Month: February 2023

26 February 2023 | Confidence | Introduction

It looks like everything is OK now… thank you for your patience

Thank you for joining us on-line.
OCC is made up of people who are meeting in-person and who are meeting on-line.

Welcome to OCC online | 26 February 2023

God calls all of us into his presence;

  • He calls us to be together both with him and with one another;
  • He calls us to wait with and for him;
  • He calls us to serve & bless others – those who are part of God’s kingdom and those who have not yet responded to God’s grace

As you prepare to watch our service video, we encourage you to take a few moments…

  • Get your coffee or tea. Settle in, be still…
  • Take some deep breaths… in and out… breathe,
  • Invite the Lord to make himself present with you as you watch – he is with you – it’s just that often we are not aware that he is.
  • Focus on the reality of God’s Holy Spirit not just with you but in you.

Today we start a new Lenten series on growing in Confidence on the Frontlines.

Here is the link to the PowerPoint Show and the Notes.

Sunday Evening

6:30pm | Zoom Prayer – link

7:00pm | Youth: meeting at OCC

Reading the NT

In 2023 we are reading through the New Testament together.
This plan by the Navigators takes us through all 260 chapters at the pace of a chapter a day (about 5 minutes a day).
It’s a 5-day/week plan, recognising that there are always times when we need a day or two to catch up.

Click on the link to download the reading schedule and join us in seeing the New Testament come alive in 2023.

 

Small Groups

Everyone needs and desires to be in relationship, in community. Being involved in one of our Small Groups is a great opportunity for you to find friendship, accountability, and a group of people you can do life with. Currently, our groups are meeting online, Wednesday or Thursday evening at 7 pm, although some groups will start to meet in person soon.

 

 

 

Click the events tab to discover what is coming up.

Click on news & updates to get other updates.

Prayer for Lent

I Will Turn

Lord, I will turn,
Turn my face towards you.
I will lay before you the desert areas I hide
And turn to soak in your refreshing words of life.
I will cast aside the barren, selfish pursuits
And turn to rest in the tranquil warmth of your love.
I will draw back from the harsh pull of media
And turn to bathe in the gentle power of your Spirit.
Lord, today I turn my face towards you.
I will turn To soak in your words of life,
To rest in the warmth of your love,
And to bathe in the power of your Spirit.

(a Lenten prayer poem by Julie Palmer © 2018 www.prayerscapes.com)

Ash Wednesday – Lent

On Ash Wednesday many Christians throughout the world will hear some version of these familiar words: “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” It is said in the context of imposing ashes in the form of a small cross on the foreheads of worshipers in many Christian traditions.

Lent begins tomorrow. These are the forty days that Christians have historically set aside to prepare for Easter through repentance and renewal. It gives us space to admit the struggle: that although the defiant joy of Christ’s victory is ours, it came at an unimaginably great cost.

Many people talk about what they are giving up for Lent. Giving something up for Lent is a practice that is supposed to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. But that sacrifice was to show us how much God loves us. I am pretty sure God would be OK if, instead of giving something up for Lent, we used the Lenten season to take up something positive. This year let’s find something positive that we can add to our daily routine during Lent. Here are some ideas:

  • Do one act of kindness every day.
  • Make a Lenten gratitude journal by writing about one thing you are grateful for every day.
  • Pick one of your strengths and find a way to use it every day. If you are into photography, aim [unintentional pun] to take one good picture every day.
  • Contact a friend or loved one every day. Use Lent as a time to reconnect with people you haven’t heard from in a while. Send an email or pick up the phone and call someone.
  • Do some form of exercise every day. It could be a short walk around the block or doing sit-ups while you watch American Idol, but just do it!
  • Make sure you get adequate sleep every night. Stop scrolling through Instagram or pinning photos to Pinterest so you get to bed early enough to get the sleep you need..

Yes, Lent is a time for repentance.

It is also a time for reaching out with God’s love.

Christine Sine has said, “Lent is a time to daydream, to imagine new possibilities for the in-breaking of God’s new world.”

19 February 2023 | Disciple 7

Thank you for joining us on-line.
OCC is made up of people who are meeting in-person and who are meeting on-line.

Welcome to OCC online | 19 February 2023

God calls all of us into his presence;

  • He calls us to be together both with him and with one another;
  • He calls us to wait with and for him;
  • He calls us to serve & bless others – those who are part of God’s kingdom and those who have not yet responded to God’s grace

As you prepare to watch our service video, we encourage you to take a few moments…

  • Get your coffee or tea. Settle in, be still…
  • Get some bread & juice ready for communion part way through the service
  • Take some deep breaths… in and out… breathe,
  • Invite the Lord to make himself present with you as you watch – he is with you – it’s just that often we are not aware that he is.
  • Focus on the reality of God’s Holy Spirit not just with you but in you.

Today we are part 7 of our series on growing – maturing – multiplying disciples.

Here is the link to the PowerPoint Show and the Notes.

Sunday Evening

Youth

meeting at OCC @ 7pm

Reading the NT

In 2023 we want to read through the New Testament together.
This plan by the Navigators takes us through all 260 chapters at the pace of a chapter a day (about 5 minutes a day).
It’s a 5-day/week plan, recognising that there are always times when we need a day or two to catch up.

Click on the link to download the reading schedule and join us in seeing the New Testament come alive in 2023.

 

Small Groups

Everyone needs and desires to be in relationship, in community. Being involved in one of our Small Groups is a great opportunity for you to find friendship, accountability, and a group of people you can do life with. Currently, our groups are meeting online, Wednesday or Thursday evening at 7 pm, although some groups will start to meet in person soon.

 

 

 

 

Click the events tab to discover what is coming up.

Click on news & updates to get other updates.

Lent 2023 – confidence

confidence on the frontlines

Join us during lent (beginning this coming week) as we discover and grow in deep faith-confidence that lasts, so we can boldly join in God’s work right where we are.

LENT 2023 | Media: Music & Movies

This is a list of some music and moves that lead us into some of the themes of Lent & Easter. This is obviously not an exhaustive list, nor a necessarily “Christian” list, but one that will help us interact with the themes.

Music

The link will take you to a recording of the piece

Messiah by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742.

St Matthew Passion – Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 by J. S. Bach. Written in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, it sets Matthew 26-27 to music.

Movies

The link will take you to the IMDB site for the film

Chocolat

Lent – Sundays & LIFEGroups

We all have our frontlines – the various contexts where God has placed us, places where we meet with people who don’t know Jesus. Over the weeks of Lent, we want to explore together how, with God, we can apply what God is teaching us about how to live with confidence on our own frontlines.

On the Sundays listed below, pastor Mike will be looking at how the scriptures help us consider a different aspect of confidence. In LIFEGroups (small groups) there is the opportunity to encourage and sharpen each other as we unpack together the implications of how to live in our frontlines – no matter where that is.

The goal is to help us to become increasingly mature disciples or apprentices of Jesus – thinking and talking about both the Bible and your frontlines and how to live fuller, flourishing lives.

We hope and pray that the readings, reflections, and studies will give you greater confidence in our amazing God and his wonderful gospel everywhere you go.

  • 26 Feb | Confidence through being convinced
  • 5 Mar | Confidence through community
  • 12 Mar | Confidence through compassion
  • 19 Mar | Confidence through consistent spiritual practices
  • 26 Mar | Confidence through confidence
  • 2 April | Confidence through courage

LENT 2023

Lent is the season of the year that leads up to Easter.

  • Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (22 February 2023)
  • Lent ends on Maundy Thursday (6 April 2023)
  • Lent is bracketed by Shrove Tuesday (21 February 2923)
  • & then with Good Friday (7 April 2023)
  • & Easter Sunday (9 April 2023)

This season of Lent we will be doing a number of things – we could call them spiritual practices – that draw us deeper into our walk with God. Follow the links (as they are added) for more details about these practices and how you can participate.

 

 

CNOY

On February 25, 2023, we will be hitting the streets once again.

The Coldest Night of the Year is a walk that raises money for people in our community, in your community, who need our help. Some of them are hungry, more than a few hurting and regrettably, some are experiencing homelessness. More than ever as we see more and more at The Lighthouse, it is a time for change.

Join the team as a walker or as a financial supporter here.

Prayer Survey

Here is a short survey to help us get a pulse on where OCC is on availability and interest in praying together.

Prayer survey: click on the link