Prayer Like A Mosquito

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Farewelling summer is met with a touch of sadness in our house. My husband, myself and our two boys adore the warm, summery and luxuriously long days. We enjoy daily swimming or surfing, even if its just for 5 minutes after dinner. We love coffee on our back deck with the dog passed out in the sun. There is often a paddling pool up in the back yard for the boys and the sprinkler is on. We go to bed absolutely spent and happy. We love everything about summer days. Well, almost everything…

There is one thing we will be quite happy to send on its sweet way at the change of seasons. You see, with the beach on one side of our house and marsh land on the other, we get many mosquitos. I don’t just mean the occasional mozzie. I mean plagues of the little tyrants. They quite literally suck! We hate them and yes, hate is a strong word. They wait in the dark places during the day. They are waiting for our heads to hit the pillow so they can circle in waves. Occasionally they stop, but without fail, just before we slip into slumberland they are back. Touching down on our foreheads and making us swipe at ourselves like crazed lunatics. Every so often it get so dire that my husband gets up out of bed (shock horror) and initiates the blood bath on our bedroom ceiling armed only with his underpants and a flexible yet firm book.

A mosquito is such a tiny creature but nonetheless, its perseverance and persistence get results: our blood! In 1 Thessalonians 5 v 17 it tells us to be persevering in prayer. I can’t think of anything much that is more persistent than a mozzie. You can even threaten to kill them, but they just keep coming back.

Again, in Luke 18 v 1-8, Jesus tells us to be like the persistent widow who drove the judge crazy for her cause so that eventually, through her persistence, not because he even cared, he granted her request. Furthermore, God tells us to be like Jacob, who wrestled with God. “I will not let go unless you bless me” he said. To be honest, I sometimes find it a bit strange that our all loving, all powerful God would want us to be this persist and this desperate in prayer, but when Romans 12 v 12 says “be faithful in prayer,” Colossians 4 v2 says “devote yourself to prayer” and Ephesians 6 v 18 says “pray in the spirit on all occasions”, you know it is something God wants from us.

A quote that my friend recently put on social media today caught my eye. It said, “Are you praying about it as much as you are talking about it?”.

Over the last little while my prayers have been pretty desperate. At times, I have thought that maybe it’s just not the will of God and wondered about giving up. Although, when you want something enough, you’ll keep at it. Like the mosquitos drive for blood, I have a need in my life which until it is granted, I will not stop. I know God is teaching me lessons along the way. Lessons of patience, lessons of trust, lessons of grace. I have prayed persistently, although I haven’t yet prayed about my need more than what I have thought about it. So I’m keeping at it because I believe that the word of God is the truth and is power and the blood of Christ means that I can pray directly to the creator of the universe. How incredible is that?! Yes, I am going to keep praying persistently because I don’t think I’ve reached the annoyance level of a Lauderdale mosquito yet! After all, in comparison to an infuriating mosquito, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

By Rachel Cooper

Sunday March 8th

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Hi all,

Jesus spoke to His disciples about “doing it different”.

But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
(Mark 10:43-45)

This came as a response to some of the boys trying to sure up a position of significance in the kingdom. Jesus showed them that significance is not found in the position or notoriety, but in being able to genuinely serve others.

Our significance is found in what Christ has done for us and in us and is out-worked in our service to others. In that place we find contentment and real purpose. Jesus never struggled to prove and show His equality with the Father because He knew He had it.

In Christ we have nothing to prove. That releases us into the joy of serving. Let’s continue to value and build a culture of serving and showing high value to others.

As I heard at the CT launch breakfast “It is good to meet together.”
It will be an amazing day in Church as we continue our month of vision with the ‘serve’ aspect of our strategy.

P.S. Pre-service prayer in Hobart was fantastic last week. Let’s keep it happening 9:30am in the room right hand side of stage.

It’s The Little Things; Laura’s Secret to Loving Children

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Laura’s face is a much-loved one around Energizer Church, particularly among the children down in EKids. Since joining us in August last year, she has jumped right in and served cheerfully and effectively in kids’ church. Laura’s natural affinity and gift for working with children is not something that is contained within the walls of our church though; she also works at a local Early Learning Centre throughout the week, working with children from babies to primary aged kids. Laura is very aware of the vital role she plays in the development of these precious little people and she is keen to launch out into the deep in 2015 in her workplace. “I have such an important role to play in the way that children learn and grow, and this year with God’s support, I want to strive to follow through with what I have learnt from church and implement it into my workplace. I really feel like this year is a big year of growth and confidence.”

Launching into the deep has been a common theme for us at Energizer Church so far this year, with the phrase “do it different” on everyone’s lips. For Laura, this year is about stepping into her identity in Christ, being happy and comfortable with who she is and allowing that to draw people to God. In particular she is passionate about showing the love of Christ to the young ones in her care: “I feel that I was always meant to do it, even though it’s been hard at times and I’ve wanted to try other things, something always stops me, so I think there is definitely a reason God wants me working with children and I think that’s where I’m going to have the most impact.” Laura’s love for the families which whom she work speaks volumes about her spiritual conviction: “working with children really gives me a great opportunity to connect with families in a positive way through building relationships to the point where I can openly mention God to them”. Laura also prays passionately for the families connected to her workplace and never let’s an opportunity to step out and help a stranger pass by. “I don’t necessarily believe that the only way we can tell people about God is through words; every little bit matters”.

Although she works in a secular environment Laura is not alone as she takes the love of Christ into her world. She goes in the strength of our Church, a community who believe in one another and champion one another. “To me church plays a vital part in the way I connect with people beyond the church. Without church I wouldn’t gain the confidence and support to step out in faith. Some Sundays I listen to sermons and feel that the sermon is really speaking to me; that God is telling me something that I need to know in order to step out in faith and reach the lives of others”. However, it’s not just Sundays that encourage and inspire Laura, a regular attendee at her LifeGroup, she attributes some of her confidence to the strong relationships she has forged within the church. It’s these relationships, along with leaning on her favourite scripture, Romans 8:38-39, that keep Laura staying the path when trialling days threaten to get her down.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (Romans 8:38-39 NLT)

“Connecting people to God, for me, is all about showing his love; showing people that they are not alone and that there is someone who loves you more than anything. Sometimes all people need to hear is that they are not alone and that god loves them. Sometimes it’s the little things that can make a huge difference.”

This week, as you go into your workplace, school or wherever you are headed, remember, like Laura, the little things can make the biggest impact on people’s lives. Let’s be a church who are always ready to show the love of God with our service, our words or even just a smile!

By Jen Grubb

Creative

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There’s something pretty unique about CREATIVE at Energizer Church. We find a sense of commonality in our pursuit to bring our very best to worship God with our gifts and talents. CREATIVE encompasses many areas, not only musicians and singers, but covers production and lighting, visual media, youth worship teams, stage managers and we’d love to see it expand to include filmmakers, artists, writers, designers, camera crew, dancers – all regular everyday people who choose to belong to this beautiful team of creative minds and hearts. We seek to unearth new gifts in people; we love watching each other take steps toward becoming more and more creative. We want to find more and new ways to help people see our God and to inspire worship and adoration of Him. If you want to belong – you do! We’ll help you find your fit.

Contact Us

Tenille

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If you haven’t met Tenille yet, you are missing out! This big-hearted, straight-shooting Mum of two and a half, who can’t stand the veggies on her plate to touch, has an irrational fear of touching cotton wool and is addicted to Sudoku. More importantly, she is one of our Heart and Soul people; Tenille just gets it. She has got the vision under her skin and she is with us, heart and soul. During the week, Tenille works as an optical dispenser, where she has countless opportunities to bless people with her loving nature and down-to-earth humour.

Tenille has served many roles throughout many years of attending Energizer Church. Right now, one of the areas that she devotes her time to is being a Nourish Writer. Last year, the Nourish Women’s ministry decided to extend their reach beyond the monthly meetings and into lounge-rooms and offices around Hobart with the birth of the Nourish blog, making sisterhood and encouragement available to women wherever they happened to be. It wasn’t long before Tenille caught the vision and decided to get involved. Through her personal stories, shared bravely with the online Nourish community, wisdom and biblical insights, Tenille has proved to be absolutely vital to the growth of the blog. By making her life available through her stories, Tenille is showing women that they are supported and that it is okay to be vulnerable.

“Since I’ve started writing blogs for Church, it’s made a space in my world for something I used to be really good at but then really started neglecting due to having to prioritise things in a way that I didn’t like,” says Tenille. Writing has unleashed her imagination, unlocked as she sits in the presence of God. “[Serving the house] has helped me understand what being planted looks like. Some of the situations I have encountered have caused me to look outside the square and really draw on God, which has grown my personal understanding of how much he loves the Church. It has enlarged my view of the bigger picture.”

Tenille has no doubt that others would benefit from finding their fit in the house just as much as she has; “I would say serving is another way to engage with others. It will take your relationship with God to the next level.” According to Tenille, building the church by using our God-given gifts and talents is a fantastic way to be an encouragement to others and be encouraged by them; “Iron sharpens irons, it goes both ways!”

By Jen Grubb

Changing A Generation; One Frog at a Time

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University parties would be one of the last places where you might expect a Church to encourage their Young Adults’ ministry to hang out, but our young adults’ pastor Simon Grubb has other ideas. This year, Energizer YA, combined with our friends at Velocity Church YA, is launching a fortnightly outreach into the student accommodation at UTAS. A team of volunteers will go into the various accommodation services and provide support, pastoral care and free pancakes to the students who live there. Red Frogs is a chaplaincy service, founded on the Gold Coast as a response to the danger that young people were putting themselves in a Schoolies Week. It now operates through the local church is over 9 countries, in universities, at music festivals and sporting events.

This year, Energizer Church is launching out into the deep and finding ways to “do things different”. For Energizer Young Adults, this means getting out of their comfort zone, heading out into the community and creating opportunities to serve their generation. It might just seem like free pancakes and red frogs, but to a young person stressed out with a uni workload and living away from home, that little bit of love is going to go a long way. Energizer YA aims to provide opportunities for those already connected with the church to put their faith into action; they want to see a generation empowered and released to take the love of Christ beyond the walls of the Church. To this Red Frogs Crew, that’s what Connect, Empower, Serve, Send is all about!

Matthew 20:28 is the verse that underpins Red Frogs’ existence, according to founder, Citypointe Church pastor, Andy Gourlay:

“For the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

It’s this verse that has inspired Simon to gather a team of passionate and willing Red Frogs volunteers from amongst the young adults’ ministry. “We are inspired by Jesus’ example to serve in a way that has meaningful impact in the short term, but also allows for longer term connection and discipleship,” explains Simon. “Jesus gave his life, so our response is give up some of our evenings and make them available for his kingdom”.

The Energizer YA Red Frogs Team is in need of some volunteers. If you are looking for opportunities to get out of your comfort zone and bring the love of Christ to the community, then this could be perfect for you!

By Jen Grubb

Naming Your Animals

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The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. Genesis 2:18-20

I think everyone has a teacher throughout their schooling at some point with whom they just don’t click. For me, that teacher came quite early on, in the form of Mrs. Gerke, my grade 3 teacher. I don’t have a single positive memory of my year inside her classroom but some of the negatives still stick out to me. One particular comment that I remember receiving was “you don’t have a single creative bone in your entire body, do you?” I thought of her the day I had my first piece of writing published, and again on the day I sold my first painting. I regularly think of her as I teach creative writing and try to bring out my student’s creative natures. Sadly, this is a sentiment I hear echoed constantly among students and adults alike. There seems to be some sort of perception that some of us are creative and the rest of us are not and there is nothing we can do about it. Not true, my friends!

Reading this scripture, I am reminded that our creativity is not just a gift or rare or special talent, it is part of our nature, that’s HUMAN nature. That means everyone, which means you. Even Mrs. Gerke. How do we know we are all creative in nature? Because we are made in the image of God and none can deny His creativity.

In fact, as Pastor Lucas preached so compellingly on Sunday, the very first time we hear Adam use his voice, the first words spoken by humanity, it is to step into the creative nature of God. Do you think God didn’t have ideas about what the animals should be called? Of course, but he called upon Adam to name them. Adam’s creative nature was activated in that moment as he took decisive action. The whole purpose behind Adam naming the animals was for him to figure out what it was he needed. He was looking for a companion, but it was only as he looked at the situation before him and named it, he figured out that what he needed wasn’t there. He needed a creative solution, one that hadn’t been seen before; he needed Eve!

So I’m wondering, what animals do we need to name this week? What parts of your life do you need to evaluate to figure out whether or not it is truly what you need? Where can God bring a creative solution to your problem?

Your creative nature isn’t just the ability to draw a picture or write a song, although if you can do those things to glorify God and bless others, then great, do them! Your creative nature is the ability to think in ways that haven’t been thought of before, to reject the obvious and see beyond the natural. Your creative nature is to speak new life and fresh ideas into being.

 

By Jen Grubb