Category: Be Inspired

On March 26, GCI Carina celebrated Neighbour Day with our community. Neighbours are encouraged to get together in small and large ways on this annual event promoted by Relationships Australia, a leading provider of relationship support services.

We promoted the event on Facebook and Nextdoor (a hyperlocal social network to connect neighbors). And we placed a banner at the Carina Community Centre a couple of weeks before the event. Most importantly, we reached out to people passing by in the nearby park on the day. More than 25 people from the neighbourhood enjoyed the BBQ with our church members. We also had fun serving ice cream and playing games with the young.

By Bharat Naker, Pastor
Carina and Logan, Qld, AU

All these [gifts] are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 1 Corinthians 12:11-13 (NIV)

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost gave birth to a new living entity, a body whose international members powerfully proclaimed the revolution of Christ’s kingdom on earth: diversity does not have to mean division, and unity does not have to be uniformity.Instead of giving in to the temptation to compare ourselves with other people and let our differences divide us, let us celebrate humanity’s rich diversity of cultures and languages.

Instead of thinking we’re better than other people or feeling insecure around others with gifts we don’t have, let us celebrate the fact that we belong to one another and that we need each other to be the unique part of the body no one else can be.

Christ came to break down social and ethnic barriers so that his followers may be unified and healed in him. In the body of Christ, no one person and their gifts are “better” than another. Every follower of Jesus has an indispensable role to play in the restoration of creation through unity and self-giving love.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. I need your Spirit to transform me into a new person, one who lives and loves more like your Son Jesus. I need your Spirit to discern the spiritual gifts you’ve given me to build up the body of Christ. I need you, Holy Spirit. Come and fill me anew. Amen.

By Jillian Morrison, Associate Pastor
Glendora, CA, US

On March 18-19, our town held the Celebrate Mooroolbark Festival. Numerous volunteers from the Grace Communion Mooroolbark church contributed countless volunteer hours in the days beforehand and during this annual autumn festival. The committee chair of the festival told one of our members, “Your church is a godsend.” She was most appreciative of our help.The town festival is held in parkland beside the town centre and attracts thousands of people over two days. The festival hosts market stalls, rides, free activities for the kids, on stage live entertainment, a car show, and a wool and handcrafts show. Grace Communion Mooroolbark is a major sponsor of the festival due to our Living Today magazine promoting the festival and its activities.

The same edition of the magazine also promoted the upcoming Easter church services – both our own, and other local churches. It’s a blessing that we can join Jesus in being a blessing to the local neighbourhood and work together with churches in the area.

By Matthew Gudze, pastor
Mooroolbark, Victoria, AU

GC South KC in Kansas City, MO, hosted our first annual Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday, April 8. We were exceedingly pleased with the overall outcome. Between 25 and 35 children attended. Since our building is on a main street, we decided to hold our event on the front lawn, for more visibility to passersby.

Pastor Terry McDonald created a flyer that was posted on our neighborhood social media page. Also, because of our connections with the local elementary schools, our flyers were sent home to the students’ parents. We placed several signs in the yard and attached balloons to draw attention.

Members of the congregation filled 500 eggs with candy. We included notes inside telling them that Jesus loves them. Additionally, we provided 24 golden eggs that contained specialty items, such as tokens for ice cream or money. The eggs were hidden around the front of the building and yard.

We also provided lawn games along the pathways, which was a special highlight. The coke bottle ring toss was an obvious favorite. We played music, and we even had a spontaneous line dance among members, parents, and children. Everyone had a great time and we connected with many people.

We learned many things from this first event. We needed more eggs and plan to double the amount next year. We advertised that the event would be held for three hours but learned that two hours was probably enough because everything was winding down at that time. We decided that next year, we will not put all the eggs out at one time so they could be more evenly distributed.

It was an amazing event, and we’re grateful to all who shared their time.

By Barbara Leatherman, Love Avenue champion
South Kansas City, MO, US

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. John 14:19 NIV

Realizing God is dwelling within and among us doesn’t happen automatically. If you are like me, I am too distracted. My mind rushes ahead to what is next or returns to the past, rarely remaining attentive to the now. Unless I am intentional and open to the present moment, I miss that “earth is crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God,” as Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote.

Sometimes I begin my daily walks with a prayer that I may notice whatever God wants me to see. One day the flowers growing on weeds caught my attention. I picked one and noticed its beauty, the shades of its color and shape. I wondered in amazement at the Artist who would take such detailed care in a flower that remains largely ignored. Another day I was drawn to a green pinecone. I held the prickly cone gingerly. Walking with it in my hand, I thought about my own need for smoother edges. Once a neighbor caught up to me. As we walked together, she wept from the sorrow of her husband’s illness. These walks, she said, restore her from long nights and constant care. I listened, felt her pain, we prayed. I wondered at the beauty of sacrificial love and its exquisite expression in my friend.

No matter how ordinary any given moment is, God is present. Noticing, attending, and wondering opens us to the transcendent no matter how nuanced it appears. We will see God here sustaining, embracing us, and all the while holding the universe together.

Prayer: Jesus help me notice, attend, and wonder at your presence no matter how nuanced it appears. I want to celebrate that in you I live and move and have my being. Amen.

By Carmen Fleming
GCI-US Home Church, Orlando, FL, US

Coinciding with the beginning of the school year, on February 12, GCI Mooroolbark had its yearly commissioning service for the eight members who mentor at a local primary school under the Kids Hope Australia mentoring program.

Kids Hope is a charitable organisation which connects a local primary school with a local church. The church provides volunteers to spend time with students who need some extra care and support through a one-on-one mentoring relationship.

The Mooroolbark congregation has been in partnership with the school and Kids Hope since 2004. This year is the 20^th year! More than 100 students have been mentored in this time. Craig Ingham, a church member, was also commissioned for his role as the school chaplain in the same school.

By Matthew Gudze, pastor (pictured above, far left)
Mooroolbark, Victoria, AU

 

We are so happy to announce the baptism of the six young adults in our Pasadena congregation on March 26, 2023! We held the baptism and the worship service in one of our members’ backyards. It was wonderful having the congregation witness and support the youth in their acceptance of Jesus as their personal Savior.

I have seen them grow physically and spiritually, and I thank God for how he is working in the life of our church. May we continue to be aware of the Spirit’s work in the lives of our members, and may we join the triune God in their love for them.

By Angie Tabin, pastor
Pasadena, CA, US

It is a joy to visit the Goodna congregation in Queensland, Australia. I’m always uplifted by the many children present. As their children’s local education is only in English, the Goodna members want to support their children in not losing their Swahili language and songs. They also want their children to learn musical instruments as is their custom. Singing and playing instruments is a meaningful way for the children to take part in church and feel included.

Therefore, they hired a music teacher to teach classes initially on Saturday at the assistant pastor, Elder Gilbert Bulimwengu’s home. Now the children learn and practice on Sunday at church after services. The children are learning Swahili and English songs, and they sound very beautiful.

The Goodna congregation also celebrated the baptism of a young adult in December. Bob Regazzoli had the privilege of baptising Veronica Bulimwengu (pictured below).

By Daphne Sidney, Superintendent of Australasia

 

 

 

This month’s GCI Buzz explains calling. Our primary calling, as followers of Christ, is to him, by him, and for him. First and foremost, we are called to someone (God), not to something (such as motherhood, politics, or teaching) or to somewhere (such as our neighborhood or a different country). #gcibuzz

Click the image below to check out the full, printer-friendly PDF.

 

 

A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

I was born with a defect in my heart. This is not uncommon. It’s called a heart murmur, commonly. If the defect is not an “innocent” murmur, surgery may be required to repair or replace the valve. My first open-heart surgery was during Covid at age 61. Unfortunately, I needed a second surgery two weeks later! My talented surgeon has performed more than 2500 operations, and this was the first time he needed to do a second open-heart surgery. But the second surgery went well. Afterward, when the surgeon listened to my heart, he murmured, “Lovey dovey!” He was so pleased to hear no heart murmur.

My real heart issues are common to all humanity. We all need a new heart and Spirit within us. The Father’s heart is totally for us. The triune Creator knows we need his heart. Jesus is God’s heart given for us.

God’s heart-to-heart conversation with humanity is in and through Jesus—his eternal Word made flesh for us. It is the conversation in which the great exchange takes place, leading to a deep and meaningful conversion—real, transforming communion with our triune God.

We have new life in him, the resurrection life operating in our hearts and minds and eventually bodies, forever. New life is a once and for all heart transplant, which surely makes God murmur, “Lovely dovey!”

Prayer: Loving Father, we deeply thank you for our new life in your Son, Jesus, poured in us through your Holy Spirit. Our hearts forever joined to yours, may we rest more fully in your bosom.

By Bharat Naker, pastor
Carina and Logan, Qld, AU

 

 

 

P.S. Learn more about our devotional writer here.