Our New Name

Last weekend we made the big announcement that we have changed the name of our church from Victory Christian Centre to Relate Church. Everyone  that I talked with agreed that it was a perfect fit.

A name is very important and should be very purposeful… it should describe who you are.  When I announced the changed, I told our congregation that it was the result of years of discovery.  Just as we don’t choose our destiny but rather we discover it, in the same way we have discovered that our purpose and identity as a church has been to teach and lead people to relate with God, His House, our community and our world.  Over the years as we have endeavored to follow God’s leading we have found our influence to be more and more in the areas of building healthy relationships. Our TV show is entitled, “Relate with John and Helen” and it is a mission’s work of our church trying to help our broken world build healthy lives through relating to God and each other.

Congratulations Relate Church!

John

p.s. you can follow Relate Church on twitter.com/relate_church

Happy Easter!

In a world where multitudes struggle under the curse of Constantly Negative News, smashed financial dreams and the drowning tide of unemployment, the promise of Newness ahead – the promise of Easter soars higher than ever!  Easter is the Joy that comes in the morning following the darkest of nights.  

Picture the women coming to the grave that first Easter morning.  Their heads were hung low void of strength and hope.  Their eyes had witnessed the darkest of nights that Friday past.  They wondered in despair, “Who would roll away the stone?”  Their dreams had been crucified, their strength paralyzed and their future impossible.  That was the setting for God’s New Beginning!  Easter!

In the simple indisputable fact that Jesus rose from the grave, everything changes!  Death is no longer final.  In Jesus, our past is forgiven and our future is secure… heaven for all eternity!  Easter is the lifter of our head, the wind beneath our wings and the joy that comes in the morning. 

My prayer is for multitudes to experience the resurrection power of God this Easter… salvation forever and for whatever your need is today and everyday.

Happy Easter,

John and Helen

Our generosity is the measure of our capacity, leadership and significance

This week’s message is about generosity… one of my life long goals. I have been thinking a lot about generosity over the last few months. Watching the effect of the very generous lives of my brother Joe, my mother and my father-in-law has forever affected me. The legacy that they left was in direct proportion to the generosity they lived. I want to learn from them and live more generously.

john

Helen has now become an official ‘twit’

She has now joined the twitter world. I think it is a great way to stay in touch… it’s known as the male form of facebook because all it does is update you and you only read those of whom you are following. It allows me to stay connected with friends all over the world… it is not a replacement for picking up the phone and calling but it is better than ‘out of sight out of mind’ not knowing where they are or what they’re doing. I think staying twitter connected has acted as a catalyst for me to stay connected better to the friends I’m committed to. To join, just go to twitter.com and open an account. its free. If you’d like to follow Helen or myself just search us (our usernames are helenburns and pjhburns) and click on follow… we’ll try to keep it fairly interesting and updated.

Stay connected – to Him and others,

john

Helen and I are getting 4 days in Santorini to celebrate 35 years of marriage

We spent a few days last year in Santorini and loved it!  We will celebrate 35 years of marriage this May and will celebrate it in one of our favorite spots in all the world.  This video clip was taken there and will give you a bit of the view.  Enjoy

Thank you for the great comment on our TV show

Dear John, it’s 11pm on a Friday night in Australia and my husband and I were “channel surfing” when we stopped to hear your very powerful words on a show called “How to Talk to your Teens About Sex” (episode 5)…Wow!! We were so touched and affected by what you said in those 30 min. So many times, we looked at each other and smiled, relating to your examples, inspired by your advise and touched by your references to God and Jesus. When the credits rolled, we sat quietly, looking at each other, realising that we both had a number of “lightbulb” moments (when something really makes sense). Your program sparked a long discussion between us re: the importance of open communication with our 12 year old son and 15 year old daughter; to prepare our 12 year old for the very natural development of his sexuality and not to feel ashamed or guilty; the need to show affection to our 15 year old daughter, esp from Dad;and finally the important place that the Lord and Jesus have in our lives. Thank you John, thank you for your enlightening and heartfelt advice which has made such an impression on us and has inspired us to be better, more-communicative parents. We anxiously await the next episode!!

K and J

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p.s. you can access this series at johnandhelenburns.com