Overflow

Photo: Redoubt North Wesleyan Light Party

From the editor

Tēnākoe,Maloelelei,Nisabulavinaka,안녕하세요,Fakaalofalahiatu, Kiaorana,你好,Noa‘ia,Hello!

Somanypeople,atthistimeofyear,makecommentsabouthowfast ayeargoesby.ItseemslikeitwasonlyyesterdaythatitwasJanuary!

OneofmygoalsistolearnhowtohonourGodbylivingmore intentionally;asloweddown,focusedlife.AtconferenceRev.Ashan sharedhowthey‘WatchandRespond’atTheBreadTable.‘ Soofteninsteadofwatchingandrespondingwerushinandlookfor waystohelporfixthings.

AsIhearthisphrase‘watchandrespond’,Iamremindedofseveral scriptures:

1IknowtheplansIhaveforyou…Jeremiah29:11 . “Formythoughtsarenotyourthoughts,neitherareyourwaysmy ways,”declarestheLord.Isaiah55:8

2. Butdonotforgetthisonething,dearfriends:WiththeLordaday islikeathousandyears,andathousandyearsarelikeaday.2 Peter3:8.

Inprayer,

DeniseBarrington Editor

Rev Brett Jones opened the National Conference with a message on “overflow” - with a name like that, we had to ask him to write it up for THE Overflow!

Rev. Brett Jones - National Superintendent

Ever wished you were more like the disciples? I suppose it comes back to a prior question: which version of the disciples, “the before or after disciples”? SLIDE 2 The “before” disciples are to be admired as the first followers of Jesus. They were the ultimate early adopters, getting on board the Jesus train ahead of any others. Admired for their willingness to leave their vocations, their families and their homes to follow this builder-turned-rabbi from Nazareth. The “before” disciples often seemed immature, petty, fearful and even judgmental. They jostled for favouritism, seemed unable to comprehend what was happening right in front of them and in some cases betrayed Jesus when he needed them most.

Compare this to the “after” disciples. At times they seemed fearless, despite experiencing the consequences of following Jesus. They became leaders, preachers, missionaries and church planters. Their following of Jesus took them into harm’s way, and they did not flinch from what this would ultimately mean for them. With the exception of John, the “after” disciples died because of their faith in Jesus, martyred.

So what happened? Why are the before and after disciples so different? I think 2 things. 2 “afters” that transformed the “before”. The first is simply: they saw Jesus. The before and after Jesus. The before Jesus was astonishing enough. But the “after Jesus”, the resurrected Jesus, that changed everything. They’d sat at Jesus’ feet, seen Jesus’ miracles, witnessed his great love. But this was next level: Jesus conquered death.

But there was something else. Another “after” that made a huge difference to these “before” disciples. We begin to see it unfold in Acts 1:6: when they gather around Jesus and ask him, “ are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

This is a classic “before” question from the disciples. Despite everything they have seen and heard, they are still thinking in terms of earthly power. They may even still be wondering about their place in this restored kingdom at Jesus’ side. And then comes the “after” moment that will shape them and their sense of priority and urgency in Acts 1:5:

…John baptised with water, but in a few days, you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.”

Wait. You will be baptised with the Holy Spirit. Wait for the overflow. It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit that empowered the disciples to become all that Jesus had promised. Filled with the Holy Spirit. Bold. Assured. Transformed. Overflowing.

The question for us as people and as a movement is to what extent will we live out of our befores or our afters? To what extent we will live out the promise that Jesus made to the disciples and to us: that we can live a life where the Holy Spirit is overflowing in our lives, in our churches and across the movement.

It’s certainly on Paul’s mind in the letter to the Ephesians as he prays for the churches in the wider region in which Paul had been planting churches. He prays an astonishing prayer; a prayer which we might pray for each other at this ConneXion. A prayer which ends with this “after” in verse 19: that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. This is the promise: that we might be filled to the measure of the fullness of God.

2024 has been another demanding year for the church as we discover that the pandemic has a long tail with implications for energy levels, our people’s willingness to serve and economic conditions. There is much in our churches to celebrate, and there is much that has been hard yards. Sometimes at the same time. The disciples have already walked this “before” path with us, but there is an “after” path as well. That Paul prays for and Jesus promises in John 14:16

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever 17 the Spirit of truth. … But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14: 15-17

The fullness of God in us. The Holy Spirit of God overflowing in us. And Jesus follows up the promise in John 14 and the wait in Acts 1:4 with another promise in verse 8:

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This is the before and after reality that the disciples encountered. This is how we frame our vision as a church movement:

Transformed People, Churches, and Communities Overflowing with the Grace and Holiness of Jesus Christ.

It is not possible to live an authentically Christian life without the Holy Spirit. When we live full with the Spirit, then we will know the overflow of grace and holiness as people, churches and communities. It is this overflow of the Spirit that takes us from the before to the after. It is this overflow that we seek from God as 2024 comes to a close and we look forward to what 2025 will bring.

Celebrating ConneXion 2024

On 8 - 9 November, our Wesleyan Methodist Church family gathered together for ConneXion (conference, celebrations, remembering, fellowship and hospitality). Thank you to our Tongan Churches for hosting and everyone who volunteered and attended throughout the weekend.

Saioni Wesleyan

By Pastor Wame Cagivinaka

AspecialtimeatSaioniatthebeginningof thisyearwhenfourofouryouthgavetheir lifetoChristatWYCAMP.Seeingthem committedtoattendingyoutheveryFriday isencouragingandeveninvitingotheryouth tojointhem.Atthemomenttheycombine togetherwithEastCityWesleyanyouth. ThankstoRevBrettJonesandPastorCaleb Taylor.

InPastorWame’sfirstyearasapastorheis thankfultoRev.RatuJopeforhiswork throughouttheyears.Forusmoving forward,weareplanningfornewthingsthat willhelpthenewandoldergenerationsto movetogether.

PrayingforSaioni

Newleadership-Pastor,Servant Leaders,ourfaithfulmembersand futuremembers. God'swillonlytobedone!

Light Party Through The Years

By Julia Harkness - Redoubt North Wesleyan

TheLightPartyoutreachatRedoubtNorthWesleyanhasgone throughmanystagesandchangesovertheyears,fromtheSaint’s andAngel’spartiesintheveryearlydays,20plusyearsago,before lightpartieswereathing,totheLightPartywalkthroughwehave today.Manyofthosechangeshavehappenedduetothemany changesinoursocietyandthethingswecanandcan’t(oraren’t encouragedto)talkabout.

Intheearlydayswelivedinacommunitywhereonlyaveryfew childrenwithplasticbagsandscreammasks(ifthat)werewalkingthe streetsandputtingthemselvesinaveryunsafepositionwanderingin thedarkontheirownonOctoberthe31st,sowewerelookingforan alternativeforthem.AsafeplacetocomeandSTAYfrom6-8pm andhopingtheywouldheadhomeafterwards.Thenightwasfilled withafewallinchallenges,(thechocolatefishonahuge,longstring wasalwaysahighlighttoeatwithnohands)amessagethrough dramaorvideos,foodandsingingsomecrazykidsSundayschool songstofinishaswehandedoutcostumeprizesandgoodiestotake home.

Astheyearswentonwecontinuedtochangeandaddthingswith manyactivitiesforthekidstohavefunandbiblecardsandmessages remindingthemtheydon’thavetobeafraidbecauseJesuscan conqueranythinginthedark,

Isaiah41:10Donotfear,forIamwithyou;donotbeafraid,forIam yourGod.Iwillstrengthenyou;Iwillhelpyou;Iwillholdontoyou withmyrighteousrighthand. and/ortofocusonthegoodthingsintheworldasthebiblesaysin

Phillipians4:8Andnow,dearbrothersandsisters,onefinalthing.Fix yourthoughtsonwhatistrue,andhonorable,andright,andpure,and lovely,andadmirable.

Then Covid happened and having 100 plus people in our little space was definitely not something we could do safely! That year 31st of Oct happened to be a Sunday so we managed to have a really fun online service with goodies and materials delivered for challenges to most of our church members homes and an interactive service with pictures of our young ones in costumes etc. But after Covid it came time to think things through. As one of our biggest outreaches, how was God calling us to minister to our community?

The world has changed so much since our first Saint’s and Angel’s Parties - talking about Jesus isn’t allowed or encouraged in many sectors, including schools…… yet on the 31st anything goes. Instead of providing a refuge from something - that in our community has now become a much safer family event where the kids are walking around with their families - we instead saw an opportunity to shine the light of Jesus even brighter. If people can talk about Halloween then we can talk about JESUS - loud and clear. The walk through format allows us to cater to so many more kids AND their families don’t drop them off and run away, instead they get involved and join in with their kids!

This year we welcomed approx 175 kids and their families. We don’t turn scary costumes away, all are welcome to come as they are, and they all got to meet people who were showing Christ’s love through smiling faces, treats and fun games. They got a glow stick to remind them of the light of Jesus, an individual or family photo in the glow light - Nigel got very creative with UV lights and fake neon cross lights from temu. They also had the opportunity to complete 5 puzzles to earn 5 different bible cards. This was God inspired - I didn’t think of it - and proved to be a great way to get the kids to focus on the bible as many came back to make sure they completed all 5! They then headed home with a booklet with Light party activities, information about the church and our Christmas events and a scan code linking back to the church so they can access their photos,

Ohanddon’tforgetanicebagoflolliesfundedbyourwonderful churchmembersdonations.membersdonations.

Thelightpartyservesourcommunityinthreeways:

RemindsthemORletsthemknowthatweareachurchintheir community!

SharesthemessageofChristandwhathecandoforthem. Justlovesonourlocalfamilies-givingusachancetotalkwithso manyparentsandfamiliesthatweotherwisewouldnevercome incontactwith.

Thelightpartyservesourcommunityinthreeways:

RemindsthemORletsthemknowthatweareachurchintheir community!

SharesthemessageofChristandwhathecandoforthem. Justlovesonourlocalfamilies-givingusachancetotalkwithso manyparentsandfamiliesthatweotherwisewouldnevercome incontactwith.

A platinum wedding anniversary is very rare these days. So it is a joy to congratulate Frank and Gwen Rigg on theirs. Congratulations to you both!

The local Hibiscus Matters paper shared more details in their article on November 6. Have a read here.

Frank&Gwen Rigg

Congratulations!

Stream Gathering Wesleyan Church

''The Search for the

Saviour"

The Search for The Saviour Is A Contrast Of Responses

Some people search for God when they are in trouble, but they don’t want God in their lives As Proverbs 1:27-30 says: “When distress and anguish come then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke ” BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO ALL WESLEYAN FAMILIES IN AOTEAROA From Stream Gathering Wesleyan Church, Papaioea

MissionsTriptoIndia

MatthewNeedham,aministeratŌmokoroaCommunityChurch,is headingtoChennaiinSouthIndiaonmissionthismonth(18th Novembertothe6thofDecember).Topreparetherewasa fundraisingdinner,whichwashighlysuccessful,sothetripispaidfor (AMEN!).

Atthedinner,Matthewsharedamessageabouthisinvolvementwith missionstoIndiaandalittlebitaboutthecomingtrip.Hehasa salvationmessagetranslatedintotheTamillanguage,whichhasboth EnglishandTamil.

YoucanwatchMatthew’smessageatthedinnerhere:

Event Calendar

National Council | 7 December

Christmas Eve | 24 December

Christmas Day | 25 December

Boxing Day | 26 December

Donations

We invite you to make donations to the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Aotearoa-New Zealand. Join us to make a difference and reach the lost with the grace and holiness of Jesus Christ. Using the WMCANZ bank account number below, please include your first initial and surname in the particulars field and 'donation' in the reference field.

03-0206-0380248-000

Particulars: e.g. 'J Smith' Reference: e.g. 'Donation'

Please email accounts@wesleyan.nz with your details to receive a donation receipt.

Thank you!

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Looking for your local Wesleyan Methodist Church? Click here to find your nearest Wesleyan Methodist church. Services are held in English, Fijian, Rotuman and Tongan with several churches using multiple languages in their worship.