Best wishes for 2010 from Malawi

This was an e-mail received from your scribe's nephew and family from Malawi. Quite frankly I could not do better in expressing the St Mark's Editorial team's wishes for each one of you, so I am publishing this mail from John and Michelle Gauna. Yes our web site does indeed cross international borders.

"Dear All,

Wishing you all a fabulous 2010.  May it be a year where....

•  Dreams come true  
• Plans made come together  
• Friendships are renewed
• Family is placed high on the priority list
• Opportunities are taken to enrich the life of someone else (how great it feels when we bring a smile to a face)

 I want to claim Proverbs 3:1-2 for you....

 1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
       but keep my commands in your heart,
 2 for they will prolong your life many years
       and bring you prosperity.

God's Richest Blessings,

Lovingly,

The Gauna family (from Malawi)."

Happy New Year St Mark's

The smile of an Interim Moderator ... Moshe Rajuile has been a tower of strength in 2009.

We have to the end of another year. 2009 was a year of Global Challenges, with the Recession biting deep but our Christian Community of  St Mark's can look back with a feeling of satisfaction and with the knowledge that the Lord is touching us in Yeoville. The Editorial team has compiled a slideshow of pictures documenting the past 12 months and these visuals say, "yes we can." (See last paragraph on how to see them.)

True there were also moments of great sadness with the passing of Elders Ruth Gutsche and John Nixon, two giants, who have touched the lives of so many of us who had the privilege to know them. But they have left a legacy that will live on in new generations at our spiritual home.

But let's tick off the memories that we will cherish.

The licensing of Solomon, our Probationer. He has been a tower of strength in these testing times And let's not forget his mentor our Interim Moderator Moshe Rajuili, who has kindled the flame of optimism in our midst in preaching the Word. And yes Solomon and Perpetue are also expecting their first baby. It doesn't get better than that.Except for Elvis, who announced his engagement to Lilian Chenwi. Do we hear the sound of wedding bells in 2010?

The Men for the Master, after a slow start, has gone from strength to strength. The men are standing up to be counted ready and able to get involved in both the spiritual and practical needs of the church. What fun we had after the Nativity play buttering rolls for the hot dogs in our joint outreach programme with the Women's Association. Thank you Beate.

The Women's Association now has Sophia at the helm after the wonderful AGM at Jane's home. Jane your contributions over the years have been incredible. From starting the Christmas food parcels to mammoth task of putting up Christmas decorations. The Henderson family were out in force on Christmas Day and we are blessed to have them in our midst.

Margaret  has decided to give up packing food parcels after 18 selfless years, but can you believe we managed to put together 52 parcels this year, a record. It was originally 42 parcels, but unexpected cash contributions enabled a further 12 to be packed..

The Sunday school is growing. Norman and Colleen now have a group 30 children to minister to and what a job they did on the Nativity play. Improvisation was the name of the game with torches used as spotlights. This was really moving and there were tears in the pews.

The Carol service was special, Helene and Mike have our sincere thanks for a wonderful effort, Helene's son Marius, who is out on holiday, was also roped in. And our new choir is also up and running although on the lookout for new members.

Eight new Elders joined Session and the Elders Retreat gave many of us renewed spiritual vigour. Thank you Liz Kenyon, Moshe and Liz for facilitating this for us.

The list just goes on and on. Add anything your editorial team may have missed out. Oh yes, did we mention that we now have a web site with global reach? Hopefully this is where you will  get your  first  wishes for 2010. Happy New Year St Mark's. Things can only get better when we open our hearts to the Lord .
Scroll down to the thumbnail picture on the right and double click to see a slide show of the big moments of 2009.

Shalom,

The St Mark's Editorial Team.

Sophia's sister fondly remembered

Hi Geoff,

Pleae pass on my and Nadene's deepest sympathies. Sophia's sister was very kind to us, and we know she was loved by many, especially Jesus.

Kev

Our condolences to Sophia and her family

Dear all,

Thank you Geoff for the message on the passing of Sophia's sister Anatjie. This is a sad story in our community that comes at a time when St Mark's is celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus and giving thanks to the Lord of what He has done during this past year.

Our condolence go to the Sophia's family. We are not around Johannesburg. We will be coming back home from Cape Town next week and we hope to visit the family as soon as possible after we reach home.

I hope and it is my prayer that the members of St Mark's will continue to comfort the family. May God continue to give courage and hope to wait to "the Glorious Day" when we will see our Lord Jesus face to face. This is why God tells us to pray in season and out of season. Sophia needs prayer and comfort.

God Bless you all,

Emmanuel Solomon Surwumwe

NOTE: Anatjie's funeral is the Apostolic Church in Kempton Park at 11h00 on Wednesday.

A Biblical tribute to a very special German Shepherd

I decided to write today because your verse for the day is particularly meaningful for me.As you know, I am an animal lover and I frequently argued with Geoff Jamieson (and many others) about animals not going to Heaven as we know it.

Incidentally Charles Sangster was always supportive of my argument!  Anyhow, I had a very special German Shepherd put down a few years ago because she was struggling to breathe and although I went back a few times to the Vet. he believed I should keep trying steroid therapy to see if it would help her.  Her battle for breath became so bad that I made the decision to “do the kind thing.”

Back we went to the Vet. and he finally agreed to put her down.  She immediately looked up at me and made for the door – “What to ‘do’?  Anyhow I did not want her to die struggling for breath and went ahead, but had great inner conflict with whether I had made the right decision.  I went home and picked up my bedside Bible Reading for the day and this was the verse – it certainly gave me great comfort both in my decision at the Vet and also my strong belief that wonderful animals can not be treated differently to humans in the life hereafter!

Lots of love

Alison    

Do we need members of St Mark's to become Lay Preachers?

Roger Tem ... preached the Word at St Mark's on Sunday. Roger also heads up a Friday Bible Study Group. 

Dear friends,

This was one of the topics raised at the last meeting of Men for the Master and also at the Elder's Retreat earlier this year.. The chairman of Men for the Master Giyani Matampi and others are very supportive of the idea as this fits in with one of the Men for the Master's key goals, that  of growing the spirituality of the men of St Mark's. Historically you scribe remembers Joy Vardy, Barbara MacMurray, Elizabeth White and others preaching the Word, but with "professional" support now readily available this could be the way to go for all those keen to share their faith from the pulpit.

Elder Rogers Tem preached the Word on Sunday ably supported by Maxwell Sewornu, who did the readings. So the spirit is already moving.

We would like to hear from you. Post you comment by clicking on the word "comment" on the bottom of this posting.

The St Mark's Editorial Team

Solomon and Perpetue send greetings from the Cape

Dear friends,

I am online in Cae Town and that was a great Christmas that you all had at St Marks. My family and I are enjoying our holiday in Cape Town. So far all is going well.

At Christmas I visited one small congregation at Salt River. This community has a tradition of gathering together at Christmas for the "whole day." I will send a photo of the their traditional dance.
Perpetue is really enjoying seeing a place like this for the first time.

We are hoping to get transport to Johannesburg after New Year. Keep well my friends.

Emmanuel Solomon Surwumwe

Liz sends Christmas blessings to all at St Mark's

Have a look at the all the hard work that went into decorating the church ... our thanks to the Henderson boys 

Dear All,

Once again it is Christmas Eve and my “Christmas Letter” to you all is still just in my head!!!

So, may I say thank you to all for the Christmas wishes I have already received, and wish everyone every blessings for tomorrow – the day we celebrate Jesus’ birth – and for every day to follow!!

May your hearts receive the gifts of Christmas: Hope, Joy, Peace, Love and may you meet the Source of these gifts each day.

I think of you all often, and when I can (hopefully soon- I have shed a few responsibilities, and am ever hopeful of having more free time, and becoming a better correspondent!!) I shall write that letter and let you know what has been preventing me from being in touch!!

Sue Long and her daughter Madelaine, who has flown in from the United States for a Christmas break with the family

I know I have not picked up all the addresses that I wanted to send this to, so if any of you sees someone I know who has not heard from me, please give them my love, and pass on these wishes to them all!

If I don’t leave now, the security guards will not be pleased with me – the garage has already been locked for nearly two hours and they will have to unlock it to let me out – and if I’m not careful I’ll end up spending the night here and being late for tomorrow’s service, let alone the 11.15pm service tonight!

Lots of love and blessings to you all,

Liz.

Kev and Nads online from Wales

Hi all

Merry Christmas to you all. Have a beautiful day with family and friends. Hope this next year will be prosperous for you (what ever that means to each of you)...Thinking of you all, and enjoying our first white Christmas.

Things are looking up here with a position for Kev in the Church here in Wales with interviews in January. Please pray for us that we discern God's place in His service.

Love Nads and Kev

P.S. What a short and sweet letter, probably did not believe it could be done

It was a Christmas service to remember at St Mark's

The Henderson family was out in force at the Christmas service. Jane was doing duty in the choir.

The Lord worked at St Mark's on Christmas Day. The service was moved from its usual 10h30 slot to 09h00 and many felt that this would impact the numbers in the pews in this holiday period. But thanks to Liz and Mike for their continuous reminders to our flock of the change in starting time and more than 80 adults arrived to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus.

But there was one curve ball. Our Interim Moderator had first to complete his Christmas service at St Giles and that caused a minor delay to proceedings. Untroubled by this blip on the radar the congregation rose in song and Sophia came forward for the first reading and just as she finished there was Moshe to pick up smoothly in mid stride.

     The children of St Mark's pay close attention to Moshe

The children were called forward for the Children's service and Moshe did a Q & A with the shining young faces, but you never know what to expect from the next generation of St Mark's. To the question" "Where would you expect to find a shepherd?" One young man responded, "in the zoo." Moshe fielded that one with aplomb gently putting the young man "right" before devoting a considerable time of his Sermon to the status of the shepherd in society in Jesus's time. This was an eye opener to your scribe.

It was a grand sermon and our thanks go to Moshe for juggling two congregations and finding time for us at St Mark's.

The retiring offering was also "significant" and the beneficiaries will be the Johannesburg Children's Home and the United Church School.

It was fantastic to meet up with old friends, who made the time to join us today.  The Spirit is moving at St Mark's. Note there are plenty more pictures to be seen. Just scroll down the page until you see the thumbnail picture on your right. Click on it and you can via a slideshow.

The St Mark's Editorial Team.

We give thanks to the Lord

Our Interim Rev.Moshe Rajuili is all smiles after the service with Alison, Marianne and Margaret

Give thanks to our Lord for a visitor from the United Kingdom, who overheard a conversation about the pantry parcels and wanted to contribute. Her gift of R1 000 resulted in further gifts rolling in making it possible for Margaret MacLarty  to pack twelve extra food parcels. These will be available on Sunday the 27th December for those in dire need at this time. That puts the number of parcels packed this Christmas at 52, which is something of a record. We do indeed give thanks to the Lord.

The St Mark's Editorial Team.

Merry Christmas St Mark's

Giyani Matampi, chairman of Men for the Master, and his family all smiles at the Christmas service

Dear friends,

This was the text an an SMS received from a friend today. I thought it wonderful:

"My Prayer for you this Christmas is that the peace of the Lord will reign in your life, and that 2010 will not only be a year that you are showered with HIS blessings, but a year in which we all walk closer to HIM. Merry Christmas."

NOTE: The SMS was penned by Mark Beale, who plays the manager "role" in the SABC Wrestling series Thunderstrike. Yes we Christians are everywhere.

The St Mark's Editorial Team. 

Service times over the Christmas Period

Dear friends,.
The Christmas service will be at 09h00 on Friday morning as is the custom at St Mark's. The 27th December service returns to the usual 10h30 time slot. Please remind friends of the change as announced by Mike last Sunday.
We look forward to seeing you all bright and early. Oh yes. Don't forget there will be a retiring collection for our usual  charities.

The St Mark's  Editorial Team

Testimony of Glenice Fru after successful surgery

Glenice, her family and Solomon give thanks to God at tea after the Carol service. 

In early July of this year Glenice Fru experienced minor pains in her stomach, which lasted a few days. The pain subsided and she thought it was over and did not consider it serious. Three days later the pain returned and she thought it wise to consult her doctor, which she did on the 20th July this year. The doctor advised her immediately that she needed an operation, because of "ectopic" pregnancy. On the 22nd July she was went under the surgeon's knife at the Johannesburg Hospital.  The three hour procedure was considered a success.

But more was to come. Six weeks later she caught the flu, which was accompanied by diarrhea, and the stomach pains returned. She had sleepless nights for a further three days. She went back to her doctor in Sandton, who once again referred her for yet another surgical procedure at the Johannesburg Hospital.

But the Johannesburg Hospital theatre was fully booked until the 30th November. Her Sandton doctor  stressed that time was of the essence and raised the issue of the cost of the procedure if he was to perform it. But it was not negotiable and he went ahead and did the operation  The 5 hour procedure addressed the issue of endometriosis, otherwise known as endometrial growth in the uterine wall.

The operation was a complete success and on Sunday Glenice and her family came to witness to God and give thanks for her healing and successful sugery. We therefore join her and thefamily to say "thanks be to God."

Amen..

Emmanuel Solomon Surwumwe

Thank you all for a magnificent Service of 9 Lessons and Carols

Helene (organist) and Mike and the St Mark's Choir in full flight at the Carol Service on Sunday

Mac McTaggert, master of the count, was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the our fellow Christians, who streamed into the pews of St Mark's on Sunday, as we joined together for our annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carol. Mac said ruefully after the service he had lost count at 120, which is the first time that we as a congregation have topped the century mark in some time. Indeed Norman Mangena followed up with a count at tea where 115 of us had joined together in fellowship.

But what is more important is that we celebrated the Lord together, young and old, rich and poor, fat and thin and that the Choir was magnificent on the day. All the hard work, all the practice, all the preparation - and thank you Liz for the wonderful order of service booklet, that you compiled. - paid off in spades. To all the readers, those on door duty and those trying to hand out attendance stickers at the door in the windy conditions, thank you too. And let's not forget those on tea duty, Chris and Marianne. And the Henderson family for the incredible decorations. A Christmas at St Mark's would not be the same without them.

The Lord indeed blessed this day at St Mark's. Christmas is a time of joy and family as we Christians celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus. The smiles said it all on Sunday, this was indeed a celebration of our faith.

Scroll down the right side to see pictures of  the Sunday's service. Click on the thumbnail picture and all will be revealed - 8 pictures in all.

The St Mark's Editorial team.

Remember the Christmas service is back to 09h00

Dear Friends,

Just a gentle reminder that our Christmas service will be at the traditional time of 9 o clock in the morning, instead of the usual 10h30 service. Liz asked the Editorial team to highlight this in good time.  We will also be sending out SMS reminders on the 24th December to make sure we are all aware of this fact. This caters for all those, who need to get the turkey in time for lunch. Remember too there will be a retiring collections  on both the 20th December and the 25th December.

Shalom,

The St Mark's Editorial Team. 

The Men for the Master now have a mission statement

Giyani Matampi will now see to Property at St Mark's and he will also be one of our representatives at Presbytery. 

The Men for the Master Executive met last week and then followed this up with a feedback session at the bi monthly Men for the Master meeting in the Hall at which our Mission Statements and our aims and objectives were discussed. Our chairman Giyani Matampi has kindly captured them for us and we would welcome your comments. Here they are:

Mission Statement
To cultivate the fields and take care of the sheep

Aims and Objectives
-enhance the Spiritual growth of the members
-provide support to the Sunday school and the youth
-provide a forum that enables the involvement of Men in the life of the congregation  
-contribute towards the maintenance of the church’s property
-encourage giving and donating towards the finances of the congregation

The Men for the Master meet again on the 10th January 2010 to sign off.  Use the comment button below to have your say.

Giyani Matampi.

Margaret pays tribute to Jane Henderson

Jane Henderson started packing Christmas parcels in her home

Jane Henderson was the initiator of the "St Mark's Pantry". That's the word from Margaret MacLary.

"I have heard that the very first hampers were packed in her living room.  Ceridwyn Jamieson was also involved, and my sister Kay Patterson and I came on the scene only several years later.

"Jane was President of the Women's Association (WA) for the greater part of the last eighteen years, with Colleen taking over for several, and myself only briefly to give Jane a break.  In November this year she announced her final retirement and marked it with an amazing Christmas lunch at her home.  I am certain that few of us had ever before seen such splendidly decorated tables, and the food was delicious.  The WA Committee members helped provide and cook some of that, but I know that she and her husband were busy far into the previous night.

"Jane's four "teens and twenties" boys are now becoming more independent and she is finding time again for her part-time floristry business and landscape gardening.  We also have her to thank for the beauty of our garden at St Mark's, as well as many other behind-the-scenes activities.  Both Jane and her sister Susan are Elders and also at Christmas time decorate the church in memory of their father.  I hope that their mother, Jean Hobbs, will be able to enjoy the "flying angels" with us again this year."

Margaret MacLarty

Bunny has handed over the reigns at First Presbytery, Huntsville.

We received an e-mail from Bunny Hovater, confirming that she is taking a break from the Evangelism team, but she remains interested in our doings. Bunny has kindly forwarded up the e-mail address for her successor and we will be in touch to build on the excellent relationship Val and Liz have already built up with North Alabama.

Bunny's e-mail reads as follows:


"I am taking a "leave of absence" from the evangelism team.  The person to send the newsletters etc to is ovaughn01@gmail.com. I will always be interested in St. Mark's and you people that I have met, stayed with, from there, so love hearing the news, but I am not "official" from the FPC at this time.
God bless you, and Merry Christmas!
Bunny "

Thank you Val for your intervention in getting your editorial team on the right road.

The St Mark's Editorial Team

Val Brake recall memorable visit to our "twin" in Huntsville

Val's visit to First Presbytery, Huntsville was the most wonderful experience of her life

It was the most wonderful experience of my life, going over to Alabama nearly 3 years ago.  It is really a little industry they have going there … and not only outside of the Church, inside as well – it is like a second home to their congregation … people coming and going all the time, with different things being done for and by the congregation.  The hours of work they put into the sustaining of their churches is truly amazing!

NOTE: If you scroll down the right hand column of this Blog to the "links" section you can click on the First Presbytery Huntsville web site link to see what Val is talking about.

God Bless,

Val Brake

Building a cyber bridge to North Alabama - Yes we can!

St Mark's now has ADSL. We have our own community news blog and we are linked to Twitter and Facebook. We have built up a loyal online readership and now it's time to reach our to our fellow Christians in North Alabama to see if we can praise the Lord together using the technology at our disposal.

The editorial team has drafted the following e-mail to Bunny in Huntsville, to see if we can bring our congregations closer today.

 "Dear Bunny,

I am the so “webmaster” for St Mark’s and I maintain the blog along with a band of hard working scribes. We are very keen to enhance communication with Huntsville, be it via e-mail, blog contribution, Skype prayer meetings indeed any method that is convenient, so that we can share the word of the Lord together. Huntsville and St Mark’s are “twinned”, but we can take this to a new level in praising the Lord together by getting to know one another, albeit online. We have never ventured into this realm before and feedback from Huntsville would be most welcome. I also send greetings from Liz White and Val Brake.  I have copied you on our Blog site link, which we use for real time community news and drive optimism in these tough times. This growing along with our Facebook community and Twitter. I look forward to hearing from you..

God Bless,

Geoff van Heerden
St Mark’s Presbyterian Church, Yeoville."

Men for the Master on track for 2010

The Men for the Master met for the last time this year under the chairmanship of Giyani Matampi. The team were briefed around the Mission statement and goals for 2010 and it was agreed that a document would be generated by the executive for presentation to the Men on the 10th January 2010. Once all are agreed on the goals leading up to the official launch in March, if Session signs off on the proposed launch date, implementation will follow.

St Mark's Editorial Team.

Daniel, a story of hard choices

Christmas cheer and 30 young Sunday school learners listen to Solomon telling them about making hard choices for the Lord.

The Sunday school children were out in force today, although there was no official Sunday school scheduled for the 30 or so youngsters, who arrived at the service.

Solomon, who was preaching today, took this in his stride and in view of the lively nature of the youngsters took a stern line with his children's address. It was the story of Daniel in the lion's den. The children were enthralled when Solomon alluded to the dire consequences Daniel faced if he did not forsake his Lord. The choice was clear if Daniel stood by his God and refused to accept the divinity of King Darius, he faced death at the hands of hungry lions. If on the other hand he took the easy route and accepted the king as a God he would be saved.

We all know what happened next. Our class of 2009 when polled by Solomon agreed that they would die for the Lord, except one young pragmatic soul, who asked Solomon, "What if a lie?'  Solomon said that was not an option and our one doubter decided that he too would die for the Lord.

The bottom line is that we have a growing number of children coming to St Mark's, some are skeptical and others a true believers in the making molded by Norman and Colleen.

But the young ones are a handful and Donald had two little punching his head from behind. Your scribe watched all this with some amusement instead of intervening. Alison O'Neill on the other hand sprang into action and hoofed it into the front pew to give the little ones some stern direction. Thank you Alison. The scribe will be at your side next time.

The St Mark's Editorial team.

Anniversary and engagement celebrated at St Mark's

All smiles on the door today gossiping the word of the Lord ... Elvis and his bride to be Liliaa.


Elvis Fokala had a very close friend helping him on door this morning, while his fellow Men for the Master went about their last meeting of the year across the road in the hall. It was his fiance Liliaa Chenwi, who seamlessly slipped the diaries into the hymn books until Mac and Geoff arrived to assist. This is the first and only picture of our dear friends together on door duty, may it not be the last Elvis and Liliaa.

Mike and Barbara MacMurray on the other hand are celebrating 29 years of marriage today. May the Lord bless them as they join friends and family to celebrate this milstone.

The Women's Associaton brings Christmas cheer to many in Yeoville

Margaret (second from the left) enjoys the challenge of parcel packing. Sadly this will be her last year with the team. Thank you for everything Margaret.

The Women's Association was out in force on Friday to pack Christmas parcels for the folk of St Mark's, who would benefit from the gifts of foodstuffs. This has been an ongoing tradition at the church and our thanks must go to all, who contributed both in kind and in labour on this special day.

The hall was packed with pantry item and yes, Mac, John and Solomon, were there to represent the men of the church and do their bit for our community. Our new president of the Women's Association Sophia was also there but sadly this will be Margaret MacLarty's last year of service  after 18 years of driving this annual project.

Forty parcels were packed and among the recipients were the Mother Theresa Home, Frida Hartley Home and Jesse Missions. The rest of the parcels went to families in the Yeoville area. Margaret always gives it the personal touch by selecting items that would have special significance for each recipient.

The parcels were handed out after the service on Sunday and word is that 40 parcels is a record for St Mark's. Thank you Margaret.

Scroll down the right hand column and click on the thumbnail picture to see a slideshow of today's activities.

St Mark's Editorial Team.

Janet must be the longest serving secretary of the WA in history

Beate, Jane and Janet (standing) ... Jane thinks Janet has set some kind of a record. We of St Mark's at most grateful for what you have done for us over an incredible 3 decades

Janet Drysdale resigned as secretary of the W A at our recent AGM.  She must surely be the longest serving secretary in the history of St Mark’s W A.  Every year she puts together an interesting and entertaining annual report which really inspires us to continue.  When our yearly activities are summarized so well it makes us all realize how much our small but committed group of ladies does.

Janet just gets on with things in her own quiet way and the smooth running of the W A over the years has been due largely to her commitment and dedication.  Thank you so much for your loyalty and efficiency, Janet.  We hope that you will enjoy being an ordinary member of the W A without all the added responsibility that you have carried over a considerable length of time. (Can it be more than 25 years?)

The fact that the secretarial side of things has run so smoothly is entirely thanks to Janet and the whole of the W A, past and present owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude. Enjoy your well earned rest and please use this time to gird up your loins for the next 25 year stint!!

Thanks also to Beate for running our accounts this year.  We haven’t even noticed the transition from Chris to you which explains your great organizational and financial skills. You have put in much effort and we are really lucky to have such an efficient treasurer – thank you very much.

Tribute by Jane Henderson

Men for the Master will focus on the Spiritual life

00

The executive of Men for the Master ... standing is Samuel, Solomon, Roger and our smiling chairman Giyani.

The executive of the Men for the Master met at Geoff' and Marianne's home this week to finalise plans for the first three months of 2010.

Chaired by Giyani Matampi the Fellowship signed off on the following:

1. A Mission statement
2. Long term objectives, with the focus on enhancing the spiritual lives of the Men of St Mark's.
3. A short term implementation plan or to do list, which will take us to March next year..

The above will be presented to the full Men for the Master meeting  at 09h00 at St Mark's on Sunday morning.

We don't want to let the cat out of the bag, but Giyani, Samuel and Irvine will open a Group Account at Standard Bank on Saturday. We already have sufficient funds to achieve this.

Then we want to buy those nice smelling blocks for the men's loo and fix the pipe problem, which sees us having to dance away from the jets of water.. Fixing the church sign is high on the agenda and , having an official launch for the Men for the Master with a Men's Service and a Retreat are all on the to do list as we strive to build our spiritual lives.

And yes we want to build links with the Women's Association, so all of us at St Mark's work as one for the Lord.  God blessed our fellowship and we look forward to the challenges of 2010 with optimism.

The St Mark's Editorial team.

A "twinning" partnership begins

Faith Presbyterian Church in North Alabama has partnered with Kennsington Church of the eGoli Presbytery, South Africa for the coming year!

Faith and Kensington have joined with 22 other churches as part of North Alabama and eGoli Presbytery's Partner in Prayer Twinning initiative.

St Mark's has also benefitted from this association with our friends from the Southern States. To find out more copy the hyperlink below in your web browser, which will take you straight to the Faith web site or better still scroll down the right hand column until you come to church links. Click on Faith and all will be revealed.

http://hs.presby.org/pages.php?page=09/07/03/8044296

Give generously this Christmas!

This is just a reminder about the pending "retiring" and "thanksgiving" offerings after the Carol and Christmas Day services on the 20th December and the 25th December. The proceeds will go to support the Johannesburg's Children's home and the United Church Schools.

And note the new door duty and vestry duty lists are available either on e-mail or in print format.

Dawn and Joan back in the pews - may the Lord be praised

It was grand to see Dawn Bowman and Joan McKay in church today. Both have health issues, but were on hand to celebrate Holy Communion with us on Sunday. Joan still has a lot of pain, but is coping and it was just so special to see Dawn and John together in the Bowman "spot: in the pews. May the Lord continue to bless their recovery.

The "God of surprises" is at work at St Mark's

A letter from the Interim Moderator Moshe Rajuili ... who looks at the positives coming out of Yeoville

The God of surprises
Luke 1:26-38

In May 1994, Gerald Hughes gave my mother a book entitled ‘God of Surprises’.  Mom being who she was, must have asked Gerald to autograph the book.  He obliged and wrote ‘Ellen, may God always surprise you more and more. With best wishes, Gerry Hughes’.

In Luke’s Gospel, Mary’s encounter with the angel was a complete surprise.  Why would the chief angel, Gabriel, visit a simple peasant girl who lives in a province less than 5000 sq kms in extent, inhabited by a multicultural population, largely gentiles who were held in scorn by their southern neighbours? The angel’s message baffled Mary.  She was said to be highly favoured of the Lord and the Lord would be with her (v29).  She was to be the mother of the Son of the Most High, one who would be an heir of David and would rule over the house of Jacob forever (v32).

What might just have further thrown Mary off was that she knew she was a virgin, engaged to be married to Joseph.  By the way, Elizabeth, her relative, long past her child bearing years, declared barren by the local gynaecologists, was six months into her pregnancy!  Ours is indeed a God of surprises.

May our response to God’s actions, whether we understand them or not, echo Mary’s words that nothing is impossible with God (v37).  For instance, who would have thought anything good could come out of Yeoville?  The same question was asked of Nazareth.  Remember that God in his wisdom chose Nazareth, not even the better town of Sepphoris,
a few kilometers in the north, as a place where Jesus preached his first sermon.  It was the home of his disciples and Jesus grew up there and performed his first miracle in Cana in Galilee.

This year we have seen a few firsts for St Mark’s.  The Lord has raised an enthusiastic integrated group of Men for the Master; a cool interactive blogspot (marksmanonline.blogspot.com); a new choir; the numbers of those who come to Sunday worship has improved, and the list goes on.

While we marvel at what God is doing in our midst, let us not allow the excitement of going on holiday or welcoming our friends and family distract us from receiving anew the greatest gift that God has given to humanity, Jesus the Christ.

We do well not to forget that:
“Jesus being in very nature, God made himself nothing, identified himself  with humanity, became obedient to death so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father”.

Christmas time, and not what the world has dubbed the festive season, comes as a powerful reminder that Christ entered our world, lived, taught, died, rose and will come again to reign forever.  The angel put it to Mary that Jesus’ kingdom would never end (v33).  Let us therefore form choirs of angels singing in exaltation, declaring God’s glory in the highest heaven above.

Have a blessed Christmas and revel in God’s many wonderful surprises.

Shalom

Moshe.

Jesus is da winna!

The late Rev Moshe Rajuili .... a man, who impacted so many lives at St Mark's/

26 February 2012

In honour of the late Moshe Rajuile, who was killed in a tragic accident on 6 March 2011. His legacy is one of hope and enthusiasm. His message below is as relevent today as it was then. Bless you Moshe."

The St Mark's Editorial team.

Moshe wrote:

?For the past eight weeks we have focused our attention on hope. We have looked at passages which show that in God’s economy there are no cul-de-sacs; no hopeless situations in which his children find themselves trapped.  God provides a way out for those who trust him. In the New Testament, Paul teaches that hope based on Christ is not illusory. Jesus, according to the Caribbean poet and song writer,‘Is da winna, mon, ol’de time’.

When we follow in Christ’s footsteps, we become winning women and men, because Jesus us indeed ‘da winner, mon’. He has promised to continue to complete the good work he has begun in every Christian (Phil 1:6). We will certainly encounter defeats and failure along the way. We may lose individual battles, but we are assured that the war has already been won. So we do not lose hope: we continue to look upwards.

Christianity is sometimes criticised for offering little in this life, but promising ‘a pie in the sky when you die’. I trust we’ve been reminded that Jesus offers us hope in the cut and thrust of everyday life. But what of hope beyond the grave? Paul is emphatic, ‘If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pities more than all men’ (1Cor 15:19). Indeed, any religion or philosophy that does not take death and its consequences into account is hopelessly inadequate. Paul argues forcefully that because Christ was raised from the dead we too will be raised (vs12-19). The final fulfillment of our hope, the glorious resurrection life with Christ, is yet to be. Praise him!

Shalom,

Moshe."

Note: There is a slideshow of Moshe elsewhere on this blog.