Monday, 25 March 2013
Art Deco Weekend pics now on Facebook
Hey guys, I've just loaded up a Facebook album of our Art Deco dress-up at Bay City Outreach Centre. A whole heap of pretty girls and fancy fellas - enjoy. Here's the link. Hey, and don't forget to tag yourself and your friends J
Friday, 8 February 2013
Who is Jesus? (1)
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| Mike Connell preaching at Bay City Outreach Centre, Hastings |
"When Holy Spirit speaks to your heart, the revelation changes us.
"Who is Jesus - it's the great controversy in the world and will increasingly be an issue globally.
[Matt 16:13-16 Jesus asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." .....]
"Jesus is like a diamond with many facets. It is only when you bring all the aspects together that you find a proper picture off who he is.
"The book of Revelation is about Jesus - what he's like, his purpose, his plan and our part to play in it. The first three chapters hold at least 24 different descriptions of what Jesus is like.
"Revelation is the revealing, or the unveiling, of Jesus Christ and his plan for the church, not to run away, not to be caught up out of it all, but to bring the grace and the glory and the goodness of God to all nations in the earth. Our Great Commission is to change the world, not retreat from the world, but to change the world, one soul at a time, one life at a time.
Who is Jesus?
Rev 19: 6-9 Jesus is a passionate Bridegroom who loves you. He is a jealous lover.
"Jesus pursues us. God has no casual relationships. Either you are in covenant with God or you're not. And if you are in covenant with God, are you a covenant-keeper with God, or are you an adulterer with God? How will you respond to him?
Rev 19: 11-16 Jesus is a sovereign King
"Jesus demonstrated his sovereign power. The Kingdom of God is not a democracy. I need to yield to his design for my life, and co-operate with and align myself to his will.
Rev 19:11 Jesus is a just Judge
"Whatever is unfair in the world, he's going to sort it out. Wherever there is wrong government, he is going to displace it and put in his own righteous government. Wherever there has been crime and sin and things gone wrong, he's going to intervene and bring judgement on it. He also rewards those who labour and serve him, whether or not people noticed.
Who is Jesus to me?
What words come to my mind?
Which of the three aspects most impacted me? challenged me?
Which revelation do I need to grow in?
What will I do about it?
Click here to listen to the full message on audio
Who is Jesus? - Sunday 03 February 2013, at Bay City Outreach Centre, Hastings
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Being filled with the Fulness of God (2)
A message to you from Vaughan Whitehead:
We are incredibly privileged in this church.
For many years, in the realm of the spirit, there's been like a river of God's presence that's flowed through this place. And we, the people of Bay City, we're able to come along, and we're able to partake of the spiritual richness that's in that river. So we have this ability to be able to encounter the Presence of God more easily and at a deeper level than what many other Christians around the world are able to do. We're able to do this on a regular basis.
And it all comes about because men and women over the years have stood up in this place and have pursued the Presence of God. They've stood up in this place and have pursued a relationship with the Holy Spirit. They've made room for the Holy Spirit to come and fill their lives, to have His way in their lives and also to have His way in this church.
So the reason I say that, is that we need to appreciate what we have here. You know, it's important we don't take it for granted. Because if we take it for granted, we could lose it. But for that river to continue to flow, and for people to continue to partake of the riches in that river, we still need men of God who would stand up in this place, who would still pursue the Presence of God, who would still give room for the Holy Spirit, to not only have his way in their lives, but to have his way in this place.
You know, God wants to fill the ends of the earth. The bible says He inhabits the praises of his people. So when we come into this place, we want to make room for Him, by making our praise big, so he can come and inhabit that....
______________________________________________________
There are at least three types of experiences with Holy Spirit."God calls us to be a people who are filled AND led by Holy Spirit
1. Salvation - a foundation - a one-off experience - where Holy Spirit fills us with everlasting life, the very nature of God [John 3:5,6]
2. Baptism of the Holy Spirit - the building of a spiritual dwelling-place - where Holy Spirit surrounds and fills every part of us, like a sunken boat [Acts 2:3,4]
3. Being filled again and again and again - a continuous experience - a daily in-filling [Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (again), and they spoke the word of God with boldness.]
[Eph 5:18 ... be filled with the Holy Spirit] "It is impossible to be drunk today with yesterday's wine"[1 Cor 14:4 He who speaks in an (unknown) tongue, in a language of Holy Spirit, charges himself up in his inner man with spiritual energy, the energy of God, which will begin to grow, and enlarge, and fill his inner vessel] - like a battery in a car - and it is something we are able to initiate! Likewise, if we don't exercise our spirit man in a daily lifestyle, we can just as easily become drained of power and go flat i.e. we become unable to fulfil the purpose for which we were designed.
"In praying in tongues, it's our spirit that prays, we begin to activate the very part of ourselves that's connected to God, and we begin to engage and express the very Presence and Nature of God..."
"If we are filled with Holy Spirit, we become a different person.... we begin to see life differently, to think about things differently, and to speak differently. We begin to engage people and approach circumstances differently... because those who are led by the Spirit have their mind set on what the Spirit desires... they take on the mind of Christ and begin to see things through God's eyes.... and they position themselves in the middle of the River of God's Blessing."
______________________________________________________
So what is the significance for us today? It's relevant for us as individuals and it's also relevant for us as a church at this time. You know, Pastor Mike is talking about this is going to be a year of building. But we also know it's going to be a year of transition; there are going to be some changes taking place.
And whenever that happens, we can start to feel a little bit unsure, and a little bit uncertain. We can become a little bit worried and we can start to look around to see what's going on.
And what happens is that the environment we're in can begin to shape and influence the way we feel and influence the way that we think and influence and shape the way we act. But God calls us as His people to connect with Him and to align ourselves with Him - and then begin to shape and influence the environment outside of us. Rather than the environment around us influencing us, God calls us to shape and influence the environment around us.
So as we get into this time, a lot of us could be feeling all different sorts of mixtures of feelings. And we could be starting to think and starting to have thoughts and to make decisions of how we're going to act - and it's good to consider stuff - but we need to consider stuff when we're full with the Spirit. We need to consider stuff when....
"God, fill us.Because the results of that (making decisions out of the flesh) are not good. I step out of the river, step out of God's blessing, and then the river just flows on by me, and I miss what God's doing in this time.
"God, help me to have the mind of Christ.
"Help me to see the situations that are ahead of me, this year, the way that you see them. Help me not to look at them from my own fleshly eyes, and make decisions out of the flesh....
So....
God wants us to be filled with his Spirit. He wants us to build a regular lifestyle where we're engaging his Spirit, we're praying, we're stirring the inner man, we're allowing him to come and fill our inner man. Because as we do that, we take on the Mind of Christ, we can see situations as God sees them. And we can act accordingly as God would call us to act.
I've got this catchphrase... I have purposed in myself that I'm going to continuously focus on what God is doing, rather than becoming pre-occupied and focused on what he isn't doing. If I focus on what he is doing, I feel excited, there is hope, there is life.
Being filled with the Fulness of God - Sunday 27 January 2013, at Bay City Outreach Centre, Hastings
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Being filled with the Fulness of God (1)
Hi Guys,
today's post is a little different than the usual format of sermon notes and quotes.
Before and after his main message, Vaughan shared from his heart concerning the year ahead at Bay City. I've taken the time to transcribe what he said because I believe it's a prophetic message to the church and I would really encourage you to listen for the Voice within the voice - and then act accordingly.
(Vaughan's main message related to the absolute necessity to be filled with the Spirit on a daily basis, and I'll prepare some notes from that later in the week. It helps to explain the 'How' in relation to the 'Why' addressed in the following transcript.)
God bless you and yours as we stand together,
Dunc J
A message to you from Vaughan Whitehead:
We are incredibly privileged in this church.
For many years, in the realm of the spirit, there's been like a river of God's presence that's flowed through this place. And we, the people of Bay City, we're able to come along, and we're able to partake of the spiritual richness that's in that river. So we have this ability to be able to encounter the Presence of God more easily and at a deeper level than what many other Christians around the world are able to do. We're able to do this on a regular basis.
And it all comes about because men and women over the years have stood up in this place and have pursued the Presence of God. They've stood up in this place and have pursued a relationship with the Holy Spirit. They've made room for the Holy Spirit to come and fill their lives, to have His way in their lives and also to have His way in this church.
So the reason I say that, is that we need to appreciate what we have here. You know, it's important we don't take it for granted. Because if we take it for granted, we could lose it. But for that river to continue to flow, and for people to continue to partake of the riches in that river, we still need men of God who would stand up in this place, who would still pursue the Presence of God, who would still give room for the Holy Spirit, to not only have his way in their lives, but to have his way in this place.
You know, God wants to fill the ends of the earth. The bible says He inhabits the praises of his people. So when we come into this place, we want to make room for Him, by making our praise big, so he can come and inhabit that....
[Main message on the importance of - and how to - experience the Holy Spirit daily, notes to come]
So what is the significance for us today? It's relevant for us as individuals and it's also relevant for us as a church at this time. You know, Pastor Mike is talking about this is going to be a year of building. But we also know it's going to be a year of transition; there are going to be some changes taking place.
And whenever that happens, we can start to feel a little bit unsure, and a little bit uncertain. We can become a little bit worried and we can start to look around to see what's going on.
And what happens is that the environment we're in can begin to shape and influence the way we feel and influence the way that we think and influence and shape the way we act. But God calls us as His people to connect with Him and to align ourselves with Him - and then begin to shape and influence the environment outside of us. Rather than the environment around us influencing us, God calls us to shape and influence the environment around us.
So as we get into this time, a lot of us could be feeling all different sorts of mixtures of feelings. And we could be starting to think and starting to have thoughts and start to make decisions of how we're going to act - and it's good to consider stuff - but we need to consider stuff when we're full with the Spirit. We need to consider stuff when....
So....
God wants us to be filled with his Spirit. He wants us to build a regular lifestyle where we're engaging his Spirit, we're praying, we're stirring the inner man, we're allowing him to come and fill our inner man. Because as we do that, we take on the Mind of Christ, we can see situations as God sees them. And we can act accordingly as God would call us to act.
I've got this catchphrase... I have purposed in myself that I'm going to continuously focus on what God is doing, rather than becoming pre-occupied and focused on what he is not doing. If I focus on what he is doing, I feel excited, there is hope, there is life.
today's post is a little different than the usual format of sermon notes and quotes.
Before and after his main message, Vaughan shared from his heart concerning the year ahead at Bay City. I've taken the time to transcribe what he said because I believe it's a prophetic message to the church and I would really encourage you to listen for the Voice within the voice - and then act accordingly.
(Vaughan's main message related to the absolute necessity to be filled with the Spirit on a daily basis, and I'll prepare some notes from that later in the week. It helps to explain the 'How' in relation to the 'Why' addressed in the following transcript.)
God bless you and yours as we stand together,
Dunc J
A message to you from Vaughan Whitehead:
We are incredibly privileged in this church.
For many years, in the realm of the spirit, there's been like a river of God's presence that's flowed through this place. And we, the people of Bay City, we're able to come along, and we're able to partake of the spiritual richness that's in that river. So we have this ability to be able to encounter the Presence of God more easily and at a deeper level than what many other Christians around the world are able to do. We're able to do this on a regular basis.
And it all comes about because men and women over the years have stood up in this place and have pursued the Presence of God. They've stood up in this place and have pursued a relationship with the Holy Spirit. They've made room for the Holy Spirit to come and fill their lives, to have His way in their lives and also to have His way in this church.
So the reason I say that, is that we need to appreciate what we have here. You know, it's important we don't take it for granted. Because if we take it for granted, we could lose it. But for that river to continue to flow, and for people to continue to partake of the riches in that river, we still need men of God who would stand up in this place, who would still pursue the Presence of God, who would still give room for the Holy Spirit, to not only have his way in their lives, but to have his way in this place.
You know, God wants to fill the ends of the earth. The bible says He inhabits the praises of his people. So when we come into this place, we want to make room for Him, by making our praise big, so he can come and inhabit that....
[Main message on the importance of - and how to - experience the Holy Spirit daily, notes to come]
So what is the significance for us today? It's relevant for us as individuals and it's also relevant for us as a church at this time. You know, Pastor Mike is talking about this is going to be a year of building. But we also know it's going to be a year of transition; there are going to be some changes taking place.
And whenever that happens, we can start to feel a little bit unsure, and a little bit uncertain. We can become a little bit worried and we can start to look around to see what's going on.
And what happens is that the environment we're in can begin to shape and influence the way we feel and influence the way that we think and influence and shape the way we act. But God calls us as His people to connect with Him and to align ourselves with Him - and then begin to shape and influence the environment outside of us. Rather than the environment around us influencing us, God calls us to shape and influence the environment around us.
So as we get into this time, a lot of us could be feeling all different sorts of mixtures of feelings. And we could be starting to think and starting to have thoughts and start to make decisions of how we're going to act - and it's good to consider stuff - but we need to consider stuff when we're full with the Spirit. We need to consider stuff when....
"God, fill us.Because the results of that (making decisions out of the flesh) are not good. I step out of the river, step out of God's blessing, and then the river just flows on by me, and I miss what God's doing in this time.
"God, help me to have the mind of Christ.
"Help me to see the situations that are ahead of me, this year, the way that you see them. Help me not to look at them from my own fleshly eyes, and make decisions out of the flesh....
So....
God wants us to be filled with his Spirit. He wants us to build a regular lifestyle where we're engaging his Spirit, we're praying, we're stirring the inner man, we're allowing him to come and fill our inner man. Because as we do that, we take on the Mind of Christ, we can see situations as God sees them. And we can act accordingly as God would call us to act.
I've got this catchphrase... I have purposed in myself that I'm going to continuously focus on what God is doing, rather than becoming pre-occupied and focused on what he is not doing. If I focus on what he is doing, I feel excited, there is hope, there is life.
Click here to listen to the full message on audio
Being filled with the Fulness of God - Sunday 27 January 2013, at Bay City Outreach Centre, Hastings
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Father's Day pics now on Facebook
Morning all,
I've just loaded up a Facebook album (better late than never) of our Father's Day celebrations at Bay City Outreach Centre. There's family dedications, wild games with Dads and kids, and we honoured a couple of our special Dads. Here's the link. Feel free to tag yourself and your friends J
Pastor Sajan Easow prays for a young family.
Dads and kids played wild games
Pastor Mike Connell and Leon Janson, one of our awesome Dads
Cheers,
Dunc J
Friday, 25 January 2013
Christ in me, the hope of glory
A message to you from Ian Clayton:
Col 1:26-27
.... 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints .... which is Christ in you, the HOPE of glory.
Col 1:26-27
.... 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints .... which is Christ in you, the HOPE of glory.
"Do we really realise what we have in us? The full power of the Godhead comes and lives inside you.
"Did you practise last week's teaching (stepping Beyond the veil)? Our issue as a believer is we don't go and do what we've been given to do and therefore we don't get anything. The only way to get the fullness of God is to practise.
"The only reason we have a brain is to empower our spirit man to function in the world. It's not to empower your body to function.
"If you are a believer, you have the capacity for your DNA to be totally and absolutely changed.
"Hope is made up of two things: what you dream, and the substance of heaven.
"What you think about and dream about sets a vision in front of you that will pull you to itself, without you having to work towards it.
"Hope is the material substance of what you are dreaming about. As you hold your dream, it becomes the door to realise that material substance into the earth, for example, creative miracles. You have been given the capacity to make solid things out of nothing.
"Whatever you engage as a dream inside your heart can precipitate out of heaven the very essence of the building block of God (RNA) into the earth.
"The key to unlocking hope is desire (Proverbs 13:12)
"We have the capacity to engage with the world of God and bring it and make it real on the earth - and He'll ask us whether or not we did....How?
"Faith - (Hebrews 11:1)
"Desire - allow your imagination to be scripture-centred.
"Dream - about kingdom stuff that will unlock the world of heaven for you, about materialising the world of heaven on the earth.
"Access the supply - apply last week's message, i.e. step Beyond the veil - and practise.
Click here to listen to the full message on audio
Christ in me, the hope of glory - Sunday 20 January 2013, at Bay City Outreach Centre, Hastings
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Beyond the veil
A message to you from Ian Clayton:
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
"The veil was torn from top to bottom i.e. God reached down to us"The Kingdom world of God is as close as the air I breathe, now"Jesus has given you access to the full supply of heaven. You won't get it if you stay this side of the veil
"God is getting sick and tired of "coming down" here, when we have a role and a responsibility up there. Your life as a believer is not just about down here
Try taking just one step forward - it's that simple - Standing directly in front of you is a veil that is already torn. And then practise - until you can believe the reality of something in the Father's world."Heaven is accessible now - Come Boldly = Go!"The supply of God is standing there, within the veil, waiting for you to go - into His world - and engage it. It is tangible.
Click here to listen to the full message on audio"You don't have to be clean to go. You can just go - and you will become instantly clean
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