Palm Sunday

On Sunday we shared from John 12:12-15 - Palm Sunday:

No doubt that this reading speaks to the Kingship of Jesus.

However, we, for the most part, see His kingship as peaceful,loving and individual.

A careful examination of this reading can change our first perception:

- Jesus did not focus on the external - He focused on the internal!

In other words, changing the world relies on the transformation of the individual.

On entering Jerusalem, Jesus chooses to turn left and His choice takes Him to the Cross.

The Cross is divisive:

- It divides believer from non-believer
- It divides life from death
- It divides the passive person from the active person

We also have a choice:

To accept Him or not.

If we accept Him, we become believers who have Life and commit to becoming active in changing the world.

The Vine

On Sunday we shared from John 15:1-4.

Jesus encourages His disciples to stay in Him (the vine).

Every Christian, at some point in their journey, will be confronted with the temptation to resist the church, praying or allowing the Holy Spirit to work in their lives.

Jesus recognises this weakness in us.

How can we avoid this temptation?

Three ways:

1. Attend church regularly. Make it part of our daily routine.

2. Read and pray every morning. Make it part of our routine.

3. Ask the Holy Spirit to prune us daily. Make it part of our daily routine.


Awesome!

John 17:20-26

On Sunday we shared around Jesus prayer for future believers (you and I):

It is interesting to note Jesus' expectation:

- We would need to be reminded to keep our unity - (because we can and do disagree)
- We would need protection -( satan wants us to fail and will tempt us)
- We would need to be sanctified -(made Holy in His image by the power of the Holy Spirit)

So heres the thing:

His prayer speaks to our lives two thousand years later.

Awesome!

Prayer

On Sunday, I spent the morning with our men at their camp at a retreat centre outside Parys.

In our regular Sunday service, we continued with our theme of prayer during which time couples had the opportunity to come forward for prayer - awesome!

It is always amazing to me how God uses His church to minister to people wherever they may be.

In fact, I am becoming more convinced that without a church family, we will always have to face life on our own and this is not God's intention for us.

My prayer for you is that your church family is offering God's ministry to your life.

Blessings

Prayer

On Sunday we began our four week series on Prayer, one of our core values.

We shared from Deuteronomy 4:5-8.

This passage tells us that God is near us when we pray to Him.

It may sound simple and obvious but the reality is that we often don't know, appreciate or feel His close presence.

So, bottom line:

- God is present in all our situations.
- He knows our every need.
- We can open ourselves to Him in pray.
- It is His hearts desire that we do so.

I trust you will open yourself to Him because He is every present in your life!

Salt and Light Part 2

On Sunday we shared from Matthew 5:13-16 - being the salt and light.

Interestingly, that the traditional way of understanding this passage is that sin makes us lose our saltiness and we hide our good works under our beds!

However:

- Salt is used for flavouring, curing and preserving food.

- The Greek words for losing saltiness, in this passage, MARINO, actually means: to be foolish, (sin, silly mistakes, repeated bad choices etc).

- The Greek word for light, in this passage, is PHOS. When phosphorous hits water it glows brightly therefore we are to burn brightly for Jesus.

Conclusion:

When we avoid being foolish, we can shine for Jesus in being the flavour of the universe!

Robbing God

On Sunday we shared around our responsibility to faithfully manage all that God has given us - i.e. family, work and church:
(Malachi 3: 6-12).

By withholding out Tithes we compromise the churches ability to fulfil Christ's commission:

- To learn to love God
- To learn to love our neighbours

At North Rand, we commit ourselves to fulfilling God's call on us a church for 2011 as we read our convenental vow!