Stop the rot in society as a GPS community.

Being a missional church is much more than knowing a new church word or understanding a theological concept. It is about the sensible way that we are the church, fulfilling our purpose and making a difference in the world.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16:  “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.  You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Salt was used in biblical times to preserve food. (There were no fridges or freezers to conserve it). We are the church in a world where sin, impurity, disobedience and spiritual decay destroy lives, communities and society.   This rot is a real enemy of the church when it destroys our testimony and when our way of being church suspends our witnessing for the holy Son of God and his triumph over physical and spiritual death. 

To be the salt of the earth is to preserve the world through living the Gospel by being made holy in Christ.

This same world also seems to be lost. 

During load shedding we all bumped against our furniture, cannot find the torch or the matches quickly enough, become disorientated in our own homes and fear the enemies that may lurk in the dark.

Christ Jesus is the light of the world. His Spirit makes his light shine in and through us without any risk of “spiritual load shedding” that will steal our impact on life’s murkiness.

So we become the light of the world. Our words and testimony, and more importantly, our lives, servanthood, care, outreach and example become a lamp on a stand providing a way out of the haze caused by the confusion resulting from a corrupt world where the dangers of foolishness and disarray destroy lives, families, communities and a nation.

So let us with determination shine the true Light before others.  Lets be the church that stops the rot and becomes the GPS for a world in fear that lost its sense of direction and of the celebration of life.

Let’s restore purpose, joy, festivity, peace, mercy and love!

“This little light of mine – let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!”

 

The right to be a child of God!

The true Light of God, the eternal, one and only Son of God, came from his Father’s heavenly home to bring the message of the grace and truth of God to those who were God’s own. 

The Father sent his Spirit to us and we were changed into God’s children.  And as children of the Father our eyes were opened to recognise Jesus, to believe in his Name and receive the right to walk in the eternal light.

John 1: 10-14 - To those who believed in his name,  Jesus gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth

We are given the right to be a child of God when we are adopted by the Father in Christ and are given the privilege to call the almighty Creator “Abba” which means “my Daddy”. We are given the power to claim our divine heritage to be children of God.  We share in the wonder of childship even as Jesus claimed to be God’s Son.  The Spirit individually grants us the faith to know Jesus as the Truth and receive his Light!

Celebrate the right to be a child of God today.

Celebrate the gracious life of Jesus that brought you truth and light.

Celebrate the calling to be the instrument used by the Spirit to open the eyes of the blind and call those who are dead, to live.

Because you have the right to childship of the Most High God, you too cannot only see, but as a member of God’s family,  share the glory of Jesus with a world stumbling forward in darkness.  

The old has gone, the new is here!

We do not have to wait till the day when Jesus returns, to become a new creation.   It all starts here and now.  It starts on the day God reconciles us with Godself.  On the day we experience our redemption, we celebrate by singing and shouting:   The old has gone, the new is here!

As we read in 2 Corinthians 5:17ff:  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  The old has gone, the new is here!    All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,

All this is from God.   The Holy Spirit recreates me into someone new. I was born again.

The new creation within me does not hide or run away from God anymore. The new creation within me does not oppose the Kingdom or the values, the dream, the vision and prayer our Lord has for the Church and his people.

No, the new creation in me thirsts for friendship with my God. It longs to walk with God. It prays to work for God. It celebrates that my sins do not count against me anymore.  It begs the Lord that I may become a change agent for his sake. It urges me on to seek the glory and honour of my God in every aspect of life.

We now represent the eternal King on the Father’s right hand. We teach what he taught, we bring the message he brought, we testify about his resurrection and his victory.  We promise the forgiveness of sin. We live for our King and invite the world to enter and celebrate the everlasting Kingdom of life and love.

We shout it out every day:  The old has gone, the new is here!

Winning the good fight!

The real battle of your life is with your own selfish desires and sinful pride. In James 4:6 he quotes the Scriptures (Proverbs 3:34) when he says  "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Pride and selfishness go hand in hand. Where you find pride you will also find selfishness  - and Christians losing the battles against unhappiness, sadness, depression and burnout!

Our real need is for humility. James 4:10 tells us: Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.  We can choose to go on in selfish pride or we can choose to humble ourselves. The way of humility leads to be lifted up from our dark places to enjoy the light of God’s joy and redemption!

So, how can we express this humility? How can we fight the real fight against our own selfish desires and sinful pride? James gives us four things we must do.

1.  We must accept God’s will. In verse 7 James tells us: Submit yourselves, then, to God. When we submit to God we are acknowledging that his way is right. But submitting to God is more than that. It is giving him control of your life. To do that you must yield to him. Quit trying to run your own life. Put God in charge of your life by obeying him.

One of the reasons why we have so much conflict is because we have not settled our own relationship with God. We have not really decided to submit to him in practical ways. Make no mistake about this — you can’t follow Jesus without obeying him! Jesus is not the Lord of your life if you do not do what he says.   There is no real peace if you do not submit to God. The Spirit of God will bring conviction to your heart and you will never enjoy the peace of God until you surrender to him. So accept God’s will. Submit to God.

2.  We must reject God’s enemy. James not only tells us to submit to God but he also tells us: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. How do you do this? How do you resist the devil?

You do it by resisting his philosophy of life. You do it by resisting what he wants you to do. You do it by resisting living by his standards. Be smart. Be on your guard. The devil is trying to trip you up. He is trying to destroy you. He is not trying to help you. He wants to hurt you.  Remember Joseph!

Evil shows up when you are tempted to substitute other things for God. He shows up when you are tempted to stay home from church. He shows up when you are tempted not to come to the prayer gathering. He shows up when you are tempted not to read your Bible. He shows up when you are tempted not to tithe. He shows up when you are tempted to substitute activities for worship, television for prayer, giving to yourself for giving to God — doing something good for doing what is the best. When he shows up like this — resist him! Don’t give in. If you won’t give in, he will flee from you.

3.  You must also pursue God’s presence. In verse 8 James says, Come near to God and he will come near to you. In other words, you must be proactive. It is not enough to accept God’s will and reject God’s enemy. You must actively pursue a living relationship with the living Lord.

Have you become too busy to work on your relationship with God? No one can do anything about it except you. What you spend your time doing is what you are investing your life in. We need to invest in eternity because that’s where we are going to spend a very long time.

4.  There is still one other issue James addresses in this passage of Scripture. We must accept God’s will, reject God’s enemy, pursue God’s presence, and then we must receive God’s forgiveness.

Look at verses 8-10: Wash your hands and purify your heart, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Here James gives us the key to receiving God’s forgiveness.

This is where humility comes in. It is humbling to ask God for forgiveness. It is humbling to ask anyone for forgiveness.

But we need to do it. We need to do it because it is the right thing to do and we need to do it because we need forgiveness. Just think of how much conflict, sadness and dark places could be avoided if we were to say, "I was wrong, please forgive me."

And then God lifts us up!  He brings us into the light of his peace and joy!

Jesus told us to share his salvation with everyone!

Matthew 28: 18 – 20.   Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.   Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

It is now twenty centuries later and God still has no other plan. He is still counting on people like you and me to tell others about his love for us in Christ. God still wants you and me and everyone else to proclaim the Gospel.  He is counting on you and on me to do this most important of all work!

Jesus commissioned us, the church of God, to go and make disciples of all nations.   He is speaking as the One who has all power and authority in heaven and on earth. He is speaking as the One who has the authority to give eternal life.

What Jesus chooses to do with his sovereign and divine authority and power, is to count on us, his friends,  and his church to share the Good News of his love, redemption and victory with everyone and every nation. What Jesus wants, is more renewed and passionate followers to, with a sense of urgency, tell of his love and resurrection that all may believe in him and become God’s children.

Christ chooses to be with us, guarding us, protecting us and sharing his power with us when we join the 2000 year old family of disciple making followers.   

No matter where we go and no matter what we face, Christ is right there beside us saying:  "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Mat 28:20)

Miracles demand faith, love and obedience!

There are two possible responses to the display of God's divine power: you can respond in faith, with love and with obedience - or you can respond with cynical scepticism and insubordination.

The scribes and Pharisees physically saw wonders and miracles, and still refused to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

In their presence (Lk 7:22 and 30) the blind received sight, the lame walked, those who had leprosy were cured, the deaf could hear, the dead were raised, and the good news preached to the poor. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law rejected God's purposes with these signs that the Kingdom of  God has come near.

They had no excuse or good reason for their unbelief and hatred for Jesus and his followers. They hardened their hearts against the Lord. They conspired against him. How typical this is of sinful humans.

But when God’s people see his wonders and experience his power and might, victory is anticipated: the Lord’s victory and ours in his Name, power and authority. We know the gospel and we saw the saving and sustaining power of our Lord. We anticipate his divine victory amidst all our challenges and responsibilities.  We do not become cynical or fearful, but anticipate Christ's victory, against all odds.

Respond to the revelation of God’s divine power revealed through Christ Jesus with an anticipation of victory, with faith, love and obedience.

God wants to do something new in your life!

Isaiah 43:18-19 says “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?

The Lord asks in this verse that, when we in faith accepts that he “will do a new thing” in our lives, our families and our churches, we would be ready to open ourselves to his new direction, his open door and his response to our needs and concerns.

Are we willing to, within the parameters of the personal relationship God wants to have with us, embrace his plan for us and our lives, our futures and our calling?

The Lord is saying, "I am going to do a new thing. Will you embrace it? Will you receive it into your life?"

May our hearts respond with joy and thanksgiving to our God who knows our need for him to do a “new thing” for us. May we all say wholeheartedly: “Yes, Lord. I want to be open to whatever you do. I want to be available to your time to do this for me. There is every reason for me to believe that you are preparing me for something new, even something significant.”

We are not to sit back and become spectators of God’s interventions and plans. No, as the Lord plants the “seed” of the “new thing” he is doing in our lives, we will be full partners of God in taking care of the seed he planted in our lives and in faith expects the seed to sprout.

We will be personally involved and asked to work with the Lord, within our relationship with him, to bring his new plan, his open door and his purpose for us, to fruition.

Jesus multiplying bread and fish: The abundance of God's reign!

Multiplication of bread and fish is a sign of the coming of the Kingdom.

A second narrative of Jesus multiplying bread and fish to feed 4000 men plus women and children, is found in Matthew 15: 29 – 39.  The gospels often speak about bread against the background of Jesus calling himself the Bread of life!  The message is clear: we do not receive crumbs of his redemption. presence, love, forgiveness and power, but we  receive complete fellowship with him that indicates abundance.

But there also is another context that helps to identify the significance of Jesus’ actions involving abundant food. Firstly, we must remember that the world of the first-century Roman Empire was marked by significant inequalities concerning, amongst others, food access.

Many experienced food insecurity and struggled on a daily basis to acquire enough food and nutrition. The small group of ruling elites in the Roman Empire enjoyed an abundant variety of nutritious, excellent food, while the majority of the population lived below subsistence level with inadequate food resources.

The petition in the Lord’s Prayer that God will supply daily bread, reflects this situation (6:11).

The lack of food was one of the ways that the majority experienced the injustices of the oppressive empire. The abundance of the elite signified their abuse of power and influence and total lack of compassion for the poor.

The coming age of the Messianic Kingdom is in the Old Testament depicted in terms of abundant food and feasting for all. Ezekiel  said  “They shall be secure on their soil … when I break the bars of their yoke, and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them … I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land … ” (Ezekiel 34:27-29). This happens when God breaks the self-satisfying rule of oppressive governments and powers.

The scène in Matthew 15: 29 – 39 is set in a “wilderness place.” The setting reminds of the exodus and God’s feeding of the wilderness generation (Matthew 14:21).

Crowds joined Jesus in this deserted place.

Jesus’ response was first of all one of compassionate power expressed in healing. His compassion is then powerfully illustrated by feeding this multitude when the disciples produced 7 loaves and some fish.  Jesus took control and hosted the meal. He took the food, blessed it, broke it and gave it to the crowd gathered there.  

The blessing on that day in the wilderness is expressed in the words: “All ate and were filled.”

Remember Psalm 107:9 celebrating God’s actions of grace and love: “he satisfies the thirsty and the hungry he fills with good things.”

God intervened in this narrative to multiply the limited resources so that there is abundant food. Not only is the crowd of four thousand men plus women and children were fed, there were leftovers, “7 baskets full.” Jesus unequivocally demonstrated his lordship over food resources and that the abundance of his provision signifies that “the Kingdom of God has come near”.

Jesus hosted a life-giving feast representing, proclaiming and celebrating the gracious abundance of God.  And this is the message we should share with a lost, hungry and oppressed people living in an immoral and power hungry world!

Sermon Recordings in English and Afrikaans

Click on this link to download sermons in English:

http://www.centurionwest.co.za/sermons.htm

Kliek op hierdie link om preke in Afrikaans af te laai:

http://www.cpk.co.za/sermons_a.htm  

For women’s day, Sunday 9 August 2015!

The Bible tells amazing stories about strong women who played a central role in God’s encounters with his people!  Two of the many heroines of faith were the mother and grandmother of Timothy.

The little that the Bible tells us about these two ladies speaks volumes for their character. One verse, 2 Timothy 1:5 says:  “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that is also in you.”

Paul was telling Timothy that he saw great character in him and that he would become a pillar of strength in the church. Paul’s letters to the young minister often refer to the things Timothy had been taught, the things he had learned.

Timothy’s grandmother Lois and mother Eunice taught Timothy about the Bible, about God and about Jesus, as they seemed to be diligent students of God’s Word.

The stories of great women in the Bible are inspirational to women today.  Not only do they play a pivotal role in advancing the Kingdom of God (and often they are not recognized for it) but they also prepared many other heroes and heroines of the faith to fulfil their calling.

Mary, mother of Jesus, remained a lifelong support, disciple and friend of the Saviour.

Elizabeth was key to forming and preparing John the Baptist.

Hannah gave a powerful prophet, Samuel, to the temple to serve God fervently.

Lois and Eunice educated a zealous minister of the Word.

And today we know that without our strong mothers, sisters and women co-workers, the church would be too poor, even unable, to fulfil her mission and serve her Lord.

We salute you, our mothers and sisters!  We confess that through the history of the church you were not recognised as you should have been. We repent of this un-Christlike lack of gratitude and respect.

We honour you and urge you to continue to be as heroic as the women of God always have been in God’s encounters with his people!

Faith and Life: the same fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit in us!

The Word of God praises the role of the mind as an essential part of doing what is right and our growing through sanctification. Our faith emphasises the truth that how we behave and what we think (believe) influence each other. What we think and believe and what we do, act on each other. 

When we alter the gospel, both our ways and views change.  When we stop seeking to do what is right and holy, our thinking and understanding of the gospel slithers too.  

Note Ephesians 4:17 – 20 on this relationship between not living according to the Word and futile thinking:   “So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn about Christ like this!”

The gospel is not something we learn in order to do right!

No, the gospel is, by the work of the Holy Spirit, the powerful word of God that achieves the authenticity of the salvation that the Spirit proclaims through our lives. Therefore the gospel is a lot more than “information” or even “salvation history”!

No, the gospel is what Christ did and lived, so that we too may live.  The gospel is the truth that re-creates us and through our teaching, re-creates the world.

This is why the Christian’s mind is important:  we act out of who we are. The Spirit who changed our minds about Christ, also changes our ways into an identity that lives for God and for my neighbour.

The right answer is neither legalism nor liberalism!

Christ can be taken out of the salvation equation either through blatant rebellion of the will and law of God or through the less visible confidence in your own wisdom. Paul speaks extensively about the latter and calls it “confidence in the flesh”.  Neither legalism nor liberalism offers answers!

But what is legalism? It is not the presence of God’s law in our daily walk with God and our desire for sanctification. No, it is an attempt to be acceptable before God by my own law-keeping and my attempts to live by my own effort to stay within boundaries I perceive to be “Christian”.  

The opposite of legalism is not “antinomianism”, meaning being against the law or being in denial of God’s law. God always remains God and his will for me and for all that he created always remains intact. The opposite of legalism is not lawlessness.

No, the opposite of legalism of any variety and often present in all the various Christian traditions, is the gospel.

It is the gospel that teaches imputed righteousness by grace and through faith in Christ alone.  The gospel is not a message of grace that adds protection of a Christian life that bears fruit, through an obsession with any law, whether it comes from human tradition or biblical tradition.  Such qualified grace puts us back under the burden of anti-evangelical self-justification.

Paul clearly says in Galatians 3:  26 – 29:  For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.  

Paul takes the Galatians to whom they were before their redemption in Christ: they were accursed because they were law-breakers as well as slaves of rules and laws at the same time.  But in Christ they became sons and daughters – even heirs -  and therefore own the full right of children who are in possession of their inheritance by the indwelling Spirit; even though its fullness and perfection is still to come on the Lord’s Day.  But in spite of our imperfection in this dispensation, we have already received the inheritance as God’s children, because Christ was born of a woman, born under law, in his perfect humanity, to redeem us from the curse of law-breaking and to make us heirs united with and in Christ Jesus.

How did it come about? Paul does not talk about what we are doing or have done, but proclaims what our Lord, in whom we trust, has done.

When we did not know God, we were enslaved by what is wrong, sinful and offends the very character of God. But when we became God’s children we have come to be known by God. How can you ever turn back to the weak, impure and worthless principles, customs and traditions of the world, whose slaves you never want to be again.  

Paul says in Galatians 4: 8 – 10:  Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.   But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable force? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?..... I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

We cannot trust ourselves to move from rebellion to salvation. Therefore we should not trust in ourselves to “remain saved” by keeping rules and boundaries in our own strength!

And in the same way that legalism tries to protect my salvation, in the same way liberalism tries to create and make acceptable a life without boundaries and disrespect and apathy for God’s perfect will and law.  As little as we can trust ourselves to protect our salvations through our own efforts to keep the law, just as futile is the notion to create your salvation by making your own rules and law that suits your era and suits a society that exists as God’s very enemy!

Paul taught that our spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being, both personally and as a community of believers are at stake.  Trying to be the keeper of our own salvation, or the creators of our own salvation, always results in the absence of joy and a life burdened with futility.  

And our witness to the only true gospel of salvation by the radical grace of the imputed righteousness of Christ in our place and for our salvation, is at stake.  Both legalism and liberalism offer no gospel that is worth proclaiming to a world unable to save itself.

As messengers of the gospel we can proclaim nothing but Christ, grace, faith, the Word and the glory it gives to God which is the only, final, radical and complete source of our salvation

Nothing can ever be more relevant for the ministry of both individual believers and the church, than free justification by faith in Christ, the only Righteous One.

The answer to both the sins of the flesh (the result of legalism) and to the sin of confidence in the flesh (the result of liberalism) is the same:

The imputed righteousness in and through Christ Jesus, our Lord!

God’s way to confirm his love: Word, Baptism and Holy Communion!

Last Sunday we rejoiced in the baptism of two infants.

This Sunday, 12 July 2015, we share in the Lord’s Supper and in faith we expect to have holy communion with our living Lord.  We are privileged to hear these “two words of Christ”, two Sundays in a row.  For those who listen to the assurances given in the Name of God, it remains a rare, encouraging growth experience!

The same Word of God that addresses us verbally through reading the Bible and through preaching and the personal witness of our fellow believers also comes to us visibly and clearly through the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Both sacraments are much more than symbols of the Word and never just visual aids to understand the Word better. They are visible, material forms of the Word of God itself. In the most personal way they apply, confirm and seal the promises of the gospel to the individual Christian. In both Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the Lord comes to speak to each of us by name, to both comfort and challenge us personally to receive his Word and he promises and renews his covenant of grace with us individually to redeem and sustain us as his children.

To all who are keen to receive the holy Sacraments with open hearts and minds, Christ speaks personally and with saving grace, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

As the Holy Spirit awakens faith by means of preaching and personal witness to Christ, so by means of the Sacraments the same Spirit confirms our faith and binds us to Christ. They create a faith relationship with our Lord and establish the the assurance of our faith and our experience that we are God’s children.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper convey and effect God’s promises of love, forgiveness and restoration within his family of believers  to all who in faith accept these divine assurances when we through our participation continuously experience the grace and the love of God.

Through remembrance the Lord every time “recreates” the moment that faith entered our lives!  As we at the Lord’s table remember what Jesus did for us at the cross, we see his love and come in awe to rejoice in the open grave.  

We are renewed by his resurrection power and his light shines in the realities of our daily lives. We are encouraged to continue to fully live for our Lord till the end and at the end!

Unite in prayer, for worldwide peace.

Christ calls us to come to rest in his divine love,
to rest from the things that are troubling us,
to learn what Christ teaches of life and life's challenges,
to commit to what we can offer others,
and go to the ends of the world to serve the love of the Lord for the sake of a lost world, bleeding and in pain!
May all Christians, all denominations, all followers of Jesus Christ unite in prayer for worldwide peace!

Shall we not unite in prayer for the world to find true peace, justice and love in Christ Jesus?
Christians across the globe, petition our Lord to intervene and make us instruments of his peace and grace!

Imagine the impact when every church that believes in the living Lord, begin to pray!
When the Body of Christ becomes the incarnate word, love and mercy of Christ, amongst others using the internet and the powerful social media, to claim the great shalom that the one and only God shares with his people, when we humble ourselves before him, and in faith avail ourselves as peacemakers. Then  we will be blessed and called children of God (Matt. 5:9).

Is this not the Church that Jesus desires – united in love, and as such drawing a lost world to the Truth, the Way and the Life, Jesus Christ, our Lord?

Pray for a human race at war with itself!

Pray for the world. 

For victims of war and radical extremism amongst all faith groupings.

For victims of prejudice, hate speech, abhorrence and persecution!

For victims of sexism, racism and ethnic supremacy anywhere and everywhere.

Pray for peace, for rest, for the love of God to cover and heal the wounds and to restore joy because -
God is love!

Pray for wise leaders in political, economical and faith communities.

That the Spirit of the Lord will guide our leaders, protect our children and summon those who have influence and power to make peace and bring harmony to a torn and broken humanity.

Pray that the Holy Spirit will pour out the Saviour’s love on all God’s children!
Today, and in church on Sundays, and at our small group meetings and hours of prayer - lets unite in prayer for worldwide peace and dignity for every human being.

Unite in prayer, for worldwide peace.

Be blessed that the world may call us true children of God

and will return to the God of love!

Shalom!

Awestruck by the power and love of God!

Acts 2:43:  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

God was at work in the first Church in Jerusalem.   The Lord saved them by grace, through faith, and one of the outcomes was that they were filled with awe.

One of the ways awe can be explained is that it means that you are filled with respectful fear in the presence of the almighty God.  And we need a deep sense of the awesomeness of God. We need to become awestruck by the holy power and love of our God.

This occurs where believers actually see God working amongst them in power and glory. The first Christians experienced the power of God, because they expected in faith to see the might of the resurrected and ascended Christ amongst them.  The core message they preached was after all:  The Lord has risen indeed!

The first Church would not allow anything to distract them from their calling to share Jesus with their community, their city and all who came to listen to the gospel.

We will see God’s miraculous work when we share Jesus with zeal and passion with everyone. When we invite the community to church. But not for self serving reasons, but because we are focused on what is in the heart of God – to see people delivered from darkness of being lost.   The only outreach that makes a permanent difference, is the one started in the heart of God!

Do you want to see God excited about your church, your ministry and your walk with him, then share the good news about his beloved Son with others. Imagine the heavenly powers and the might of the ascended Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit focusing, zooming in and enabling the ministry to which you were called!

That was what happened in the first Church in Jerusalem.

And one of the reasons why they were God’s priority, was that they were filled with awe as they selflessly and reverently served our Lord with holy fear and love.

May the Church of Christ be awestruck with the power and love of God!

May our Lord, Jesus Christ, reveal his awesome, miraculous power as you share Jesus with everyone!

Sermon Recording Numbers 6: 24 - 27 Preekopname!

You can download the recorded sermon preached on 21 June at CPC on the incredible benediction found in Numbers 6: 24 - 27, from our website, in Mp3 format, at the following link:   http://www.centurionwest.co.za/sermons.htm 

"The LORD bless you and keep you!" 

’n Preek op 21 Junie by die CPK in Afrikaans, oor die onvergeetlike hoëpriesterlike seën in Numeri 6: 24 - 27,  kan in Mp3 formaat afgelaai word by die volgende link op ons webwerf:  http://www.cpk.co.za/sermons_a.htm 

"Die HERE sal jou seën en jou beskerm!"

The dangers of being ungrateful.

Paul and Barnabas were preaching the Good News of Christ in the city of Lystra. In their audience was "a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked" (Acts 14: 8). Paul was used by our Lord to heal this man.

The crowds were excited and surprised by this miracle. They proclaimed Paul and Barnabas to be the Greek gods Hermes and Zeus – for who but the gods could do such a wondrous thing as heal a man lame since birth, they thought!

How many times do we, like the people of Lystra, thank the wrong person? We do that every time we give any human, including ourselves, credit instead of thanking God for his blessings.

Paul then states that the healing of the lame man points to the only living God. He tells the crowd that the healing of the lame man is only one testimony among many to the one and only true God.  The healing of the lame man, just as the making of the vast Creation (Acts 14:15) – as well as the revelation of Jesus Christ, point to God only. When the people of Lystra heard the Gospel and saw the healing of the lame man and saw God’s works in the vast Creation, they should have "turned to the living God" with gratefulness and in faith. (vs 15 - 18).  So often we give credit to humans, ministers, leaders, those who make the news, when we should be om our knees before God in humble gratitude!

We never have to fear that God will forget to provide in the smallest detail of our lives. What we must fear is that human pride and worldly thinking might get in God’s way.

More importantly, what we must fear is that we do not give ourselves back to God in gratefulness and love, because we fail to see his mercies and wonders.

Why do we celebrate the Lord’s Supper?

Firstly, because God will in his divine grace and mercy receive all who repent of their sins, to share in the Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ. And even when we realise that we are still weak and find it hard to live according to God’s law, we accept in faith founded on the Holy Scriptures, that our human nature cannot prevent us to receive the food that Jesus, our Host at the table, wishes to share with us.

Secondly, because we expect to be reminded by the Holy Spirit of everything Jesus did for us to save us and make us his own. The Holy Spirit speaks God’s Word to us through bread and wine that remind us that Jesus was not only innocently condemned to death and let his body be nailed to the cross, to cancel the debt we have because of our sins, but also was victoriously risen from the grave to raise us up to a new life of love for our God and for our neighbour. We are reminded that Jesus was forsaken by God, that we may be accepted by the Father and never be forsaken by our Lord and his Spirit.

Thirdly, we celebrate the holy Supper to have fellowship, with our Lord at his table. Jesus invites us to feast with him to assure us of his love and salvation. He directs our faith to his perfect and complete sacrifice on our behalf.  By the Holy Spirit, who dwells in Christ as our Head and in us as his members, we have holy communion with him and share in all his gifts, his eternal life and his glory.

Fourthly, we come to his table expecting that the Spirit unites us as brothers and sisters in true Christian love as members of the one Body of Christ. We come to love one another at the holy table and show this love not just in words but also in deeds.

Finally, we come because we expect to receive a foretaste of the amazing joy Jesus promised to his own, that we one day will share at the wedding feast of the Lamb of God. Then we will drink God’s new wine in the Kingdom of God our Father.

We celebrate our Lord’s Supper because there we are nourished and refreshed in our inner-being by the living Christ, as certainly as we receive the bread and wine in remembrance of him.

A Creed for Trinity Sunday

A liturgical Creed for Trinity Sunday  (31 May 2015)

I believe in the one and only almighty God:

the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The LORD our God, the LORD is one!

I believe in God the Father,

Creator and Sustainer of all things;

And in God the Son,

Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord,

who suffered and died for our sins,

rose from the dead,

and is exalted in heaven

for the sake of our eternal victory;

And in God, the Holy Spirit,

who assembles the Church,

makes us one body in Christ,

convicts us of both sin and forgiveness,

and works eternal life in us.     AMEN.

Pentecost Sunday - 24 May 2015

On Pentecost Sunday celebrate:

1. The power of the indwelling Spirit
2. The Church is central to God’s Work in this world, through the power of the indwelling Spirit
3. The multicultural character and mission of the Church is demonstrated on Pentecost
4. The missional ministry of the Church is guaranteed on Pentecost.

Celebrate Jesus through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit!