Last Sunday's message from Matt Gould from Alpha New Zealand was a great reminder to us about the need for the church to have our eyes fixed on the future and on our next generations. These were some of the ways he suggests we start.  

1. Judgment-free listening​ 
Non-Christian Gen Z are most likely to say that they would be interested in learning about Christianity if Christians were less judgmental of things like their personal beliefs or lifestyle. Time and time again, we see this generation valuing listening as an important part of evangelism. ​

2. Mutual understanding​
The majority of teens feel that the best outcome of faith conversations is gaining a better understanding of each other’s point of view. Amicable understanding and care is a crucial step. ​

3. Healthy disagreement ​
Exploring disagreement is often a step on the path to understanding and connection. For this generation, disagreement does not equal relational conflict.​

4. Safe relationship​
Most teens agree that conversations about faith perspectives are most effective when a significant relationship has already been established. Trust comes first. ​

5. Words matched by action​
50 percent of Christian teens believe that letting your actions speak as a way to explain your faith is an act of evangelism. Furthermore, 55 percent of non-Christians find “allowing a Christian’s actions to speak to explain their faith” to be appealing. Authenticity indeed is very important to this generation.​

I am excited about ways that I get to set future generations up to thrive. Thrive in life and thrive in their relationships with Jesus. ​
 

​Inspire '24
At Franklin Baptist Church we love to support you in the mission that God is calling you to. Some of that mission is found within serving in the life of the church. You may serve in hospitality, welcome, tech, worship, prayer, children's ministry, youth ministry, Global Missions Team, gardening, management team, leadership team, and the list goes on. We want to support you through prayer, encouragement, food and fellowship at Inspire '24. If you serve in church Inspire '24 is for you. If you want to serve in church, Inspire '24 is for you. This Saturday 24th Feb 9:30-11:30am.
Inspire '24 Register Here

Leadership profiles
On Sunday 11th of Feb the leadership team shared our Whānau Statements and explained them simply and clearly. These statements are a great way for Franklin Baptist Church to come together and honour each other as brothers and sisters in Christ's body, the church. If you missed it, I recommend viewing it on YouTube. Click Here to view.
As part of this we want to share with you the Leadership Team's Profiles. This document shows which leader to talk to about things that are going awesome and we want to celebrate, or things that you may be concerned about. The leader for that profile will then bring this back to the Leadership Team for discussion. Click here for the leadership profiles.

Thank you for reading our Connection Corner. We hope this communication will help to connect us together as a congregation. 

Josh van de Worp