I’m New Here
What to expect
We hope that you will feel welcomed coming in and walking out the door of Breath of Life. We pray you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and the Love of God in our church. We are not perfect and some of us may be shy, but our heart is that you feel at home and welcomed. Our atmosphere is truly relaxed, local Kauai style, but biblically focused and Christ centered. We try to maintain an “eye level” ministry. One that is real and where no one is better than anyone else. A place where we are all working together to grow and learn in our faith and spur one another on to the higher calling in Christ Jesus.
We teach the Word of God and don’t make excuses for it. Normally we teach book by book, chapter by chapter and do a contextual study through God’s Word. We try to keep it relevant to our daily lives and interesting enough to keep your attention. Our purpose each week is to build up the body and proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. We hope people walk away with a better understanding of God’s Word and some things to chew on throughout the week that will cause growth in their lives.
How should I dress?
Casual is the word. People come in dressed in all sorts of styles. Whatever your style is and whatever you feel comfortable with. Of course modesty in your style is all we ask, but we have people wearing surf shorts, tank tops and slippers (or slippa’s as we say on Kauai), dresses, aloha shirts, jeans and tee shirt’s, hats, shoes and no shoes. Be comfortable.
What should I bring?
First and foremost, your bible! We use them every week. Bring something to write with and take notes, because we are here to learn and grow. Bring an open heart to receive what the Lord would have for you this day. Bring Thanksgiving and Praise. So many people come in to church looking at what the church has to offer, what they can get from it, but we are suppose to be walking in with thanksgiving in our heart and praise for our Lord on our lips. Bring a friend!
What’s your worship like?
Our Worship is unique to our church in the sense that we write most of our worship music. D’Lissa Iannucci has been writing worship songs for the last fourteen years and we play many of these songs at Breath of Life. These have become the most known to us and favorites in the church. We try to maintain an island style of worship and utilize all sorts of instruments. At times we have people come play with us and we do play some popular songs that you probably know. But what we really try to do is to move past what is hip and popular, and concentrate on worshipping our Lord. That is what it is all about, not about having a sing along!
We try to bring in the presence of the Holy Spirit by worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth. We believe in a strong worship of our Lord and look to move past musicians and songs to enter into a place where we all as a body are looking at and to Jesus. Where individually everything begins to fade away and we are left worshiping. We want to be in a place where He inhabits the praises of His people and we feel His presence. We believe worship comes from the heart and that the worship leader and worship team leads the worship by worshipping. As they begin to worship, we then follow them into that place where we are all worshipping corporately. The whole purpose is to move past ourselves and magnify our Lord. To sing love songs unto Him.
How about the children?
We have a children’s ministry in the church. Small rooms for the children where they have Sunday School. We have a time of worship with them and we have a time of learning, via crafts, singing, coloring, workbooks and the likes, with some great teachers. But do want them to walk away with some biblical truth. So the teaching is bible based as well, on their level, in the hopes that they will walk away with a little truth each week and know that Jesus Christ is Lord. We try to keep this fun and not like another day at school. The children at times will perform plays or sing special music at one of our services or even at our Christmas Eve. We have a great children’s ministry leader in Christina Ensman who loves working with the kids.
What about the teens?
We do have a Youth Ministry that ranges from Middle School to High School. Once again, we don’t want their time to be like another day in class, but at the same time we understand that more Christian kids lose their faith in college than any other time. This is because they don’t know what they believe, or how to defend their faith. So our heart is to give them the Word.
Right now they meet on Thursday nights, have their own worship and a good time together. Falcon Valleria and Chris Burkhart lead up this ministry. They do have fun and they do get the Word of God. They also have bowling nights, sleep overs, camp outs, beach days and bon fires and do all sorts of things together. We encourage them to bring unsaved friends and reach out. We also encourage them to be real with themselves and their faith. On Sundays, they are part of the regular service, because they are part of the church and they are the ones coming up behind us. So we like them to get the Word and be in tune with the rest of the body. It is a transitioning time for them and they do get a lot of “hang time” with each other. They’re have a lot of fun.
Weddings, counseling, prayer, babies and baptisms
Yes, we have and do them all. There are many people and opportunities for those who need and want prayer and the same is true for counseling. We have a great body with many people that are willing to listen and help, stand with you in prayer and others who can and will counsel you. Our counsel is biblically focused and what the Lord has to say about each situation.
We also dedicate babies for those in the body with newborns or new grandchildren. We don’t christen or baptize babies, but bring them before the body with the parents and pray over them and dedicate their lives unto the Lord. We ask His blessing and direction over them. For adults who have made a decision for Christ, to make Him their personal Lord and Savior, we go out into the beautiful Hawaiian waters and baptize them like we are commanded. Full immersion, under the blue ocean waves of Kauai. Normally we do this on a Sunday after service for those who have not been baptized or want to rededicate their lives to the Lord and we have a time of prayer and worship right on the beach. It’s a great experience.
Do you have church membership?
No. We don’t see membership as a biblical standard. We are all members of one body, the body of Christ. We understand that different churches have membership requirements, but we don’t feel that there should be rank and or privilege by having members and non members. That separates people. You’re a member of Breath of Life when you come regularly and are plugged in. Some people are loosely attached to us and some are whole heartedly attached to us. The dedication or lack thereof is up to you. But we have no requirements but faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Breath of Life will work for some people and won’t work for others. If it works for you and you are like minded with the vision and direction we are going, your more than welcome to come along with us.
What about giving, collecting the offerings?
Breath of Life has not passed a collection plate or taken up an offering since it began over fourteen years ago. We fully believe in tithes and offerings, fully teach it and fully believe that it is a form of worshipping our Lord. Giving Him the first and best of our fruits. But we also trust the Lord to work in people’s hearts. That a person who really has a relationship with our Lord, will adhere to His teachings of giving. So we have a Tithe Box in the back of the Sanctuary for people to give their tithes and offerings.
We don’t feel people will give more or less by passing the plate, we just let them pass the box when they walk in each day and let the Lord lead them in their giving. The church operates on the tithes and offerings we receive and we operate in faith that the Lord will move in the hearts of all believers to give and give faithfully. Not only of their money, but also of their talents and abilities.
