Different

Tony was a welcome visitor last Sunday .... he came to chat about the work the folks involved with Gideon Bibles do. 

30  September 2011

1 Corinthians 4:7 For who sees anything different in you?

Some days are different to others and we often cannot put our finger on what makes that difference. You get up early, put sun screen on and start to get the grass cut before the sun starts to beat down to harshly, or is it because you must get the grass cut around the wash line before you hang the washing. Either way you up and going. You just cut a bit and then you stop the engine and for love nor money the engine does not want to start, what now? So you realise that some days are just different, the birds still sing, the sky is still blue, the wind is blowing cool, different or not, some things re just the same.

Often on what we expect just happens different, and in that difference we can get peeved or we can go with the flow and see where it leads us. We do other things, we get to do the things we avoided doing, just because this day is different. We also start to understand that maybe the day isn’t different, we are, our attitude, our thinking and our expectations. What are we going to do today that is different and will it make a difference in the day, for ourselves, for others and for Jesus Christ?

Be encouraged today to make this different day, different.

David

Point to ponder: You make a difference.  

  

Question to consider: Do you make a difference?

The refreshing of the Holy Spirit - don't miss out

PROGRAMME

Theme: The refreshing of the Holy Spirit

Presented by the Christ Healing Fellowship

At LINGA LONGA

15 to 17 October 2011

Cost: R500.00 all inclusive.

Contact 014 736 3339 to book your place.

Worship Leaders: Rev Cecil Edwards

Ministry Leader and speaker: Rev David Hutt

PROGRAMME

Friday Arrival afternoon if possible?

18:00 Supper

19:00 Welcome and introduction with praise, worship and ministry.

Saturday

07:00 Stillness and communion with Jesus

08:00 Breakfast

09:00 Praise and worship

09:30 First talk: Praying with the Holy Spirit

10:30 Tea

11:00 Meditation

11:30 Second talk: Gifting of the Holy Spirit

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Meditation

15:30 Tea

16:00 Third talk: Worshipping with the Holy Spirit

17:30 Meditation

18:00 Supper

19:00 Fellowship and our ministry journey with the Holy Spirit

Sunday

08:00 Breakfast

09:00 Fourth talk: The miracle of the Holy Spirit

10:30 Tea

11:00 Worship service with Holy Communion

12:00 Lunch

Departure back home

  

Note: Personal ministry will be available for any who require it throughout the weekend.

Cut it off

Felix ... he's the man to see for your name tag in the morning. He brightens our Sunday mornings.

29  September 2011

Colossians 2:11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ; and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

The water pipes here at Linga Longa have corroded over the years and slowly choked up with rust, the result is that the pipes are starting to leak. Usually the leak occurs at the elbows or the T-pieces, then when you try to undo the pipe to repair the piece the whole pipe shears off at the joint. When you examine the inside of the pipe the centre hole is about the size of a tooth pick. This happens to most properties when the pipes are older than fifty years, time and corrosion takes its toll.

You cannot fix or reuse these pipes, the best way is to simply replace the entire piping system with new. I suppose we could also relate this to our lives, with time our lifestyle eventually catches up with us and the flow of passion and life is choked up. We can try to fix it, repair leaks but the flow is never what it should be, so the best way is to replace it with something new. To do this we need to cut out the old and replace it with the new and bring the flow of life back to where it should be. We cannot stick to the past and who we were, we need to look to the future and who we are now. Christian circumcision is about cutting off the sinful nature, that nature that chokes the Christian life out of us. Just as we need to cut out the old pipe and replace it with new, so we cut out the sinful nature and replace it with a new one- that of Jesus Christ.

Be encouraged today to cut off the sinful past and be a new creature in Christ

David

Point to ponder: Jesus cut off your sinful nature.  

 Question to consider: Is your life choked with things of the past?

Daily Interactive Bible Quiz launched

That's our Session Clerk Liz White logging our new members ... join us at St Mark's as we strive to make a difference in Yeoville in Jesus' name. 

Dear friends,

Being a Christian means knowing your Bible. Today the Marksman launches a free Bible Quiz for all visitors to this site. Take a look at the column to your right and all you have to do is click the check boxes with your mouse and move down the list of questions. Then follow the prompts to see how you shaped up. This is a fun way to pass your time either at your PC, laptop or smart phone.

You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Blessings,
The St Mark's editorial team.

Be Jesus

Growing membership at St Mark's .... Sophia and Solomon have big plans for the WA. There's a meeting after church on Sunday for all ladies interested in joining.

28 September 2011

Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.

Being a Christian is made complicated by the expectations that others place on us and those we place on ourselves. Asked the question, ‘do you want to serve Jesus Christ?’ all believing Christians answer, ‘yes’. When asked how they will do this, most look to some exotic answer such as to win souls for Christ, study to be a Pastor. Yet is this what Jesus expects of us? Most of us have to work, have children, build a home, have friends, and we need to be able to do so. So being a Christian for me is to accept where Jesus Christ has placed me and being obedient to that to do my best in living the Christian life in that place.

So if I am an accountant, I become a Christian accountant and so serve my clients as if each were Jesus Christ personally, in the same way I become a Christian Doctor, Lawyer, house executive, mother, father, what I then do, I do to the glory of Jesus Christ. We then learn to serve Jesus, by serving others, and what better way to do it than through touching people through what we are trained and taught to do. We use kind words, patiently and with tolerance of others short comings, we help them in ways that if we were in their situation we would like to be helped. This becomes so part of us that after awhile this is our nature and we are transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ in the place where Jesus wants us to be.

Be encouraged today to be Christ to others, where you are.

David

Point to ponder: the  Jesus in you is the only Jesus people will meet.  

  

Question to consider: Are you Jesus in the world?

Geoff turned 61 on Sunday  .... and we celebrated with hot dogs at church. And yes ageing is not for sissies.

27  September 2011

Ephesians 1:11 In him, according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will, we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory.

The aging process is not for the faint hearted, as one grows older so our bodies change and what we could do before we find difficult to do now. We do not stop trying though, because it takes a bit of time for us to realise that we are not as supple as we used to be. This awareness creeps up on one and we start to understand that some people age well like a good wine, while others do not. The way we lived our lives depends on the signs of aging, so a person who smoked will more likely have chest problems, the person who drank to much alcohol will have liver problems, the athletes will have joint problems and so on. Generally speaking the way you lived has consequences.

The fear that is associated with aging is relevant in most peoples lives, ‘will I have enough money’, ‘will I be a burden to others’, these questions are faced by most of us. When we allow these fears to dominate our thinking we find that these control our thinking. It is in this time that we need to overcome these fears through faith, faith that God has looked after us until now and will continue to look after us tomorrow. We focus on being age active, not trying to do things like teenagers, but to do things relative to our age, so we move from hockey to bowls. We also need to keep our minds fit, so we attend bible studies, we join book clubs and we keep up to date with the world. We look forward to tomorrow and are excited about holidays, we enjoy life!

Be encouraged today not to worry about being older, make the most of it.

David

Point to ponder: Our minds are eternal, our bodies are not.  

  

Question to consider: Are you fearful of being old?

Keep Steady

St Mark's youth chomp away on hot dog Sunday .... well done guys on preparing this feast for everyone

26  September 2011

James 1:4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Habit and routine are part and parcel of life, these help us to do the things that needs to be done. When we work outside of these routines and habits we find that unless we are very conscious of what we are doing we are likely to become disorganised and start to do things outside of patterns of our normal behaviour. So when you water the garden you start one side and then end on the other, you do not water a little bit here and a little bit there, because you are likely not to water parts of the garden. In the same way you plant seeds in rows, orderly and at the right depth.

To do something properly you must focus on what you are doing and stop being distracted by other tasks or influences, in this way you get to finish what you are doing. There are those things, thoughts and people who will distract you from the task at hand, and it is the discipline and routine that helps you to overcome these distractions.  The less disciplined you are the more likely you will be to be distracted. This applies to your daily tasks, the challenges, and most of all your walk with Jesus Christ.

When your Christian walk is bound into your daily disciplines and your focus is on doing what pleases God, then it becomes natural to achieve.

Be encouraged today to stay disciplined and focused on what needs to be done.

David

Point to ponder: If you think like a Jack Rabbit, you jump around like one.  

  

Question to consider: Are you disciplined and focused?

Biblical Corporate Worship

Shalom dear readers,

This week we will begin a study on Biblical Corporate Worship.  I will be using the Tabernacle as a means to illustrate the journey of corporate worship.  Of course this doesn’t just apply to corporate worship but to our own individual worship lifestyle as well.

Ernest Gentile in his book Worship God! states:

“Corporate worship occurs when the gathered church seeking to glorify God, publicly offers heartfelt acknowledgement of his supreme worthiness as almighty God.  Ranging from grand declarative, jubilant statements to deeply personal devotional love and appreciation, the church rejoices in God. Using appropriate physical and vocal expressions, they glorify the Father, through the Name and Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, enabled and inspired by the Holy Spirit.”

One of the most contentious issues in the church today is that of corporate worship which is primarily due to the fact that we do not look at what the Bible teaches us about worship but instead blindly follow man’s ideas and methods.

It stands to reason that in order to worship God, we need to worship Him on His terms and all that we need to know about worship is in His Word.

The Tabernacle of Moses, the Tabernacle of David and the Psalms give us much insight into acceptable worship therefore we will begin by looking at these foundational models.

THE OUTER COURT

THE GATE  (SALVATION)

The entry point of the tabernacle was the gate and the entry point to worship is through Jesus the son of God.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Before one can even begin to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth, one has to be spiritually born again and this can only be done by acknowledging that we are sinners and accepting Jesus (who died for our sins) as our personal Savior.

Worship is based on relationship and anything else is mere religion.  So before we can enter into the courts of praise, we need to make sure of our salvation.  Are you spiritually born again?

THE COURT

Psalm 100:4  Enter his gates with thanksgiving (tôwdâh), and his courts with praise (tehillâh);  give thanks (yâdâh) to him, and praise (bârâk) his name.

In our translations of the Bible, we only have the word praise which limits our understanding of what is meant.  In Hebrew there are seven words for praise and all of them are found in the Psalms.

I would encourage you to go through the book of Psalms with a concordance and everywhere you see the word “praise”, write in the Hebrew word next to it.

SEVEN KEY HEBREW WORDS FOR PRAISE

Hâlal  (Strong’s Concordance entry no 1984)

To praise God explosively and enthusiastically.

Yâdâh  (S.C. 3034)

To worship or revere with raised or extended hands.

Bârak  (S.C. 1288)                            

To kneel.

Tehillâh  (S.C. 8416)

To sing praises extravagantly.

Zâmar  (S.C. 2167)

To sing, to praise; To pluck or twang the strings of an instrument.

Tôwdâh  (S.C. 8426)

To give thanks; To extend the hands in thanksgiving.

Shâbach  (S.C. 7623)

To Shout; To exclaim praise, to proclaim with a loud voice.

The Hebrew word most used in the Old Testament for worship is shâchâh  (S.C. 7812) Prostrate; Bow down.

The Greek word most used in the New Testament for worship is Prǒskuněō  (S.C. 4352) To prostrate oneself in worship.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRAISE AND WORSHIP

Praise is an expression of what God has done.

Worship is a response to who God is.

Praise is tuning into God’s presence.

Worship is responding to God’s presence.

NINE WAYS OF PSALMIC WORSHIP

The book of Psalms gives us many examples of how we are to praise and worship the Lord using our voices, hands and posture

Below are just a few examples and I would encourage you to go through the book of Psalms and discover for yourselves how often these various forms of worship are mentioned.

VOICE

Speak!   Psalm 34:1  I will extol then Lord at all times: his praise (tehillâh) will always be on my lips.

Sing!   Psalm 47:6 Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises to our King, sing praises.

Shout!  Psalm 32:11 Rejoice in the LORD, and be glad, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!

HANDS                                       

Lift!   Psalm 63:4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands..

Play Instruments!   Psalm 33:2 Praise (yâdâh) the LORD with harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.  3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully and shout for joy.

Clap!   Psalm 47:1 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.

POSTURE:

Stand!   Psalm 134:1 Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD.

Bow!   Psalm 95:6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

Dance!   Psalm 149:3 Let them praise (hâlal) his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

One of the things that David instituted in worship was the use of musical instruments. The instruments used in the Tabernacle of David and in the Temple of Solomon were commanded by God, and were called “the instruments of God.”

I Chronicles 16:42 … and with musical instruments of God.

II Chronicles 7:6 The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord’s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used

when he gave thanks…

II Chronicles 29:25 He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets.

PSALM 150: 3 – 5

Praise (hâlal) him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise (hâlal) him with harp and lyre

Praise (hâlal) him with tambourine and dancing, praise (hâlal) him with strings and flute

Praise (hâlal) him with the clash of cymbals, praise (hâlal) him with resounding cymbals

Entering into the courts with praise and thanksgiving is a joyful and blessed experience and should be a daily part of our lives.  However, the sad reality is that far too many enter into the outer court and remain there forgetting that we need to move on into the inner court which was made up of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies where we experience intimate worship and fellowship with the Lord.

Next week we will continue the journey in the outer Court and examine the brazen altar and the brazen laver.

May your week by full of praise to our Lord. We praise and worship Him despite our circumstances and feelings because He is God and worthy of our praise.

Blessings,

Charmaine

Clim Jews for Jesus.

Be you

23  September 2011

Exodus 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbour’s."

You can only be as good as with what you have got! Many people expect a standard of others and facilities far beyond what they or the facilities may provide, and even more people expect more value for their money than that which they are willing to spend. It appears everybody wants a bargain. The problem with bargains are that you get something that is cheap but just does not last. In order to understand quality you need to be able to compare realistically with other products, you always compare apples with apples.

In the same way as Christians we fall into the trap of trying to be something that we are not, either because of pleasing others or because we are unhappy with who we are. This usually happens because we do not give ourselves credit or we compare ourselves to others who are nothing like us. The more we invest in ourselves the more value we add, we may sometimes be a bargain for others but we are never cheap. What we have is good, it is all we have, and it may not be as much as others have, it may not be as good as what others have, but it is ours and it is good.

Be encouraged today be the person you are.

David

Point to ponder: Who you are is good.  

Question to consider: Are you always trying to please others?

Afraid or fear

22  September 2011

Acts 9:26 And when he had come to Jerusalem he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

When Paul returned to Jerusalem and met with the early Church Council they were afraid of him, because of who he had been and the reputation that preceded him. The people on this Council were devout Christians, filled with the Holy Spirit yet they were afraid of Paul. In this regard they were afraid, but were not filled with fear. To be afraid is to be human, we are all afraid of what may happen that may hurt or harm us. Being afraid however does not stop us from continuing even though we are afraid, fear on the other hand prevents us from doing so.

Being afraid is to be cautious and to think the situation through and then rationally continue. Being afraid of snakes is not the same as fearing snakes, so when you are afraid of a snake you cautiously kill it, when you fear snakes you run away leaving others to have to deal with the snake. Being afraid does not mean that you do not have faith, faith overcomes the fear in the knowledge that nothing will hurt or harm you, because God loves you.

Be encouraged today not to be filled with fear but to be cautious.

David

Point to ponder: Being afraid is to be cautious.  

Question to consider: Are you often afraid or fearful?

Works and Faith

21  September 2011

James 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?

At the moment we are preparing the garden beds to plant, butternut, watermelon, beans and so on, so the ground is turned and our homemade compost spread and turned in so that when we plant the seeds the germination will happen and a good harvest will be reaped. It is the preparation that results in the harvest, watering and keeping the ground free of weeds and pests is part of it, but the basics are in the preparation. Preparation is hard work without seeing the result, but when you prepare in faith the work result is seen in your mind and you start experiencing the joy of the harvest in faith and the work has purpose.

So as a Christian wanting to have faith, there has to be the vision of the harvest of that faith, once you have that vision it is then that the work starts to achieve the harvest. What harvest therefore are you preparing to reap? Is it to save souls, to love others, to build churches, to be a better parent or child, to give more, whatever the harvest, it will always depend on the work done in preparing for it.

Be encouraged today work at the preparation for the harvest in faith.

David

Point to ponder: Faith without works is dead.  

Question to consider: Are you working in faith?

Take care

20  September 2011

Psalms 24:1-2 A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein; for he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers.

Looking after someone else’s property is not always the easiest thing to do, and when one borrows a tool or utensil one takes more care than if it was your own. My experience has proven to me that when I borrow something it usually breaks, I use my brother-in-laws car and the alternator packs up so I have to replace the alternator. So if one is going to borrow something, extra care must be taken and also agreed what remedy is necessary should it break down.

In the same way when we rent a property we should take care of it and keep it in good repair, the garden neat and the home clean. We as humans have a responsibility to take care of all the things around us, for in reality we have borrowed it from someone else. All the environment that we have belongs to God, the land, the sea, the air, the plants, the life, even you and I.  

We need to respect this and honour this and not abuse it because we believe we have rights to it, others will need what we have. How can we say we look after the environment when we cannot look after what God has given us, a home, a family, transport?

Be encouraged today to take care of what you have, whether it is borrowed or bought, it all belongs to God.

David

Point to ponder: All we have belongs to God.  

Question to consider: Are you careful of what you are given?

This was a grand conference indeed!

What a Conference!

It was on Wednesday afternoon that my wife and I hit the road to the Kopanong Hotel, in Benoni where Ministers & spouses were going to spend four days being strengthened as servants of Christ.

I thought that this would similar to conferences that I attended previously. How wrong I was. 

It was different from beginning to the end and it was the first of its kind to involve spouses. The organisers were well prepared to equip us with various teachings from all angles of life. The worship was there. The Bible study was there along with marriage in ministry, parenting in ministry, finance in ministry, and advice as to the keys to effective ministry. Even entertainment was laid on for us which included storytelling from ministers’ experiences

Our keynote speaker, Prof Elna Mouton from Stellenbosch University, was fantastic. She spoke about our calling in ministry, celebration in ministry, and our suffering in ministry

.

We came to understand that in ministry we are called to respond to God’s gift in Christ, to belong to God’s people, to praise and worship the Caller, and we were called to remember what God has done for us at Calvary. He took the bread, His life, bread of life, and took you and me as Christians to the ministry. He called us to be His servants.

When Jesus was about to be betrayed, He took a loaf of bread and gave thanks and invited us to celebrate with Him. We celebrate his life and He gave it to us to live. When we meet in His sanctuary, or elsewhere, we have what to celebrate, celebrate the life of Jesus Christ.

In ministry, we do not deal with souls only, but we are also confronted with the issue of finance, relationships, family issues, political problems, security around us and others. We give counseling to our people, but when it happens to us, when we are stressed and burned out in ministry, we do not have anyone to run to. Stress in ministry is imminent and without being more careful it can lead to heart attack.

At the end of this conference, everyone was convinced that ministers and their spouses needed more time like this to refresh and put in spiritual food, The suggestion was that this should often be organized on the Presbytery level.

Pastor Solomon