the Third Person

we are continuing a series on the Third Person of the Godhead – the Holy Spirit.. this week adam panczak, the evangelism and discipleship pastor of tomy christian fellowship shared a powerful message on the work of the Holy Spirit in us.. using the example of 3 cups he reminded us that God can use each one of us – clean, dirty or broken if we only let Him clean us out or put us back together and fill us up with His Holy Spirit..

next week we are going to find out how God empowers us thru His Spirit and different gifts He gives to the church to continue the life He has saved us to and how we can practically be His hands and feet in the broken world..

thank You, Holy Spirit..

“mythbusters” series @ tomy

last week we started a new series @ tomy called “mythbusters”.. based on a discovery channel show this series focuses on some controversial issues concerning christianity and the world we live in.. last sunday daniel wawrzyniak, tomy’s elder and proem camp director was “busting” the myth of creation being just a fairy tale, proving truthfulness of the bible in creation description from genesis 1 as opposed to a comfortable but unproven theory of evolution.. for the two following sundays we will discuss another controversial “myths”: “God is homophobic” (the bible and the issue of homosexuality) and “all religions are the same” (are they really?)..

please pray for a gentle spirit and wisdom for those who teach these sundays..

easter week – great week!

what a week!

started with incredible praise and worship night on palm sunday tomy christian fellowship entered the easter week with prayer and worship.. next morning first people came to experience “the maze” – an interactive, media-driven personal walk thru a number of rooms where everyone could experience God in a very personal and intimate way.. 200 people from tomaszow, mostly the unchurched, went thru the maze in search of peace and quietness before God.. many of them attended the good friday service, taking part in a CSI-like investigation to solve a question “who killed Jesus of nazareth?” over 120 people got confronted with the message of the cross and forgiveness.. the grand finale – easter sunday service – became a joyful celebration of Christ’s resurrection and we were learning how to live in the light of eternity..

please pray for the people who experienced Christ’s love this week that they would continue to search for Him with open hearts and minds..

men’s conference

last weekend 18 men from tomy christian fellowship took part in a men’s conference in krakow called “men’s struggles”. the main theme was men’s sexuality and dealing with / preventing sexual addictions among today’s men. over 200 men participated in the conference. adam panczak, tomy discipleship and evangelism pastor was leading the trip. it was a great time of learning and fellowship together. 

night walks in krakow (see pictures below):

sausages by night.. only in krakow.. 

taking a break at kazimierz, krakow jewish district – robert, adam and adam:

breaking the 100 again! what is going on, God?!

last sunday, march 8th 102 people participated in our worship service..

it is the second time in 3 services that we had over 100 people at the service.. that makes an average of 100 people per service within the last 3 weekends..

please pray that God would continue “adding up daily to our numbers” as He did to His church in acts 2:47

what are you up to, God?

breaking the first 100!

ladies and gentlemen! madame and monsieur! meine damen und herren!

it is my privilege and honor to let you and the whole world know that last sunday, feb. 22 the attendance @ a regular worship service @ tomy christian fellowship was 122 people! 

what was so cool about it was the fact that there was nothing extraordinary about the service – no special occasion, no holiday, no event.. just the service where the Word of God was preached and God Himself was worshipped..

in our vision for 2010 we talked about having 210 people @ our services by the end of 2010.. kind of a goofy number.. even thought couple weeks ago that we will have to change our vision some so that we do not become disappointed.. but i know now we do not need to change anything.. all we need is to stay obedient and try on a daily basis to know Christ, to grow in Him, to serve Him and to make Him known.. the rest is not up to us..

seems like we need to start thinking and praying about the second service sooner or later down the road..

the second plant?

busy weekend @ tomy

it was a really busy weekend at tomy christian fellowship..

feb. 13th – our “…i cafe” hosted a pre-Valentine concert of estera panczak, a Christian singer and proem/tomy staff member.. 30 people listened to her stories as she sang and played sharing about her love for God and family..

feb. 14th, morning – on the Valentine’s Day a group of tomy church volunteers took care of 13 handicapped kids, allowing their parents to use this time for their own sake.. some of them enjoyed their short Valentine’s “get away”, some took care of their shopping, but all of them were thankful for providing 3-hour, high quality care for their children..

feb. 14th, afternoon – the Valentine’s Day was a unique opportunity to host another art exhibition at tomy organized in cooperation with another tomaszow cultural center.. this time 2 tomaszow artists displayed their works (photography and painting) under the overarching theme “she and he” > two sexes, two different approaches to life and art, two different worlds joined by beauty.. over 150 people attended..

feb. 15th, morning – john crozier led our church through another chapter of our journey “into the mountains – where God met with men”.. we studied the story of achan, a sad story with tragic ending followed by hope of renewal through repentance on the mount ebal.. 80 people attended the service..

feb. 15th, afternoon – adam sokol and asia bryks (family counselor and psychologist from our church) led another training for the “1 on 1” volunteers who are getting ready to launch the program of assisting kids from neglected families in their 1-year-long walk through life (see: https://tomychurch.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/one-on-one/)..

we are very thankful for the opportunities God keeps on sending our way to reach out to the community of tomaszow on many different levels..

demanding God’s presence..

last week we started another series at tomy called “in the mountains”. we are climbing some famous old testament mountains with some incredible old testament people.

today we talked about moses climbing the mount sinai.. how incredible must have been for him to visit the same place where God called him out from a miserable life of an 80-year-old shepherd (ex. 3-4).. he’s approximately one year older, but with the same questions and fears – who are you? who am i? what if they don’t believe me?

moses have never known his father.. the closest he got to a father figure was jethro, his father-in-law.. and as john eldredge likes to emphasize it is father’s job to give his children meaning and strength for a life time.. moses has never experienced it and it is likely to believe he is carrying this weakness in his heart..

so he climbs up the mount sinai.. and demands. demands God’s presence.. not just a set of rules, not even a comforting miracle, but God’s presence.. he wants to meet God, the same one he got to know within the last year as a burning bush and a miracle maker.. he begs God to show him his face, to reveal his presence to him..

and God does that.

when was the last time you asked God to reveal Himself to you? to become real? to stand with you face to face and assure you about His never-ending parenthood? 

He’s closer than you think.. He is IN YOU.. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (col. 1:26-27)

don’t miss Him!

one on one

“contact: one on one” is a Polish version of a program called “older brother, older sister”. its main goal is to help kids from underprivileged families by providing a one on one contact with an adult that meets with them on a regular basis.

as tomy christian fellowship we have received a grant from the city of tomaszow to recruit 10 volunteers and “pair” them with 10 kids with a commitment to work with them for a period of one year. it’s a great opportunity to both help the kids and build relationships with adults from outside the church who want to join us in working for the benefit of these kids. we believe it will have a tremendous impact on shaping our church’s culture in terms of building intentional relationships for the sake of the Kingdom.

please pray for adam sokol as he coordinates the project.

pray for God’s wisdom for choosing the right people, both on the side of volunteers and the troubled kids.

the first meeting was held last saturday, jan. 31st @ tomy (see the picture)

sunday, jan. 25th 2009

last sunday at tomy we finished our series on finances.. in the 3rd week we talked about 5 wrong habits God wants to cut off from our life. based on the book of proverbs we talked about:

– false sense of ownership

– living over your budget

– greed and inability to share with others

– living in debt

– laziness

salomon prayed for wisdom to influence every area of his life. we should pray for wisdom to handle our finances rightly so that we can become who God wants us to be – FAITHFUL STEWARDS of His possessions.

46 adults and 13 kids participated in the service.