New Life Christian Church

PASTOR’S REPORT

Dear Saint (s),

Those who have heard my recent sermon know we are heading towards a very important paradigm shift in our church life. Before I elaborate let me make something very clear.

During a building project and when you are constantly asking others for money a number of issues arise. One is that you (if you are asking) don’t enjoy the process. However, you cannot quit asking for two primary reasons. The first reason is that it is not about you. It is not my building nor will the vision end with me – it is simply the beginning. Secondly, there are too many lives that I will answer for that we are entrusted by God to touch. With that being said, I want you to understand the most important part of this building process and please allow this to settle into your hearts. The building is simply the horse that will pull the cart. However, it is the horse and must come first. My vision has always been to touch the community and world at large. I believe my record speaks for itself. So the vision remains the same as it has been. We build the building so that we can in turn help other churches and the world (and poor) by having a congregation and financial ability to do so. So, please keep that in mind. It is simply the horse….but we cannot put the cart before the horse. That is called vision and direction.

I also want you to know that change is on the way and is a permanent feature of New Life Christian Church. The truth is we must constantly change if we are going to become excellent. Excellence requires it. With that in mind, we are assessing every area of church life at this present time. What can we do better? What changes do we need to make? How can we better equip? Where do we want to be 100 years from now? So, I’m asking you to do a few things for me.

1. Pray! Pray that we have wisdom from heaven to see as God sees. I have no desire to see as the world or as others have seen in the past – that being full of criticism. I want to see with the Wisdom of Heaven. Which is according to James 3:17-18….Now the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle; willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace……so please pray for us.

2. Volunteer! We need you. Please let us know if you have a desire to help us in any area of church life. As I shared on Sunday we have to change the paradigm that ministry is from the “ministry team” and start understanding that ministry comes from the seats out. So, how can you help us? Let us know—a short note or a call would be great!

3. Please be open to change and realize that for the most part we are talking about the “ones” and “twos” of church life. For example, passing around a book in which we can make sure no one falls through the cracks is really a one or a two; who is preaching on a Sunday is a one or two; who is leading worship is a one or a two and on and on it goes…a ten is the harvest. So, be open and realize that everything we do is for the motive of doing things better. It doesn’t mean we will always hit that mark, but that is our heart and desire in anything we do.

4. Focus on the Harvest. That is what the church staff has been challenged to do. Distractions come in all forms and ways. The enemy is so great at trying to bring any sort of attack on unity. Why? He knows where there is unity, life and blessing flow. So let’s focus on the harvest!

5. Be vigilant! Have your ears and eyes open to the attack of the enemy. If he could use Peter, he can certainly use you or me, or anyone around us. He is so subtle. But, listen to me, he is going to absolutely attack what we are doing and his attack only proves that we are hitting him where it counts. So be aware and be courageous enough to stop him. You are the Victor and the Champion in Christ. He must leave when God’s people take their rightful place.

Well, .I think that’s enough for this month…….ooops…….one more very important item. Circle July 13th on your calendar. We will be having one service at 10:00 am in the new building. It will be exciting – invite your friends and neighbors!

Love you all,

Pastor Kirk

KEEPING IT IN PERSPECTIVE submitted by Christopher Hopper

Many thanks to everyone for your encouraging words and for keeping Jennifer and I in prayer while we were ministering in Scotland. We had a powerful time in the Lord’s presence in Edinburgh. We preached and lead worship for ten days straight and saw the Lord move mightily in peoples’ lives. The church there was deeply encouraged and sends warm greetings to everyone back here in NY–especially to a certain Scotsman we all know and love. 

June is the month of graduation. Better put, June is the month of transition. Young people are moving up a grade, graduating from high school or college–congratulations to you all. And in the Dibor’s case, finishing their first year here in Depauville. My applause to each of the Residents Level students for being a part of this pioneering year, to all the Associate Level students, and to all those graduating their second year with Pure For God’s TYM program. As I was sitting back and assessing each of the students’ progress this year, I am amazed at how the Lord has challenged 
and shaped each individual. I can truly say they are being made more like Jesus. Many will be returning here this fall while others are being placed to serve with churches abroad. 

One of the more profound meetings I had during this final week of school was with Sian, our wonderful student from Burma. Yesterday he asked me who I voted for in the presidential election. Not quite understanding our process, I explained it was this November, and then proceeded to tell him all my opinions about the presidential candidates. About halfway through my rant I stopped and realized just who I was speaking with. ”You’ve never had the opportunity to ever elect a leader, have you, Sian.” “No,” he replied quietly. Because Sian’s country’s president is a tyrant and a dictator. I suddenly felt quite embarrassed for all my rotten attitudes and sheer ungratefulness for even having a free election in the first place.  “What else do you find frustrating about American culture?” I asked. “You all complain about how expensive gas is, yet you have cars to drive. One more gallon of gas will not make you poor.”

By this time I was shrinking back into my chair and repenting for things I hadn’t even seen in my life. For in truth, my perspective was completely off. And I didn’t even know it. Just as Sian challenged me, I would like to challenge you about your perspective. Our tendency is to fend off the temptations and lures of the enemy that we can see in our lives–the ones that are apparent. But those are normally not the ones that are damaging to our hearts and to others; it’s the ones we don’t see–the ones we need the Holy Spirit to address.

Perhaps your attitude and complaining about the price of gas needs to be addressed. Mine did. But perhaps there are other parts of your life that God is trying to address. Bitterness. Gossip. Strife. Stress. Worry. All things that sometimes go unnoticed and that we desperately need the Holy Spirit to address.

Pastor Kirk has written about “the 1’s & 2’s and the 9’s & 10’s” of importance in church life. And I want to challenge you to allocate the priorities in the rest of your life into that scale. The price of gas is a 1; the fact that I’ve been blessed with a running car at all is a 10. Who my next president is–a 1; the fact that I live in a free country with open elections–a 10. Who led worship for this week’s 33 Live baptismal service–a 1; the fact that 18 teenagers got baptized, almost half of them spontaneous, is a 10! (And it was an awesome service!)

The reason for my challenge is this: The things we don’t know can kill us, despite the old adage. Scripture says that people perish for lack of vision. And part of that vision is just that–having clear vision. Clearly understanding our priorities and not allowing the enemy to slip distractions in that will ultimately rob of us of life and therefore cause us to perish. As the saying goes, the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

KIDS Church submitted by Anna Woodkirk

Hey kids!

The last few weeks has been a wonderful experience for me. You all have welcomed me, as your new teacher, with open arms and it has been a blessing to me!

I am so excited for the next few weeks as we continue to learn our Bible ABC’s. Each letter has personally challenged me, I hope that you are being challenged too. I encourage you to read your
Bibles and discover the Bible ABC’s yourself. God’s Word has many secrets waiting to be discovered!

I want KIDS Church to be a lot of fun for you! I would love any suggestions of fun things you would like to do! You can write me a note or if you prefer you can give me a call at 686-4023. I look forward to hearing from you.

I love you all—Miss Anna

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD submitted by Karleen Bognaski

Operation Christmas Child is celebrating the hot weather this month.  For the children, we will be collecting items to “beat the heat”.  Here are some items:  sunglasses, plastic cups for drinking, sidewalk chalk, coloring books, yo-yo’s, musical instruments like whistles and harmonicas, umbrellas, hand held fans, baseball caps, visors, and flip flops.  
 
This year is passing by quickly!  There are only four months left to collect items for the boxes.  If you haven’t had a chance to get an item or two, it’s never too late.  We are looking for various items for the children that would fit into a shoebox.  Donations are collected and put into individual boxes for distribution.  We’re hoping to beat last year’s totals, and make this year the best yet.  Please help us reach our goal to provide shoe boxes for more children than last year, and spread the love of Jesus at the same time.  Thank you and God bless!  

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL