You’re ready to DO something! Soar Heartland is an opportunity to Connect with God’s heart for the lost, Activate with outreach into our community and to Transform personally.
Take FIVE days (normally Soar runs for the full Spring break), join as an individual, a home group or as a family and engage with what God is doing right in our own back yard! View the following video to hear what Soar is all about.
This Friday (Jan 22) there will be an online pre-Soar worship gathering that you are welcome to attend to get a taste of what is coming. You can register for this FREE event by clicking HERE.
HOW TO ENGAGE:
Kelly and Lani Wiens are going to lead a team from Winnipeg Centre Vineyard and are looking for others to join them on this adventure. While youth are the main target, family teams, intergenerational groups, your home group…all are welcome to join the WCV team.
WHEN: March 26-30, 2021
WHERE: Live-streamed to our location (we’re really hoping we’ll be able to be in person at some level by this date), however, modifications are in place if this isn’t possible
COST (suggested donation): $90/individual, $120/family, if we are in person, there will be a delivered meal option of $75/person (4 lunches/4 suppers)
WHAT: check out this PDF to get an overview of what the program looks like copy the link below into your browser and view. As a group there will be worship, teaching, prayer ministry, learning and ministry outreach opportunities.
Vineyard Canada National Call to Prayer Jan 20 – 30, 2021
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful”
Colossians 4:2
If ever there has been a moment in the history of our Canadian Vineyard Family that we are critically aware of our need for God’s wisdom, it’s now… (more on Vineyard Canada website)
We are going to be hosting four evenings of storytelling and teaching designed to connect you with the heart, vision and practices of WCV. Sometimes we all need a reminder of why we’re here, what God wants to do among us and through us, and what kind of community we are becoming. These evenings will do just that.
They are for newcomers to the community, old-timers who’ve been around forever, and anyone in between.
Connect to:
Our Vision,
WCV’s Core Practices & Vineyard Values,
Where we’ve come from and where we’re going,
The kind of community God is calling us to become,
Each other!
Four Thursday Evenings at 7pm.
Feb 11, 18, 25 & Mar 4.
Via Zoom (register to get the link).
Register here. Registered participants will receive a package in the mail. Be sure to register early to allow time for snail mail!
“You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
We’re excited to be doing Christmas Eve online via Zoom this year. We’ve got some fun for all ages planned. We hope you can join us with your warm drink in hand, a candle ready to be lit, and hearts full of anticipation for the arrival of Jesus!
December 24, 6pm via Zoom.
Watch your email for the link to the Zoom meeting which will be sent out within 48 hours beforehand. If you don’t get emails from WCV, please contact the office to receive the Zoom link.
Vineyard Canada is hosting another National Worship Gathering on December 27th, 11am our time. Various Vineyard churches across the country will participate as we worship, reflect on 2020, and prepare to enter the New Year together. This gathering will be live on Vineyard Canada’s Facebook page as well as well as posted on VC’s Youtube channel.
God is neither confused nor disoriented in these troubled times. If there’s one thing we’ve learned during these last few years it is that God is both faithful and trustworthy. It just might be true that the Holy Spirit is most active in rough times – bringing comfort and strength to the weak and overwhelmed, offering wisdom to those who ask, guiding and nudging, speaking and empowering. God is here – with each of us wherever we are – even right now as you read this. God’s Kingdom is here – at hand – coming – delayed. All of it wrapped up and enacted by feeble hands and knocking knees (Isa 35:3). We’re praying that this reality would be planted deep down in each of our hearts and would produce a rich harvest of hope in due course. We are in this together and God is with us.
Colossians 1:9-12 is a good picture of what the Holy Spirit has been nudging us towards, namely: transformation, connection and activation.
“Since we first heard about you, we’ve kept you always in our prayers that you would receive the perfect knowledge of God’s pleasure over your lives, making you reservoirs of every kind of wisdom and spiritual understanding. We pray that you would walk in the ways of true righteousness, pleasing God in every good thing you do. Then you’ll become fruit-bearing branches, yielding to his life, and maturing in the rich experience of knowing God in his fullness! And we pray that you would be energized with all his explosive power from the realm of his magnificent glory, filling you with great hope.”
– Col 1:9-12 (TPT)
Transformation
The primary calling of being a disciple of Jesus is to become more and more like Him in our thoughts, habits, and actions – learning to be like Him in every way. Paul says, “all the while you will grow as you learn to know God better and better” (Col 1:10). This is a life-long process of maturing into Christlikeness – of living more fully into our image-of-God-ness (Gen 1). This must be kept in the forefront. The paradox here is that when we strive for transformation, it becomes elusive. However, when we focus on Jesus – his life, relationships, thoughts, actions, etc. – we become more like Him. We become like what we worship and we reflect what we worship.
Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
1 John 2:6
“When human beings give their heartfelt allegiance to and worship that which is not God, they progressively cease to reflect the image of God. One of the primary laws of human life is that you become like what you worship; what’s more, you reflect what you worship not only to the object itself but also outward to the world around. Those who worship money increasingly define themselves in terms of it and increasingly treat other people as creditors, debtors, partners, or customers rather than as human beings. Those who worship sex define themselves in terms of it (their preferences, their practices, their past histories) and increasingly treat other people as actual or potential sex objects. Those who worship power define themselves in terms of it and treat other people as either collaborators, competitors, or pawns. These and many other forms of idolatry combine in a thousand ways, all of them damaging to the image-bearing quality of the people concerned and of those whose lives they touch.”
N.T. Wright in Surprised by Hope
“You should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1Connection
Being together releases energy. Encouragement happens in community. Covid-19 has restricted relationships and thrust many into survival mode. We’re praying that the varied moments of connection that we do have will be like life-lines that will not just keep us afloat, but actually pull to safety those who feel overwhelmed. This is not a solitary activity. In the Colossian passage above Paul uses a plural “you” (Col 1:9-12). A simple text message to someone can be huge. A phone call, a hand-written note, a hot meal – small gestures like these communicate love and plant seeds of hope. Like Paul, we’re praying that we would all be strengthened with God’s power, have patience to endure, and be filled with energizing joy (selections of Colossians 1:9-12 NLT). The best path to this? Connection.
We are excited by the growth of Home Groups this year. There are also a number of Triads who are meeting regularly and sharing life together and a number of beautiful moments of connection have been catalyzed through CarePortal. These are all parts of the “fruit bearing branches” that comprise WCV. We believe God wants to increase these and actually infuse our community with energy through these growing relationships with each other, and those who are yet to be part of our church!
“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Activation
We believe this next year God will lead us into reaffirming who we are and why we are placed at 782 Main St. We don’t want to just do the same old things, but just a little better. There are new expressions of who we are that are going to find fresh legs in this next season. We want to find ways to notice the inner leadings of the Holy Spirit that will result in life and joy – not just another thing to do in an already busy life.
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
Hebrews 10:24-25
As we lean into Jesus, we will be transformed. As we lean into each other, we will be energized and encouraged. As we follow the Spirit’s promptings we will be led outside of ourselves in service of others. Let hope be planted! Let your kingdom come!
Wait a minute… We’re talking about Advent and Christmas already?! Wasn’t it just yesterday we were walking around in sandals? In this year of incredible disruptions, we now find ourselves at the front end of the season of Advent. Of all the things we don’t know, one thing we know for sure is that this season won’t be like any of the other Christmases we’ve experienced. Yet, the core reason we celebrate remains unchanged. The challenge is to find ways to root ourselves in the beauty of the CHRISTmas season while living in the times we do.
What does it mean for us to wait for the Messiah in this season with many of our regular traditions stripped back? There will be no huge parties, no group celebrations or traditional fanfare and, most likely, no large extended family gatherings. That’s a lot of “no”s! What does it look like for us to say “yes” to Jesus and still prepare to celebrate his coming in a time like this? This year our guiding idea for Advent is “Getting Ready to Celebrate”.
Each Sunday there will be a theme leading us in progression to Christmas Eve – all aimed at helping us get ready to celebrate Jesus’ coming and presence among us: Invitation > Preparation > Waiting > Arrival. Along with each Sunday’s theme there will be an “engagement activity”. These will be fun and simple opportunities to explore the topic in a practical and creative way. Advent packages explaining these activities will be delivered before advent to every household with a child or youth – but this does’t preclude others from participating. As everyone does participate in the activity, we’re encouraging us all to take pictures and post to our Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag: #WCVadvent2020. Instructions will be given online every Sunday morning.
A Ham for everyone: Sadly, we’re not going to be able to gather together as we have in years past to enjoy each other’s company at our annual feast. However… we have purchased a whole hog-load of hams (say that fast 10 times!) and we’d like everyone in WCV to get one. The idea is simple: to bless everyone in the community and provide opportunities for connection. We are going to package up the hams along with some extra supplies for our Christmas Eve service this year. You can watch for these deliveries mid December.
Speaking of Christmas Eve, we’re working on plans and will update you as they are firmed up.
Lastly, if find yourself struggling this season, please don’t do so alone… reach out to your Home Group leader, a member of the Leadership Team, Andy at the office, or a trusted friend. If you know of someone who could use some extra groceries, please contact the office and we can make arrangements to share some food (we will give you an extra ham and you can add to it to make a meal). We are here to help.
In the next two days (Nov 27-28) someone will be delivering an Advent Engagement Package to your door! So glad that deliveries are A-okay during Covid! We hope that this will be a fun way for our whole community to engage in Advent activities as we prepare together, while we’re apart.
The theme for this year is ‘Getting Ready for a Party’. We want to engage in all the activities that you normally do as you anticipate gathering together, except that our focus is preparing for Jesus’ arrival. You can expect to engage in some party planning activities throughout the season.
We hope that you’ll enter into the spirit of the season and enjoy the activities that we’ve put together for you. Please post your pictures on FB or Insta with the hashtag #WCVadvent2020
At our upcoming AGM (Nov 30 at 7pm) we will be recommending the following people for the Leadership Team as either Lay Elders or members of the Board. We asked each of them to share (in 3-4 mins) a little about themselves, what they love about WCV and why they’re excited to serve in this position.
Cornelius & Tania Martens – Lay EldersChristy Chan – Lay ElderLois & Lindsay Ward – Lay EldersSara Epp – BOD
We are excited to announce that we have hired a new Kids and Youth Ministries Director. After receiving quite a number of applications and conducting interviews with a few very strong candidates, the hiring team felt a strong sense that Lani Wiens was the right choice for us. She brings with her a wealth of experience in both kids and youth ministry, is creative and is ready to go! We are excited to welcome her to the team, and to the community. You’ll be hearing more from her in the coming weeks but in the meantime below is a little bio.
Welcome Lani!
Lani Weins
Hi, I’m Lani Wiens. Kelly and I left our organic farm in Saskatchewan and moved to Winnipeg on my birthday, Aug 24 of this year (we still own the farm but that’s another story). We’re following God’s invitation to start a new ministry called Firerunner under the supervision and in partnership with Multiply through the Trek program, so we’ve been ‘upstairs’ every day for the last two months. The building feels very much like home. One of our fellow Trek participants posted your ad in our group chat and I felt like it might just be for me. I’ve been involved with children and youth ministry for close to 30 years in one way or another.
Kelly and I have six kids (4 boys and 2 girls), our oldest is married and presented us with our first grandbaby earlier this year. The two youngest (and our dog) are with us and the other three are in Saskatoon, Montreal and Hepburn. We are looking forward to getting to know you and serve you. We like swimming in the creative stream through music, writing, storytelling, fabric, paint, renovating things, decorating things and general mayhem. We’re always up for a good board game, too.
You all know that a few months ago we closed Flatlanders Inn. This ministry had just celebrated 13 years of being officially open – you can add a few more years if you count the dreaming and couch surfing stages. So much life, support and goodness happened in those walls for the over 130 people who called Flatlanders home over the years.
Once the decision to close Flatlanders was made, we determined to ensure the heart and vision would remain in some fashion. In one sense, this isn’t ours to make happen. We know that the good work that was wrought into many who called Flatlanders home won’t quickly fade. However, for those who never had the privilege to live in or be part of the community in some way, we wanted to make a way for you to share in the goodness of the work of God that occurred over the past 13+ years. To that end, a book has been created – pictures and recipes gathered, stories collected and values shared all to help mark what was. The result is “Flatlanders Inn: from beginning to end”, produced by Amanda Leighton. It is anchored in the values that guided the community along with various reflections and stories.
Grab a warm drink and settle in for a good read – and celebrate a good work of God (click on the link below).
The Annual General Meeting will be Monday November 30, 7pm at 782 Main St and online. Please note the date change.
Our purpose here is to bring you up to speed on some important developments in WCV. A few of these changes have been in the works for a few years, other reports are simply what we do on a yearly basis. Our main purpose isn’t so much to inform you with reports, but rather to inspire you about our future together. There are a few shifts in leadership that more accurately reflect the season we are in.
For those who wish to attend remotely, an online meeting invitation will be sent to all current members on our mailing list. Please note that you must register by acquiring a ticket via the emailed invitation as we must have a proper record of attendance. You can watch for this email as we get closer to Nov 30.
You’ll notice that we postponed the date of the AGM from Oct 19 to Nov 30. This was for a few reasons:
Because of the need to have a robust forum for remote participation we needed a little more time to fine-tune our new audio and video set-up.
We want to ensure maximum participation. Even though we originally published the date on Sept 24 it has become clear to us that we need to do a better job at promoting it.
We want to synchronize our Prayer and Fasting with our AGM. We are praying this will be a time of God imparting his guidance and vision to us. We’ll explore this and more at our AGM. Here is more info on our time of Fasting and Prayer.
With so much to worry about these days, here are 5 simple ideas from our friends at Vineyard Digital Resources:
5 Ideas For Overcoming Anxiety During The COVID-19 Pandemic
As human-made constructs begin to crumble around us, it’s easy to get caught up in fearful thinking that spreads faster than any virus. We can find ourselves stressing out about issues and details that we truly have no control over.
Yet most of the things we think we can control are out of our hands anyway. However, we can control our response to what’s happening around us.
Choosing a path of faith in the midst of tumultuous times helps keep our focus where it should be, fixed on Jesus. And here are a few actions we can take to maintain a perspective that’s grounded in God’s Word.
1. Pray.
As simple and cliché as it sounds, prayer is how we connect to God. And when we’re anxious, there’s nothing more calming than speaking with the one who holds the universe in his hands.
Throughout the ages, God has had plenty of practice dealing with fearful people. And Paul wasn’t blind to that tendency in people either, even passionate followers of Jesus.
He reminds Timothy, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (1 Timothy 1:7, ESV). That is a truth God wants us to remember, which is especially important in times like these.
2. Limit the news.
In desperate search for a ray of hope, we can fall into a habit of scouring the internet or flipping through the news channels in search of something positive. But in this era of bitter partisan divide, we get more titillating content than uplifting stories.
While dwelling on things to strengthen our minds in Christ might be more challenging, we must be vigilant to do so. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, the people there were experiencing a difficult time as well.
After urging them not to be anxious about anything, he concludes the passage by exhorting them to consider more carefully what they think about:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8, ESV).
We should heed Paul’s words as much as we ever have right now in an effort to sideline fear.
3. Start a thankfulness journal.
Negativity can create a downward spiral that isn’t easy to pull out of if we aren’t careful. The snowball effect of such thought patterns, one rooted in ungratefulness, places us on a path to bitterness.
But cultivating gratitude can utterly redirect your course.
David presses this point in Psalms: “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds” (Psalm 9:1).
Each morning when you wake up, write down three things you’re thankful for—and different things than the day before. As you create a new habit of dwelling on all the blessings in your life, your day will start on an uplifting note.
And you’ll likely start to see just how much you have to be thankful for.
4. Connect with encouraging people.
More than ever, we need people in our lives who will help us cast off fear and boldly don courage. And that won’t be easy to do if we’re continuing to engage with fear mongers intent on dragging us in the mire with them.
Solomon’s godly wisdom shines through in Proverbs 17:17: “A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.”
Seek out — through phone calls and video chats, of course — friends who breathe life into you and lift you up when you’re down. Linking arms with fellow believers will enable us to stay strong even when we feel like crumbling.
5. Read through Psalms.
David’s life was a rollercoaster ride unlike any other in the Old Testament. He went from being anointed at a young age to become the next king of Israel and slaying Giants to being hunted by Saul and his army.
After David assumed the throne, he expanded the kingdom of Israel to its largest point before experiencing a series of setbacks and missteps that destroyed the lives of many of his descendants.
But no matter the situation, David never stopped seeking the Lord. In Psalm 69, David gets brutally honest about his situation in life: “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.”
And for all the moments of despair David expresses, we also find him praising God in the midst of his dark circumstances. This book serves as a poignant reminder that what we are experiencing might be unique to this day and age, but it’s not novel.
Many generations before us have been through similar situations—and oftentimes, much worse—yet still held fast to their faith. That’s one powerful lesson we can take away from the life of David and his writings.
As we navigate through these times together in isolation, let’s remember that we’re not alone. God is with us no matter what. May His peace be with us as seek Him.
