Quick Message from Pastor John

A Tribute To David Greenow

My uncle David Greenow was more than an uncle. He was a mentor, he was a huge inspiration and example and I always felt privileged just to know him, let alone be his nephew! His qualities are well known – humility, grace, wisdom, godliness and gentleness.

His apostolic gifting and anointing was carried with seriousness but not religiousness. He always arrived in my life at important times, at the right time, to bring a word in season. He was there at my ordination as a minister and prayed over me.

He prayed with me when I was going through the darkest period of my life and he talked me through the transitions of my life. I especially remember talking to him when I was struggling with the transition to becoming  Senior Leader. He articulated what was happening to me and helped massively in my understanding of what I was going through. His prayers and prophetic and apostolic input have dramatically impacted my life. When he said he was going to pray for me I knew he was going to pray for me and I felt the effect.

He was always positive, always interested,  self deprecating…I would talk to him about writing a book about his life and he would seem amazed that he would have anything to say !! I will be indebted to Uncle David for his love and friendship and massive influence in my life and my families life. I will miss him greatly.

He was a gift to us all and a gift to the church at large and he is now enjoying his reward. What can we take from his life as an example and inspiration to follow?

1/ Love God
I knew that Uncle David had a living vibrant relationship with Jesus. His ministry and his life flowed from his walk with God daily. I am challenged to spend time with God and let my life flow from that.

2/ Love People.
Uncle David loved people of all ages. He related to people in all walks of life and I never heard him criticise or speak negative about anyone. I am challenged to love people, believe in people and do what I can to relate to people whoever they are and wherever they are at.

3/ Love the Church.
David Greenow loved the church, whatever group or denomination, he loved people who gathered together to praise God and ‘be’ the church and because of this he had huge respect across different church groups and was able to speak apostolically into many situations. I am challenged to love the many aspects and facets of the church, the bride that Jesus died for.

One of the meanings of the word ‘legacy’ is ‘gift’. David Greenow was a gift to us all and he left us the gift of his influence and inspiration.

Acts 13:36 “For David, after he had served his generation by the will of God, fell asleep….”

Let us serve our generation well. That is how we honour David Greenow and our Lord Jesus Christ.

John Greenow
Senior Pastor

A Leadership Thought…

To become a better leader requires a willingness to develop greater self-awareness. The ability to question yourself, to be honest with where you are in comparison to where God may want you to be. This is more than just inward reflection, this is the ability to know that you need to change and have the courage to change.

David wrote in Psalm 26:2 ‘Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind’ while Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test?   We are often great at knowing another persons ‘area for improvement’ but are not so willing to carry out the same examination of ourselves. But we must.

We can lead others only as far along the road as we ourselves have travelled. It is only right and proper to expect of others only those things we are working towards ourselves. J Oswald Sanders puts it this way ‘The way we employ our surplus hours will determine whether we will develop into a mediocre person or a powerful person.’

So here are some questions to help you examine yourself…

• How is your leadership journey looking?
• How you making sure you continue developing as a leader?
• What are you reading? A leaders reading is the outward expression of their inner aspirations.
• You may have been willing to pay the higher price to ascend to leadership but are you willing to continue to pay the price to stay there?
• Are you being faithful in the exercise of your gifts?
• How have you grown in being a disciple?

Why not make a decision to intentionally grow yourself. Pick one thing that you can do & commit to do that one thing for the next few weeks, not for any great revelation or change but because it’s the right thing to do. Be a leader who grows, you and others, not just someone who turns up and does stuff. That’s one of those difference markers, it will make you a better leader too.

Thoughts to Focus On

Courtesy of Pastor John from Vision Night….4 Great Words to get your life attached to in 2012

DEVOTION(AL)

Not just having a devotion, a quiet time or giving God a part of the day but instead to be DEVOTED. Be completely in. Be all in for God in 2012

DIRECTIONAL

What is the flow of your life this year? It is not just about what happens to you. That doesn’t need to control you. You can control it. Think about what can happen through you. Be intentional this year. Don’t just have an intention to do something, but display some intentionality and actually do. Don’t have an intention to come to church more often. Be intentional about being the church. Align yourself up to the things of God and give life some direction in 2012

MISSIONAL

Being missional comes out of a devoted life. To look outward more often. To be aware of what’s going on around us and being ready to speak to people. You don’t need to be the ‘evangelistic’ type to be missional.

INCARNATIONAL

Just like the Bible tells us that the Word became flesh & moved into the neighbourhood, [John 1:14] we are now called to move into the neighbourhood, to be incarnational in our streets,  to be salt & light, to be influential, to be Christ-like.

The BIG questions: how can I attach myself to these? what can I start to do today that can help me live life out of these thoughts?

Please, Have Some Vision

Have some vision…it will change your life. The Bible puts it plainly enough – people without vision perish. Personally, I don’t want to perish, so I’m always making sure that I have some sort of vision, set some new goals, have a thought about what I would like the future to look like. If nothing else, it gives me things to work toward and to pray in to.

To have a great year you need to be INTENTIONAL
To have a great year you need to have a PLAN

‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’

How do you know whether you have progressed in life, grown in maturity if you don’t know what you are wanting to see? What are the identifiable markers for growth in 2012 that you are setting for yourself?

Take up the challenge of changing some habits in your life with the purpose of seeing different results. Don’t travel round the same mountain in 2012, why not try & conquer it this year.

Use a Personal Growth Plan – set some goals, have mentors in your world
Identify your Core Values – make decision based on these
Build the Disciplines – what should you be doing
Create some Margin – make space for the doing of them

There’s lots of things you could do. The key is to do something!

Why not share some of your goals & vision for 2012 on here…

Stay Hungry This Christmas

Hi Everyone,

One of Steve Jobs’ famous quotations was ‘Stay Hungry, stay foolish’. (If you don’t know who Steve Jobs is, hint I am typing this on a Mac computer).

Christmas means eating a lot of food (Well it doesn’t just mean that if you know what I mean!!) but for me, a sign that I am getting older is that I look forward to the food more than the pressies, Ha !

Steve Jobs was right. He meant keep following your passions and your purpose, stay inquisitive that’s how we are innovative. Life can make us feel jaded and tired and weary…..beware of this, apathy never produced anything.

I cannot make you hungry…

Jesus said Blessed are those who ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’ – the Greek here means a continuous repeated action, in other words, stay hungry. We are called to stay fresh as Christians and stay hungry after God. He is the one who truly satisfies. We can never be satisfied with self, so stay hungry for God !

Mary said as she praised God “He has filled the hungry with good things”

As we enjoy Christmas and all of God’s gifts, stay hungry for him, He wants to fill you with good things. Christmas is about the good news that God got involved in our pain and our useless attempts at being good and came and  brought life hope, peace and joy.

I can’t wait for Sunday at Xcel Church. Our Sunday morning services at Aycliffe and Darlington will include our children doing the nativity story and then on Sunday afternoon at the Xcel Centre from 4:30pm we will have a Winter Wonderland followed by the Christmas Production at 6pm. Still time to invite a friend it’s going to be amazing !

See you in Church

Love John

A Word From the Pastor

Hi Everyone,

The preparations are well underway for an amazing Christmas here at Xcel Church, as we celebrate the coming of our Saviour.

A few things have stood out to me as I have read the Christmas Story from the Bible again this year .

There are miracles on the other side of the mundane or routine of life.

Mary and Joseph were just going about the busyness of their lives when God stepped in with a miraculous intervention! God is with us in our routines and in our ‘seemingly mundane’ ordinary lives. As Max Lucado says when he talks about the Shepherds ‘He loves to hook the extra onto the ordinary’.

Believe for some miracles wrapped in your Christmas preparations and Christmas Celebrations .

There is no completion without obedience.

Both Mary and Joseph were ‘WILLING and OBEDIENT’ to hear what God was saying, to change their plans accordingly and to do what God was asking them to do, despite cost to themselves.

Mary was willing to add her ordinariness to the extraordinary workings and will of God to see an extraordinary purpose accomplished. She carried an extraordinary ‘package’ into the world, who was an extraordinary child to bring an extraordinary God to ordinary people.

Her response was, ‘Let it be to me according to your word’ [Luke 1:37-38]

Obedience and Willingness make room for the miraculous in our lives.

This Christmas season let’s be open to what God is saying to us, let’s appreciate His presence with us and the precious people around us and let’s make room for others.

Let’s use the next week as an opportunity to invite others to our Christmas events, point people to our website so they can see what’s going on and let’s see lives changed !

See you in Church

Love John

Xcel.Vision.Me.Sharon

Part of the Xcel vision statement talks about ‘where people are empowered and equipped to live out their God-given purpose and destiny’.

I have found this to be true in my own life. We have an amazing leadership team that believes in you as an individual, it’s a team that will encourage you to use the God-given gifts that He has places inside of you.

My first few years of being at Xcel Church consisted of me attending church on a Sunday but never really feeling connected. This all changed a few months after our Darlington service started when I was asked to be a part of the venue team. On saying yes, I hadn’t realised how life changing such a simple decision would be. It has taken me from being an attender, to being on that team, to now running the team that helps to make church happen each week.

Being on team has opened up such a passion in me to serve in the House in anyway I possibly can. It’s a passion that wants to see the team grow, so as church grows, we can do more and reach more people.

Now it’s my turn to encourage you. If you are not already serving in the life of Xcel, why not give it a go. Find out where you fit, then hold on tight and see how our amazing God will take you on a journey of purpose and destiny.

I am honoured to be able to serve and to be a part of a church that is running with a God-given vision to build a House of Hope for all.

[Sharon Watterson is the Venue Team Leader at Xcel Church in Darlington]

3 Leadership Thoughts…

When asked in the staff meeting this morning: ‘what are we learning on the leadership journey?’ Thought we would share them with you…

1. Don’t do it alone.

Think – what is it that only I can do? What could someone else do instead of me? This gets people involved and takes them on the journey with you. It’s about delegating, not just dumping stuff on others.

2. Have some priorities for the day

If it’s not on the list, it invariably gets missed. Have 3 key things, priorities, tasks, call them what you will, things that you want to get done today. Your productivity will increase. Guaranteed.

3. Never stop learning

Enough said. Know that there is always something new to discover. Don’t limit your understanding to what you know, what’s happening in you world. Get out there & keep learning, it helps you to see things differently.

Now it’s your turn. What one thing would you add to the list? What are you learning on the leadership journey? Please leave a comment & let’s encourage one another and learn from one another too.

Xcel.Vision.Me.Vanessa

I believe that vision is a vital part of my walk with God. It clearly states in the bible that without vision the people will perish. I don’t know about you but perishing is something that I do not intend to do. As a church member I follow the vision and the leadership of Xcel Church which I know has been to given them by God.

Vision helps keep you grounded in God and helps you understand the why in what we do and to see the bigger picture.

For me Xcel Church is not just a church, it is my family, it’s where we do life together.

I have been a part of Xcel Church for 24years. I met my husband there, got married and we have raised our children in Xcel Church. This is our vision as a family. We decided when our children were born that we wanted to raise them in accordance to Gods word. They have been to all church services & events since the day they were born. We have trained our kids in Gods ways [Prov 22:6] & His vision for us as a family and as a body. Zack is now 16 and is at an age were he can make his own decisions on what he wants to do but his heart is for the House and doesn’t want to be anywhere else. As we have planted ourselves in the House we have flourished. It’s not always been easy but with God for us who can be against us.

Love my church, Love my God

[Vanessa is a key leader within the Worship & Creative Arts Team at Xcel. Along with her husband, Andrew, they also host a Connect Group]