Kia Ora Whanau,

What a privilege it is to be able to be together in community!
Getting to learn from Grant’s message last week about encountering opposition, God creating & giving orders, and aligning ourselves with the heart of God to see incredible outcomes – it prompts provocative thought.
On Sunday last week we also held a worship night that had an intentional theme of UNITY.
“How good and pleasant it is when Gods people live in unity.” Psalms 133:1
One of the questions we asked during the worship night was: What do you have to offer the body of Christ?
Some answers that were listed included vision, love, trust, generosity, joy, and friendship.
Psalm 139 speaks to God’s unique creation in each of us, the gifts, and talents He has interested unto us to love and support each other. Can I challenge you to step out in faith this week? 

• Invite someone to church
• Have someone over for a meal
• Meet a young person after church
• Drop a Chocolate bar in your neighbor’s letterbox

Let’s be intentional about how we do CommUNITY better.
 
God Bless
Josh Temu

Knowing Jesus changes everything / Steve Clark
Acts 9:1-9
Life doesn't always work out the way we think it should or could. But when we encounter the risen Jesus our lives will often take us in a different direction to what we expect. I know that mine did. And what is amazing is that if we walk with Jesus as our constant companion he will always work things "For the Good'. Join us at 10AM in-person or online. We would love to have you join us online for the service if you are not able or unwell.

For the Kids...  
This week we are all in together.  There are activity packs and snacks for the children at the back of the auditorium.  Please note that there are scissors in these packs.  For safety I have not included scissors in the preschool packs but parents can collect them separately. All rubbish created as part of the activity can go back into the pack and will disposed of later. If you have any questions, please email carol@fbc.nz.

Prayer at 5pm
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14. The presence of God’s Spirit fuelled by prayer brings God’s wisdom, strength and compassion into our lives and victory over the many issues that have held us back in the past. We would love you to join us, humble ourselves and pray -Sundays 5pm in the Church Auditorium.
 

Toy Library Fundraising
The Toy Library is a great way that we support our families in our community.  Each year the Toy library run a cafe for the Modern School of Music as a fundraiser to help with the costs of running of the Toy Library.  This is happening on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th June from 9am-4pm, here at the church.
There are 2 ways in which you can help and support this fundraiser.

1. Come along for a couple of hours (or longer) on either of the days to give some assistance at serving, making food, cleaning tables or doing the dishes etc.
2. Creating muffins, scones or cakes. This year we are hoping to offer a selection of cake slices like Chocolate Cake, Lemon Cake, or Carrot Cake etc to go along with a cup of tea or coffee. We would also like to offer savoury as well as sweet muffins if possible.

If you can help in either of these 2 ways, it would be so appreciated. There is a signup sheet at the info desk or you can email steve@fbc.nz to register your interest.  It can be a long and busy day for the Toy Library team and we are unable to do this without other volunteers working alongside us.
Cakes, Muffins or other food can be dropped off on Thursday 8^th or the morning of the 9th.
Last year we raised nearly $2500 for the TL and we are told that this year's competitions are even bigger so we expect to be busy. Please see Pastor Steve or Lyn if you can help or have any questions.
 
Many Thanks for your consideration.
Toy Library Team

Baptist Hui-ā-Māori 2023
Te Kapa Rautaki and Te Pouarataki mō te hīkoi extend a warm welcome to our Hāhi Iriiri whānau to gather together at this special hui where we will farewell the old and welcome in the new.
We look forward to new opportunities and engaging with the next chapter of our Baptist Māori story. We urge you to prayerfully prioritise this hui and join us for this significant time in our Baptist movement.
When: 11am Friday 14 July until 2pm Sunday 16 July 2023
Where: Puna O Te Ora, 60 Kayes Road, Pukekohe, 2120
Whakapa Mai (Please RSVP): Email: kapa.rautaki@baptist.org.nz; Phone: Josie Te Kahu 021 260 4204 or Luke Kaa-Morgan 021 627 157.
 

Oasis / Chapel Service
Next Wednesday at 11am, we'll have a Chapel Service followed by a luncheon at 12pm. Pastor Steve will be our speaker with a message, "Taking us on a journey back to Pentecost". Sounds really exciting!
All are welcome, so come and join us to worship God, hear God's Word and have fellowship together over a meal. A Koha to cover the cost of a meal is appreciated. For more information contact Charlie Potter. 027 529 8211

Seedpods
Seedpods is a weekly play workshop and friendship group for pre-schoolers and their caregivers. Thursdays at 9.30am during term time. Please contact Lynley Clark on 0276514349 if you are interested in attending. If you are interested but Thursday doesn't suit, please let us know. Flyers are available at the info desk if you have someone you would like to invite.

Alpha - The Marriage Course
You're invited to join us for 7 sessions to strengthen your relationship.
Whether you've been married six months or 40 years, whether you're in a good place or struggling, The Marriage Course offers practical support to strengthen your relationship.
The course helps couples to:
• Communicate more effectively
• Understand each other’s needs
• Resolve conflict
• Recognize how upbringing affects your relationship
• Develop greater sexual intimacy
• And much, much more...
The course starts middle July and will run for 7 consecutive weeks. Please register your interest here. Or click on “Events” in the Church Center app.

Alpha update 
Two new Alpha courses will be starting mid August 2023.
Come and join us and prayerfully consider inviting a friend, relative or neighbour.
The current courses are just completing and guests are saying:
"l'm sorry it's coming to an end, l've enjoyed Alpha and the new friends l've made"
 Come and see for yourself. For more information, please talk to Paul Mob 021 147 1923 or via church office. 

Professional Women's Life Group
A new Life group starting on Monday 1 May, or soon after. Meeting from 7.00 - 8.30 pm in Pukekohe. To find out more, contact Carolyn Cornu on thecornus@gmail.com  or click here. 

CareyLocal
Learn, grow, and be transformed - wherever you are! CareyLocal is an exciting new initiative from Carey Baptist College designed to build biblical foundations for church volunteers, ministry and mission leaders, and anyone wanting to grow in their discipleship. Study with a cohort of 10 people from your faith community, and you can study for FREE! Join us for Mission of God, or Intro to the New Testament in Semester two. Get into it! For more information click here. To register your interest so that we can ensure we have at least 10 people signed up for each course (to make it free!), please email carol@fbc.nz.  The deadline for us to enroll is the 9th June and we still need a few more people to make our cohort of 10. 
 

Franklin Food Bank
A huge thank you to all that have been giving donations to the foodbank.  They have been most gratefully received.  We would love to make regular donations to the foodbank.  Please continue to leave canned and dry foods, along with hygiene products at the information desk.  Thank you for your generosity. 

The "Zion" cult As a church, we need to inform you about a cult that is having a damaging effect in our nation, and recently has been seeking to influence a few individuals in our own church. We need to be aware of the damaging nature of this cult, sometimes known as “Zion Christian Mission Centre”, “Zion Church / Bible study” or “Shincheonji”. It begins as a friendly Bible study, but becomes a very forceful and manipulative distortion of truth.    We’ve attached an important letter and information from another Baptist pastor who has had to navigate this. (Link to the letter) Please take time to read, and to keep this on the radar for yourself, family members and other Christians.    Please let any of the staff know if you’d like to discuss this.  It is important to understand that there is no need to feel embarrassed if you have been affected by this group, as they are very deceptive in the way they operate and portray themselves. Sometimes these people attend churches to seek to gather believers into their group.   Please also pray about this situation, for the church of our nation, and for opportunities to share the gospel truth of Jesus Christ.

Booking Rooms at FBC
If you would like to book the use of a room at FBC (either for personal use or church use), please fill out the form. Link for FBC Booking Request Form

Prayer Chain
If you would like to submit a prayer request to the Prayer Chain, please email Arlene Hutcheon on arlene@ps.gen.nz or send a text to 0274726198. All prayer requests are treated as confidential.

Giving
You can give online, by automatic payment or direct debit. Our church bank account: 01 0403 0013842 00 or click here to donate now. For the "Renew" giving, please indicate "Renew" as reference for giving through bank. And if using the above link, click "Renew" on the drop down tab. 

Church Center App
Our Church Center app is where you can find what's going on in our church whanau. Click this link to find out how to download the app here.

Whanau news
If you have something you would like to share in the Whanau news, please email it to staff@fbc.nz by 12 noon on Thursday. Thank you.

As an encouragement to all of you while you're at home...check out some of the songs we're currently singing on Sundays and a few new ones we might sing in the future. If you have a Spotify account, this is the link to FBC Worship on Spotify