Ephesians: New Life in Christ, pt 1 (Rosebank)
Sunday morning at Rosebank, 10 December 2017. Marco Broccardo introduces our series for December, 2017 – a study on the book of Ephesians.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Ephesians: New Life in Christ, pt 1 (Bedfordview PM)
Sunday evening at Bedfordview, 10 December 2017. Shane Rielly introduces our series for December, 2017 – a study on the book of Ephesians.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Ephesians: New Life in Christ, pt 1 (Bedfordview AM)
Sunday morning at Bedfordview, 10 December 2017. Craig Herbert introduces our series for December, 2017 – a study on the book of Ephesians.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
How to Evangelise
By Phil Pillans
A fair amount of time at church is spent on preaching and teaching about the Great Commission. In other words, Christ calls us to make disciples of all nations and to baptise them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Does this scare you? Guess what – this is perfectly normal.
The first thing that you should know is that Christ can use anybody – whether you are a so-called people’s person, or shy. The first requirement of the Great Commission is faith. You can nurture your faith through prayer, reading the Word, and connecting with other believers.
So what’s next? Here are a few pointers.
1. It’s not about you. Always show respect for the other person’s beliefs and private life – we cannot change them, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 3:15-16).
2. Pray in the Spirit. Pray quietly in tongues and listen to them and the Holy Spirit while the other person is speaking. You are changing the spiritual realm around you and may receive a word of wisdom or knowledge for them. Tongues is also a weapon of spiritual warfare (2 Cor 4:4, Eph 6:18 & 2 Cor 10:3-5).
3. Spread the Good News. It is especially important to tell potential believers that God loves them and they were put on this earth for a purpose (John 3:16).
4. You can’t be a person’s conscience. Don’t try and be the Holy Spirit and convict people of their sin. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job (Romans 2:4). It’s the goodness, patience and kindness of God that leads to repentance because love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8) for we are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
5. Be a friend in Christ. If a person on the street responds and you lead them to the Lord, try to walk them down to the church so they know where it is, and if available offer them coffee/ tea/ biscuits and, most of all, friendship. Jesus didn’t say we should make converts, He said we make disciples, which happens when a person is integrated into the life of a church, sits under biblical teaching, builds relationships, and matures in the Lord (Matt 28:19).
God will always take the little faith we have and multiply it!
Photo by 2Photo Pots on Unsplash
Children’s Church: God’s love is for everyone
We did some math sums this week. We worked out that this year we had approximately 76 hours to impact your children at Children’s Church. That means that we had just over three days out of 365 days to build relationship and teach our children. That little number can seem disheartening, but God used “three days” this year to do incredible things in our children’s lives. We are amazed when we look back at the time, passion and resources our leaders put into this year with the deep desire to see your children know Jesus better. It was encouraging and somewhat sad to end the year this past Sunday.
Our Part
This Sunday we ended off our theme of God’s love by looking at how His love is for everyone and lasts forever. We are so accustomed in life to expect things to run out: money runs out, petrol comes and then is gone, batteries have energy and then die, food is fresh but then rots etc. We can live with this anxiety that everything will run out one day. But God’s love is so different. His love does not run out, dry up, die or rot. His love is eternal and He gives it to everyone.
Your Part
Enjoy this holiday season with your family. Spend time showing love to each other and to others. Keep talking about the gospel for that is great evidence of God’s great love.
We look forward to the new year!
– The Children’s Church team
Children of God, Part 2 (Rosebank)
Sunday morning at Rosebank, 3 December 2017. Nathan Gernetzky shares on how we are children of God, from Romans 8:14-17. This is a second part of a mini-series.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
The Exchange 2017 Year-End, with Brad Sadler
High-flying Durban banker, Brad Sadler was convicted of fraud and corruption totalling R70 million and was sentenced to four years in prison.
So we thought it would be a great idea to have him come and speak at our Exchange business forum event on 1 December, 2017.
Why? Because something changed. Something gave Brad a completely different look on life? So much so, that Brad now travels the country to warn others on the pitfalls of corruption in the business world. He has a saying “CRIME DOES PAY – be careful who does the paying. I pay every single day of my life”. He now spends his time telling people on the outside, including corporate employees and their wide-eyed bosses, why he spent time on the inside.
So what was it that changed? Hear Brad’s electrifying story of how he went from being a high-flying banker to an inmate, and yet was restored to his family, and himself, in the end.
Brad has shared his incredible story all over the world, from boardrooms to community centres, schools and universities, encouraging people to rise above their circumstances and have faith in God’s plan for their lives.
Download or play the recording below.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Romans 8 (Bedfordview PM)
Sunday evening at Bedfordview, 26 November 2017. Shane Rielly shares on “The five greatest questions” Part 1 – Romans 8:31-38.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Break the Rules
Sunday morning at Bedfordview, 26 November 2017. Mark Bouffe speaks about man’s religion and God’s life.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Children’s Church: God Has No Missed Calls
When it comes to cell phones, we often have problems getting our message across to someone. Maybe they can’t hear us, the line gets cut off, their battery dies or we run out of airtime. With God this never happens. There are no missed calls, no lost messages and no, “can you hear me now”. We can be sure that when we pray, God hears every word clearly. By discussing with the children how love bears all things, we spent time this Sunday looking at prayer, and how, because of God’s love for us, He will always be available to us in prayer.
Our Part
We looked at Daniel in the Bible. Daniel would pray every day to God. But the king decreed that no one should pray to anyone else except to him for 30 days. If this law was broken it would result in death. Many of us would do the maths. To skip prayer to God for 30 days when I pray 365 days a year, to save my life, is easy to do. But Daniel refused to dishonour God. And so God protected Daniel when he was in the lion’s den. Daniel prayed and God listened and answered.
The aim of the story was to show how despite difficulties, we should still love – how even when people are against us, we should still live motivated by God’s love.
Your Part
Daniel’s story is a great one to encourage your children to keep praying to God, no matter what is going on in their lives. Share some of your stories of when God heard and answered your prayers. As we come near to the end of our theme of love, encourage your children to find ways to display love to others.
We will end next Sunday with our last lesson on God’s love. See your children then.
– The Children’s Church team