MARCH 2020
ISSUE 25
K I NGFI S H E R FAMILY Called to be Great Commission Disciples January 26th saw the launch of VISION 2020… our strategic look ahead to what Jesus Christ is calling us to in this coming year and beyond. Not a random new direction, but building on the clear and steady message He has been challenging us with over the past three years. Three years ago, the challenge He gave us was outlined in that year’s vision talk: What if God says: the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night is moving? Well…what if? What would you do if God said specifically to you, ‘The status quo in your life - what you have settled for and perhaps just put up with, is no longer good enough? What if He were to say to you, ‘I want you to expect more, believe bigger, aim higher?’ What if He said, ‘I’m calling you to trust more, to act in faith more’?
enough wisdom or knowledge to answer people’s objections.
this year - we just need to give Him the opportunity to fill us with His Spirit and
Our challenge is to take these four instructions and allow them to shape our approach to living the Christian life:
• to be willing to step out into
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• to be willing to go public about our
•
• •
Step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Decide you are going to live a life that is going to encourage people to wonder, to reassess, to want to try it for themselves. Take your faith into the public realm - don’t just be a secret disciple. Go public. Get equipped with more knowledge, not so that you’ve got more knowledge, but so that “…if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it”. (1 Peter 3:15, NLT)
something new and challenging,
• to be willing to live out what we say we believe, faith and
• to be willing to get equipped, to learn more that we then live by.
‘Dust of your Rabbi’ disciples In the Talmud, it is written: “…let the dust of the feet of the Sages, as they walk, cover you (i.e., follow them closely), or (alternatively), sit in the dust (on the ground) at their feet whilst they teach.
The picture that is being painted here is of the disciples of a particular Rabbi following either as the Rabbi is walking, What would you do? What step of faith or sitting at the feet of a Rabbi who is These are the marks of a Great would you take? Because I believe that seated, whilst that Rabbi is teaching. The Commission Disciple, and for them to God is saying that. I believe that this followers of the Rabbi are so close to be a reality in our lives, we need to coming year He is looking for a response him that the dust that is kicked up by experience what those first disciples to these What If? questions. Back in the that Rabbi’s feet covers his disciples. experienced: they were filled with the first century, the What If? question was, They were so physically close to him in Spirit and they were ‘Dust of your ‘What if you were to take this Great order to not miss anything that was rabbi’ disciples. Commission seriously? What then?’ being said. They were literally ‘dust of Filled with the Spirit your Rabbi’ disciples. That was the We were being challenged to become experience of those first disciples. So Great Commission Disciples. The Great Jesus told His first disciples, “And now I close to Him that the dust from His Commission is as follows: will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father feet would cover them. So close to Him promised. But stay here in the city until the that their gaze was fixed on Him, their “All authority in heaven and on earth has Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power concentration was consumed by Him. been given to me. Therefore go and make from heaven.” (Luke 24:49, NLT) Disciples don’t follow their Rabbi at a disciples of all nations, baptizing them in distance. They followed close up, in the name of the Father and of the Son and What God is calling us to do is way of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to beyond what we are going to be able to step, getting covered by the dust of his obey everything I have commanded you. achieve if all we’re relying on is what we heals. And so when they were given the Great Commission, the crucial words And surely I am with you always, to the can bring to the table. But that’s what were: ‘And I will be with you’. Just follow very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, we tend to slip into. We’ve got this me. Do what I do. Say what I say. Stay NIV) much time, these many people, this close enough so that the dust from my much money…so this is what we can feet falls on you. And you will find that I There are four instructions that come achieve. How about changing that will lead you and empower you to go, out of this - the four instructions that mentality to this: We’ve got this much make, baptise and teach.You will find identify a Great Commission Disciple: time, these many people, this much yourself stepping out of your comfort Go; make; baptise; teach. Go money - and it’s not enough. We need means stepping out of the known. the game-changer that is the Holy Spirit zone; living the life; going public; getting equipped. Make means showing people the alive and active within us, giving us gospel by example, by the way we live. boldness to dare, so that our little There it is: that’s the challenge. Bear in Baptise means going public with our becomes His much; our willingness mind, it’s the Great Commission, not new life, which we may not be able to becomes the opportunity He’s looking live up to. Teach means knowing stuff for to do something amazing. We don’t the Great Suggestion, and “…choose today whom you will serve. But as for me and running the risk of not having need to know how He is going to do and my family, we will serve the the amazing things He’s got planned for Lord.” (Joshua 24:15, NLT)
News from Kingfisher Church Greetings from the Engage team at Tredworth! This new season is an exciting one for us, because after three years since ‘Begin Again‘ was released, we’re now releasing some new music, in a slightly different way. We’ve recorded some simple, acoustic style demos of the songs that have been written and used at church since 2017, which are going to be released two or three a month under the title ‘Not Finished Yet’.
The songs are also available to stream from places like Spotify and Apple Music - please check them out, and do share them. I’m confident that music is a great vehicle for the gospel, and if one song reaches one person to tell them there’s a God who loves them
like nobody else ever will, that’s worth a share. Thank you as always for your support - here’s to a year of Spiritfilled worship as we step into the somuch-more of God! Joe
This is a lyric in the song ‘So Much More’, and a declaration that James made in the vision review at the close of the decade. The confirmation of this title came as my friend was facing some scary health complications, when she sent me one of the paintings she’d done in the midst of this with the disclaimer, “it’s not finished yet”: I asked her if we could use this beautiful image of colour blooming from the grey as the album cover. So check out the first two videos on the Kingfisher Chuch YouTube channel, where you can also find the lyrics: With You and Tremor.
Celebrating our leaders and volunteers On Saturday 25th January, James and the Elders hosted an evening to say thank you to all the leaders and volunteers who make Kingfisher Tredworth happen. We are so * grateful to all those who freely give of their time, gifting and energy, either on a Sunday or throughout the week. As a result we are able to provide: Toddler groups, kids groups, youth groups, senior groups, connect groups, recovery groups and holiday
clubs. We are able to keep our building clean and functioning, we are able to worship through the medium of music with singers, musicians and those who can organise the sound and visuals. We are able to function as a charity and bless numerous local, national and international organisations through the stewardship of all the finance that comes in.
However, we never want to take people for granted, so after the busyness of Christmas, it was wonderful to get everyone together who could make it and to bless each one of them with some good food and some personal words of thanks and encouragement. Massive thanks to Bernard, Norlie and their team who cooked and served for us. This is church!
News from Kingfisher Church On the road to Emmaus Thoughts from my journey with Jesus - by Sandra Ashenford Sandra Ashenford is a member of the Kingfisher Church family at Tredworth. She was introduced to Jesus at primary school but has spent most of her adult life in the company of sceptics and nonbelievers. This is a series of lighthearted blogs in which she reflects on the challenges of growing in faith and sharing the Good News amidst the pressures of a modern life. Recently someone emailed asking me to ring them at a specific time to discuss the progress of some students we were both working with. However, in spite of the fact that I own a small collection of historic telephones, including a rather lovely early Edwardian one, of all the forms of communication available to us in this highly technological world, the one I hate the most is the telephone. Talking face to face with anyone is absolutely fine, email and text are brilliant inventions, and Facebook and WhatsApp are great for group chats.
But I have always disliked talking on the phone, mainly because I can’t see the other person to read their body language. On the phone I can’t tell how they are receiving what I am saying, or whether they are even really listening. I hated ringing people in front of my colleagues when I started my first job in a busy newspaper office back in the days when telephones had a round dial, and over the years I was delighted when email and texting were invented. Nevertheless I made the call to my colleague as requested, from my mobile, as I was waiting to pick up my daughter at the allotted hour. However, although I could hear him very clearly, my colleague could not hear me. We spent several frustrating minutes attempting to communicate, with him asking me every few seconds to speak up and to repeat what I had just said. In the end we gave up, neither of us any the wiser about the students in question or what our next steps should be. It made me think about how God, through the centuries, has communicated with humans; story
after story in the Bible, from Adam and Eve in Genesis onwards, tell us how God speaks but humans either can’t or won’t comprehend the message properly. So after centuries of miscommunication God decided the best way forward was to speak face to face, and Jesus came to talk to us in person. And ever since that amazing time, people have been sharing the message, which was simply one of love; in John 13:34 Jesus says: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Has that message lost any of its clarity over the past 2,000 years? No, I don’t think so. We hear it and understand it. But do we act on it? That’s a totally different matter. In the wake of the recent suicide of a television celebrity who had suffered abuse on social media, many people have been posting on Facebook the message “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” I’m sure Jesus would approve of the sentiment, but unless we actually act on it, it’s just words.
Life at Kingfisher Westgate Kingfisher Westgate is now in its third year of life. It is hard to believe that all that time has already passed, and the congregation has grown in the way that it has over that time. One of the unique features of Westgate church is that there is very little transfer growth - all the growth tends to be from people who have not previously attended church or have previously considered the possibility of a relationship with God. Our congregation is drawn from Support at the Cavern, from personal invitations and from people who are just desperate enough in life to even try church! Whoever they are, wherever they have come from, everyone is welcome and it is such a privilege to be able to show the love of God and talk about the Bible to people who would maybe not fit in anywhere else and to see the healing that comes from spending
time around loving Christians and in the presence of God. We recently had a baptism service, meaning that we have had baptisms in each year since we have been going. Three people were baptised - Becca, Jayden and Leo and their testimonies were so moving as they told of how Jesus Christ had rescued them from desperate situations and gave them a new start and a new place to call home. Out of those baptisms we have just started a discipleship group for those people plus others who are currently considering the Christian faith and those who are now Christians and who are looking to take their first steps in the faith.
News from Kingfisher Church ‘Going Strong’ at Kingfisher Tredworth At the start of 2020 we have been reminding ourselves what it means to be spiritually healthy, what it takes to be a follower of Jesus, and reminded of the mission that He has sent us on. In the run up to Vision morning where our Senior Pastor, James Burn called us to be ‘Great Commission disciples,’ ‘Dust of our Rabbi disciples,’ ‘Spirit filled disciples,’ we were taking a fresh look at Romans, chapter 12 in a series called, ‘GOING STRONG.’ By God’s grace we have been going as a church for 27 years and we are still going! But are we going strong? Are we strong in the Lord? Are we still headed in the direction He is going? Going strong means; ‘continuing to be healthy, vigorous and successful,’ so what is that meant to look like as a Christian and as the Church? Well Romans 12 is a direct response to Romans 11, where we read, “Who could ever wrap their minds around the riches of God, the depth of his wisdom, and the marvel of his perfect knowledge? Who could ever explain the wonder of his decisions or search out the mysterious way he carries out his plans? For who has discovered how the Lord thinks or is wise enough to be the one to advise him in his plans? Or: “Who has ever first given something to God that obligates God to owe him something in return?” And because God is the source and sustainer of everything, everything finds fulfilment in him. May all praise and honour be given to him forever! Amen!” Romans 11:33-36 TPT In the light of who God is, in the light of His glory and grace, in the light of
His wisdom and plans, in the light of everything being created by Him, through Him and for Him, here is what is going to keep us strong in faith and strong in mission.You’ll find these headings in Romans 12 (NIV) • A living sacrifice • Humble service in the body of Christ • Love in action Along with St Paul, these are the things I have been encouraging our church in Tredworth to commit to with greater clarity. We will never know or accomplish the will of God if we are following what the world says and does. Romans 12 encourages me to offer all of myself, my whole life to as an offering to God, to have my thoughts and attitudes and behaviours transformed and aligned to what He says and does, that’s how we get on to God’s agenda, that’s how we’ll fulfil the Great Commission to go, make, baptise and teach. In a very practical way that is outworked through His body, the Church. This is where I learn and train and get equipped, it’s where I bring what I have to the table and play my part, so I need to be present and involved. This brings health to others and to myself. Love is practiced here first and then overflows through my words and deeds to the world around me, filled up to be sent out!! I’m praying that we will see the greater things of God coming to pass in our church, that we will see more
people exploring faith, encountering Jesus and being transformed into devoted followers, but it’s going to take each one of us committing ourselves to growing in our relationship with God, to serving in the church, and to showing God’s love in action! Coming up: Hopefully you will see that each sermon series relates to the overall vision talk that James Burn gave at the end of January. We have just come to the end of our latest series, ‘WHO DARES WINS’ which has reminded us again that in stepping up from being just believers in Jesus to being His disciples we will face opposition, we do have an enemy and He will try to slow us down with obstacles, crises, setbacks and accusations. But now is not the time to give up, but to press on and to take up all that God has given us for our protection, so that we can continue to be faith filled and on mission. Dare to be different, don’t get so trapped in the moment that you miss out on the bigger story!!! Which leads us to our next series, ‘RELENTLESS TRUST.’ (Lessons from the life of Joseph - Genesis 37-50). I’m hoping that this will bring real encouragement and fuel our faith to trust in God’s perfect plans no matter how difficult things can appear on the surface.You can catch up on all the talks from Tredworth on our Podcast or on YouTube Kingfisher Church.
Connect groups - the building blocks of community Connect groups at Kingfisher Church Tredworth have had a bit of a revamp this year. We have some new leaders, and apprentice leaders, who have joined the team of Connect Group leaders, who ensure that those who want to can be part of a smaller group of people growing in their discipleship of Christ together.
The groups meet fortnightly for members to share what God is doing in their lives, to consider how the bible applies to life, and pray for each other. As all groups meet in the same week, it means that in the weeks in between we can be part of a Ministry Team, take part in training, serve in some other way or meet socially to grow relationships.
Each Connect Group helps strengthen our resolve to Go - Make - Baptise - Teach. If you are not yet in a Connect Group, and would like to be, please speak to David or Gill.
News from Kingfisher Treasure Seekers Lots of new things to make in the Hub We have a lovely range of new stock in the Hub just waiting to be made into beautiful works of art! Including Decopatch, jewellery boxes, rock painting, chalk boards, jewellery trees and mosaics. Plus we have more amazing pebble art for sale than ever before. Come in to the Treasure Seekers Hub on Westgate Street (next to KFC) to have a look for yourself. If you want to book a Make and Take session please visit our website www.kftseekers.org.uk and select the Make and Take option under the What’s On tab.
News from the Kingfisher Treasure Seekers New guided craft sessions in the Hub A few weeks ago we launched our crafty 'Try it Thursdays' at the Treasure Seekers Hub where you can try your hand at guided craft sessions. The sessions have been hugely popular and we have seen some amazing people making some amazing projects! To book onto a 'Try it Thursday' session please call 01452 307201.
News from the Kingfisher Family Kingfisher family is building around the world! As well as building into people’s lives in different countries around the world, Kingfisher Family is involved in various physical building projects In the Philippines…
In Limbe, Malawi…
In Pantay, Rio Chico, after a plot of land was made available, building work has begun under the oversight of National Director Noel Delfin, on a new church building. This is an area where many people who need to hear the Gospel live, and yet there are few churches in the vicinity. When completed, Pastor Noel will plant a team of people here and we pray that there will soon be a growing Christian community, full of people coming to know and serve the Lord!
Around 15 years ago, Kingfisher enabled the building of the Centre, a place where pastors and leaders could come be trained, then commissioned and sent out to preach the gospel and plant churches. That building, now mainly used as a local church, has undergone major renovation works - a new floor, new windows with glass and new doors, as well as wiring for electricity. Now under the pastoral oversight of Andrew Mithowa (the son of National Director, Charles Mithowa), this is a vibrant, growing church reaching out into the local community, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Near Blantyre, Malawi...
General Tinio, the Philippines...
National Director, Charles Mithowa, has a vision to open a training centre for pastors and leaders from Malawi and surrounding nations. Complete with accommodation blocks and classrooms, this will enable students to come and stay for longer periods of time to learn, to grow and then to be sent out. The land is bought, the bricks are there, and with the funding Kingfisher Family has managed to release, work on the training centre has just started.
Kingfisher Family Mission House continues to serve the local community and the wider church. Glorious Christ church needed to vacate their current place of worship and Kingfisher Family was able to offer them temporary accommodation for their services on Sunday mornings at the Mission House. They are already looking for land to build a more permanent home in that area. Check out their YouTube channel - ‘Glorious Worship’.
GET INVOLVED WITH THE NEWSLETTER! 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 post it on our Facebook page or email it to Kirsty at kirstydalley@kingfisher.org.uk. The copy deadline for the next issue (due out in June 2020) is 21st May. 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 Family!
Kingfisher Church Moor Street Tredworth Gloucester GL1 4NJ www.kingfisher.org.uk info@kingfisher.org.uk +441452 304339 Š Kingfisher Church, 2013