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The time has come to publish the last Connection Corner for the year. 

My prayer for you as we finish work for 2024, is that you will carve some time in the middle of the busyness of the world around us, to sit and meet with Jesus. To be still at His feet and reflect on the year of 2024 and to recognise the golden thread of how uniquely He has held you together. To see the times your feet dragged and He carried you; to see the times you danced with Him and to see the times he sat next to you and dried your tears. My prayer for you is that, with both feet planted firmly on Him, you will be able to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 1:18-19)

For those who need company, support or a chat over the holiday period, Margaret and Colin will be here from 10 am on Wednesday mornings in January - the 8th, 15th and 22nd. All welcome to join them for a cuppa and light refreshments.

Also a reminder to those who have been very kindly working on resources for Gillian and Kevin in Cambodia - these are needed by this Sunday, 22nd December. 

May God turn his face toward you and give you peace and joy and hope and love.

See you in the New Year,

Sandra

During this Advent season, we keep our eyes focused on the good news of Jesus - the reason for the season! May God open our eyes and ears as we prepare our hearts to receive His hope, joy, peace and love every day. And may we spread the fragrance of what we receive from our Father to everyone we encounter in our comings and goings.

In our third week of ADVENT... JOY NOW AND FOREVER.

God is faithful and loving not only in the past, but also in the present and the future. Rachel will lead us in reflecting on Mary’s story as she is humbled and filled with joy when she finds out that she will give birth to the Son of the Most High whose Kingdom will never end. The reading is from Luke 1:39-55.

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,  for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant." (Luke 1: 47-48)


Join us at 10AM in-person or online if you are not able or unwell. Please contact us if you need support info@fbc.nz 

Important notices:
  • From Sunday 29 December until middle of January, there will be no live streaming or recordings. This is due to a shortage of tech people being available over the holiday period.
  • Unfortunately we are still dealing with the sewerage issues on site. We are in constant contact with the council to resolve the problem. Please pray for a quick and satisfying solution.

All the details of events coming up this month are in our events calendar so please read it.  Click here to read.

If you have something to go into the events calendar please send them to carol@fbc.nz by the 20th of each month.
Christmas and New Year Office Hours
Over the holidays we all need a break, a refresh, and to reconnect with God and those we love. The last day the FBC office is open will be 23rd Dec. Our office will reopen on January 13th 2025. Over this time the phones will be checked. If you need to contact someone urgently we have members of the Leadership Team and Staff who will be available.

We encourage everyone to practice hospitality over this period - to check in with each other, to get together and make the best of the summer and enjoy the warmer weather with fun activities!

Dec 22 - Dec 28: Aaron Snook and Josh Temu   |   Jan 5 - Jan 11: Aaron Snook and Rachel Roche 
Dec 29 - Jan 4: Erin Temu and Carol Dobbe       |  Jan 12 - Jan 19: Zane Brown and Sandra Bruin
Invite your friends and neighbours, bring along your family, guests and visitors to our Christmas Day service at 9.30 am, and stay for some festive refreshments afterwards!
We are aware that some within our FBC whaanau will spend Christmas Day on their own. If you feel God nudging you to include those who would like company on Christmas Day, please contact us.  
Calling everyone with the gifts of Fun, Creativity and Serving! If you have a get-together idea for our FBC whaanau over January and you can help organise it, please contact the staff person or leader on call over that period (see further up for details of staff and leaders' availability).
TITHES AND OFFERINGS You can give online, by automatic payment or direct debit. Our church bank account: 01 0403 0013842 00 or click here to donate now

BATTAMBANG MISSION TRIP To give to the Mission trip follow this link and choose "Battambang" from the drop-down menu. Team members are still seeking funding. If you want to give towards a team member's expenses, or towards the Kevin & Gillian's work, please do and quote either "team" or "K&G" as reference. (Giving in this way will be added to your donation tax receipt at the end of March and the Government will kindly give you back a third of your donation.)
TOY LIBRARY SPECIAL We rejoice in the news that the goal was achieved with an open-handed anonymous donor who made up the generous amount given by you, our FBC whaanau, to $10,000.  The Toy Library will stay open and the ministry will continue. Thanks to you!
A flyer describing the Toy Library ministry in more detail, is attached for your information. You can find it here.  


GAT CHRISTMAS APPEAL  This year's Christmas appeal donations is going towards the work of Arotahi (NZ Baptist Missions) in Bangladesh for sporting/music equipment and school bags for hostel students; as well as resources for the Cambodia short-term missions trip in late February.
Ministry Team Leaders 
We want to prioritise FBC ministries going forward. Please make sure that you send your booking requests for any events coming up in 2025 to Den as soon as possible. Press here for the link to the booking form. 
How wonderful that we can chat to God anytime anywhere. You are invited to join with others in our FBC community to pray. 

PRAY EVERYDAY
: Remember to pray for the church everyday for 2 minutes at 2 pm.

PRAY ON SUNDAY: 9:15am and 5.00pm in the church building. The last 5.00pm prayer meeting for this year will be on Sun 15th Dec and we will resume for 2025 on Sun 2nd Fe
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PRAYER CHAIN: Please submit a prayer request to the Prayer Chain, email Arlene Hutcheon on prayerchain@fbc.nz or send a text to 0274726198. All prayer requests are treated as confidential.
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Franklin Baptist Church  128 Victoria Street West, PO Box 52, Pukekohe 2120
telephone: (09) 238 8544    email:
info@fbc.nz    website: www.franklinbaptist.org.nz

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Franklin Baptist Church · 128 Victoria Street West · Pukekohe, Auckland 2120 · New Zealand

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