Harvest Sunday...Lot's of Food!

Sunday, September 24th

Harvest Festival
This Sunday we will bring and share lunch together.

DNA will provide paper plates and plastic knives and forks. Please bring some food to share, if you are able.

We've also being invited to donate foods and toiletries to Beacon House which serves the homeless people of Colchester. When you do your weekly shopping could you buy an extra item or two to add to our gift?

After lunch we will have an informal meeting to discuss the details of DNA's Vision and Sunday activities.

During the worship there will be presentations about various Mission Unit Teams.
Three weeks ago we read the story of the blind man who was touched by Jesus twice.
First time he saw men like trees walking second time his vision was perfect.
We want to sharpen our vision in order to do Jesus's mission well!

Praising God in the Town

St. Martin's at 10:35a.m
10:45a.m transformed by DNA
Our Special Children
Although the surroundings look dark...

...the smiles light up the place

(Photos from DNA Sunday service at St. Martin's Church (West Stockwell street) ~ September 17th 2006)

DNA @ St Martins Church

Just to let you know what's happening at DNA in St Martins Church over the next few weeks:-

Wednesdays from 10am till 11am
Prayer Time for DNA, Colchester and beyond

Sundays from 10.30am till 1pm
Our usual Sunday Morning Worship event

Sunday evenings 7pm till 8pm
Sacred Space (a quiet time of listening to God) (not suitable for young children)

These events are open to all if you are free at any time please call in we would love to see you.

DNA Networks, August 2006

Some changes over the next few weeks and months…

Change of VenueFrom the first Sunday in August we will be meeting in St Martin’s, West Stockwell St. We were there for Christmas carols, and we have booked the venue for the three months up until the clocks go back in late October. Park where you can! Whether we stay at St Martin’s depends on heating issues! There is also the possibility of having access to Maldon Road chapel for a few months from November.

Changes to Financial freedom Up until now, DNA Networks had loans to pay from 2001 and 2002 when income did not meet expenditure. These loans will be entirely paid off by the end of July. Hooray! So the trustees have agreed that we can forward funds to others we have sent out to start up church plants. The initial plan is to send £300 a month as a church to the Coreas for the Thailand project and £200 a month to John Jiang for the Shanghai work. What do you think?

People ChangesThe autumn is usually a time of grief in DNA when we send away people we have grown to love and appreciate. We expect that 2006 will be no different. The GAP year is finishing for Rosie, Joe and Dave, who all expect to go off for further study in different places. Others will be leaving after finishing their studies in Colchester. So we’ll be sad again!!

However, our grief is softened because we know that we are sending out people for God’s purposes all over the place- this summer we’ve been able to welcome back several from overseas and nationwide; it’s great to see them!

From Lauingen With Love comes Sandy Vorwerk to spend a year with us as ministry intern. Sandy is 24 and speaks excellent English; she has great enthusiasm for connecting people to God and she loves children. She will arrive in September. Please welcome her warmly and get to know her as you can.

Changed Priorities Ahead...
With the changes to people and venues will also come the need for all of us who have been around for a couple of years or more to participate in teams to grow forward and extend our mission locally More about this later. We have never had greater opportunities!! Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9, 37-38

Local gospel group 'Unity' have released a CD to raise money for imprisoned children in the Philippines. It's called 'His Light Will Shine' and features our very own Naomi Jones! It is currently on sale at Virgin megastore for £2.99 at the front desk. Click here to visit Unity's website.

Incredible Victory!

17th July 2006
Another phenomenal match against Eld Lane, DNA won by 1 wicket off the last ball of the match!! A big crowd rushed on to the pitch to celebrate DNA's victory at the end.
Butch and Simon co-captained. Steve bowled 4 excellent overs, 0-6. Jake took three wickets, Aidan 2 and Jon 3. Simon caught two catches, Christian one and Jake one- all high catches in the outfield. Ben kept tidily and managed a run out near the end. Chris , Christian and Simon bowled tidily.
Chris and Aidan opened bravely but did not score many against quality bowling. Butch came in at three and hit 44, then got out at exactly the right moment for all the young guys to stand up and be counted! Simon and Jon both got a few, but Ben batted well for 14 and Christian held things together with 16 not out including 2 from the last ball. After Alex, Steve and Ian ran hard between wickets contributing vital runs as the match reached its tense conclusion, Christian and last man Jake saw us home by scampering 12 off the last 2 overs.
Eld Lane 108 off 20 overs. DNA 109-9 off 20 overs.

World Cup is over... but great things are happening at DNA!

This Sunday we are back at Philip Morant at 10.45am. Coffee from 10.30ish!!

Thanks to all who worked so hard for the magnificent wedding of Enoch and Pinceau.

MILLIE and HARRISON are two highly popular members of our whole DNA community!! If you haven't met them, they are twins who arrived on planet earth a bit earlier than expected last November. They are a source of great joy to everyone and they usually get to end up in the arms of about half a dozen people each Sunday! Pray for them and also their parents Simon and Sarah and sister Amy, because this Sunday they are to be Baptised.

In addition, Manik and Maple Corea are back in DNA to tell us a little of their plans for church planting in Thailand next year.

You may spot the Rochat family from Switzerland as well,
returning for a visit two years after we farewelled them from DNA at Philip Morant.

Then, on Saturday 22nd July come to celebrate the wedding of Chris Gibbs and Naomi Musgrave at 2pm, St Leonard's Church, Lexden.

Sunday 23rd July will be another lie-in day with a relaxed afternoon of sport (or chilling for the less energetic!!)and a biblical activity led by our Gap year students. More about this at the weekend.

Time to pack up that tent....!!!! Sunday 30th July will be our last week at Philip Morant....
Sunday 7th August will be our first week at St Martin's, West Stockwell St

By the way...watch out for other returning visitors from Japan and Korea in late July and August!!

Cricket News

Report of the DNA cricket for the last two games:

19th June 2006: DNA vs Eld Lane by Ian Hobbs

Another glorious Monday evening and DNA had their 3rd game of the season. Eld Lane were the opponents and DNA were seeking revenge for three close defeats to Eld Lane last year!
Eld Lane battled first and their openers began well but DNA's bowlers were up to the challenge. Young Aidan bowled very well and Sam put in a solid performance gaining some vital early wickets. Enoch and Steve also took important wickets. Jon, Simon and Christian all made important bowling contributions meaning that by the end of the 20 overs Eld Lane had set DNA a target of 79. John (Butch) once again was fantastic in his position behind the wicket and claimed a really good catch! The fielding performance also held keep Eld Lane at bay with good fielding displays from Connor, Ian and Ben.
Jon and Ben opened the batting for DNA. Ben started well and was unlucky to be caught out by one of Eld Lane bowlers. Jon started promisingly but was unfortunate to be bowled out early. Butch and Sam then put up a solid partnership gaining many important runs. Tom batted well and played some rather nice strokes. Enoch batted very well hitting some key boundaries to increase DNA's score. From a tricky 37/5 Aidan batted extremely well and showed great skill and maturity to see the team through. Enoch hit the winning runs to beat Eld Lane. The whole team looks forward to maintain its 100% winning record.
Keep cheering your team!

3rd July 2006: DNA vs Gates

It was another splendid performance by the lads and the Hannah our inspirational lady! Having scored 101/8 in 20 overs DNA controlled the game to restrict Gates to 86/6 to win by 15 runs. The youth in the team did most of the scoring with Aidan playing a mature knock of 13, Christian blasted away with a quick 17 and Ben smashed away to 18 not out. Great wicket keeping by Ben also contributed to the victory. Overall it was a team performance from a young side that is growing in confidence. The evening was rounded with a prayer of thanks by Christian for the wonderful evening.

Next game: 17th July vs Eld Lane

Happy??

Why are they so happy?......

England hasn't won the worldcup yet!

Please ask when you meet them!

DNA Picnic in the Park

There was lots of food, lots of chat, lots of laughter and thank God for lots of Sun!

we had a special visit from.....





Phileo our clown...
Entertained us with a guessing game on the fruit of the Spirit. Reuben Tennens guessed most of the mimes and put the older folk to shame!

Some relaxed under the sun

while.....

some were still hungry and just chewed everything!

Manik and Maple's Blog

Catch up on Manik & Maple's journey...

Manik and Maple's Blog

'Who's Church For?' E-Word

Work Dynamics

"Worthy O Master! Yes, our God!

Take the glory! the honour! the power!

You created it all;

It was created because you wanted it"

(Revelation 4v11 TM)

Have you heard believers' say after Sunday worship,
"that was a great time of worship" or

"I didn't get anything out of worship today"

Let's be clear worship is not limited to the section when we do singing, known as 'praise and worship'. Although some through their marketing would have you believed its all about the quality of the worship leader and group.

Culturally, music is incredibly important for it is a vehicle in which to express thoughts, emotions, hopes, dreams and fantasies of pleasure. However, the significant thing which time and time again interferes and affects Christians is the consumerism in our culture.

The Christian paradigm does not begin with 'I', or me and how I feel. It begins with what Martin Buber calls 'Thou' - God.

Christian worship begins with the amazing, magnificant, resplendent Lord of the Universe, the King of a billion gallexies! Wow, worship is toward God, not self.

Therefore, yeah, there will be times when the music in worship frustrates how you wish to pleasure God by singing and as Matt Redman reminds us 'getting back to the centre, it's all about you Jesus, all about you'.

One more radical thought. Worship is not just a Sunday thing. Worship as Paul said is 'offering our lives as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing (Romans 12)'.

Consequently, Martin Luther wrote:

'A dairy maid can milk cows to the glory of God'.

The lawyer can proceed to defend or prosecute to the glory of God, the driving instructor can assist learner drivers to the glory of God, the house manager can clean to the glory of God. The childminder certainly cares for children to the glory of God. The carpenter, pupil, retired and holidaymaker also live each day to the glory of God. So, each day is an opportunity whether in organised worship, or at leisure or at work to please God.

Watch out golf ball - I'm going whack you to the glory of God!!

Be a blessing to the Lord this week and always.

PRAYER

Lord show us that the whole of our lives is an offering of praise to you.

Help us this day and in the coming week to dedicate what we do

and perform it with an awareness of your presence.

Change the old paradigm of worship just for Sunday alone,

hat we like Mother Teresa see you in what we do, in her case seeing

Jesus in the dying beggar on the street and so tended him

as if it were you Lord Jesus.

In so doing, it changes us from grasping, striving, dominating - to serving,

partnering, being available and vulnerable, instead of controlling all the time.

This is the way of the Lord, teach us to walk in it Lord. Amen.

Rev.Terry Tennens

Work Dynamics

"How to light up your world"

Mathew 5: 13 - 16 (The Message)

"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand--shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Vision for Children's Ministry

Jesus said, 'Feed my lambs..take care of my sheep.' (John 21)

Vision:
To serve and encourage families within the DNA church, expressing the love
of God and complementing parents' care and teaching of their children.

Nurturing Objectives:
To teach about God's love through His Word and nurture the growth and
development of young people aged 2 to 11 years by

· encouraging children's creative and spiritual gifts

· promoting confidence, self-esteem and a sense of belonging to God's Church - The Body of Christ.

· complementing young peoples' dreams, aspirations and walk before God

· encouraging them to contribute to the life and ministry of DNA church.

Training
· To train up others to work with children and their families, especially those with a heart for mission or those that wish to work with children in other situations.

Public and Social Responsibility
· To reach out to unchurched families during Services and at one-off, special events.
· To meet the requirements of Social Services and The Children's Act as it relates to the care and safety of children.

Janie and David’s Epistle!

Janie and David’s Epistle!

For some time we have been feeling the strain of everything that has sprung up over the last 4 years or so. Our home has become overloaded with gear; our finances have often been stretched because we don’t always get paid on time; and we have become irritated (old turkeys aren’t we?!) when we are doing a multitude of activities all at once. We have realised that DNA is not structured effectively so as to support and facilitate all that is going on. Our light structures were fine when we started off; now they need to be strengthened.

The Acts 6 story

When the Apostles became overloaded with too much caring, some people were left out and disadvantaged (see Acts 6). The Apostles called the people together and the people chose 7 deacons to ensure that everybody was catered for adequately. Then the Apostles concentrated on the Word of God and prayer. Tri Nguyen has helped us see that we need to do something similar here in DNA. We therefore want to create 7 Servant Teams to take care of many areas we do badly, or sometimes not at all. These are the teams we imagine and a brief description of their responsibilities.

Seven Servant Teams

Administrative/secretarial: typing, photocopying, telephoning, filing, packing boxes, keeping the office in order, updating address lists etc.

Finance: paying in offerings to the bank, bookkeeping, reporting on income and expenditure, paying bills, promoting the ministry of giving in the community

Communication: sending emails, maintaining and developing the website, producing newsletters, publicising activities

Equipment: maintaining and managing all equipment (PA, audio-visual, computers, photocopier, minibus etc.) rota for PA operators, recommending purchases when things need to be replaced

Hospitality at worship events: welcoming, setting up, making coffee, rota for providing refreshments, packing up on Sundays and other major events on Sundays and other major events

DNA - Mission

DNA NETWORKS’ Mission
is to be and do the Fingerprints of Jesus:
Jesus declared his fingerprints (his unique “DNA”) when he said: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me…

• To preach the gospel to the poor;
• He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted,
• To proclaim liberty to the captives,
• To set at liberty those who are oppressed
• Recovery of sight to the blind,
• To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

These fingerprints correspond to the five gifts Jesus has given the church as described by Paul in Ephesians 4; 11.

Apostles are sent to announce the Favour of God
Prophets speak so that blind eyes are opened and God is glimpsed
Evangelists bring Good News for the poor and poor in spirit
Pastors heal broken-hearted people
Teachers release the godly dreams that are locked up in people’s hearts

Psalm 23; 3 says, “He restores my soul.” Psalm 104; 15 speaks of how our whole lives are restored by Bread, Wine and Oil.

To be and do the fingerprints of Jesus, our souls need to be continually restored by:
Bread to sustain our strength:
The Word of God
Wine to gladden our hearts:
The Joy of Community
Oil to make our faces shine:
The Presence of the Holy Spirit

Sunday evenings

St Martins is open for spending some quiet time with God on Sunday evenings. It's a time to reflect and to hear from God as we seek his heart for the town of Colchester. Adults are welcome to come along between 8pm and 9pm Sunday evenings.