PASTORAL MESSAGES (Page 107)

By Not Known What is a Christian? A Christian is someone who trusts, follows and serves Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus was ‘God in the flesh‘. He is the Son who left heaven’s throne to come to earth to live amongst us, to die and to be raised. His death enables us to become God’s people. Because Jesus was fully human, he could…

By Not Known Sometimes we look at our lives and wonder. Perhaps we see a state of chaos, as we are pulled in multiple directions by conflicting forces. Or Worse – sometimes it seems that an evil god has seized power. At times like these we wonder who is in control. It must have seemed that way to the first readers of the book of Revelation. This book was written to…

By Not Known On Sunday 29 February we are having outreach services. Our speaker will talk about Jesus in a user-friendly format and we will give people an opportunity to respond to his talk. For those who are interested, we give follow-up support through our Basic Christianity class and Lessons of Assurance classes. All that is missing is people. We can expect that the…

By Not Known Where do you look in times of trouble? Sometimes we look around us and see the overwhelming nature of our troubles and the threat they pose. This may paralyse us with fear. Sometimes we look inside ourselves and see our lack of ability to solve our own problems. That may paralyse us with despair. Both the prophecy of Ezekiel and the book of Revelation were…

By Not Known How do you prepare for a meeting with an important person? Our preparations tend to increase as the other person’s importance rises. How do we prepare to meet with God? We meet with God in settigns such as a personal and family devotion and Sunday services Ofter, we give almost no thought or preparation to these meetings with God. It’s almost as…

By Not Known We know how times have changed and so have teenagers. Back when today’s adults were growing up, the church tradition involved recitation of Christian creeds during weekly worship services. The entire congregation participated, old and young. Whether as young people then understood the significance of those repeated words or not; whether we protested or…

By Not Known A devotional calendar page reads – God’s will for my life is not a neat box on the path, but the path itself – a pilgrimage to be discovered by trust and obedience. Simple words, yet words that resonate both human potential and pain. Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou did create all things, and because of Thy…

By Not Known This is the time of the year when we often express a need for “new beginnings”. However, “new beginnings” that are genuine must lead us to a new way of thinking and looking at things. For us, these must begin from within us and occur with the help of God’s Spirit. This inner change will not only open our eyes to see things from a God-dominated perspective but…

By Not Known It was lunchtime. Jesus’ disciples had left him to go and get food. Meanwhile, he spoke about spiritual matters with a woman who had a colourful past and who seemed to have now become his follower. Then the disciples returned with food. Their amazement about his conversation with the woman soon turned into a rather practical urging: Rabbi, eat…

By Not Known As the year ends, this is a good time to prayerfully look back. This has been a tough year for our nation. Continuing economic difficulties, SARS and a troubled regional environment have all taken their toll on national confidence, our sense of safety and our economic well-being. Yet, we end the year with a sense that we have survived and grown during the…