We will see Him

Theme: Total Church  In Isaiah 62 God says this about his church: "The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.  You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord's hand... No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called "my delight is in her" for the Lord will take delight in you...  Wow wow wow!   This is the hope that small and sometimes 'deserted' church communities can have: God's delight is in his church. The church is God's crown of splendour - something He treasures as His own. Can you think of a church community that is a force of God's mercy and justice in a graceless and unjust broken world?    Prayer:  Father God, we know that the church is in the eyes of the world the 'deserted' and 'desolate' institutions of the past.  We also know that the church has in many ways ...

Theme: Total Church  Eph 1:22  " And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,  which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."   The invisible God is ruling over the entire creation through His Son - Jesus Christ.  On earth He makes his rule visible, not in governments or businesses - but through his church. Although the church looks very weak and small it is the community Jesus Christ calls his body and He decided to use it for the purposes of making His Kingdom known.   Prayer:  King Jesus, we now know why our hearts grieve when it is not going well with your church: it is because we are supposed to be a picture of what it looks like when You rule a community with grace and mercy. Instead of portraying your rule, we show the world what it looks like when our fears and desires and sin rule a community.  Please forgive us and reign over our hearts to truly fol...

Theme: Total Church  John 1:18 "N o one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."   The invisible God is made visible through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. His life can be researched through the pages of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). 1 Joh 4:12 "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." The invisible God is made visible through the love of the people of God. The christian community is part of God's plan to communicate to the world who He is.    Prayer:  Father God, we've never seen you, but we believe that you have revealed yourself through Jesus Christ.  Lord Jesus, please forgive us for not loving one another as you have loved us. We realise that we are giving the world the wrong impression of who you are.  Please change us to love one another, for the sake of your glory. Amen  Rev. Kruger de Kock London This week...

Theme: Total Church In Acts 2:46-47 we see that church is not something the early Christians went to, but rather an something they all were: "They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,  praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." They were a group of people where everyone could be themselves - "sincere hearts". They were a group of people that were not trying to worship themselves, but "praising God".  I can imagine that talking about God was very natural in their conversations.  They were a group of people that were a blessing to the non-christian community around them - enjoying their "favor" and seeing some of them come to faith.   Prayer:  Lord Jesus, we long to be a church community where all of us can be ourselves.  We realise that this is dangerous - since each one of us is fraught with our own sin and evil.  But we praise y...

Connect |   Acts 1:7 "...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Equip |  Acts 2:1 "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (or languages) as the Spirit enabled them." Send |  Acts 8:1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.  If you are a Christian today it is because of the events that took place in these first 8 chapters of the book of Acts.   Jesus connected with...

Theme: Connect, Equip and Send O LORD, you have searched me         and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise;         you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down;         you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue         you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in—behind and before;         you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,         too lofty for me to attain. God does more that just connect, equip and send believers: like a bubble he covers them on every side, from birth to the death and beyond. And He doesn't only do this from a distance: He first did it by becoming man and then He sent His Holy Spirit to live in us. Are you able to see His hands cupping your life from beginning to end?     Prayer:  Father, Son and...

Theme: Connect, Equip and Send A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." ...  The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" ( For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)  Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."... So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man j who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him." John 4 Jesus, himself a Jew went out of his way to connect with this Samaritan woman. Jesus equips her by revealing Himself to her: He is the source of living water. Jesus sends her with her doubts and all to tell people about Him.    Prayer:  Our Lord Jesus, ...

Reboot 1

Theme:  The Gospel City In the last verse of the book of  Jonah God says: "But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"   Nineveh was a world city like London, Johannesburg or New York.  Jonah hated it and it's people and didn't want to be there or see it's people be saved. But God was 'concerned' for that city (He calls it 'great'), it's people (120 000) and it's economy ('the cattle').   Are you concerned for the great cities of our world? Not only for what they can or can't do for you but for the positive influence they can have on the rest of the world?  Prayer:  Our Father in heaven, we admit that we don't look at our cities and the people in them in the same way as you do: we just don't care as much as you do.  It is only when our jobs, joys and opportunities are threatened ...

Theme:  The Gospel City In Matt 5:14-16 Jesus says about the church that:  " You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."  Being light to others means the church are to give refuge and guidance to those in darkness.   But how do people who themselves are trapped in darkness give refuge and guidance to others? By God working through them, causing them to do good deeds in spite of their own sinfulness and failures.  Prayer:  Our Father in heaven, we stand ashamed of our own darkness and sinfulness. Thank you that you use our darkness to show your light.  Please help us to trust in Jesus - the One who was lifted up, not on a lamp stand, but on a cross, taki...

Theme:  The Gospel City Jeremiah 29:7 " But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.."  The word 'welfare' is the word 'shalom' in hebrew meaning more than just well-being: it speaks of complete peace, prosperity, welfare and contentment.   This is what a believer gets in his or her covenant relationship with God.  But here we are called to make this 'shalom' spill over into the city we live in.   It seems that believers will only find real joy and contentment as they first seek the 'shalom' of others.   Prayer:  Lord Jesus Christ, in your humility you lost the 'shalom' of God by bringing it to us through the cross.  Help us to respond to your sacrifice by giving ourselves to our community and city through acts of mercy and love.  We trust that, just as you have been raised to life we will experience your power and strength ...