HEART FOR THE HOUSE 2022

HEART FOR THE HOUSE ONCE A YEAR, OUR CHURCH GATHERS ON A SPECIAL SUNDAY TO BRING A FINANCIAL OFFERING THAT IS ABOVE AND BEYOND OUR NORMAL TITHES AND OFFERINGS. OUR HEART FOR THE HOUSE SUNDAY IS ALWAYS SIGNIFICANT, THE ATMOSPHERE OF HOLINESS AND FAITH IS TANGIBLE. MANY OF US, ESPECIALLY OUR PARTNERS OF THE VISION PREPARE MONTHS IN ADVANCE, PRAYERFULLY PREPARING THEIR FINANCIAL GIFT FOR THIS DAY. THIS EXTRAORDINARY SACRIFICE ENABLES US TO BE A BLESSING TO PEOPLE IN NEED AND HELPS US TO MOVE FORWARD. WE ARE TAKING STRATEGIC STEPS TO INVEST INTO THE FUTURE OF OUR LOCAL CAMPUSES SO THAT WE CAN SERVE OUR CITIES WELL.

THIS IS HOW YOU CAN PLAY YOUR PART EVERYONE IS WELCOMED AND ENCOURAGED TO TAKE PART IN THIS OFFERING. GIVING IS MORE ABOUT EXPRESSING YOUR DESIRE AND PASSION TO BUILD GOD’S HOUSE AND HIS KINGDOM RATHER THAN THE AMOUNT. PRAY PLEASE TAKE TIME TO PRAY AND ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU WHAT YOU COULD BRING. PREPARE SET A FAITH GOAL, WRITE IT DOWN AND HANG IT IN A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN SEE IT. THIS WILL REMIND YOU TO PRAY AND ENCOURAGE YOU MEET YOUR GOAL. BRING JOIN US ON THE 20TH OF NOVEMBER FOR OUR HEART FOR THE HOUSE SUNDAY, AND GIVE FULL OF FAITH, FOR GOD WILL USE YOUR OFFERING TO BUILD HIS KINGDOM. YOU CAN ALSO GIVE ONLINE UP INTO THE END OF THE YEAR.

Dear Church, We are entering into a beautiful season in the life of church called Heart for the House. We believe God is on the move and is mightily at work in all seasons to build our lives and to display His glory. He is ALL MIGHTY GOD and He has promised that we can be confident that what He has begun in you He will bring it to completion (Phil 1:6) This means that He is at work through the times and seasons of our lives. What a profound promise for each one of us!

This Heart for the House, we want to highlight the image of a tree. Not simply the external but the internal aging and markings of a tree that occur through the seasons and result in rings of growth.

When you study the inside of a tree, it’s remarkable to see the impact of seasons and events which paints a beautiful artwork and tells a story. The internal rings of growth are indicators of external events. Each ring marks a new year, a new story, explaining situations and things it had to adapt to, its challenges, its growth spurt and even the extreme weather and climate it may have faced.

We, like trees, tell a story written from things that happen in our hearts and in our lives and we want it to display God’s work in us. Again, we are reminded that God has begun a great work in you and will bring it to completion (Phil 1:6).

Whether you have found this season challenging or good, what I do know is that God wants to move through us all and for our lives to express and tell of His love and be founded on His faithfulness.

As a church, we have walked through a different season, facing uncertainty, loss, and transition. However, we believe that God has used this season to shape us and shape a beautiful Church that is more in love with our Saviour Jesus, centered on Him, relying on Him and making a difference in this World. And as the people of God, we keep growing and maturing in Him. God is writing the story of our local church called Hillsong Francophonie. Therefore, like every year, I want to ask you to be prayerful and to seek God as we come around Heart for the House. Let’s give Him all the Glory and believe that together we will make a significant difference in people’s lives in every campus.

In Jesus’ name, Brendan and Camille

THAT PERSON IS LIKE A TREE PLANTED

BY STREAMS OF WATER, WHICH YIELDS ITS FRUIT IN SEASON AND WHOSE LEAF DOES NOT WITHER— WHATEVER THEY DO PROSPERS.” PSALMS 1:3 (NIV)

AND WE KNOW THAT IN ALL THINGS GOD WORKS FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM, WHO HAVE BEEN CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. ROMANS 8:28 (NIV)

YET HE HAS NOT LEFT HIMSELF WITHOUT TESTIMONY: HE HAS SHOWN KINDNESS BY GIVING YOU RAIN FROM HEAVEN AND CROPS IN THEIR SEASONS; HE PROVIDES YOU WITH PLENTY OF FOOD AND FILLS YOUR HEARTS WITH JOY. ACT 14:17 (NIV)

ABDEL’S

STORY

Coming from an Ivorian family, with a Christian mother and a Muslim father, I attended Kornic school since my childhood.

Nevertheless, religion had no more place than that in my life.

After Highschool, I had the opportunity to come and live in Bordeaux and there, it was freedom! I went out a lot, I had multiple relationships, I smoked, I drank and I lived in an environment where lying and cheating were normal things...until the day I had a depression and I started to lose my taste for life.

I saw myself sinking. Seeing my distress, my sister asked me this question: “What prevents you from praying, from asking Jesus for help? » I had never thought about it. So, I decided to pray: “Lord Jesus, if you really exist, come to my rescue”. Immediately, I felt peace.

I called back my sister who invited me to her church. Overnight, I quit smoking, drinking, and having multiple relationships. I apologized to everyone I had hurt, paid off my debts, and put my life in order.

In 2017, I miraculously got an excellent job in Paris. All I needed was to find a community to continue my journey of faith, that’s when I decided to start coming to Hillsong Church.

Every day I prayed and asked God, «I want more of You.» Opportunities to serve God in church began to arise and friendships began to form. In a few years my life took a 180° turn.

Also experiencing a miracle in her family, my girlfriend gave her life to Jesus. We then got engaged and married and God opened amazing doors for work for both of us. He also showed us His favor in obtaining a tailor-made house, when our file was one out of 300 others.

Today, beyond our lives, we are grateful to God for allowing us to participate in His House, for other lives to be transformed, restored, healed and equipped. The best prayer I can say is “More of You, Lord…”

BEING CONFIDENT OF THIS VERY THING, THAT HE WHO HAS BEGUN A GOOD WORK IN YOU WILL COMPLETE IT UNTIL THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST. PHILIPPIANS 1:6

WOOD

RINGS

In botany, a tree ring, or annual ring, or growth ring on the cross section trunk of a tree, formed each year by the cambium, visible through the difference in coloration between summer wood and spring wood.

These annual rings are due to the seasonal growth of ligneous tissue, which is more active in spring (generally the light part of the ring) than in autumn and winter (generally the darker part).

The “initial wood” in spring is in fact due to the presence of a more porous initial zone made up of large cells with thin walls (the size of these tracheids which have a marked conduction role is linked to the resumption of vegetation); at the end of the growing season, the cambium forms narrower cells with thicker walls (darker latewood made up of tracheids which have more of a supporting role). The ring limit corresponds to the position of the cambium in winter, when growth stops.

The characteristics of a tree ring, for a given plant species, depend on the climatic; rainfall, temperature, sun exposure, etc. reigning during the creation of this ring. Exposure of the tree to a phytotoxic pollutant may also be visible (resulting in a finer tree ring, which cannot be explained by other causes (lasting extreme cold and/or drought or defoliation, for example).

The width of each tree ring provides information on the growth conditions of the tree : — A wide ring indicates favorable growing conditions; — A narrower ring is the “fossil” trace of growth difficulties (drought, inter-tree competition, phytopathology, possibly epidemics).

A successive series of narrow rings, with no meteorological explanation, suggests an irreversibility of growth until the death of the trees.

To all these «simple effects» are added «quantities of complex interactions (the effect of the climate on a tree ring of age i will not be the same as on a tree ring of age j, for example) and effects (the level of growth observed in year n strongly depends on the level of growth in year n-1, or even well beyond)

SAPWOOD (SAP CIRCULATION)

BARK

HEARTWOOD (TREE STAND)

VASCULAR CAMBIUM

DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE FERTILE GROUND OF HIS HEAVENLY KINGDOM ; A PLACE OF INDESCRIBABLE BEAUTY, WHERE PEACE, JUSTICE, AND TRUTH REIGN AND THE WILD FLOODS OF HIS PRECIOUS LOVE FLOW AROUND US. ROOTED IN HEAVENLY PLACES, YET PLANTED IN THIS EARTHLY WORLD. WE ARE DESTINED TO GENEROUSLY SOW THE SUPERNATURAL SEEDS OF HIS KINGDOM AND TO SEE IT BLOOM AND GROW, BRINGING FORTH ETERNAL LIFE.

LIVE FOR A DIFFERENT MISSION As people of God we are committed to making a difference in people’s lives.

It is by grace that we have been saved through faith in our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ and with this also comes the responsibility and the privilege to make a difference in our world.

We are invited to love our neighbours, and strategically use our time, finances, talents and all that God has placed in our hands to serve others just as Jesus exemplified.

As a church we are committed to accepting this invitation and carry this responsibility well.

There are numerous worldwide examples of great need; but we have prayerfully decided to concentrate a portion of our ‘Heart for the House’ offering on Hillsong Ukraine and local Sers Ta Ville initiatives.

UKRAINE The current events in Ukraine have deeply shaken the whole of Europe. The reality of families being separated; people losing their homes and beloved family members, the effects and uncertainty of a war happening just a few hours away from us is shocking.

More than 100 days into the war, Ukrainian and Russian troops continue to fight heavily, especially in the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine. Ten thousand civilians remain stranded in the strategically important city of Sewerodonezk – evacuation seems impossible for most, considering the intensity of Russian attacks.

Many of our Hillsong Kyiv family remain on the ground, serving faithfully in the name of Jesus. Their primary support focus is on villages and regions that are suffering from the ongoing fights and those who have had to endure severe consequences of attack: Kyiv, Chernihiv, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Mykolajiv, and the regions of Poltava and Kharkiv. These areas are currently flooded by masses of people seeking shelter from besieged areas. Our Ukrainian team is on the ground, traveling from Kyiv to these regions to actively support and distribute food.

In talking to Pastor Yuri, the lead Pastor of Hillsong Ukraine, about how we could help, support, equip and serve them, he said that the need is great and that there are so many people just trying to make it through each day, week without any signs of things ending.

He mentioned that as we are approaching winter the need for food and heating will increase. As Hillsong France, we want to help them practically in provide these needs.

It’s very inspiring to see how our church in Ukraine is helping people in this time and we want to stand behind our Hillsong family and help them to continue to bring answers to those in and outside the church.

SERS

TA

VILLE

We love the cities we are planted in – Paris, Massy, Lyon, Marseille, Genève & Luxembourg! Our vision is that not only will our church flourish in these locations, but that the entire city will be changed for the better.

Over the past few years, we have started to bring change through our City Care ministry to meet this vision practically. Teams are involved in caring for the homeless, giving school supplies to children in need, reading books to residents of retirement homes, putting value on women in women shelters, and helping refugees in centers.

We have already been blessed to experience and see many stories of change through City Care in our cities, but we firmly believe this is just the beginning!

This coming year we want to continue with our ongoing existing partnerships in all the cities. We would also like to run Shine programs in some of our campuses where they have relationships with women shelters.

The ShineWomen program is about: equipping participants with the knowledge and skills to discover who they are and the person they want to become. It also encourages participants to find the strength and courage within them to make healthy choices and to live to their full potential.

TESTIMONY - DISTRIBUTION HYGIENE AND FOOD PRODUCTS (25/04/22) Dear Food Bank Friends, We would like to thank you once again for your commitment, your generosity and your investment which has enabled the Food Bank in Montreuil to fill its stock. This donation comes at the right time, as the Food Bank announced the exhaustion of its stock which dated from the national collection of November 2021.

On our side, the March collection that we carry out each year was already gone.

We were therefore particularly happy to receive your donations, which were very valuable to our beneficiaries, guaranteeing them access to a wide variety of products.

In copy, you will find the photos of the arrival of the products, as well as the shelves well filled thanks to your good action!

Thank you, thank you for them, the whole Food Bank team expresses its gratitude!

Best regards, Pierre-Antoine GOMBEAUD

TESTIMONY STREET TEAMS During our Street Team outings at the Presqu’île, we met a young thirty-year-old who had been wandering for years. For a year, we used to see her often, she was one of our regulars, with always very warm exchanges and good laughs.

We hadn’t seen her for a few months, when one evening she was at the usual rendezvous.

She told us with tears in her eyes that it was over for her, she finally had an apartment.

She told us that it was thanks to the outreach teams that visit the homeless that she had never given up hope of getting out of it. «It’s thanks to you that I got out of it, thank you, thank you».

We are so glad to know that this action allows us to support the unfortunate and share hope.

BUT BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO TRUSTS ME, GOD, THE WOMAN WHO STICKS WITH GOD. 8 THEY’RE LIKE TREES REPLANTED IN EDEN, PUTTING DOWN ROOTS NEAR THE RIVERS — NEVER A WORRY THROUGH THE HOTTEST OF SUMMERS, NEVER DROPPING A LEAF, SERENE AND CALM THROUGH DROUGHTS, BEARING FRESH FRUIT EVERY SEASON. 7

JEREMIAH 17:7-8 (MSG)

OUR FOR

OUR

VISION CAMPUS

We have the vision to reaching people, building people and make a difference in the people lives of others in the name of Jesus across all our campuses. We are passionate about wanting to see people find home, grow in maturity, be equipped for all God has before them.

Over the last year we have also seen an incredible number of salvations and water baptisms and we are faith filled and expectant about all that God wants to do. We have a vision for reaching more and more people in different cities and nations where God is placing us.

This year like every year we want to see campuses strengthened and positioning for the years to come through Heart For The House offering. In some of our campuses we have seen a slight lowering in tithes and offering over the last few months that we have never experienced in building church over the last years. The pandemic, current inflation, rising cost of energy, concerns about our global church, and various leadership changes have left their mark on some of our campuses. We are believing God to see things increase and we have reduced costs as good stewards.

However we still could need to invest a portion of our Heart for the House offering towards operating costs and staffing to balance the budget.

PARIS

Over the Last 17 years the campus in Paris has experienced and incredible move of God. We have seen thousands of peoples respond to Jesus, lives transformed, people raised up and released into their God given calling. We give thanks and are truly amazed at what God is doing in the heart of Paris, week after week and are faith filled and expectant about the future.

Last year through Heart For The House we were able move into a new theatre – the 13eme Art – as shareholders which was a great step forward. It has given us much more room to build the generations including Hillsong Kids Ministry and Fuel ministry.

However we do want to be keep building towards owning a permanent facilities 24/7 in Paris and midweek facility to be able to function better to help and equip people. The production team needed strengthening with equipment for midweeks and Sundays.

This year we want to continue to add to our Kids ministry so it is more equipped and attractive. We also want to invest into our pastoral ministry such as Next Steps and Connect Groups to help facilitate growth, maturity and equipping the saints for every good work.

MASSY & ILE-DE-FRANCE

We are wanting to increase our impact in the different suburbs of Ile de France. The church in Massy has now been there for 7 years and is a beautiful community. We are seeing people saved, getting baptized and the community get stronger.

As we look to the future we are believing for our own permanent home and place to reach out into the south suburbs to help people and community to flourish.

Last year, through Heart For The House, we were able to invest into a much needed new sound system that has only just arrived in the last few weeks and will help facilitate a better quality services.

We are full of faith about the future and believing for greater impact in Massy this year ahead and IDF suburbs such as North, East and West in the future.

LYON

The campus in Lyon has a thriving community and in recent weeks has seen incredible growth.

The campus is now 9 years old. Recently we needed to move again as the venue we were meeting in has been sold. In addition, the offices are undergoing the same process and we need to find a solution for an appropriate workspace and midweek venue to bless our community and our thriving Sers Ta Ville team.

We are trusting God as He has always provided. As we continue to rent, we have a vision to see a building and a midweek facility of our own to equip, build and raise up teams, new believers and connecting new people.

We want to be ready to step into the next doors God has for the campus in Lyon.

MARSEILLE

Marseille campus is advancing, lives are being transformed and God is adding to this dynamic vibrant community.

Over the years we have seen this campus develop, two years ago we sent pastors to be on the ground and recently the campus has moved into a new theatre. We currently meet two Sundays a month and are believing for more in the future as we keep growing in strength. We are seeing people saved, being water baptized and connect groups growing.

We are continuing to support Marseille through Heart For The House, we are also wanting to supply some basic needed equipment for the campus. We are believing to see the campus keep going from strength to strength in 2023.

LUXEMBOURG

Luxembourg is a beautiful city and the campus is still in its beginning stages. Our heart is to see the campus established and grow over the next year.

Last year we put a part time campus pastor on the ground to give strength and give leadership. We are seeing people saved when we gather on weekends which is very exciting. We are able to gather every month for a regular service and a DNA gathering to build and strengthen team.

We are continuing to support Luxembourg through Heart For The House and believing for new people to be added and for God to move mightily across this nation.

GENÈVE

The campus in Geneve has celebrated its 5-year anniversary.

It’s incredible to see the growth and the strength of this campus over these years. It meets in the heart of city of Geneva but is also reaching out into the surrounding suburbs and neighbouring cities through its Connect Groups.

Last year we looked into investing in offices in Geneva and were blessed to sign a lease. We Praise God for this. We also were able to give video equipment to add strength to the campus.

There are a lot of families and kids connecting to this campus and we are looking to strengthen kids ministry this coming year and believe to cheer on the next generation and raise up world changers.

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME. 10 YOUR KINGDOM COME. YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. 11 GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD. 12AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS. 13AND DO NOT LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL ONE. FOR YOURS IS THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER. AMEN. MATTHEW 6:9-13 (NKJV)

WHAT IS GOD SAYING TO YOU? WHAT’S YOUR FINANCIAL GOAL?