Join us at the Farm Centre, 420 University Ave.

Charlottetown, PE Sunday mornings 10:00 am - 12:00 PM

THIS IS HOW YOU KNOW YOURE A LEADER

By Allison Vesterfelt
Through a series of accidents, I was in student leadership in high school. I never felt much like a leader. The kids in leadership were young life kids, the rah-rah game-playing kids. They were the danceattending kids, the popular kids, the outgoing, sports-playing, quick-on-their-feet kids. They were the debate kids, the well-spoken kids, the shop-at-Abercrombie kids. I was nothing like them. I was the book-reading kid. The unsureof-herself kid. The slow-to-decide-kid. The wallflower. I didnt belong. And yet, those four years on student leadership taught me about what it took to be a leader. They would show me I already was one, whether I liked it or not. One of my favorite stories from the Bible is the story of Moses. God comes to Moses and asks him to be a leader to his people. Moses response isnt ideal. Its not what youre supposed to say when God himself asks you to do something. But I get it, you know? I understand Moses in this moment. He says, basically, why me, God? Cant you find someone else? Im not really very good at this stuff. They go back and forth for quite awhile before God finally gets angry with Moses. This is not about you! God tells him. Its about ME. Stop worrying. I think the reason I like the story so much is because I feel Moses pain. Most of the time, when God calls me to step up and lead, when He calls me to make a decision or take responsibility, I want to say no. I want to say, Cant you find someone else? Im not really leadership material. And yet, Im starting to think we dont get to decide if were leaders or not. We just get to choose how we steward the position. I used to think some people were leaders and some were followers. It was just the way God made us. But lately Im starting to think I was wrong about that. The world isnt divided between leaders and followers. The world is full of people who are all called to lead in different areas, at different times, in different ways. Leadership isnt about personality or attention or charm. Leadership is about accountability, responsibility and service. God is calling us to lead in our marriages, to lead in our friendships, to lead in our communities, to lead in our workplaces. Hes calling us to lead in our churches, to lead ourselves into new ways of thinking, to better decisions. Hes calling us to lead in our neighborhoods and on airplanes and in elevators. Hs calling us to lead - calling you to lead - like he called Moses. And you might be saying, Really? Why me? Cant you send someone else? But thats okay. It doesnt mean youre a bad leader. In fact, it might mean youre a great leader. The best leaders are reluctant leaders. Or, at least, thats what my friend Thad says, and it really helps me. When I find myself hesitant to take accountability for the story unfolding around me, I remind myself no leader feels totally ready. No leader feels good enough, no leader feels completely prepared. And yet no leader has to. Its not about me anyway. So I can stop worrying.

April

27
IP

2014

Serving:
LYDIA

WORSH SOUND

BANKS

TBD TOM ZA

SPEAK

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WACKI

SHELAG

RENS CHILDTRY MINIS ND NATALIE

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TH ELIZABE HANY T AND BE

ER TODDL RY MINIST

B P TEAM U N A E CL EAD, BRIAN R N, ACEWE M E N R FE NKS, TOM BA RON, OI PATSY D RY AND PER JUSTIN RE WIGMO A N N DO

CLEAN

-UP

Charlottetown Community Church

P.O. Box 1081 Charlottetown, PE C1A 7M4

Pastor Tom Zawacki (902) 892-5001

communitychurch@pei.aibn.com www.charlottetowncommunitychurch.com

Part of the Vineyard Network in Canada

CHURCH NEWS
Church website is updated with all activities. If you would like to get something in the newsletter (prayer request, announcement, etc.), please email it to communitychurch@pei.aibn.com by Wednesday of each week.

CHURCH FINANCES
Four Week Average: $1,471.34 Lets keep praying for God to supply all we need! By Ann Voskamp Four Week Average Needed: $2,000.00

HOW TO LIVE THROUGH THE REALLY HARD STORMS

{because my heart is with all the folks living through all kinds of bad storms this spring} If God really works in everything then why dont we thank Him for everything? She asks me this straight out. My daughter, Hope, and I, we sit in the truck on the fields hem, waiting to give the Farmer his lunch. The Farmers planting bean seeds into earths dark bed. The skys rising darker in the west. He races rain. For every drop of rain You keep from falling on us planting thank you, Lord I had murmured the prayer, water splatting hard against the windshield of the pickup. We need at least one more day of dry weather to plant a years worth of beans, our livelihood. And for every drop of rain that You do let fall thank you, Lord My daughter, Hope, whispers her strange echo. Really? I turn, searching her face. She looks me right in the eye. If God really works in everything, why dont we thank Him for everything? Why do we accept good from His hand and not bad? This is hard. Maybe the hardest of all. She is young. She has much to come. I have held dying babies. Eaten with those who live on the town garbage heap. Wept with women whove been violated, with the bankrupt, the heart crushed, the terminal. And this never stops being true: Neglecting to give thanks only deepens the wound of the world. Doesnt God call His people to a non-discriminating response in all circumstances? [G]iv[e] thanks always and for everything (Ephesians 5:20 ESV). This is the hardest of all. If I only thank Him when the fig tree buds is this selective faith? Practical atheism? What of faith in a God who wastes nothing? Who makes all into grace? And yet is thanking God for everything thanking Him for evil? Rivulets run down glass, blurring my husband and all our seeded prayers. What do I accurately see and know? When we bought the enemys lie in the beginning and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Satan hissed then that wed really see and

know what is good and evil. But the father of lies, hed duped us in the whole nine yards. Though we ate of that tree we did not become like God. We have no knowledge of good and evil apart from God. My seeing, it is not omniscient. It may definitely feel like it but how can I really see the long-term outcome of a death, disaster, dilemma,? Mine is only to faithfully see His Word and wholly obey Him in this. Therein is the tree of life. Is this why He commands giv[e] thanks always and for everything? Because to thank God in all is to refuse Satans relentless lure to be god-like in all. To thank God in all is to bend the knee in allegiance to God Who alone knows all. To thank God in all is to give God glory in all. Is this not our chief end? When I only give thanks for some things, arent I likely to miss giving God glory in most things? Murmuring thanks isnt to deny that an event isnt a tragedy and neither does it deny that theres a cracking fissure straight across the heart. Giving thanks is only this: making the canyon of pain into a megaphone to proclaim the ultimate goodness of God. Our thanks to God is our witness to the goodness of God when Satan and all the world would sneer at us to recant. I lay my hand on the rain-filmed windowpane and I see clearer. But this is the hardest of all: That which I refuse to thank Christ for, I refuse to believe Christ can redeem. The grey skys drumming steady on the trucks tin roof. His perfect love casts out all fears and leaves only thanks and I listen to her sing it, like a chorus with the rain: Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Like a song from the belly of the fish, like a Jonah refrain echoing off the walls of the whale: But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you (Jonah 2:9 ESV) Like a haunting, holy answer to what she asks, the song of the saints, always thanksgiving practicing here the only song that will be sung at the very last of time, Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving to our God (Rev. 7:12 ESV). Thank you, Lord. I lilt it soft with her, the brazen song the faithful sing into the hardest storms. The rain falling hard now.

NOTICES
CLEANUP TEAM NOTICE
Please note that all chairs are now stacked on dollies and stored in the furnace room. There is also a change to the room set-up after Sunday morning. See your team leader or Tom Zawacki if you have questions.

GROUPS

There is lots going on, be free, go where the life is, family first.

OPEN TABLE

THE MONTH OF APRIL Small group and book clubs will be on a break. ALL GROUPS WILL BE ON HOLD UNTIL MAY FOR OPEN TABLE THE FURIOUS LONGING OF GOD BOOK CLUB beginning in May. Mondays 7:00 PM at Zawackis SO YOU DONT WANT TO GO TO CHURCH ANYMORE BOOK CLUB
7:00 PM at Zawackis Final meeting April 30th

OFFERING NOTICE
If donating cash please use envelopes This allows us the ability to provide you with an accurate giving record at years end.

ONLINE DONATIONS
Go to www.charlottetown communitychurch.com At the top of the page click the word Donate (next to Newsletter) Secure donations via PayPal Can donate with or without a PayPal account

WOMENS GROUP on hold until May. Wednesdays 7:00 PM

At Linda MacFarlanes house.

NIGHT OF WORSHIP AND PRAYER May 2 First Friday of the Month 7:00 PM at Zawackis

ISLAND GATHERING
7:00 PM, TUESDAY, MAY 6TH WELLSPRING PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1722 PETERS ROAD, MONTAGUE

THURSDAY NIGHT QUESTIONS GROUP Thursdays 7:00 PM beginning May 8

This group is currently full due to space capacity. If you are interested in hosting and/or leading a new Questions group, please contact Tom Zawacki.

GET INVOLVED AT CHARLOTTETOWN COMMUNITY CHURCH

OUR ELDERS TEAM
The elders are: Wayne & Natalie Simmons, Errol & Shelagh Campbell, Garfield & Brenda MacDonald and Tom & Nadine Zawacki. Please feel free to contact us anytime with your thoughts, questions or ideas.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Positions we are often looking to have help with are:

OFFERINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

We are looking for people willing to take up the offering and make weekly announcements. Please contact Tom if interested to be added to a schedule.

COMMUNION
We do communion on the first Sunday of each month. We are looking for volunteers to offer a meditation and lead us through that part of the service. Please see Tom if interested to be added to a schedule.

FACEBOOK
Joining the Charlottetown Community Church Facebook group is the fastest way to get up to the minute news, prayer requests and get in on discussions. Check it out today!

MEDIA (SOUND & VIDEO), WORSHIP TEAMS, CLEAN-UP TEAMS, CHILDRENS MINISTRY