Good Neighbours

Just a quick update.

We have an opportunity as a church to 'SERVE Christ's mission in the world' at the Milton Good Neighbours Community Day, Sat. May 5th. They are looking for volunteers to help with some spring cleaning  for those who need it and some community clean up.

 

It would be awesome if we could show up with a group of volunteers from PORTICO and PORTICO Milton, help the community and meet some new people!

Register HERE to volunteer on Saturday, May 5th! More info on the website.

Pastor Jeff

He is Risen!

He is risen indeed! Please accept this as my personal invitation for you to join us at PORTICO Milton, Best Western Milton Inn, 161 Chisholm Dr. Milton ON, Sunday April 8, 2012 at 10:15am for our very first Easter service together as a Campus. I am looking forward to this Resurrection Sunday and the opportunity to celebrate the Risen Christ together with friends and family and loved ones.

We will feature special music as well as a unique presentation of the message 'What Brings You To The Tomb'! All are welcome! Bring your friends!

ALSO - we extend a special invitation for you to join us at our main campus, 1814 Barbertown Rd, Mississauga for one of our Good Friday services, Fri. Apr. 6 at 8:30am or 10:30am.

Blessings,

Pastor Jeff

Easter is Coming

Well - two weeks from this Sunday is Resurrection Morning! We are looking forward to an incredible service celebrating together the Resurrection of our Saviour!

Our mission is 'Helping people find their way back to God.' As I mentioned in my last post, I trust that you are praying for this service and also planning to invite someone to attend with you. Easter Sunday, Apr. 8 at 10:15am is a tremendous opportunity for us to meet new people in our community who may not come out to church any other Sunday of the year.  We want to give people opportunity on any given Sunday to say 'Yes' to Jesus - and this Easter Sunday will be no different. We will present the gospel and make a clear and clarion call for individuals to say 'Yes' to Jesus, helping them find their way back to God. We also have a special free gift for all of our first time visitors

In addition, don't forget that we will be joining together with our larger church family back at the Main Campus, 1814 Barbertown Rd. for our Good Friday services at either 8:30am or 10:30am on Friday Apr. 6. This is always a moving and poignant service as we remember Christ's death together and receive Communion.

Continue to pray for all of our services, and in particular, this special weekend.

Other Notes:
Pastor Doug's Sabbatical
The dictionary defines a sabbatical this way. 'Any extended period of leave from one's customary work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.'

As announced two Sundays ago, our Elder Board has approved a 3-month Sabbatical period for Pastor Doug who has served as PORTICO's Senior Pastor for the past nearly 12 years. Beginning April 10, Pastor Doug and Laura will be away from PORTICO for a period of three months carrying out his Elder approved Sabbatical plan with no work responsibility or contact with PORTICO. In his absence, I (Pastor Jeff) will be assuming the day to day leadership responsibilities at PORTICO in concert with our Elder Board. This will necessitate my being at 1814 Barbertown Rd. for at least half of the Sundays during this three month period. I am thrilled to let you know that Pastor Rick Carrol will be helping to fill the gap and assist in leadership at our Milton Campus, preaching on the Sundays when I am back at 1814 Barbertown as well as helping with the planning and other responsibilities related to the Campus.

I would appreciate your prayers for Pastor Doug and Laura as he embarks on this Sabbatical journey, that he will truly recharge and re-energize and return in July with renewed and fresh vision for the ministry season ahead. Also, please pray for Pastor Rick and myself as we take on these added responsibilities. Ultimately, keep praying for PORTICO and all of our venues and campuses and ministries that we will daily achieve our mission of 'Helping people find their way back to God.'

Blessings,

Pastor Jeff

Back in Town!

Hi Everyone!

Remember me?

Well, we hope so. It's only been one Sunday. Sharon and Alana and I are back from a week's vacation in the great state of Texas! We had an incredible time visiting family and seeing the sights, and of course let's not forget TEXAS BBQ!

But we did miss all of you. I know that you were in great hands with Pastor Rick and Jordan and the team who were on deck and I hear you had a great service. It's so nice to know we can get away and everything is so amazingly well cared for!

This Sunday we continue with our 'Red Letters' series talking about the church in Thyatira.  We also have pricing information to share with you this week for our 2013 adventure to Turkey and Israel. I hope to see as many of you there as possible!

One last thing. Please begin to pray about our Easter services coming up on Good Friday, April 6th at 8:30am and 10:30am (joining with main campus at 1814 Barbertown Rd.) and on Sunday April 8th at the Best Western in Milton. In particular I am asking you to begin praying about who you can invite for our Easter Sunday service to attend with you. This is an incredibly opportune special day to invite people to church, and we want to make the best of this opportunity. The message of Christ's death and resurrection is one that most naturally culminates with a strong call to say 'YES' to Jesus, and I guarantee that we will make that call on Easter Sunday morning. So let's pray...and invite.

Praying safe travel for those who are away for March Break.  You will be missed! See the rest of you on Sunday...AND DON'T FORGET TO SPRING FORWARD! Clocks go ahead one hour this Saturday night!

Blessings,

Pastor Jeff

Another First

This past Sunday at PORTICO Milton we marked yet another first in our journey.

We were privileged to stand alongside Andrew and Kate Croft as they dedicated Eleanor Mae Croft to the Lord. I am praying and believing that this will be the first of many children that we will have the honour of dedicating at PORTICO Milton. They are literally the future of the church.

We also began a new series 'Red Letters - Restoring Faith In The Church'. Sunday we talked about Jesus' letter to the church at Ephesus and learned that it's easy sometimes to drift spiritually away from Christ.  We need to remember our first love, and repent and do the things we did at first.

This coming Sunday we hope to see everyone back for the second message in the series 'Red Letters', including many of you that we have not seen for a while, as we talk about Jesus' letter to Smyrna and the topic of suffering. We all go through difficult times. Come and hear Jesus' action plan for dealing with them.

Also...if you haven't registered for our Holy Spirit Emphasis Day this coming Sat. Feb. 25th you can do so HERE. This will be a fantastic day filled with teaching about the Holy Spirit and culminating with a great Worship and Holy Spirit experience at 6pm in the evening. Your $20 registration fee covers a full breakfast, lunch, and supper. Don't miss this!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Vision Leaks

I'm sure it was Bill Hybels who I first heard say this. 'Vision leaks'. He was referring to the fact that as we lead in the church, people need to be reminded often about the vision and where we are heading, because over time, we can get so busy and involved or maybe just so into a routine that we forget what it's all about - vision leaks.

So here's a quick reminder. At PORTICO our mission is 'helping people find their way back to God'. That is what we are working to accomplish. More and more people, finding their way back to a God who loves and cares about them.

We have a vision to do that by being One church, preaching One message, but with Many expressions.  And PORTICO Milton is one of those expressions.

Our core values are Connect, Grow and Serve...Connecting with Christ and His family, Growing together in Christ-likeness and Serving Christ's mission in the world.

So far at our campus, we are enjoying great times connecting with Christ and His family.  Many are serving in various areas of ministry for which we are extremely grateful.  And we will continue to need others to step up and serve Christ's mission in Milton with us in various areas of ministry.

In addition, we want to help facilitate our Growing together in Christ-likeness.  I pray that the Biblical messages are giving you lots of pause for thought and application and growth in your own spiritual lives. But I also know that there is an element of growth that can only happen in the context of a caring group of believers who are learning and growing and praying together. So far, we have one of these Community Life Groups meeting in Milton. I've been a part of this group and it has been great to make new friends and foster those relationships as we learn together from each other and from God's Word.

And now - I'd like to get a few more groups started - well one more at least. We can start there. So if you've been coming to church on Sundays but you're looking for more, come and talk to me or send me an email and we will do whatever we can to help get new Community Life Groups up and running in Milton.

By the way - the existing group would love to have you join them if Thursday evenings at 7pm works for you, hosted by Bob & Trudy Ball, 603 Caverhill Cres. Milton. Just give them a heads-up if you're coming so they can make sure and have a chair and a snack ready for you! You can email them here.

AND, if you're looking for ways to serve at our campus we have opportunities in kids ministry, ushering, greeting, connecting, worship arts, setup and tear-down, and tech. I would love to talk with you.

Blessings,

Pastor Jeff

IMPORTANT LINKS!

Register for Bill and Pam Farrell Marriage Seminar, 'Men are Like Waffles, Women are Like Spaghetti' HERE. Date is Saturday Feb. 18th, 9am - 3:30pm. Seminar cost is $50, lunch on your own.




 

Register for HOLY SPIRIT EMPHASIS DAY at PORTICO HERE! Date is Saturday Feb. 25th, 9am - 8:30pm. All day teaching on the Holy Spirit and 6pm Worship and Holy Spirit Service! Cost $20 includes full breakfast, lunch, and supper.

Adopt Your Street

How to Adopt Your Street

Transformation Canada has provided a website where you can register as a street adopter. The value of this approach is that it allows us to track how many streets are adopted in each community as we strive towards having our cities fully adopted and prayed for every day. Experience has clearly demonstrated that this sets the stage for powerful transformation in any community.

Go to the 'Transform Our World' website HERE and click on the 'ADOPT YOUR STREET' graphic on the right.

Follow the steps on the new page that comes up:

1. Enter your address. The address you enter can be your home or business, a local school, apartment or other location you wish to pray for each day.
2. Drag the blue balloon so it is over the address you entered. Use the + sign on the left to move in closer and closer until you see your street.
3. Select the local Prayer Initiative you wish to be part of by clicking on “See all Prayer Initiatives” link and choosing one. In our case you would choose 'PORTICO Milton'.
4. Describe the needs of your street or area if you wish.

Then click on 'Adopt This Street' at the bottom.

Note: The Prayer Initiative you choose will only know your address. It will be able to email you through the system to provide updates, but it does not receive your email address.

Thank you for making the effort to adopt your street and pray for God's peace and blessing in your neighbourhood. And special thanks to Jim Craig, who provided us with this helpful information.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Impacting the Town of Milton

Obviously, having invested in launching our campus in the community of Milton, we are extremely 'for' reaching our community and having an impact in the Town of Milton.

Too often though, we can be guilty (myself included), of setting up our Sunday services and supporting programs and expecting people to come to us.  And we think that in order to do anything outside of that framework, that we have to run a program or a class or offer something organized to meet some specific need.  Nothing wrong with any of those things.  We want to be able to do many things like that through PORTICO Milton as we are able and have the space and volunteer manpower to pull them off.  But that time isn't right now...soon we hope...but not right now.

That is why it was so refreshing to have Rev. Jim Craig come and challenge us this past Sunday about how to bless our community.  Because all of us can pray and speak blessing into our neighbourhoods and workplaces - and we can start right now!

Jeremiah 29:7
Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.

The simplest way to do this is to pray for peace and blessing over all of the homes, businesses, schools and other sites on your street. This is a biblical prayer that Paul often used to start his letters to churches (see Phil. 1:1-2, 1 Thes. 1:1).

When you pray peace and blessing over the people on your street, you are asking God to work in their lives in whatever way they need in order to draw them to Himself, the true source of peace.

You can pray this simple prayer while you walk along the street, while you drive down it, sitting at home or lying in bed (if you forget that day!). Simply say, "Lord, I pray peace and blessing over every family on this street. I declare that the Kingdom of God has come to (street name) (see Mark 1:14, 15). Work in their hearts and accomplish Your purposes in their lives. In Jesus name, amen."

As your pastor - let me encourage you - begin to do this right now. It doesn't have to be public and weird. It's just between you and God. It will take an exercise of your faith to quietly pray and believe that God is going to birth great change and transformation out of your prayers. But I believe that is exactly what He is going to do as each of us faithfully pray peace and blessing for our communities.

Watch my next post on specific information on how to 'Adopt-Your-Street' if you haven't done so already.

Blessings,

Pastor Jeff

Resources:
Click HERE to listen to Jim's message.

Check out these books if you want to read more about prayer evangelism and community transformation.

Prayer Evangelism

That None Should Perish

New Year Full of New Opportunities

It is officially 2012. Well into 2012 actually. Today is January 6th. And please don't forget, this Sunday January 8th, 10:15am we are back in Milton at the Best Western.

On New Year's Day, we were not in Milton but had the opportunity to get together between services at the main PORTICO Campus at 1814 Barbertown Rd. I have to say that this was a highlight of my New Year's Day!

Being able to gather, even for a brief time, to fellowship and pray together was wonderful. It is amazing how we have begun to come together and mesh as a group and how people actually looked forward to being together. We had Starbucks coffee and Timbits too, which was awesome, but not near the most important part.

I shared from a passage in Hebrews on New Year's Day and I wanted to mention a couple of the verses here.

Hebrews 10:23-25
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

My prayer is that this would be a theme for our campus as we move into our first full year in existence. We are extremely grateful to so many of you who have served and are serving in various areas of ministry already at the campus. God has done so much for us in the early weeks and months of our existence. But he has much more to do. So be encouraged...and be encouragers of one another...spur one another on toward love and good deeds. That means reaching out into your neighbourhoods and serving faithfully with your gifts, and encouraging others to do the same.

Working together we have great hope...and great days ahead.

In case you missed this small article in the paper - here it is!

God is so good!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff