and school-aged children, people returning that we had not sen for many months, new families that had been invited, as well as those who had patiently accommodated the loss of their preferred service 6 months ago.
It was a further joy to see the 11 am service still looking as busy as ever, and to realise that, at the end of the morning, we had welcomed 70 extra people along to these two services over our recent single congregation size. God is so good!
Re-launch of 9am service
In the past few months Kingfisher Resources has gone from strength to strength!
Our new website has been launched and has had almost 1500 hits, and our previous newsletter, in addition to the paper copies, has been read over 500 times!
The vision of the resources is to equip the Network and beyond to more effectively reach lost people and enable people to take steps forward in their journey of faith. To do that most effectively often involves printing costs, equipment and so on. Kingfisher Resources aims to not make profit, but rather to equip the network. Our work so far has meant we are in a position to both
set us up as a Publishing House and as an app developer in both apple and android formats, and has seen the addition of equipment in both a printer that has the capacity to print directly onto CDs and working with Treasure Seekers Performing Arts we have been able to purchase a high speed DVD copier saving hours of time.
The coming months see us working on some projects that will be announced at the conference in July, so watch this space!
As always if you would like to get involved in the Resources, or in the production of the newsletter please email us at [email protected]
RESOURCES
Competition WinnerKingfisher Resources has been on the hunt for a new design to launch across our clothing and accessory ranges.
Julia Hartsoe came up with the winning design and has won an item of clothing or accessory with her logo printed on it. Julia’s logo will soon be introduced alongside all our other logos on the resources website.
If you would like to be notified when the next newsletter comes out, please go to www.resources.kingfisher.org.uk and enter your email address so we can keep you up to date with news.
In order for this newsletter to grow and develop, we need your help! If you go to any Kingfisher event and have taken a great photo, then please email it to: [email protected]
Or if you would like to get involved in the production of the next newsletter then email us with your particular area of interest.
Hope you enjoy hearing all that is happening across the Kingfisher Network!
