'Chilling'

Sunday was a 'chilling' day for us as a church community.

We shared a nativity play with our Children's Church in the morning and our annual Carol's by Candlelight in the evening.

It was an awesome time and gave me the sense, as families came together, of:

A. The importance of family time

B. The extent of Jesus' grace - without gathering in His name, we wouldn't have had families together in this way.

God is good!

Christain Values

On Sunday we shared from Jesus' parable on good fruit in Matthew 7:15-20.

There are many things which determine our behaviour and thus the outcomes in our lives.

One of the most important is VALUES.

Values are gained from personal conviction, upbringing and life experience.

Values need to have positive outcomes for us and the people around us.

Scripture determines Christian values.

Bottom line:

1. If we allow Scripture to determine our values we will experience positive
outcomes for our lives.

2. When our lives are changed, the world changes around us.

THIS HAPPENS BECAUSE IN CHRIST WE BEAR GOOD FRUIT.

Falling Away

On Sunday we shared from Hebrews 5:11-14 & 6:1-12.

The writer warns us about falling away (apostasy) - once believing then denying the existence of God.

It's a scary thought because there is no salvation for those who fall away (6:4-6).

Let's be clear now: falling away is not the same as failing to attend church.

So, how can we ensure we do not fall away:

We need to:
- Grow toward Christan maturity - to learn to discern between good and evil (5:14).
- Be diligent in our lives and doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16).
- To imitate God in love (Ephesians 5:1-2)

My prayer is that we will continue to do so.

The Word

On Sunday we shared from Hebrews 4:12-13.



The writer says that the Word of God:



- Is living and active
- Penetrates between soul and spirit
- Judges our thoughts and attitudes

In short this means:

- The Word is about our relationship with God
- Always allows us to become the people God wants us to be
- Aligns our thoughts with God's will

Awesome

You Are The Kingdom Of God

On Sunday we shared from Luke 17:20-24 - Jesus telling His disciples that the kingdom in is them.

Two weeks ago I sat facing the wake of a motor boat I was travelling in - it made me think of our passage through life.

We have two choices:

- We can be like the boat that leaves behind a beautiful wake near the boat
- Or we can be like the wake that disappears fairly quickly as if it was never there

Jesus encourages us to make a difference in the world.

When we do the Kingdom is advanced.

So what does this mean?

Simple - Live according to God's will in very area of your life!

Dedication Sunday

On Sunday, 31st October 2010, we dedicated our new church building to God's work.

It was awesome!

It was simply a fulfilment of God's promise.

Choose Life & Prosperity

On Sunday there was no sermon - we simply allowed Scripture to speak to us:

Deuteronomy 30:11-20:

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.

It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?"

No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.

For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He is Coming Again

On Sunday we shared from Luke 12:49-53.

Like the wind that sometimes promises rain but waits and then finally delivers, so the return of Jesus is signed and we wait for His return.

So:
- Jesus promises to return
- We rationalise His return in our thinking
- Should we not accept Him or His return, we will have to account for our choice

And:
The best we can do is to make sure our choices allow us to stand before God one day in the best possible way.

My prayer is that we will be able to do so.

Storing

On Sunday we shared around storing in Matthew 6:19-24:

Storing is a natural human endeavour
- Traditionally those who didn't, would die.

However, we have come to understand storing differently.

We store more than we need.
In other words, we sometimes store for the sake of storing.

So some important lessons from the passage:

- Store only what you need
- Store important things like relationships
- Focus on Jesus to provide all our needs

Awesome!

Yes or No!

On Sunday we shared from Matthew 5:33-37.

In this passage, Jesus encourages His disciples to stay away from good intentions and to simply say Yes to fulfilling God's will and work in their lives.

For us, this means not saying: "I promise to do this or that.." or "I meant do do this or that.."

Rather, it means simply committing wholeheartedly to Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us to change to:

- Become the people God wants us to be
- To do what He calls us to do

My prayer is that you will say Yes to Him!

Facing Temptation

On Sunday we spoke about facing temptation in Luke 4:1-13:


We all face many temptations.


Bottom line: Jesus expects us not only to face but to have victory over temptation on our lives.



How can we do this:

- Believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit(John14:15-17)
- Turn to Scripture when confronted by temptation (Isaiah55:10-12)
- Know you will be tempted again (Ephesians4:25-28)

The Penny Drops

On Sunday we shared from Mark 6:45-52 - Jesus walking out on the water to His disciples.



A couple of things emerged:

- He walked to them because they misunderstood His feeding of the 5000 (Mark 6:30-44)
- He wanted them to know He will never stop performing miracles
- He wanted them to understand that God feeds His people

So, for us this means:
- God is our provider
- Jesus will never stop working in our lives
- The Holy Spirit will help us to discover/remember all of this

Awesome!

Talents

On Sunday we shared about using our talents from Matthew 25:14-30

A couple of things emerged:
- We all have talents - abilities and opportunities
- We need to use them to God's glory
- When we do, the Kingdom of God is advanced in us and in our world

So, bottom line:
- Christians need to work hard, ethically and with integrity

It is a huge challenge for us but one which Christ lays down.

Love, Honour, Blessing

On Sunday we spoke about renewing our minds from Romans 12:1-2

The world has a pattern.


- Hatred (we are full of violence toward each other & nature)

- Selfishness (we think of ourselves more than others)

- Cursing (we often want the worst for others)



Paul encourages us to renew our thinking:

- To love
- To think of others
- To bless others for their achievements

To do this, is to be more like Christ!

If we all live this way, would the world not be a different place?,

The Word Made Flesh

On Sunday we shared from John 1:1-5

Here, Jesus is referred to as the Word.

Two concepts come together here:
- Divine
- Human

In other words:
- the Word in Hebrew thinking - the Law and the prophets
- the principle of reasoning - the Greek way of understanding existence

So in Jesus we find both our reason for existence and the way to live out our existence.

Awesome!

Becoming The Best Person We Can

On Sunday we shared from the story of the rich young man in Mark 10:17-23:


Most of us, like the rich young man, want to grow and become the best that we can.

For Christians we understand that God, when He knitted us together in mother's wombs (Psalm 139), has dreams for our lives.


Therefore three things are important for us to become the best that we can:


- Desire - we need to have the desire to change (the rich young man did.)
- Motivation - our motivation is to be more like Christ (not our worldly heroes.)
- Follow through - to allow the Holy Spirit to change us

My prayer is that you will open yourself to become the best person you can.

The Bread Of Life

On Sunday we shared from John 6:25-35.


Jesus refers to himself as the 'bread of life.'


Bread is:
- a staple food
- needed everyday
- something we can live on


Jesus is:
- the way to life
- available everyday
- someone we can trust

How cool is that?

Acts of Righteousness

On Sunday we shared from Jesus' teaching His disciples in Matthew 6:1-4 about 'acts of righteousness.'

In the chapter, three are identified:
- Prayer - talking to God
- Fasting - acts that allow us to dedicate ourselves to Him
- Giving - giving of our resources


The common theme to His teaching centres on:
- He expects us to do these 'acts.'
- We are to do them with our hearts not our heads i.e. in the silence of faithfulness
- Our reward will come from the Father

Not sure about you, but my desire is to be faithful!

Can You Help?

If we know anything about human beings and our history, it’s how often we repeat our mistakes and forget the things which allow us to live in harmony with God, one another and our planet.

Equally, every generation has its so called movers and shakers, people with the desire to change the status quo.

Some have made significant positive contributions and others have not.

So too, when it comes to exercising our authority as interpreters and teachers of the Bible, we find in every generation those who work to change the status quo.

Some have made positive contributions; names like Luther, Wesley, Mbete, and Gutierrez are some that come to mind.

So, in terms of Methodism in Southern Africa (MCSA), the current move by a small minority of theologians to sanction same-sex relationships should not surprise us at all.

That being said, do same-sex relationships deserve to be considered as moral and acceptable within the MCSA, and by implication, broader Christianity?

Because we have been given authority by Christ to bind & loose, (interpret and teach), they do if we chose to say they are.

So, as a person who gets to say what is morally acceptable, I need to understand some things, which have not been raised by DEWCOM, I think mainly because they simply see two sides: for and against.

- Are all the laws in the Old Testament to be considered redundant or just some of them?

If it’s some of them, how do I know which ones are in and which ones are out?

You see, if same-sex relationships are in because men today don’t need to worry about growing their beards or clipping the sides of their hair and a whole lot of other laws which we no longer adhere to, then I have some friends and know of some people who will be overjoyed by this news because we now have permission to decide what constitutes a moral life.

We no longer have any need to conform to those parts of the Bible which we struggle with or, better still, we just take out those parts which suit us and ditch the rest.

Whilst this is not new, we have done this many times in our history. But it’s amazing that cutting hair, eating food and ploughing fields, things previously considered ceremonial, are now used to motivate a change in moral laws.

In other words, does a same-sex relationship violate a ceremonial or a moral law?

- On the issue of same-sex relationships being loving and nurturing:

If these unions primary subscription is to be loving and nurturing, (l & n), then I have met some people who will thank me for making it morally acceptable to marry their mothers (as long as it’s l & n)

Others still will happily marry their sisters (as long as it’s l & n) and some will now be able to marry a dog, sheep or goat, (as long as it’s l & n.)

I personally know a farmer who would readily invite me to officiate in his union!

- On the question of Biblical interpretation:

I recently discovered that the words ceremonial, (related to the way we do church), and moral, (related to standards of conduct), can easily be replaced or confused with my own personal convictions about which laws to leave in and which to leave out.

I am really grateful for this because I really would like to just take the Sunday collection instead allowing it to be banked. This really shouldn’t be a moral problem for me because the Lord knows I need the money.

Also I have a very attractive daughter who I know will help me pay for a new motorbike.

All I have to do is to sell her into prostitution.

This also wouldn’t be much of a moral dilemma for me, because like same-sex relationships, now made legal by the government, there is also a lobby to legalise prostitution.

Hopefully it will happen soon because I have my eye on a BMW 1200!

- On the question of the practice of the MCSA regarding homosexuals.

I was completely astounded at Synod, (Central District), because a ‘father’ of the church, informed us as he spoke on the floor, that it has been our practice to allow homosexual people into membership, leadership and ministry.

I rarely speak at Synod but I felt it necessary to say to the floor that I have been in the MCSA twelve years, ten as a minister, and up until this point, understood us to welcome homosexuals as members. They can be leaders and ministers if they abstain from the practice of same-sex relationships.

Somehow, I had it wrong.

What I believe, I don’t have wrong, is to love them as fellow creations!

I know all of this sounds silly of me, but I need help with these questions because I feel I can’t trust the Bible anymore.

And neither can I trust nearly two thousand years of theological development and Christian doctrine.

They clearly had it wrong on these issues.

Some would argue that it is a very long time to be wrong.

So, anyway, what I really need is the ability to decide for myself which parts of the Bible I can throw out and which I can leave in.

After all, I desperately want to be a visionary.

Is there anyone who can help me?


Rev Dr John Bailie
June 2010

A Fork In The Road

On Sunday we shared around the cost of following Jesus ( Luke 9:57-62).

Every Christian will at some stage face a fork-in-the-road choice.

Do I follow Jesus with all my heart?

The thing that makes it such a tough choice is that the Kingdom is demanding.

It demands that we put God first, ahead of:

- home

- custom & culture

- family

Hard yes, but His promise is that He will take care of everything when we follow Him.

I don't know of any people who have followed and come to grief.

My prayer is that you will make the choice!

The Law

On Sunday we shared around the Law in Matthew 5:17-20.

Two kinds of Law emerged:

- Ceremonial Law

They have to do with spiritual practices

- Moral Law

They have to do with codes of conduct

So, our spiritual practices have changed over the years but our standards of conduct have not.

And neither should they!

Awesome!

A Struggle

On Sunday we spoke about the need for us to take seriously our faith journey (Acts 12:1-11).

A couple of things emerged:

- Despite our insecurities, God has a plan.

- Peter was released from prison as part of His plan.

- God desires to release us from our prisons in order to fulfil His plan.

Awesome!

How much more...

On Sunday we shared from Matthew 5:1-12: Jesus's Sermon on the Mount.







These beatitudes are given for the purpose of allowing us live as blessed life:

- Be poor in spirit

We need God


- Mourn for your soul:


We need forgiveness


- Practice Meekness


It's a sign of submission to God


- Hunger for faithfulness


It's a sign of passion for God


- Be Merciful


It's a sign of looking at the world through Jesus' eyes


- Be Pure in heart


Only way is to repent and receive forgiveness


- Be a Peacemaker


It's a sign that we are in line with God and ourselves


- Know you will be Persecuted


A visible sign that we are doing what God requires of us



Awesome!

Miracles

Last Sunday, the 2nd May was a watershed day for us as far as the new church building is concerned.

The leadership approached the congregation at 10h15 for 2,5 mil rand to finish the building and at 10h45 to we had it!

God is good so imagine if He does that for bricks and mortar, how much more will He do for flesh and blood?

Yep, that means yo and me!

So now, I'm convinced that buildings are visible signs of God's miracle in our lives.

Awesome!

End Times

As part of our Fastrack, we shared around End Times from Matthew 24:3-14.

A couple of things emerged as signs of the end times:
- Deception is only possible when we are ignorant.
- Falling away - there is a vast amount of information available today which can make us to fall away from our faith.
- Wars are prevalent today as they have been throughout history but they are different. People kill by pushing a button.
The violence and deception in our world is escalating so perhaps these are the signs of birth that Jesus speaks about.
We need to stand firm, learn the Word and preach the Gospel so none are deceived.

Awesome!

Why does evil exist?

As part of our Fast Track at the North Rand, we shared around Genesis 2:8-9:

Although the subject is quite big to deal with on one Sunday, we focused on how Scripture relates three things:

- The fall of the angel, Satan

- The fall of human beings

- The goodness of God

So, evil came into the world via Satan & human beings but God is good.

We need to examine our own hearts to recognise the potential we have for being evil.

Double Standards

On Sunday we shared around the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31.



Two things emerged:



- We are not to misuse the opportunities our wealth affords us
We can spend it all on ourselves or use it top help others

- We are to connect with real issues of our faith

Religious piety will not help us to solve the problems of the world

So, bottom line: don't live a double standard!!!

Forwards or Backwards

by Rev Dr John Bailie

A few simple thoughts on South Africa 12th April 2010:

Nations, at some or other stage all throughout their history, have faced the choice to either move forward or backward. In fact, this choice is symptomatic of the development of humankind.

No society stays exactly the same. Partly, because they collectively face new challenges. Partly, because they come into contact with other societies and are influenced by them. And partly, because human beings are constantly evaluating themselves and making adjustments.

What determines the choice is not, as we are sometimes lead to believe, historical settings, individuals or the influence of leadership. The choice is affected when ordinary people are moved by their own understanding of the need for change.

Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk did not liberate South Africa. And while they received the Nobel Peace Prize because of their leadership positions at the time, they merely represented our South African collective need for change. It was the everyday interaction of millions ordinary South Africans which lead to the change. Without this choice, we may still have found ourselves gripped by a destructive political and social system.

Within this collective choice, there is always going to be those who either sit on the left or the right. In all of history, in all of societal changes, neither of these have the ability to effect change. Yet ironically, they often have the loudest voice. And while they seem to have nothing to lose, the truth is that they really desire to gain power at any cost. This cost is to destroy the collective choice. They do however, enable the collective whole to examine and re-examine their position. And this examination is vital to the health of the collective whole.

A question, at this juncture, in terms of the South African collective whole, may be whether the recent events represent the left, right or the collective whole? If in fact they do represent the collective whole, then one would want to assert that the country has chosen to step backward. It is the path to more violence, destabilisation and ultimately collapse.

For ordinary people like myself as part of the collective whole, (I am not a member of a political party nor have I been to prison nor do I aspire to be anything other than an everyday person), I refuse to believe that these events represent me. I refuse to be swept up by the left or right.
Rather, I recognise that I am fulfilling my commitment to making the collective change of 1994 a reality. As a training Christian minister, I spent a year in a township, washed the feet of my fellow South Africans at Easter and continue to believe in the future for South Africa.

Despite this, the current events have shaken my, and I believe many others, belief in South Africa. I believe that we all have much work to do. This work must not be determined by political parties, the left or right but our collective examination of who we are. If we allow individuals the space to hijack our collective choice we will only have ourselves to blame when South Africa does not live up to her potential.

The new South Africa is almost twenty years old and I feel no guilt about the past, it only takes me backward. Rather, I believe, that we as a collective whole can, right now, choose to move forward and choose leaders who represent us.

I am not a decision maker so the best I can offer is to challenge my common sense and all my ordinary fellow South Africans, to continue to work at our collective whole. Fancy programmes, extreme leaders and quick fixes will do nothing for us. Rather, I chose to live as part of a collective whole facing the everyday challenges of daily living together. My faith determines that I should and it is really the only way for us to attain long-term potential as a nation. After all, any collective whole that can topple a destructive political system without violence must unquestionably be able to resist being hijacked by extremism.

Easter Sunday

On Sunday we shared around the Resurrected Christ - Matthew 28:1-10

In the frenzy of the events leading to Christ's death, the disciples may have not have chance to reflect on these events. An angel draws their attention to the fact that even when things seem out of control, God has a plan and we need to trust Him.

So despite the frenzy of events which took place over the week end, (the murder of a right wing leader by two youths), we need to focus on the hope that God has a plan and will use us to bring peace to our places of influence.

The new church building for us is a visible sign that we at NR are committed to God's plan to shape and change the world, in other words, live a Resurrection life.

Defining Moments

On Sunday we shared around the defining moment when Jesus enters Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11)

It was a defining moment because in the time preceding, His ministry was resisted by the religious establishment; doubted by His disciples and ignored by the political authorities.

Rob Bell puts it this way: when He entered the gates, He could have gone right, with His army and overthrown Pilate but He chose to go left to the Cross. And the world has never been the same.

Right: we can also choose to go right - try and fix things ourselves or we can go left - to allow God control of our lives and we will never be the same!

Awesome!

Attitude

On Sunday we spoke about having a Christan attitude (Luke 6:27-36).

A definition for attitude in this sense is: a visible sign of where we are placed with God!

In this page Jesus challenges us to:
- Love our enemies
- Pray for those who hate us
- Give without expecting anything in return

Possible?

Yes, if we are the place that God wants us to be in

Stewardship 2010

On Sunday we spoke about giving to God - Luke 21:1-4.





Prior to Sunday, I'd spoken to three people at various times during the week. They related how their churches were struggling to meet their financial commitments. This really placed a huge burden in my spirit. Mainly because I believe churches should not be struggling financially.

So, for us three things emerged:
- If we understand God's plan for the salvation of the world, we will readily give (John 3:16-18).


- Giving fulfils the Law (Malachi 3:10).


- Giving allows the church to fulfil it's purpose (Matthew 16:15-20).



Possible, definitely, the widows two coins are proof!

Sometimes

Sometimes it's good to PAUSE!

For most of us, PAUSING is not an option.

We need to be forced ...

- like work says I must go on leave

- or I have to go to a family function away from home

- or my body says it's time

The awesome thing is that God already has that taken care of:

Exodus 20:8

"Remember the Sabbath.."

God knows we need to PAUSE!

Word and action

On Sunday we spoke about Jesus in the synagogue teaching and healing in Luke 4:31-37.

A couple of things emerged:

- Jesus has great insight into the Word

- He immediately turns the Word into action

- The people were amazed at this

The world will not change by us studying the Word only, the Word must become action.

For example: if we only talk about Jesus to each other, the lost, broken and needy will not be helped, saved or transformed.

Makes you think?

Jesus

We had the pleasure and privilege to have Peter Pollock with us on Saturday & Sunday.


Some know him from cricket and others as an evangelist. It's amazing how God uses people!





Peter's message was simple and clear:

Do you know Jesus as Lord and Saviour?

It's a profound question. Think about it.

Some know about Him.
Some think they know Him.

The acid test is this: Is He the most important thing in your life right now?

As Peter says: God simply wants our all.

My prayer is that you give God your all by accepting Jesus into your life - right now!

Love

On Sunday we shared around Paul's letter - Romans 12:9-21

He is teaching on love.

No, not the Daniele Steele kind of love, rather a deep commitment to see those we love have the very best that life can offer, sometimes at great cost to ourselves.

If we love in this way:

- We need to be sincere

False love and ulterior motives destroys people's hope

- We need to be zealous:

As Christians we must never have the been-there/done-that attitude

- We need to be hospitable:

By really caring for others, we put then first

Quite a challenge!

Testimony

On Sunday we spoke about Jesus testimony about Himself in John 8:12-18.



Testimony in any setting is very powerful.


Jesus here is testifying about His status as the Son of God. His testimony highlights three important things:



- Know where you come from


For us that means remembering where we were when Jesus found us


- Know who Jesus is


For us that means remembering that Jesus in the Light of the world and that He leads us from darkness to light


- Know that you are not alone


For us that means that our testimony about Jesus work in our lives in valid because the Spirit testifies with our spirit that Jesus died for our sins and to bring us a fullness of life





Awesome!

Zacchaeus

On Sunday we shared around the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector - Luke 19:1-10
It's an amazing story of the layers of salvation.

1st layer:
- Something prompted Zacchaeus to search for Jesus
2nd layer:
Jesus invited him down from the tree
3rd layer:
Zacchaeus shows visible signs of his new life

Two questions emerge:


Is Jesus inviting you down from the tree?


Are there visible signs of your new life?

Watchfullness

On Sunday we spoke around Jesus' words to His disciples in Luke 12:35-40.





In this passage Jesus is encouraging His disciples to watchful for His return.




So as His disciples, what does it mean to be watchful?

- Be aware of the thief who comes to take what is valuable - salvation


No thief will want to break into a house that has nothing of value

- Reading, praying, Tithing, reflecting on God's word are ways in which we remain watchful

Bless you as you remain watchful in 2010!