Sea Point Methodist

New Sea Point Methodist Web Site

2011-02-04T17:18:00.004+02:00

Thanks for visiting!

Sea Point Methodist Church has a new home on the web. You should be redirected in a few seconds, but if, for some reason, that doesn't happen, click here

Pastoral Page (Sunday, 19th December 2010)

2010-12-17T08:40:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

On this the Fourth Sunday of Advent we light the purple Love Candle. The Chrismon (or monogram of Christ) from our tree which I would like to highlight this week, is the cross, which reminds us of John 3:16 ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life’. This is the last of our purple candles which remind us of Christ’s royalty, and at the same time, of our need to repent. On Christmas Day, we light the white Christ Child candle, which reminds us that He is the light of the world.
May your preparations for this holy celebration bring you much joy!

In Christ’s service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday, 12th December 2010)

2010-12-13T09:51:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

This is the third Sunday in Advent, and it is that time of the year when we light the Joy Candle in our Advent wreath. You will have noticed that the four outside candles of the wreath are purple. This is because purple is the liturgical colour for both Advent and Lent. The candle in the centre is white, which is the colour of purity and the liturgical colour for both Christmas and Easter. Purple is used for a number of reasons. For starters, it is the colour of royalty. In Elizabethan times, only Kings and Queens and their direct family were allowed to wear purple! This is because the purple dye used, was, at one time, literally worth more than its weight in gold! And yet, the colour purple has also come to be associated with repentance, which is the work of the Advent and particularly, Lent seasons.

The Chrismon that correlates with the Joy candle this week is the symbol of the butterfly, which represents the joy and colour and life a new birth brings!

May Christ’s joy indeed be in you this Advent!

In Christ’s service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 5th December 2010)

2010-12-06T11:24:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

Last week I mentioned that the term "Chrismon" comes from the Latin phrase "Christi Monogramma", meaning "monogram of Christ". Each year we adorn the Christmas tree in our sanctuary with Chrismon symbols intended to represent Jesus Christ and His church. This week, as we light the Peace Candle on our advent wreath, I would like to draw attention to the “dove” Chrismon. While the dove is a symbol of Christ’s baptism, it is also a symbol of peace. If you haven’t done so before, take some time out after the service to have a good look at the tree, and to ponder the meaning of these symbols of eternity.

In Christ’s service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 28th November 2010)

2010-12-06T11:23:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

Every year, at the beginning of Advent, Annette faithfully puts up our beautiful Christmas tree, adorned with Chrismons lovingly made for us by the ladies of our congregation. If we think that Chrismons are nothing more than pretty Christmas decorations, we are missing out on so much. A Chrismon is one of number of Christian symbols intended to represent aspects of the person, life or ministry of Jesus Christ and the life, ministry or history of the Christian Church through a single image, emblem or monogram. The term "chrismon" comes from the Latin phrase "Christi Monogramma", meaning "monogram of Christ". Chrismons can be found in all sizes, any sort of construction, and are mostly used to adorn Christmas Trees during Advent and Christmas, but are also used to adorn everything from liturgical robes to grave stones. Ours are made from gold and white beads, to speak of the purity and majesty of the one who is, in Himself, the ‘Pearl of Great Price’.
On this first Sunday of Advent, as we light the Hope Candle on our advent wreath (thanks Mike!), I would like to highlight the Chrismon that is a Latin cross. This specific version of the cross stands on a base of three steps, which symbolise those three things which the bible tells us are the things which will remain: FAITH, HOPE and LOVE.

If you haven’t done so before, take some time out after the service to have a good look at the tree, and to ponder the meaning of these symbols of eternity.

In Christ’s service
Debbie

Pastoral Page ( Sunday 21st November 2010)

2010-12-06T11:19:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

Today is a very special day when we welcome a number of new folk into the life of our little church. I know that they, today of all days, covet your prayers. Perhaps as you pray for them, as they make their vows, with you and God as their witnesses, you might like to also take this time as an opportunity to renew your own vows, and to say the prayer of commitment together with our new family members:
I believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. I promise to join in worship regularly, and to share the Holy Communion. With God’s grace, I will pray and read from his word regularly. I promise to give freely of my time, talents and resources to the work of the church in the world. I promise, with God’s help, to spread the good news, to serve, obey and be true to Him, and with His grace, to share in His ministry of reconciliation and thereby reveal His healing love.

Please will you welcome, in no particular order,

Christine Savides, Beavin de Kock, Hillary Ncube, Lynn Kämpf, Anthony Kämpf, Juliet Curtis, Readon Rajal and Ntokozo Cele.

In Christ's service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday, 14th November 2010)

2010-11-15T12:37:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

Every year all the ministers and lay leaders of the Methodist Church meet in their Districts for a three day meeting, known as a Synod. It is a time of worship, prayer and bible study, fellowship and is a business meeting too. Although we at SPMC are part of Circuit 0101, it has been many decades since the Table Bay Circuit hosted Synod, and so we are very, very excited to be hosting Synod 2011. It will be held in Kensington, using the adjoining two properties of the Methodist and Anglican churches. It will be the very first Synod of our new Bishop Michelle Hansrod (who, despite the name, is a man), and so we want to make it a very special one for him. It will also be an important Synod as we will again be electing a new Presiding Bishop, and so simultaneous elections will be held all around the Connexion. A small planning team has already been meeting for some time, and we are determined that this will be a Synod that inspires the 250 or so lay-leader and minister delegates!

So watch this space - next year is going to be a busy one!

In Christ's service
Debbie

Patoral Page (Sunday, 7th November 2010)

2010-11-08T11:12:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

There are many ways in which our little church tries to care for as many people as we can. Our loaves and fishes project provide food parcels to congregants in need, and we provide ready-cooked meals to folk who need them. We feed 70 children every day at Intyatyambo and the WA is looking forward to the party they are throwing for them on 7 December in the park up the road.

We support St Anne's, a home for abused women, to the tune of R1 000 per month, as well as Kairos, which is a ministry which reaches out to prisoners with the gospel. We encourage folk to support The Haven Night Shelter through their 'passports' programme.

Our Christmas collection always goes to two Methodist Children's Homes: Marsh Memorial Home and to Heatherdale, and our WA supports 'their' child at Marsh Memorial Home with birthday and Christmas gifts. Next year we plan to provide 600 meals a month to poor elderly folk through the Stop Hunger Now campaign, but this Christmas we have another plan, too.

Ons Plek, a Methodist initiative, is a home for runaway girls. These girls are rescued, given any bridging education they might need, taken to school when they can, and the aim of the project is to re-integrate these girls back into safe homes in the community of origin. We thought we would like to provide them with the toiletries from their wish list for Christmas, which we will give to them at their Christmas party. On 27th November at 10 am Panyin will be packing the parcels for the girls. If you would like to help him to make cards for the girls perhaps you might like to join him at the manse?

In Christ's Service
Debbie

Pastoral Pager (Sunday, 31 October 2010)

2010-11-01T10:53:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

Becoming holy, becoming beautiful, becoming true, becoming loving and becoming purposeful: these are just a few of the things God longs to do in our lives through our worship. It is the latter that we focus on this morning: God’s invitation to a purpose-filled life is offered every time we gather for worship. The resources we need to live this life of purpose are, likewise, available to us every time we worship. All that is required is for us to offer ourselves back to God, and allow our worship to remind us that we are people with purpose, and that our purpose is connected – intimately and completely – with God’s saving, restoring activity in the world. As this reality begins to take hold of us we cannot deny the truth that our worship, truly and amazingly, holds the key to our healing and transformation, and that of every person and circumstance we encounter.

And so we warmly welcome Rev Roland Beukes as he leads our service this morning. Roland, know that you are among friends and that we look forward to hearing what God has to say to you through us!

In Christ's Service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 24th October 2010)

2010-10-25T10:19:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

Welcome to our annual Women’s Auxiliary Service. In our service today WA members will share with us some of their passion “to know Christ and make Him known”.
Over the last few weeks we have considered that we know we have worshipped when we find our lives becoming more holy, more true and more beautiful. But today we see that our worship should help us to become more loving too. John puts it this way:
In worship, God’s love reaches out to us, coaxing us to release our self-protectiveness and closed-heartedness, and to gently open our hearts. In worship we hear the whisper of God’s Spirit telling us over and over that we are deeply, passionately, loved, that nothing we have done or could do could stop us from being loved. And in this reassurance lies an unavoidable challenge. When we know we are truly and deeply loved, we are required to respond, to make a choice – to decide whether we will open our hearts to this love or retreat into ourselves, close our hearts, and send love on its way.

It is my prayer that in today's worship each of us will find our hearts softening, and opening to God's incredible love for us, just as baked, hard soil does to soft, soft rain.

In Christ's Service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday, 17th October 2010)

2010-10-18T09:38:00.001+02:00

Many, many thanks for the kind words and prayers during this time of loss. It has been a privilege to be a part of John's Dad's life. This week has truly been a celebration of his life. He showed us what it means to live a life of faith, and he died enfolded in God's peace and our love. Bless you, Dad!

This week is also week five of our journey into worship in 'The Hour That Changes Everything', the week when we consider this phrase of William Temple's definition of worship: to worship is 'to purge the imagination by the beauty of God'. I love what John had to say about it: 'If we are to envision the world as God desires it, as Jesus pictured it in his teachings of the Kingdom, we need imagination. If we are to embrace the hope that Christ offers us, and live out the faith to which we have been called, we need imagination. But, if we are to use our imaginations as effective instruments of transformation, we need them to be purged – refined and made pure – through encounters with God’s beauty.'

Yours in Christ's service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 10th October 2010)

2010-10-11T11:32:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

This is week four of our series: 'The Hour that Changes Everything'. Today we consider the second phase of that wonderful definition of worship by William Temple: 'To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.'

When considering our worship that feeds our mind with the truth of God, John has this to say in chapter 4: 'The quest for the truth that nourishes our mind – our ability to connect with God and to see the world and interpret it rightly – inevitably leads us to the person of Jesus, who embodies in himself the truth of God, and to the way of truth that Jesus taught and demonstrated. The search for truth is a constant and crucial ingredient for a life of joy, abundance, contribution and purpose, and it is in worship that this quest is best undertaken.'

I pray that you will indeed experience Christ's truth this morning as you worship with us.

In Christ's Service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 3rd October 2010)

2010-10-04T10:06:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

I do hope that you are enjoying the series: 'The Hour that Changes Everything' as much as I am. It is my prayer that we each allow the daily devotions in John's book to take us deeper, and that the small group work helps us to apply the learnings of each week more practically to our own lives. Of course, by now you know that the book uses as its focus that wonderful definition of worship by William Temple, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the second world war: 'To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.'

Over the next few weeks we will systematically work our way through this definition. Today‘s focus is on worship that 'quickens our consciences'. In chapter 3 John says: In a world that suffers from a crisis of conscience, we need God’s holiness to confront us. When we are faced with a vision of God, we cannot help but see our own deep brokenness and our own glorious potential to be holy. We are at once convicted and called, and the result is a transformation in which we seek to become whole and to bring wholeness wherever we are.

Happy reading all!
In Christ's Service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 26th September 2010)

2010-09-27T11:01:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

Why do we come to church every Sunday? What does it accomplish?

In Chapter two of The Hour That Changes Everything, John writes:

If the quest of worship is to encounter God intimately, the consequence is that we leave the sanctuary different from the way we entered it. We cannot spend time consciously opening ourselves to the presence of God without being changed, and this transformation must overflow into every facet of our lives.

Perhaps this morning, as we leave the sanctuary, we could ask ourselves this question: 'What does God want to change in me this morning?' and 'How will I live differently this week because of it'?

In Christ's Service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 19th September 2010)

2010-09-20T09:47:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

Over the next few weeks, as we journey through our series 'The Hour that Changes Everything', I will include snippets from John's book that express the heart of the work we do each week, to help us focus our learning. This week's snippet reminds us of potential power of worship:
In the light of God’s invitation to intimacy – to fill the longing in our souls with real experiences of encounter with God – we are faced with a choice. We can decide that this is all too much work, and we can continue to attend worship as an act of going through the motions – or walk away from Sunday services all together. Or we can choose to answer the call, and embrace the journey of worship as the most significant act of our lives, allowing intimacy with God to be our primary quest, and seeking for all that we do and are to be an expression of this intimacy.

To help us engage our learning more personally, I recommend using the daily devotionals from the book. Of course, the Bible Studies notes in the book will provide small group leaders with readings and questions that will help groups to delve more deeply into the wonder of worship. Perhaps I could even invite those of us who do not attend a Bible Study to use this resource as a family devotion? For a plethora of absolutely free worship resources, please visit www.sacredise.com

In Christ's Service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 12th September 2010)

2010-09-13T12:12:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

Next week is going to be a very special treat as my husband, John, will be preaching! This is because next week is the first of a seven-week series entitled 'The Hour That Changes Everything’ that is based on John's new book of the same title. This book takes us on a 50 day journey into worship that links our sermons on Sunday to our daily devotions and weekly cell group meetings. In this short excerpt, John explains why he is so passionately devoted to worship:
"...In his solitary imprisonment on the Isle of Patmos, St. John found himself “worshipping in the Spirit” on “the Lord’s Day”. The vision that follows gave John, and the churches to which he wrote, a completely new, God-oriented perspective on the world and the events playing out in it. This worship day experience of John, shared with believers all over the Christian world as it was then, changed him and his readers. It opened their eyes to a reality that was beyond their daily suffering, to a divine process at work in the world, and to God’s invitation for them to participate in bringing salvation to all creation. ...If the quest of worship is to encounter God intimately, the consequence is that we leave the sanctuary different from the way we entered it. We cannot spend time consciously opening ourselves to the presence of God without being changed, and this transformation must overflow into every facet of our lives."

Copies of this book (and all of John's CD's and his other book, 'Food for the Road') will be available in the foyer after the service for your convenience.

In Christ's service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday, 5th September 2010)

2010-09-06T12:18:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

Today we launch our 'SPMC's Got Talent' Project. What most excites me most about the project is the way it helps us to get to know one another better: for example, when we have phoned another congregant to order their milk tart or wall calendar, then we know them and next time at tea we feel more confident to chat! Please note that you may sign up to receive up to two envelopes (R200) per person, and may return your now-sealed original envelopes at a Sunday service (unless by special arrangement) from next week to the end of November, together with the original R100 and your earnings. Because it is not a competition but a personal and private commitment, the amount you make and donate will not be disclosed. If you are using your talent to make something like jams or toys, you will have the opportunity to use the teas after the services in the manse and the Christmas Gift Market to sell them but there is no guarantee that everything will sell there. The responsibility remains yours to sell your goodies, but there will be a further two weeks after the fair to sell your items before our "SPMC's Got Talent" closes.

If you would like to be a part of this project: not just to take an envelope, but also to help with the running of the 'Christmas Gift Market', please contact Debbie or Hannah at the church office.

In Christ's service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday, 29th August 2010)

2010-09-01T10:19:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

You might be proud to know that, as Methodists, we have responded to the on-going strike action in our country. I have attached a press-release from the office of the Presiding Bishop for your interest. In addition, the students of the Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary, under the leadership of Rev Dr Ross Oliver, downed books and picked up their aprons at the Town Hill hospital this last week. Those students with a medical background have been involved in patient treatment, and those without have been doing bed-baths or feeding patients. Because the strikers locked the hospital laundry, students have effectively turned the laundry at the seminary into the hospital laundry, manning it together with their children and any friends they can recruit. (The Dean of students at SMMS is Rev Dr Ross Olivier. Because, while ministering in Mississippi during the Hurricane Katrina disaster, he similarly made his church there such an effective centre for victims of that crisis, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Millsap University).

And seminary has not even yet been officially 'opened'! In fact, the opening of this biggest building project of the MCSA in the last 150 years will only be on 4th September, and the dedication of the chapel will be on 5th September. John was deeply moved to be asked by Ross and Rev Dr Peter Storey (who, during the middle of recession, raised the funds necessary to build an inspiring centre) to both write the liturgy for the event and 'choreograph' it.

With servant leaders of this calibre, I am filled with hope for both our country and our church!

Yours in Christ's Service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 22 August 2010)

2010-08-23T11:00:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

This is the second week of our 'Season of Creation'. Many thanks must go to the Anglican Church for their 'fact sheets' which they have made available to us. I hope you have found them to be inspiring and practical. If you have missed out on any and would like a copy, please let Hannah know and she will make one for you.

Thomas Aquinas once said: Because the Divine could not express itself in any single being, the Divine created the great multiplicity of beings so that the perfection lacking to one would be supplied by the others. Thus the whole universe together participates in and manifests the divine more than any single being whatever. St Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274)

Perhaps that is why creation care was the very first command that God gave to human beings. One day we will each have to account to him for how well we did what he asked us to do. Perhaps his questioning of us on that day will be a little like when he bombards Job (in chapter 38-40) with these questions:

Job 38 Then out of the storm the LORD spoke to Job. 'Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words? Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you. Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it. Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers? ...Job, have you ever in all your life commanded a day to dawn? ... Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea? Have you walked on the floor of the ocean? ... Do you know the laws that govern the skies, and can you make them apply to the earth? Can you shout orders to the clouds and make them drench you with rain? And if you command the lightning to flash, will it come to you and say, "At your service"? Job 39 Was it you, Job, who made horses so strong and gave them their flowing manes? ... Does a hawk learn from you how to fly when it spreads its wings toward the south? Does an eagle wait for your command to build its nest high in the mountains?' Job 40 Then Job answered the LORD. 'I know, LORD, that you are all-powerful; that you can do everything you want ... I talked about things I did not understand, about marvels too great for me to know ..., but now I have seen you with my own eyes. So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes.'

In Christ's service

Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 15th August 2010)

2010-08-16T09:31:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

For more years than we would like to count, Verna and Mike Smith have run a monthly garage sale at SPMC. This has been a greatly appreciated regular source of income for SPMC, a wonderful service to the community and a great way in which predominately, but not exclusively, their Bible Study has built friendships.

However, after so many years of doing it, and the Wednesday Bible Study, and the Sunday School and our 'Loaves and Fishes' ministry, Verna feels that she is beginning to run a little low on energy. But when the police caught the thieves trying to steal Bryce's car and I asked if there was any way to fit the car into the garage with the garage sale items, she realised that 'the time' of the garage sale is now over. She and Mike are going to sort through everything in the garage and then sell or donate their stock to other charities.

Mike and Verna, you have done wonders all these years! We are profoundly grateful to you for all you have done and continue to do in your absolute dedication to 'offer Christ's love' every way you can. We are also deeply grateful to all their helpers through the years, and to all of us who gave so enthusiastically to the project.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

In Christ's Service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 8th August 2010)

2010-08-16T09:18:00.001+02:00

Dear Friends

Despite the fact that Jesus spoke more often about money than many other things, it is just once a year that I like to speak about it, and today is that Sunday.

Because it is vital that at SPMC we are financially transparent, our books are always open for anyone to look through, every year at the AGM we report on the finances, and we give a financial precis in the bulletin each week. Each month we run to a budget of just less than R57 000, including salaries, insurances, utilities and assessments to the wider Methodist Church for Bishops and other administrative costs. While we are currently 'on-target' financially with our budget, our budget is unfortunately dependent on us utilizing two sources of income that worry me. The first is that each month we use R8 000 interest from our investments. The second is that we also have to draw R17 000 per month from the stipend reserves last year's leaders so carefully saved when we were without a minister. As you know, this situation is nothing new. This congregation (together with all the Methodist Churches in our Circuit) has been battling financially for a very long time.

And then, last year we received a wonderful gift of R1.6 million from the Kinsman Trust! Without this money, we simply wouldn't be afloat right now at all. But I would hate to fritter that wonderful gift away, especially as we have so much that we need to do with it. For starters we have tithed it, and put that into a separate 'tithe account' to gather interest, together with our monthly tithe of contributions. It is from this money that we support 70 children at Intyatyambo with epap every day, support St Anne's Home for Abused Women, support the Kairos Prison ministry and support many people from our congregation in their own personal financial crises. The rest of the Trust money was invested at an excellent rate. We have so many dreams about how to use this money. We would love to build a cry room so that we can welcome families into our congregation. We also, once we are financially stable, would love to buy a proper manse. This is more important than it seems for the long term sustainability of our congregation. We need to use the current manse as a hall for the Sunday School (without which, our church has no future) and for the many mid-week meetings that are held there. Eventually the top floor could become offices. One day, I will move on from Sea Point. Until a suitable manse is in place, though, Sea Point will be not again be able to invite a minister with a family. How wonderful it is to have a lump sum like the Kinsman Trust to invest into the future sustainability of ministry here at SPMC! How sad it would be, though, if all that money had to be used simply on making budget each month.

God has been at work amongst us in this building for well over a century. I have every faith that God's work will continue on long after I have left. But for that to happen, each of us has to ask: what is the role God has called me to here and now in terms of the time, treasures and talents He has given me?

In Christ's service
Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday, 18 July 2010)

2010-07-26T09:50:00.003+02:00

Dear Friends

This week we begin a series studying the beautiful Old Testament story of Ruth. Her courage and tender determination to stand by Naomi in the most desperate of times, reminds me of the song that was especially composed for 9 August 1956, ‘Wathint'Abafazi Wathint'imbokodo! (Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock). On that day, 20,000 women staged a march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the proposed amendments to the Urban Areas Act (commonly known as the pass laws) of 1950. The march was led by black and white, coloured and Indian women, like Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Frances Baard and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn.

They left bundles of petitions containing more than 100,000 signatures at Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom's office door, and stood silently outside for 30 minutes, many with their children on their backs. Those who were working for ‘whites’ as nannies carried their white children with them. It is an inspiring story.

The Bible is as full of inspiring stories about women like Esther and Miriam, Mary and Rahab, Ruth and Naomi as the church is full of ‘ordinary heroines’, women who change the history of nations in simple, but powerful ways. This year, Sea Point Methodist Church will celebrate Women’s Day in a multi-cultural proclamation: ‘Striking the Rock’. We will meet on Sunday 8th August at 3:15 for garden party on the lawns of the property. Then at 4pm we will march from tea, together down Mount Nelson Road and up through the main doors of the church singing ‘Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah.’

This service is not a ‘women’s only’ affair. We’d love to offer brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, sons and daughters the opportunity to express their thanksgiving for the women of faith in their lives who have been inspirational, by sharing in this special service.

We hope you will be able to diarise it!

In Christ’s service

Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday, 11 July 2010)

2010-07-08T10:08:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

Because we know that there are people in our congregation who really battle to put food on the table, for many years our congregation has implemented a project it calls 'Loaves and Fishes'. You will have noticed, as you entered the church, that each Sunday there is a 'Loaves and Fishes' basket that is kept in the foyer. Many of our congregants bring a few grocery items to church with them on a Sunday and place them in this basket, which is then brought forward to the front of the church together with the offering. Then this team uses these groceries to put together hampers for those who really need them. If you know of a member of our congregation that is in need of this service, or if you have a need yourself, please contact Verna Smith at 078 114 0911, and she will follow up with the request. Alternatively, if you would like to contribute to this ministry, then you will find a list on our notice board at the back of the church that will give you an idea of sorts of things we need most.

In Christ's service

Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday, 4 July 2010)

2010-07-05T09:48:00.000+02:00

Dear Friends

Once a month we host something which we call 'the Garage Sale' on a Saturday morning. This is a service we offer to the community, where we sell second-hand clothing and white elephant items at ridiculously low prices. At the same time we like to serve tea and cake in the hall, as way to develop our own fellowship. As a bonus, the money we earn from these sales goes towards the general running of our church. Owing to the popularity of the project, our 'white elephant' items have almost been sold out. If you, or any of your family, are looking for a place to donate second hand furniture, pot plants, books or kitchen items (for example) please feel free to drop them off in the Sunday School after the service, while we are having tea, and we will take them through to the garage for you. If you would like to know more about this project, please contact Panyin Blankson at 082 375 3228 or Michael Smith at 083 979 4382.

'Christien Jonas has been with us, first helping with our soup kitchen and then as our caretaker, for about eight years now. She will soon be retiring and we will say goodbye to her in the service on the 25th July. On that day, we would like to present her with a financial gift by way of thanks for her services. While the church will be giving her a gift, we wondered if there was anyone else who would also like to express their appreciation towards her in this way? We will be taking up a collection for her at her farewell service. Alternatively, any gifts can be labelled and put into the collection basket at your convenience. Memory Mashazhike and her husband Adam will be taking up the position as of the first week in August'

In Christ's service

Debbie

Pastoral Page (Sunday 27 June 2010)

2010-06-28T10:36:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

Sadly, this week I have some bad news to share. Firstly, Jacques du Plessis, who has done such wonderful work as a lay leader of this congregation, has decided to step down from that position, although he remains a member here at SPMC. We continue to financially and spiritually support his work with Kairos in the prison. Jacques, how can we ever thank you for all you have done?

Secondly, during last week's service, our secretary, Hannah, left her handbag in her pew while she helped to receive the collection. By the time she had returned to her seat, both her bag and a visitor sitting near her were gone. In the bag was not only her purse and two cell phones, but also the church keys. It seems the thief then slipped across to the manse, where the door was open for Sunday school, went upstairs and stole Bryce's lap top too. In response to this event, we have had to make ourselves a little less of a 'soft target'. Firstly, we have had to change the locks. Then we have arranged for the back few pews of the church to be cordoned off (many, many thanks to Joy and Colin for their assistance in this regard!) so that only the door and vestry stewards sit there, in order that they can monitor any suspicious behaviour. Lastly, the Sunday school is going to keep both the gate from the road and the gate into the manse closed during their lessons, until the tea duty people arrive (using the rear door of the church). Colin will install the beautiful old bell (that I used in my children's address last Sunday!) for the tea ladies or parents of Sunday school children to ring to gain the Sunday school teacher's attention. Perhaps in the light of all this, it might be wise to avoid bringing a hand bag to church, or to try to not leave it unattended.

I am reminded of Jesus' words to his disciples in Matthew 10:16 to be 'as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves'.

In Christ's Service
Debbie

Welcoming New Members (Sunday 20 June 2010)

2010-06-21T11:49:00.007+02:00

Dear Friends,

Today we welcome the following people into membership and into the life of our little congregation:

Doug and Marion Bennett, Rika de Ruiter, Colin Doyle, Lauren du Preez, Mark and Robyn Hampton, Vaughan Harris, Les Holmes, Miriel Mhlanga, John Nicolas, Railien Saaiman, Martha Saulo, Stacey Vass, Nicole Wertheim and Petrofski and Denelle Williams.

Today they make the vows that we all made either at our confirmation or baptism (if we were baptised as adults) that they:

1. repent of their sin and renounce all evil
2. believe in Jesus Christ and serve him in the church and in the world
3. will obey Christ and serve him in the church and in the world.

In Addition they make this promise:

'I believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. I promise to join in worship regularly, and to share the Holy Communion. With God's grace I will pray and read from His word regularly. I promise to give freely of my time, talents and resources to the work of the church in the world. I promise with God's help, to spread the good news, to serve, obey and be true to Him, and with His grace to share in His ministry of reconciliation and thereby reveal His healing love.'

Today, let's not only re-affirm our own vows together these new members, but let us also commit to pray for them during this very sacred time of their lives.

In Christ's Service
Debbie

The Spirit has come - hallelujah!

2010-05-24T13:17:00.002+02:00

To a world dry and thirsty, God has poured out living water; To a world fainting and breathless, God has stirred a mighty wind; To a world cold and dark, God has ignited the flame of the Spirit; Let us worship for the Spirit has come. The Spirit has come - hallelujah!

Today we celebrate the ever-widening circle of God's passionate love for humanity. Like a mighty fire, like a roaring wind, like a powerful flood, God seeks to purify us, to energise us and to nourish us. And today we celebrate that no language or race, no gender or orientation, no age, ability or challenge is a barrier to God's passionate seeking for anyone who would open themselves. Let us together pray:

Fall like fire, soak like rain
Flow like mighty waters again and again
Sweep away the darkness, burn away the chaff
And let a flame burn to glorify your Name

In Christ's service
Debbie

No Words Necessary

2010-05-20T12:52:00.001+02:00

Making Jesus Whole Again!

2010-05-06T11:48:00.003+02:00

A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his little girl. She wanted to know what South Africa looked like.

Finally, he tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed the map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to her and said, 'Go into the other room and see if you can put this together. This will show you our whole country today'.

After a few minutes, she returned and handed him the map, correctly fitted and taped together. The father was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly.

'Oh,' she said, 'on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then our country just came together.'

Who Is Jesus?

2010-04-25T14:19:00.003+02:00

So He had been right all along.

It didn’t seem so at an early stage and things only got worse. He seemed to come from the blind side, again and again.

The people who knew how things should be didn’t know how to handle Him. They did know that people were following Him, listening to Him, responding to Him, all kinds of people.

His closest friends included some rough fishermen and dodgy insurgents; an upright and honest Israelite “in whom”, all agreed, “there is no guile”; a local tax man (suspected of taking bribes on the side) and those two thunderous brothers.

His inner circle also included some women of stature and means. But there was also the one that a boy wouldn’t introduce to his mother. He seemed especially friendly with her.

What about dinner with a respected Pharisee and friends with an occupying army officer at the same time, even healing his daughter?

Crazy people, lepers, disabled people; all who seemed to have the curse of God on them, flocked to Him, some of them not even Israelites. In his company they got well.

Was He good? Was He possessed by evil? Who knows?

They did know He had a different take on the Law of Moses, on fasting and the Sabbath. He didn’t rubbish these time honoured standards; but He saw them differently. “The Sabbath”, He said, “was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath”.

That summed it up.

The point, for Him, was life, in all its fullness, life and love, indiscriminate, irresponsible love: love for enemies, “turn the other cheek”, love, “pray for your persecutors” love; outcast love.

The problem was that, for Him, the Law was not an end in itself. For Him the Law served life, not the other way around, and love was the Law’s fulfillment, not meticulous observance of its structures.

The man was definitely a destabilising influence. They decided He had to go.

They weren’t bad people.

They were generally good people doing their best: a high priest guarding the sovereignty of God, the stability of society and an uneasy status quo; a king watching his back, the main work in politicians anyway; a governor balancing the justice system with realpolitik; the Pharisees imposing obedience to Moses’ Law on unruly people.

They were so right they were dead wrong. So they killed Him.

Thirty six hours later He blindsided them again and came back.

Seven weeks later one of those fishermen, emboldened by God’s Spirit said to a Jerusalem crowd: “This man you crucified and killed, God has raised up, having freed Him from death. It was impossible for Him to be held in its power. Therefore know that God has made Him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified”.

It seems He had been right all along. God raised Him from the dead to prove it.

This Easter, celebrate God’s recreation of life and love.

(Rev Tim Attwell)

On Course (18 April 2010)

2010-04-19T10:00:00.003+02:00

Dear Friends

A few years ago, driving home on a deserted road late at night, I encountered two young boys: one was about ten and the other about six years old, walking along the side of the street. Because they reminded me of my own two boys, I stopped, and offered them a lift home. Home turned out to be a dilapidated farm shack in the middle of an open, empty field. I gave them some food and left them at the garage next door to the field, where all the pump attendants knew them well. And then I phoned our local 'street kid' shelter, who also knew the two boys only too well. They had repeatedly attempted to offer these two boys 'a whole new world' where they would get all they really needed to make something of their life: food, a bed, bridging education, transport to and from school, fun events, and discipline. This, however much they needed it, they didn't want, and so repeatedly these boys had run away from a beautiful home, to the life of 'freedom' and drugs that begging made so very easy.

Every year Easter reminds us how Christ's resurrection makes 'a whole new world' a possibility for all of us. Over the next five weeks we are going to consider how we can learn to live in a way that allows little of God's love, light and goodness into our world in and through us. And that is why today I list a number of organisations that are making a significant difference, with whom we can work to bring hope into this dark world.

Begging is a sure, surprisingly lucrative way to keep the cycle of poverty firmly entrenched in a person's life. Too many street people, like my two little boys, prefer street life to the discipline of a shelter and the simple, wholesome food and support it offers. Too many of us find it easier to hand out a twenty rand note, than to do for that person what they really need: a chance to change their whole life. And yet it is so easy to do the right thing. For starters, nobody in Cape Town should ever go hungry. One of the first things a new street person learns is that The Service Diningroom 021 465 2390 in Canterbury Street has, for the last 75 years, provided meals to the homeless for 5c a meal (although if the person doesn't have 5c, they will be served anyway). Currently they serve 1 200 people per day. Most street people know of the system of 'passports' offered by The Haven Night Shelters (our closest one is in Napier Street, Green Point 021 421 6219). This project means we can purchase a number of R10 tickets which then will entitle the bearer of that 'passport' to a night's accommodation, a hot meal and a shower. What some folk don't know is that women at risk can be accommodated and supported by a combined Methodist Church/ Child Welfare group of projects called 'Ons Plek' 021 465 4829, which rehabilitates 150 runaway girls every year. Mothers and their children at risk are supported by St Ann's programs 021 448 8518, and men by the Salvation Army 021 425 2138. All these places help those at risk to get appropriate government grants, medical help and a real chance to be re-integrated into 'normal' society. In addition the Police Services Social Worker Natalie du Toit 072 703 7682 , who knows the street people by name, not only helps in terms obtaining grants, but also has found many new homes for street people, and employment for them as solid waste workers.

As Easter Christians, we believe in the possibility of resurrection hope. That is why we at Sea Point already support some of these projects financially. Let's be part of breaking the cycle of poverty, by helping those in need in the ways that enable them to start a new life, rather than dooming them to die on the streets.

In Christ's Service

Debbie

On Course (Easter Sunday) 4 April 2010

2010-04-05T10:23:00.005+02:00

'You Told Us This Would Happen'

John van de Laar (copyright) 2006 Sacredise

Jesus, You told us this would happen;

that we would know that death

was not an ending,

but rather a beginning.

You promised that no tomb would hold You

and that we would see You again

alive and glorified.

But, we didn't believe it - we still don't

We still face the little deaths which fill our lives

with fear and dread and despair.

We still look away from Your resurrected glory

believing ourselves to be beyond the reach of Your grace and life.

But, now in this place, we gather to be reminded

Resurrection has happened - it happens still

grace and life can find us anywhere, and bring us home

And so we worship, with joy and relief

And with awe and trembling.

Stand among us again now, Jesus

and let Your life flood our weary and doubting souls.

For we pray this in Your Name.

Amen

On Course (Palm Sunday : 28 March 2010)

2010-03-30T10:58:00.004+02:00

CALLS FOR ALLEGIANCE

John van de Laar (copyright) 2006 Sacredise

Lord Jesus Christ, whose greatest moments of triumph happen

on the back of a donkey's foal

and nailed to a bloody cross,

we gather to prepare the way for You

in our lives and in our world.

There are so many people and things that call for our allegiance

so many kings seeking to rule over us.

But, You ride into our experience as another kind of King

a serving, humble and challenging King

who calls us not to slavery, but friendship.

You ride into our experience heralding another kind of Kingdom

a Kingdom where the least are the greatest,

where the meek inherit the earth

and where children are the best example of citizenship.

You ride into our experience revealing another kind of reality

a reality where death does not have the last word

a reality where pride, selfishness and evil are defeated

by love and self-giving.

And so we cry, from our hearts

Hosanna, Save us.

Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.

Amen

On Course (28 February 2010)

2010-03-04T10:36:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

In Leviticus 16 we read about a curious ritual in which the nomadic tribe of Israel engaged. A goat, once a year, would be brought to the altar at the Tent of Meeting and then the priest would ritually lay his hands on the animal, thus transferring all the 'sins' of the people onto it. This animal was called the scape-goat.The the animal would then, carrying away all the sins of their people, be driven out into the desert to die.

That is what sin does ultimately. It kills us, whether slowly through our own addictions, or through an instant of losing control. As Christians, we believe that Jesus was a scape-goat: that he took responsibility for sin, absorbed it onto himself, and paid the price of it. Through his action Christ teaches us that love can never scape-goat others, but always takes responsibility for sin, paying the price for it. We Christians call this process 'repentance'.

In this Lenten season of repentance the disciplines of fasting, giving and prayer act as a mirror, revealing our hidden sinfulness to us. It is my prayer that we will use this time and these disciplines wisely: to stop the easy-way-out of pointing fingers at others, of scape goating, and instead live the crucifixion truth of Christ.

In Christ's service
Debbie

'On Course' (Sunday, 14 February 2010)

2010-02-15T12:10:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends

I have just returned from a three-day Ministerial District Retreat at the Manyano Centre in Paarl. It was a very special time of reconnecting with old colleagues, meeting new colleagues and enjoying a time of contemplation on our call together. But while there was much laughter on the retreat, there was also much sadness.

It has been a very sad few weeks for our wider Methodist family. On Friday 5th February, just up the road, in Bothasig, Rev Fikile Makhananda's wife was killed by their son, who had just returned from rehab to celebrate her birthday. As ministers on retreat, we visited with the family to share our condolences. Please will you keep them in your prayers, in this painful time?

Another Methodist issue that has been in the press has been the removal of the Zimbabwean refugeee children and adults from Central Methodist Mission in Johannesburg.Please know that the slurs brought against Rev Paul Verryn are entirely unfounded, and that the charges of rape are against adult members of the community, not Paul himself. We are very proud of his on-going battle for the rights of these people is the face of government non-action. Please continue to pray for him, and for all Zimbabwean rufugees.

Also this week, one our ministers, Rev Ecclesia de Lange, was charged by the supreme body of the MCSA for her decision to engage in a civil union with her partner, Amanda. As you know, membership of the MCSA is soley dependent on a declaration of faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Thus we accept as members, and even ministers, all people, irrespective of their sexual orientation. What we have not decided, though, is whether we afford our gay members the same opportunity to engage in long-term, monogamous relationships of faithfulness and love that we offer our heterosexual members. This alone is the reason for charging a deeply repected, effective minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Please will you pray for her, as well as for the many, many faithful gay and straight Methodists and Ministers who weep with her.

I am new to this society. Drug abuse, the rights of refugees, Christians in committed, monogamous, same-sex relationships: these are complex, painful, emotive and potentially divisive issues. I long to address them more fully with you, and will do so in the months and years that lie ahead. However, these are topics that require a high degree of trust and I am too new right now for you to be able to trust me just yet. We will get to them as a family, perhaps later in the year. If you can't wait for that, and would like to engage me on any of these topics now, please give me a call, and we can arrange to spend some time together in prayer and dialogue, one on one.

I continue, as always, in Christ's Service

Debbie

"Excuse me, Are you Jesus?"

2010-02-11T10:17:00.001+02:00

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding. ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.

He was glad he did.

The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight. The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?" She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?"

He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"

Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our Destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace. If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.

You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

'On Course' (31 Jan 2010)

2010-02-08T14:09:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends,

Someone once said: 'the church is an organisation that exists for the sake of those outside of it'. It certainly seems that we at SPMC agree with that assessment, if the very clear results from the survey last week is anything to go by. Our congregation agreed that the top three needs of this congregation are:
i. Effective care and counselling of the sick, elderly and struggling.
ii. A greater commitment to children and young people.
iii. A greater outward focus on the poor, our community and justice.

I was delighted at how much these priorities reflect an outward focus in this congregation's spirituality. What is going to be interesting is finding out how together we live out these priorities. Committing to better care of the elderly, sick and struggling is going to require financial outlay in terms of providing for the visually, aurally and mobility challenged members of, not just our congregation, but members of the community. A better audio-visual system, and a commitment to offering on-going practical pastoral care will go a long way to addressing those great needs. Committing to children and young people is not just going to require some way of creating a cry room for our youngest members, but will also require an acceptance of different styles of worship. Committing to issues of poverty and justice in our community will require addressing issues that cause tremendous debate: issues like how best to address food security, homelessness, refugees, same-sex-unions and many, many others. Choosing these as our three top priorities is going to change us inside and out.

We now know something of what it is Christ is calling us to. Please will you join me in prayer as together, we seek to prioritise the way we live out this calling?

In Christ's Service
Debbie

We celebrate 112 years

2010-02-02T16:53:00.003+02:00

In January 2010 we turned 112 years old - Happy Birthday!

The life of a church such as ours is enriched by the people who pass through its doors. The church represents the Body of Christ, a living breathing organism, experiencing the moods and politics of its day.

Let us travel back in time for a moment, the excitement of many at the prospect of a new church about to be dedicated to the work of God was infectious. But looking back a little further at the minutes of a meeting held on a Friday evening in October 1896 at the home of Mr JD Mansfield, the following paragraph was recorded: " A conversation ensured regarding the importance of obtaining a site for a church to supply the wants of Wesleyans residing in Green and Sea Point. Attention was drawn to a property advertised for sale by auction on the following Thursday". The suitable property in question was known as 'Norfolk Villa' (which took its name from a now long vanished Norfolk Pine in the garden, and which in turn gave its name to 'Norfolk Road') and one of the persons in attendance was authorised by the meeting to purchase it, several of those present giving their personal security for the money required.

Rev Hodges reported having moved into the house on 5 April 1897. The memorial stone was to be laid on Saturday, 8 May 1897. Mr JD Mansfield was desired to perform the ceremony. It was decided that the usual cavity be provided in the stone for placing coins and local newspapers. It was also arranged that a silver trowel be presented to Mr Mansfield (the trowel is now situated in the minister's vestry) on 8 May 1897 at 3:30 pm. Donations to the value of 126 pounds were received.

The secretary reported having ordered the organ from England. It was expected that the instrument would arrive in Cape Town on about the first November next. There was mention of replacing the teak wood sittings and other church furniture with oak panneling, and that the architect had found it necessary to order six chandeliers of three lights each, instead of four chandeliers of four lights each. At another meeting it was originally planned for the church to be dedicated on or about the 12th or 19th November next. The meeting was waiting for the architect for a probable date.

It was also decided that a uniform charge of 3\- per seat per quarter be made. Mr Morgan consented to give the necessary wood for the communion table and chairs. Mr Rogerson consented to make these articles of furniture free of charge. Mr Morgan provided a set of collection plates. The meeting asked the secretary to advertise for an organist as a salary of 36 pounds per annum.

The big day finally arrived when the "Dedicatory service of praise and prayer will be held in the new church, Sea Point on Friday, January 14th, 1898 commencing at 7:30pm" (Cape Times). After the service, the Cape Times wrote the following: "The dedicatory services were bright but impressive, and all present seemed to enter heartily into the spirit of the occasion". At a later meeting it was stated that Mr Stubbings had been appointed organist at a salary of 50 pounds per annum, that the organ had been duly erected by Mr E Bull and the water pourer obtained and was working satisfactory.

Thus saw the beginning of a church, which through the work done by its people and God's guidance, was to impact on the lives of many people, throughout its history.

Navigating Change

2010-02-02T16:35:00.004+02:00

The world is Changing faster than ever.

Most of us struggle with this change. We dislike change, and our responses can often make the changes we experience more painful than they need to be.

In 'Navigating Change', Rev John van de Laar, will help you not just come to terms with change, but to embrace it and journey through it with confidence.

You will learn to recognise your own attitudes and responses to change, and to identify the four-change process that all change follows. You will also explore the attitudes and actions that ensure that change is navigated well, and that lead to a positive outcome.

Join us on 27 January and 3 February at Sea Point Methodist Church in the Manse.

Time 7:00 - 8:30 pm

Or on 16 February and 2 March with the WA from 10:00 am.

Debbie's Induction (17 January 2010)

2010-02-01T13:41:00.002+02:00

Perhaps you have noticed that already my name is on the board in the foyer that lists the names and dates of each of this church's ministers. My entry is number 24. This humbles me for a number of reasons. For starters, it makes me remember that no matter how passionately I give myself to you, I will always only be 'minister no 24'. It keeps me from taking myself so seriously that I forget that the church lived and flourished before me, and it will live and flourish again one day in the (hopefully distant) future again when I am gone. Perhaps what others will remember about me is this: I am the first female minister on the board. That humbles me, because it means if I don't do a good job, I will be letting the side down! I think, though, what humbles me the most is the calibre of ministers with whom I stand: people like Albert Hodges and the many other ministers of Sea Point who went on to become what we call today the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church; people like Herbert Leigh and of course, Theo Kotze. Wherever I go I meet people - now grandparents - who tell me how their lives were changed by Club Route 12 at 1 Mount Nelson Road. The work of these ministers lives on in this place, amongst us, and amongst the many who are no longer here, but who have been influenced by this congregation.

Today I make a vow to serve you. I do not do so lightly. Equally, you make your vow to support me, and that too is no light matter. However, as on the day of my marriage (nearly 24 years ago now!), I am grateful for one little phrase that is included in the vows I make, and it is this: 'in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit', I promise to give you my best. I cannot do this task alone. I have to do it in Christ's strength and with your support.

So will you please pray for me?
As always, in Christ's service
Debbie

Change Of Watch

2010-02-01T13:23:00.002+02:00

On behalf of the Table Bay Circuit and Sea Point Methodist Church it gives us great pleasure to welcome Rev Debbie van de Laar to her new position as Resident Minister with effect from January 2010.

Debbie joins us from Knysna Methodist Church for a five year term of office. Her husband John is also a Methodist Minister and is the founder of the self-funded ministry known as Sacredise. Debbie's eldest son, Bryce will be studying music at UCT and his younger brother Kieron will be completing his schooling at Camps Bay High.

Welcome Debbie and may God continue to give you the strength to love.

A line in the sand

2008-12-08T18:40:00.003+02:00

Lord, give me patience and give it to me NOW!

This world is full of hardship, struggles, suffering and frustrations. Wouldn’t it be nice if it were all to end right now? No more suffering, no more crime, no more corruption, no more financial stress, no more worries, no more pain! Why doesn't God just stop it all right now?

2 Peter 3:8-9 (NIV)
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

You see, if God stepped in now, if Jesus returned now, if God were to draw the line now and say, “So far, and no further”, we would be saved - we who believe - we who belong to Him. Suffering would endfor us. But what about your friends and family? Are they all saved?

God is compassionate and loving, and sees a much, much bigger picture than we do.

God longs for all people to be saved, to hear Him calling them by name, to receive the hope and salvation that He alone can offer.

God also knows, looking at the big picture, that the suffering we might endure in the short life-span we live on this Earth is nothing compared to the wonder and glory of what we will experience in eternity, when all suffering ends forever.

As much as God hates to see suffering, as much as God suffers with every one of His children who suffer, just as any parent suffers to see a child hurting, God also knows that if we were able to see things from His perspective, we would also want Him to wait a little longer before He steps down and draws the “line in the sand” that will be the end of this age.

All of us have friends, family, colleagues who do not yet know the assurance that we have – the life and hope and peace that comes from knowing that we have been adopted into the family of God and belong to His Kingdom – for eternity. And I am sure that without exception, every one of us would do anything for those people whom we love – we would do anything, give anything – to have them share that eternity for us.

In other words, if you had the choice: end the suffering now, let Jesus return now, let God draw that “line in the sand” right now and take us to be with Him forever where there will be no more tears, no more death, no more pain…. or endure for just a little longer, knowing that every day is another day of opportunity for the lost to hear God calling them, to see Him standing like the Father of the Prodigal Son, arms open wide, welcoming them home…
Which would you choose? Are you willing to suffer a short while if it means an opportunity for your loved ones to experience an eternity with no suffering at all? Of course!

And God knows that! He is so patient, so compassionate. He is giving us all the opportunity to share with our loved ones the wonderful story of Christmas – that the Sond of God Himself came into the world to be the light of the world. To bring us hope. To bring us life. What are we going to do about that? Are we using the opportunity? Because one day, He will draw that line, and the opportunity will be over… for ever.

It's all about image

2008-11-11T16:02:00.005+02:00

In light of the global financial crisis, and the increasing financial pressure we are all feeling to a lesser or greater extent, it is important that we remind ourselves where true value lies in God's Kingdom. Remember the time (one of many) that the Pharisees tried to trick Jesus?

Matthew 22:15-22 (NIV)
Paying Taxes to Caesar
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

So... first they soften him up with nice bit of flattery.
Then they throw the googley: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?”

Of all the questions they could have asked in the context of the political climate of first century Palestine, this one above all has the potential to open a hornet’s nest.
This is a Kingdom question, you see. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? Well, which law? God’s law says there is only one king, and that is God himself.
If Jesus simply says, “Yes, pay taxes to Caesar,” this would be seen as blasphemy.
On the other hand, if Jesus were to say, “No, we may not pay taxes to Caesar,” well then, that would be considered treason and bring down the wrath of the Roman rulers.
So very definitely this is a Kingdom question, and Jesus answers it as such - but with infinite wisdom. He calls for a coin, the denarius used for the poll tax, and asks them who they see.

In the original Greek in which this gospel was written, the word used is εἰκών [eikon] – meaning an “image” or “likeness”.
Then He says, in essence, “let Caesar have what belongs to him – the things that bear his image – but if you see something that bears God's image - well, then... that's a different story.”

Now all this talk of image and likeness would have been conjuring up some very definite associations for any good scholar of the scriptures, as the Pharisees most certainly were.
Listen to Genesis 1:27 (NRSV) - So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Jesus is reminding them what the Kingdom is really all about. Sure, let Caesar have his little pieces of metal, God doesn’t care too much about that. What God really cares about is what you do with those who bear HIS image.
In essence, Jesus HAS come out and said, God is the true King – the people belong to Him – all people – every single human being that has ever lived and ever will live. They bear the image of the Creator and they belong to God alone and no human king will ever own them. The Kingdom of God is about people first and foremost. God's Kingdom is about relationships. God cares about people. God calls you and I to treasure people above all else. More than any other treaure, God cares about you.

Rainbow over church

2008-08-25T07:08:00.002+02:00

Renee Bateman recently took this stunning photo.

Thanks, Renee!

Was Jesus Crazy?

2008-08-20T08:47:00.001+02:00

This world is full of hurt. We seem to be caught in a vicious circle of hurt – you hurt me and I will hurt you.
Jesus wants so much to break that pattern of behaviour. Who wins when every hurt leads to a retaliation of more hurt? What good comes of a revenge mentality? Sure, it feels good and right and even just when somebody who has hurt me is made to hurt themselves – serves them right! Right?
Right – until it is me that has hurt somebody else. Maybe not even intentionally. Or even if it was intentional, maybe now I am filled with regret and wish I could take it back. Until, that is, the person I hurt retaliates and hurts me even worse.
Nobody wins! Jesus knew that. Jesus could see that a cycle of retaliation would breed more and more hurt with every generation. He wanted it to stop. So He preaches a sermon about loving your enemies. Have you ever heard such crazy talk?

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:38-48 (NIV)

No, Jesus wasn’t crazy, just incredibly wise and full of love. He wants to stop the vicious circle and here he shows us how.
If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek. Sounds crazy, right? Until you learn that in the culture Jesus was addressing, a back-hand slap in the face was a slap from a master to a slave, a husband to his wife, an adult to a child – anyone I thought was below my dignity, I would strike back-hand – and that would result in a strike on the right cheek. You see, Jesus is not saying we should let people do whatever they want, and let them walk all over us and treat us like scum if they want to. He is saying, don’t retaliate; don’t perpetuate the cycle of violence – find another way. Turn the other cheek so that the person has to treat you as an equal. If they want to strike you again, they will no longer be able to do it as if to somebody below their status level.

The same is true of the other examples Jesus gives us – each one is a brilliant and creative way of standing up for your own self-respect and for a sense of justice without stooping to the level of the one who is trying to hurt you.

If somebody sues you for your tunic, give them your cloak – that “cloak” was actually what the people wore under the tunic. In one sense it was their underwear, except that it was not shameful to be seen in just your cloak. But if you stripped that off you were naked. Once again it is helpful to understand the culture of the day. Whereas I would feel ashamed in my culture if a stranger were to see my naked, in that culture it was the person who saw you naked who was shamed. They would turn away and beg you to put your cloak back on – probably throw your tunic back to you as well!

Walk the extra mile – Roman foot soldiers carried incredibly heavy packs – everything they needed for living on the move and for waging war was all stored in one pack. By law they were allowed to conscript people to carry their packs for them – but only for a mile. The Romans authorities were always very careful not to anger the local populations too much for fear if uprisings, and so the one-mile law was strictly adhered to. If you carried the soldier’s pack more than that, he was in serious trouble – he would literally beg you to give his pack back to him. Suddenly, he is no longer treating you as somebody to be pushed around, somebody who has no dignity and is below him. Suddenly he has to deal with you as a fellow human being and enter into a dialogue. Suddenly he wants to discuss coming up with a solution that will work for both of you.

Life is not about winning all the time. For every winner there has to be a loser, and losers (the whole sorry lot of us) tend to be sore losers. Sore losers tend to set out to find ways to be the winner next time, which means they set out to try and make somebody else the loser.

Jesus had a different idea. What if everybody tried to act in a way that would be helpful and positive and life-giving for everybody, all the time! Crazy? Brilliant!

12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. - Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

Jesus sitting at the Olympics

2008-08-09T07:29:00.002+02:00

We Christians believe that God created us all - as genesis puts it: "Male and Female He created them, in His own image He created them."

How it must hurt for God to watch His children hurt, rob and murder one another on a daily basis. So as I watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing, and saw what a huge effort had been made to express the theme, "One World, One Dream", I began to think to myself: "I bet you Jesus is sitting in that stadium!"
Surely God would want to be at any place where His children stand together in unity, no matter how weak and temporary that unity may be in reality. Just the fact that there are 104 nations in one place for a peaceful purpose, just saying they want unity, must bring joy to His heart.

The psalmist says it all:

Psalm 133:1-3 (NRSV)
The Blessedness of Unity
A Song of Ascents.

1 How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
life forevermore.

Keeping it simple...

2008-08-04T07:24:00.002+02:00

Luke 9:10-17 (NIV)
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

- - - - - - - -

- These people received because they made the Kingdom of God their no 1 priority – even hunger did not turn them away
- These people received because one boy refused to cling to the little he had – he thought first of the needs of others.

In Richard Foster's book of spiritual disciplines he lists ten ways to simplify our lives so that we can seek first God's Kingdom:

First, buy things for their usefulness rather than their status Second, reject anything that is producing an addiction in you. Third, develop a habit of giving things away. Fourth, refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry. Fifth, learn to enjoy things without owning them. Sixth, develop a deeper appreciation for the creation. Seventh, look at a healthy skepticism at all "buy now, pay later" schemes. Eighth, obey Jesus' instructions about plain, honest speech. Ninth, reject anything that will breed the oppression of others. Tenth, shun whatever would distract you from you main goal: "Seek first the kingdom of God."

Hearing the whisper...

2008-07-15T14:18:00.003+02:00

1 Kings 19:9-13 (NIV)

9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

----------------------------------------

So often we miss God's voice in the noise of this world because we think when God speaks we must surely hear thunder - or at least something spectacular will happen, surely! And yet when God does speak, it is in a gentle whisper.

If we are going to recognise God's voice in the midst of the storms of life and the noise of the world around us, then we must first learn to hear that voice in the silence, till we know it better than any other voice. How much time do you devote to silence, listening for and getting to know that gentle whisper of God's voice?

Learning to Fly

2008-06-16T18:46:00.003+02:00

Deuteronomy 32:10-11 (NIV)
10 In a desert land he found him,
in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them on its pinions.

This is a beautiful picture taken from nature. High on craggy cliffs, an adult eagle will know when it is time for the young eagle chick to begin the journey to maturity. The young eagle will never leave the nest if left to make that decision alone. So the adult “stirs up the nest” – literally kicks the young eagle out of the nest.
At first, the immature eagle has no idea how to fly – on the first attempt it might not even try to flap its wings. As it tumbles down, down from the nest, the adult eagle hovers watchfully just over the falling chick, until it becomes obvious that it is going to fail to fly – this time. Then the adult swoops under the chick, catching it on its own back, and flies back up to the nest to try again. And again. And again. Until the little eagle learns to fly.
If we are going to grow to maturity as Christians, then we need to be willing to allow God to “boot” us out of our comfort zones – not only when we feel ready, and not only when we are “fully equipped” – but even when we know we are not yet ready and not yet able. Often it is only in the crisis of falling that we truly learn to fly. Left to our own devices, we would probably never leave the nest.
What a liberating thing it is to know that we can fall and fail, over and over again, and that our God will lift us up again and again on His wings. All He asks is that we never lose the will to try and try again… until we fly!

What a Family!

2008-06-13T10:28:00.001+02:00

The leadership of Sea Point Methodist Church want to express a sincere word of thanks to all our members who have responded so positively and with such cheerful generosity to each and every special request that has been made over the last few months.
Whether it was for help with our antiquated computer, or to put up a new security gate or to care for a family in need or even hundreds of refugees in need, the response has always been immediate and overwhelmingly positive.
What a joy it is to belong to such a family of God as we have here at Sea Point Methodist! May we never cease to be faithful to God's calling to serve.

What use are you?

2008-06-13T10:26:00.001+02:00

Have you ever felt that you don't really have anything significant to contribute to God's church? Maybe you feel you don’t really have any gifts or talents that could really be used in a meaningful way in God's work?
Well then, maybe you're just a little toe in the Body of Christ. I mean, a toe is not all that a big deal in the scheme of things, is it? A toe doesn't make the blood pump or come up with great ideas; a toe can't grip something or craft and shape things; a toe doesn't take giant strides or jump and climb; a toe doesn't help you to breathe and it cannot see or smell or taste…
But let me ask you something: Have you ever broken a toe, or even sprained it?
If you have not, then pray that you never do. The day you break just one small toe is the day you find out exactly how much you do use your toes. When just one small toe is broken, the whole body suffers and suddenly it is hard to get around and do all those many, many things that the rest of the body does all the time, every day.
So you think your gifts and talents are small and insignificant? The Body of Christ
still needs you - more than you know!
But there is another side to that coin, of course: You also need the body. If you
cut off a toe, the body will suffer, and will at first struggle to cope without the toe,
but eventually the body will adapt and learn to get by without that missing toe.
The toe, however, cannot survive without the body. If cut off, it will shrivel and die.
So what are you doing to add the overall effectiveness of Christ's Body?
And what are you doing to make sure you become an integral part of the life of that
Body, to make sure that the very Life that flows through the Body of Christ will also always flow through you? If you have been keeping your distance… if you have been a loner and kept yourself apart from the rest of His Body, then maybe now's the time to think again?

Next ALPHA COURSE - starting soon!

2008-06-02T11:58:00.002+02:00

Don't miss out! We would like to invite you to join us on our next Alpha course, which starts on Monday 14th July 2008.
Alpha is a short practical introduction to the Christian faith. As you see, it includes the option of a weekend away. This is a key part of the course, as well as being great fun, so please write the dates in your diary now. Further details will be available later.

Each evening begins with coffee at 7pm and includes a talk and an opportunity to meet in groups to discuss and study the Bible. All meetings will take place at Sea Point Methodist Church.
It would be a great help if you could fill in the slip below and return it to us as soon as possible.

The course outline is as follows:

Mon 14th Jul – Who is Jesus?
Mon 21st Jul – Why did Jesus die?
Mon 28th Jul – How can I be sure of my faith?
Mon 04 Aug – Why and how should I read the Bible?
Mon 11th Aug – Why and how do I pray?
Mon 18th Aug – How does God guide us?
Weekend: 22 – 24th Aug
Who is the Holy Spirit?
What does the Holy Spirit do?
How can I be filled with the Spirit?
How can I make the most of the rest of my life?
Mon 25th Aug – How can I resist evil?
Mon 01st Sep – Why and how should we tell others?
Mon 08th Sep – Does God heal today?
Mon 15th Sep – What about the church
Friday 19th September – Alpha Celebration

We look forward to meeting you on 14th July!

God bless,
Brenton

Alex - a hymn of repentance

2008-05-23T19:21:00.002+02:00

Words: Brenton Prigge © 2008 CCLI # 5181342
Music: to the tune of ROCKINGHAM (CM )
[Traditionally used for When I survey]
-------------------------------------------------------------
1. O weep with shame, come weep with me
all daughters and all sons of Eve;
my brothers and my sisters, weep!
Repent with tears this tragedy.

2. When will we learn to hate our hate?
When will we bury our distrust?
and put to death our murderous ways?
When will our God give up on us?

3. See how the tears from Heaven fall
to see such fratricide on earth;
Oh, how the Father’s heart is torn
to see us yet conspire with Death.

4. Why do we strike out in our fear?
Did He not die that death might end?
When will we honour Life more dear
than all else we so vain defend?

5. O weep with shame, come weep with me
all daughters and all sons of Eve;
my brothers and my sisters, weep!
Repent with tears this tragedy.

Xenophobia - Methodist Response

2008-05-23T19:19:00.002+02:00

Dear Friends,
I am sure that like me you have been utterly horrified by the xenophobic violence that is spreading through our country.
Let me assure you that this issue has been given the highest priority at the Synod of our Cape of Good Hope District of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.
Today a number of practical steps were decided on:
1. Three ministers of our district were sent to a meeting to liaise with the Minister of security and other officials seeking to assess what measures need to be taken to best resolve the issues surrounding the violence.
2. A very significant decision was taken which in effect says that every Methodist Church in our district will be made available as a place of hope and safety during this crisis.
3. The entire synod adjourned early today so that we could attend a protest rally outside parliament, to make a clear statement along with many other concerned citizens, that xenophobia and violence are not acceptable responses to the complex issues that have sparked them. It was good to see hundreds of people gather peacefully to protest the violence and to make it very clear that “what crisis?” is not a good enough response from our leaders!

Dear people of Sea Point Methodist Church, I call on you now to respond to this crisis in a way that is true to Christ’s call to love our neighbour as ourselves. There is going to be flood of displaced people very soon the likes of which we have never seen before. They are going to need shelter, clothing, food, blankets, etc. Please, if you have such items to spare, bring them to church on Sunday, at which stage I will explain matters in more detail.
And please – pray! Pray for our country, Pray for the people who out of desperation have turned to violence. Pray for the people who are the focus of that violence. Pray for love. Pray for peace. And pray for us, Sea Point Methodist Church, that we might not be found wanting in this time of crisis, but that we would be the salt of the Earth and the light of the world in as many ways as we possibly can. Right now our country needs signs of hope. Let’s truly be a place of hope in the midst of despair. God is counting on us.
God bless
Brenton

Alpha Holy Spirit Day

2008-05-16T07:37:00.003+02:00

To all those doing Alpha at the moment, please don't forget our Holy Spirit Day to take place in the Church on Saturday 17th May starting at 09h00 and running through to 16h00. Lunch will be bring and share. See you there!

At last - a home for the Turners!

2008-05-16T07:21:00.003+02:00

Most of you will have met the Turner family at the Sunday morning service last Sunday. Shawn and Tainya and their two babies have been staying in our garage while we tried to find them better accommodation in order that they would have a roof over their head while Shawn recovers from being run down by a car in Greenpoint about a month ago.
The good news is that we have now found them a place out in Kuilsriver and one of our generous families is covering the rental for two months!
This will most certainly give Shawn enough time to recover, so I want to say a huge "Thank You" to our donors for their incredible generosity - you know who you are - may God bless you richly indeed.
To everybody else who has helped - with food, with prayers, with nappies, a heater, and lots of love - I cannot possibly list all that Sea Point Methodist's warm hearted family have contributed towards the welfare and care of this little family in their time of desperate need - and I am proud of you! Thank you so, so much!
Obviously the family will still be in need of food, so we hope to continue supporting them in that small way until Shawn can once again earn a living. This will be a little bit harder now that they will be so far away, so if anybody is available to take a turn driving out there to deliver some food, please let me know. Also, I finally managed to get hold of Somerset Hospital (!) and got Shawn a follow up appointment which will be on Monday 26th at 09h00. Unfortunately this coincides with a service I have at Sea Point Place, so if anybody can help Shawn get from Kuilsriver to Somerset Hospital on that day (and back again obviously) please let me know!
God bless,
Brenton

Ever feel rejected?

2008-05-15T08:05:00.002+02:00

Jesus was rejected. John 1:11 tells us that "He came to his own people, but they didn't want him" (The Message).
In fact, Jesus was rejected from the moment people knew he was on the way into this world. Imagine the rumours and looks that flew around when it became obvious that Mary was pregnant but not yet married! Imagine the way Jesus might have been treated by other boys and girls as he grew up - boys and girls who might have overheard their parents gossip: "You know that Mary? I hear she wasn't exactly married for nine months when her little Jesus arrived..." Imagine the names Jesus might have been called by some of those children!
We all know about the way Jesus was rejected at Nazareth, his own town, when he began to preach and teach and perform miracles. "Who is this? Isn't that Joseph's son..." (Luke 4:22) and they drove him out of the townb he grew up in. Ironically, it seems the people of Nazareth had a poor enough self-esteem to agree with Nathanael, when Phillip invited him to come and meet "Jesus of Nazareth," he answered, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?"
The ultimate rejection came with the words "Crucify him! Crucify Him," and yet, as Jesus hung on the cross, he said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 24:34).
You see, the God we so often reject never rejects us!
Not only that, but if you happen to feel rejected at any time, you can know one thing for sure: Jesus knows and understands completely.
So isn't it time you turned to the One person who will never, ever reject you?

Mission Month

2008-05-13T18:22:00.005+02:00

I'm sure you've heard me say it by now: May is Mission Month in the Methodist Church. That is not to say that we are not involved in mission every month and every day. It is simply that in May we truly celebrate God’s mission in the world,and it serves to help us refocus and assess just how effective we are in that mission.So let me ask you something: What’s your mission in life? Are you on your own mission, or are you on God’s mission? What are you doing with your life on this planet that will outlast your life on this planet?Jesus says,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
How exactly does one store up treasures in heaven? It’s simple, really - just invest in the one thing that will continue to exist even afterthis life ends: Human beings. People. Invest your time, money and talents in acts of love and kindness that will enrich the lives of others and as much of possible do so in a way that will point them to the One who inspires and enables you to do so: Our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him they will find eternal life, and in them you will have an investment beyond all earthly value that will never, never fade!

Does God exist?

2008-05-12T15:46:00.002+02:00

Just a quick "thought for the day":
If I believe in all my heart that unicorns exist, my belief can never cause them to exist. They simply do not.
If I believe with all my heart that crime does not exist, my belief does not change the simple fact that crime is real.
Either God exists or he doesn't. What you and I think or believe will not change the reality.
I believe he exists, and I lime my life accordingly. If I am wrong... well, I won't have lost anything, will I?
If you live your life as if God does not exist, and you are wrong...

"God is dead," said Nietsche.
"Nietsche is dead," says God.

A little bit of history...

2008-05-09T08:48:00.005+02:00

What our church looked like in 1945. Note the Norfolk Villa Manse - and no Telkom building!!

The photo is taken from just fown Norfolk Road. Thanks to Marge La Cock for sharing this picture with us.

What's your favourite?

2008-05-06T09:01:00.003+02:00

A couple of weeks ago, I asked the congregation to share with me their favourite hymns and songs, so that I could make sure to include them in our worship more often. We had a few good responses and I used most of the selected favourites this past Sunday. But many people have not yet responded and I thought we could expand this quest for favourites to the blog. Please click to leave a comment and then share with uis your favourites. If you do not sign up for a google account and prefer to go through the "anonymous" method of leaving a comment, please just include your name (unless you really don't want to!) in the body of the comment itself. In the long run, you might find it easier to just sign up for a google account - it doesn't cost anything and it means that your comments will automatically show your name.
So - let me have it - what's your favourite?

"...whatever you did for one of the least of these..."

2008-05-06T08:33:00.002+02:00

Those of you who were in church on Sunday will have heard me tell of a family that arrived on my doorstep on Saturday night... just as it was starting to rain. (And it has been raining off and on ever since!)
The family consists of Daniel (3 months old) and Joshua (20 months old), and their parents Tania and Shaun. Shaun is in a wheelchair at the moment, with pins sticking out of his leg, because on 16th April he was knocked down in Main Rd, Greenpoint, while walking to work in town. He is a general handyman who does plumbing and electrical work. He is also a qualified fridge mechanic. Before the accident the little family survived from day to day on whatever Shaun could make, and were quite happy that way, paying a daily rent for the room they were staying in. All that changed with the accident.
I am sure that you will understand that as I met this family and heard their saga, and as I looked at little Daniel and Joshua, I just could not let them sleep in the rain. So for the last three nights they have slept in my garage!
Can you help?
Friends, this is a desperate situation. I have spent the last couple of days phoning shelter after shelter. They are either full, or they only take men, or only women, or women and children but not men. The most urgent need right now is to get them into some sort of decent accommodation. If you know of anything...
But there are other ways you can help:

If you need an appliance fixed, you can bring it to Shaun. He is not very mobile and can't go out looking for work, but he can still work if we bring him the goods. That way they can begin to get back "on their feet" financially.
Food - we have helped from Loaves and Fishes donations, but a good cooked meal now and again will do wonders for their health.
Blankets - it is very cold in the garage. I do want to express a very big thank you to Francois and Heidre for helping out with a small heater and some nappies for the kids. Thanks so much, and God bless you!
Pray for this little family. It has been humbling to listen to them speak of their deep faith in God, and both heart-breaking and heart-warming to see them lean on that faith and cope with what little they have in a very trying situation.

I know the people of Sea Point Methodist have huge hearts. I know you will help wherever you can. Let me know what you can do, no matter how small.

God bless,

Brenton

Alpha Tonight

2008-05-06T08:26:00.002+02:00

How can I resist evil? That is the topic for Alpha tonight.

Ever noticed that there is just one letter's difference between "good" and "God"? The same applies for "evil" and "devil". Don't miss out on this chance to learn more about the Bible's view of the battle between good and evil, and how you are a part of that battle whether you want to be or not. Tuesday 19h00 in the church. See you there!

Ascension

2008-05-04T16:08:00.000+02:00

Luke 24:36-53 (NIV)

One of my favourite newspaper cartoons of all time is Calvin and Hobbes. One day Calvin and Hobbes come marching into the living room early one morning. His mother is seated there in her favourite chair. She is sipping her morning coffee. She looks up at young Calvin. She is amused and amazed at how he is dressed. Calvin’s head is encased in a large space helmet. A cape is draped around his neck, across his shoulders, down his back and is dragging on the floor. One hand is holding a flashlight and the other a baseball bat.
“What’s up today?” asks his mom.
“Nothing, so far,” answers Calvin.
“So far?” she questions.

“Well, you never know,” Calvin says, “Something could happen today.” Then Calvin marches off, “And if anything does, by golly, I’m going to be ready for it!”
Calvin’s mom looks out at the reading audience and she says, “I need a suit like that!”
That’s the way many of us feel as we see the news and deal with life. Sometimes this world seems quite violent and people seem to be at each other’s throats. A suit like that would help, so we can say with Calvin, “Whatever may come my way, I’m going to be ready for it!”
So I followed Calvin’s example – I’ve got my spotlight, my Leatherman, my Batman cape and my helmet! Unfortunately I’m wearing my underpants under my trousers, which as any self-respecting super-hero knows is the wrong way around.

Don’t you sometimes have days that make you wish you could have a special suit that would make you ready to face absolutely anything? There is such a suit you know, and I’ll tell you all about it a little later in the sermon. So don’t doze off!
If you think about it seriously for a minute, you will realize that our desire for a suit like that really comes down to a desire for peace: Peace!
Peace means not being in a constant state of turmoil inside. Turmoil caused by so many negative emotions bubbling around inside of us all the time. Like fear; Fear of violence, fear of crime, fear of the falling economy, fear of unemployment, fear of the future, fear of every stranger that we come across, because who knows which one will turn out to be the kind of person Dorrie Elliott ran into? Along with that fear we experience anxiety and suspicion and possibly even depression from time to time.
How we long for peace. To be free from fear, free from anxiety, free from pressure. Free to take each day as it comes without worrying about what it may hold for us.
The first words Jesus speaks to his disciples when he enters their presence are words of peace: “Peace be with you”.
In John 14:27 (NIV) Jesus says a little more about the kind of peace He offers:
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Isn’t it amazing how Jesus always manages to go straight to the heart of things? Do not let your hearts be troubled – because that’s what robs you of peace! Do not be afraid – because fear destroys your peace! More to the point, Jesus is telling them that when He gives them peace, there is no longer reason for fear and turmoil in your hearts.
Jesus makes another, very important point in this verse from John’s gospel: His peace is not that same as any kind of peace the world may offer. You see the world can only keep peace by force. We use armed police men and when that fails we use soldiers. And when we get to the point where the threat of violence is respected enough to prevent crime and war, then we call it peace!
The world tries to create peace by force and through fear and by tying people to laws and rules. Not that I’m saying we should do away with all these things – I’m saying that it is the only way the world knows of trying to create peace. But in the end, no peace the world offers can give us true peace. The world’s way of trying to create peace only increases our fear and the turmoil of emotions in our hearts. No matter how law-abiding you may be, your heart skips a beat and then begins to hammer way to fast when you are approached by a policeman or a soldier or a boss or anybody in authority, because potentially, though their job is to maintain peace, you know that they have the power to destroy your peace completely and utterly.
Jesus says: “Not as the world gives do I give.”
You see, the peace that Jesus offers comes not by force but through surrender.
Jesus does not force himself on you. You are free to ignore Him completely, or you are free to surrender yourself to Him. Only the latter will bring peace – true peace.

The peace Jesus offers is not created through fear and through the keeping of laws. His peace comes because Jesus offers us freedom from both law and fear.
I want to say that again, because this is critical, and I’m sure some of you are already questioning that last sentence in your minds, and I want to make sure you have time to consider it really carefully: Jesus offers us freedom from both law and fear.
Are we really free of law? Surely even a Christian is bound to keep the law!
Listen carefully to what Paul says about the law:
Galatians 3:1-11 (NIV) Faith or Observance of the Law page 213
3 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
6 Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”

We are not bound by the law. Not even God’s law in the Old Testament. The law cannot save us. Trying to keep the law can never bring peace. In fact, trying to keep the law will always bring fear and guilt and turmoil in your heart.
This is one of the great mysteries of our faith: We are not bound to the law, but if we have love for Jesus, we keep His commands: Jesus himself said so in Luke14:23
“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him….”
Our problem is that we tend to read that verse the wrong way. We see it as another law. We read: If anyone loves me they better prove it by obeying my teaching!
What it actually means is this: If you love me, you will naturally obey me, because I will come and live in you! It is no accident that this sentence appears in the middle of a passage in which Jesus is promising His Holy Spirit! It is the Spirit that comes to dwell in us that represents all God’s tremendous power dwelling within every Christian, and it is the Holy Spirit who will prompt you to obey Jesus’ commands, not out of guilt and fear, but once again simply by surrendering to Him and His guidance!
You wanted a special suit to help you face any situation life throws at you? You know, like Superman who always had to rush into a phone booth and change into his special blue suit with the red underpants on the outside!
There is such a suit for Christians, and it’s going very cheap! Luke 24:49 Jesus tells His disciples:
I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”The Holy Spirit is your special suit! And the price is surrender. Surrender and find peace! Surrender and be free!

Alpha - Tuesday night @ 19h00

2008-04-21T14:51:00.008+02:00

This Tuesday night's Alpha topic is "Why and How should I pray?"

19h00 at Sea Point Methodist Church

All welcome - see you there!

Say "Hi" to our new secretary

2008-04-21T09:27:00.008+02:00

Beryl Andrews is our new secretary - hard at work in the church office.
Pop in any time Monday to Thursday between 09h00 and 13h00 to say "Hi"!
Should you have any queries regarding church activities, give her a call during those hours on 021 434 0113.

Unless the Lord builds...

2008-04-20T08:14:00.002+02:00

Psalm 127:1-2 (NIV)

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
---------------------------------------
You can do pretty much anything you set your mind to. I really believe that. With hard work and a lot of determination, the sky is the limit.
You can build your own empire. You can be like Donald Trump and build yourself an empire based on financial wealth. You could get yourself a really good job and earn big money and build yourself two or three nice holiday mansions in Bakoven.
You can even build little empires at your work. You could build a nice empire out of the “in crowd” by wearing the right clothes, doing well at the right tasks, having the right hair style and the right cell phone and the right attitude. Attitude is everything.
Or if you don’t fit in to that crowd, you can build yourself a nice little “anti” empire, making sure you do everything exactly the opposite to the “in crowd” – wrong clothes, wrong hair, wrong attitude...
Or you can build yourself a fortress that protects you from the world. You can build walls around yourself so nobody can see you, get to you, understand you, use you or hurt you.
You can build pretty much anything you want. But... There is a “but”, and it’s a big “but”.
(No, not that kind of big butt!)
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. (Ps 127:1, NIV)
The Good News Bible puts it in simpler English:
If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless (Ps 127:1,GNB)
There are many people in this world who claim they don’t need God. They say they can get through this life just fine without Him. They have good jobs, they have plenty of money, nice houses, fast cars, flashy clothes and they even have their health. What do they need God for? They can get through this life just fine without God.
I agree with them. You can get through this life without God. But that’s it. When you reach the end of this life, then what?
At the end of this life, you will find out that everything you have done, everything you have achieved, everything you have collected around you – every single thing that you did without God is 100% useless and pointless.
And that includes everything you have become as a person. Everything you have done with your life will be meaningless if you have done it without God.
God is your architect and designer, and your master builder. He knows how He designed you and what He has planned for you. Let Him choose your building blocks.
Let me explain what I mean by building blocks. Every choice you make, everything you do, everything that gets done to you, everything you say and everything that gets said to you, every experience you go through, every book you read or movie you watch – all these things are building blocks.
We all have an important choice to make in life – we have to choose who will be the master builder. If you believe that God is your architect, then you would be wise to choose Him to be the master builder as well. After all, He is the one who knows the plan for your life. He has the blueprints. That is why everything you do without Him is useless and meaningless. You see, no matter how wonderful and spectacular your plans might be, those plans mean nothing in God’s kingdom. In God’s kingdom, the only plan that counts for anything is God’s plan.
Some of these things – especially things that get done to you or said to you, are more like rocks that are thrown at you than actual building blocks, but what you decide to do with those rocks can make a big difference in your life. The easiest thing to do is just to accept them and build them into your life with all the other building blocks. Easy, but not a good idea. If you just build any old rocks people throw at you into your house, you will end up with a pretty ugly and unstable house.
But if the Lord builds... If the Lord builds, you can trust Him to remove the dross and clean up the messy work of the past. You can trust Him to replace all the mess with His perfect work in your life.
There is no peace like the peace that comes with the knowing that the one who planned your life is the one who is guiding your life day by day, minute by minute. The God who created the universe and all that is in it, is your architect and Master Builder!

Wonderful Support for Alpha Course!

2008-04-17T16:33:00.002+02:00

When we announced that we would be presenting the Alpha Course, I was hoping for at least 6 people to make to worthwhile . Imagine my surprise when Alpha kicked off on 11 March with 16 people! More importantly than the quantity of people is the quality of the discussions we have had every Tuesday evening, as we explore important questions of faith and life.