New Photos on the Facebook Page!

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Check out a whole set of new photos of events we’ve posted on the Cornerstone Facebook page

The Experienced Warriors Christmas Lunch – see the album here
DNA people who are now part of the Cornerstone family – see here
The November ALL SITES Celebration – see the album here
And the Appreciation Lunch with Leaders and Workers – see the album here

It’s been a fantastic month with lots of great things happening in the life of our church! Don’t forget to Like the Cornerstone Facebook page.

Celebrating Our Beautiful Children

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Written by Justine Engelbrecht

Yesterday, on Sunday 27th November, a special Children’s service was held, in celebration of our beautiful children.

Lance, Michelle, Roger & Deidre and their dedicated teams joined the children in sharing with us through song, dance and video what they had learned over the past year.

The Theme for 2011 for 3yrs to Grade 2 was “The Big Questions.”

Here are just a few of the children’s answers below. 🙂

Who is Jesus?

“The Son of God”, “Gods Son”, “The King”

What did you learn this term?

“Jesus is powerful”, “we have to love each other”, “God made the world and if we believe in him we will go to heaven”, “to respect God”

What Bible verses did you learn?

John 14:6 “Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life”

Why do we need Jesus?

“So we can go to heaven”

The grade 3 to 7’s put the Gospel into colours for us.

Collossians 1: 16

“Everything was created by God and for God” – God created each person to have a relationship with him.

BLACK – Romans 3: 23 “Sin is what separates us from God” – We choose to disobey God.
RED – Romans 5:8 “Jesus died on the cross”
WHITE – John 3: 5 “I tell you the truth; no-one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit”
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
BLUE – Acts 2: 41 “Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
GOLD – Colossians 1: 16 “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

Before the close of this joyful and inspirational service Tanna, Michael, Lerato and Sanele were baptised to the loud applause of the congregation!

We were encouraged by Lance to take time out for our children this holiday and spend valuable time with them, our greatest blessings. AMEN!

A Trip to Upington

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Written by Justine Engelbrecht
Upington

Upington

Marcus, Adele, Shane, Casper and the Life Team left for Upington on Wednesday the 16th to encourage Terry and Wendy Archibald’s church plant there. They arrived in time to join Terry and Wendy’s worship and bible study. The team was incredibly encouraged by how intense and earnest the group was, albeit a small one, and they enjoyed a profound worship time together.

Their visit to Upington allowed them to build relationships, share experiences and connect with the local youth, enabling them to enjoy an incredible time of team bonding. They were grateful for the opportunity to lead the Friday Youth where they shared their experiences and understanding, from which they received wonderful feedback.

On Sunday Marcus did the service and he spoke on the character of Peter and how he allowed Jesus to shape and mould him. He encourages us all to take a leaf out of Peter’s book and not to take offence. This was an incredibly inspirational time away which will remain as motivation for the group.

Lesotho: More Leaders Needed

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Written by Ryan Strydom

Map of Lesotho

On the weekend of the 11th to the 13th of November, Mark Meeske and a team of seven travelled to Lesotho for ministry – the last trip to Lesotho of the year (several happen in the year). It was fruitful and saw the team meet up with Motheo Makagnia, a man leading a church in Mafeteng. This is a new relationship and it was the first time that we worked together.

The team left the Cornerstone building at 1:30pm on Friday and arrived at Mafeteng at 7:30pm. After having dinner and enjoying each others’ company, the team got to work on the Saturday morning with some door-to-door evangelism. The Gospel was shared with many and people were invited to the Sunday service. Four teams went out, with the Cornerstone team splitting into two groups with an interpreter.

The afternoon saw the team encouraging and teaching local leaders and interpreters. It was a small group. They were encouraged and there was a lot of engagement around building effectively.

The team gelled well and the evening was spent relaxing and getting to know each other better. Sunday morning the team went to two different churches. Tim Potter preached at the one while Mark preached at the other. By all accounts it went well, there were some Gospel responses, and lots of people responded for healing. By 7:30pm on Sunday the team were back in South Africa.

But there are many challenges the church in Mafeteng is facing and these are prayer points to consider:

1) They’re currently trusting God for a piece of land. They’ve earmarked some land already but they need the finance to get it. Currently they meet in tents.

2) There are more leaders needed to do the work of the ministry. We are instructed to pray for more workers (Luke 10:2) so let us do so! They really need it.

3) General finances are always a challenge in Lesotho.
Consider going to the next Lesotho trip in early 2012. Talk to Mark if you’re looking for details or keep an eye (or ear) out on our usual communication channels.

From Gutter Depths To Mountain Heights

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TITLE: From Gutter Depths To Mountain Heights
PREACHER: Marco Broccardo
DATE: 20 NOVEMBER 2011 – Sunday PM

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Marco Broccardo – From gutter depths to mountain heights

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Seven Summit Adventurer; Marco Broccardo shared the vision placed in his heart at Cornerstone Central Cafe’ Evening on Sunday 20th November 2011.

One man’s journey, courage and faith can make a difference in the lives of others. Marco’s testimony of salvation is proof of this; from a downward spiral of drug abuse, crime, attempted suicide and seizures, he ended up in a Christian Rehabilitation centre and he gave his life to the Lord.

Thirteen years later, Marco is sharing his testimony to make a difference in the lives of drug addicts and their families, instilling hope and sharing with the world that discarded people can do and achieve great things.

Mark 11:23 I tell you the truth, if anyone says this to the mountain. Go throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes what he says will happen; it will be done for him.

Drug abuse statistics in South Africa:

  • 15% of SA has a drug problem
  • Drug consumption in SA is twice the world norm.
  • Drugs costs SA 20 billion Rand a year and will pose a bigger problem than the Aids pandemic.
  • 60% of crime nationally is related to drug abuse, in the Western Cape the figure is close to 80%.
  • Uneducated children are addicted to drugs and this leads to desperation.
  • In 2004 the SA government disbanded SANAB and there is no replacement institute.
  • According to the UN, SA is one of the drug capitals of the world.

There are 272 000 000 million drug users globally with 8 new users ever second.

The Seven Summits initiative has taken 9 years to launch and demonstrates what can be achieved despite the odds. The team Marco, Alex, Kabelo and Mghabi are sending out messages of victory and hope.

Marco says, “no matter how big the obstacle in our lives we can overcome it, struggle is the struggle of life itself, upward and forever upward.”

The Seven Summits:

Kilimanjaro                          5892m

Carstens Pyramid                 4884m

Aconcacgua                         6962m

Elbrus                                  5642m

Denali                                  6194m

Vinson                                 6194m

Everest                                8848m

 

The message of the Seven Summit initiatives will:

Bring hope to the hopeless, encourage people to passionately pursue their goals, raise their sights and take back their lives, to live life to the best of their ability, dig deeper to discover untapped potential, brave the unknown, face their fears, reach new heights, break barriers and conquer their fears through faith.

Isaiah 35:10. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

The 7 Summits webpage is http://www.7summitchallenge.co.za.  Check out their gallery with video clips here.

Redeemed For An Inheritance

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TITLE: Redeemed For An Inheritance
PREACHER: Mark Meeske
DATE: 20 NOVEMBER 2011 – Sunday AM

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Eric Tocknell – What is in your hands?

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Written by Anton Tjabring

The Exchange had a very encouraging time with Eric Tocknell on Friday 11 November. The challenge he posed is “What is in your hands ?” Moses had many excuses and reasons as to why God could not use him, but God asked him “What is in your hands?” and STILL used him. The challenge we have is not to look for excuses, but to use what is in our hands.

A little bit of delivery room chaos with three people giving their lives to Jesus, car park running out of space and not enough seating at the tables. Despite this the church was encouraged and built up and Jesus glorified. The ladies in the kitchen provided a wonderful warm breakfast as usual.  Thank you to all involved.

Life Team 2012

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Life Team is for young adults, between the age of 18 and 25, who have a call of God upon their lives and would benefit from a year serving in a church. Applicants currently need to be in a local church and their application needs to be approved by their eldership/pastoral teams. When the year is done, each person will return to the local churches from which they were sent.

Please note that Life Team is not a rehabilitation program.

What you can expect

  • Practical serving at Cornerstone Church
  • Training and equipping in various aspects of ministry e.g. Worship, Music and Arts, Children’s Ministry, Preaching, Teaching etc.
  • One-on-one mentoring with the Pastors and church leaders
  • Local ministry trips within South Africa, with a possibility of an international trip
  • Connecting with and serving in other local churches in South Africa

When

  • Mid-January to early December 2012.
  • Most Monday’s will be a day of rest and there will be a mid-year break of 2 weeks.

Cost

The cost for 2011 was R1400 per month

  • Approved applicants will be hosted by Cornerstone families for the year.
  • Overseas applicants will need to cover travel costs to and from South Africa.
  • Life Team participants work and serve on a full time basis which does not allow for any part time work in addition to Life Team commitments.

We do not want the cost be an exclusion factor and are open for discussion on this.

For more information email: craig@www.cornerstonechurch.co.za or phone: +27 11 616 4073

 

Details

16 January – 25 December
Ages between 18 – 25 [With a bit of flexibility]
Get hold of Craig for more info
Tel: 011 616 4073
Email: craig@www.cornerstonechurch.co.za

The Church in Ethiopia: Advancing the Kingdom

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Written by Waldo Kruger
The Semien Mountains in Ethiopia

The Semien Mountains in Ethiopia

On Wednesday the 2nd of November, Oom Hennie and I flew out to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to spend some time with two churches. Our first stop, however, was a town called Debre Zeit.

Here we spent two solid days teaching leaders from the area. We then went back to Addis for another two days of teaching.

It was great connecting with the leaders of the two churches and we were very encouraged in how well they are doing. They are really paying the price for the Gospel and are taking the call to the nations seriously. The leaders there were really appreciative of Hennie’s input and we could see that they soaked it all up.

All in all it was a great trip and we bring back a report that the church in Ethiopia is advancing the Kingdom.