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Children’s Church Reflection (1 Nov 2016)

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As we continue to discuss and learn how to truly worship God, this Sunday our focus was on worshipping God with our bodies. It is amazing to see how children use their bodies to display their thoughts and emotions. If a child is angry, they stamp on the floor or roll on the ground. If a child is excited, they might spin around or literally jump for joy. Children use their bodies to express themselves and they use their bodies in worship too. Children love the opportunity to learn actions to worship God or to remember a verse from the Bible. Witnessing this made this lesson really fun to teach.

Our Part
The message was simply that we can use all of who we are to worship God. We can jump, clap, dance, spin or run to worship God. We can worship God in our everyday actions that are part of our daily routines. We can also worship God in sitting silently and thinking about God and His wonder. But in all of these ways, we still emphasised that above the many actions or use of our body, we must make sure our hearts are worshipping God. If our hearts are not in a place of worship before God, then our actions can turn out to be just simple exercise.

We looked at some of the Hebrew terms from the Bible that teach us different ways of worshipping God too. You can view these in our curriculum if you like.

Your part
Your part stays the same: enjoy worship with your children. Be the example and also learn from your children. See them dance and move and sing freely – and enjoy it.

Some children created their own songs that are simply amazing. Their lyrics are so honest and heartfelt towards God. Ask your child to sing their song if they made one. Some children made some instruments. Listen beyond the noise and see a heart in worship.

– The Children’s Church team

Children’s Church Reflection – 23 October

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We continued this week with our series, A Heart of Worship. Our focus was on how everything that has breath is called to worship God. We checked and yes, our children and teachers do have breath – and so they are called to worship God. Why? We worship God because He deserves it.

Our Part
As mentioned, our hope this week was to show what scripture teaches us about worship, and one of the key lessons is that everything that has breath must praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6). We have approximately 23,040 breaths a day. To apply this scripture another way, we are called to worship God with every breath we have and that means that we can worship Him all of the time. Our children learnt that they can worship God from morning to evening, whether they are eating or doing homework, when they are on the sports field or about to go to sleep. They can worship God all of the time.

Your part
Do your children see you as a worshipper or is that only seen on Sunday mornings at Church? Have your children ever seen you worshipping God? Be the best example to your children, not because it benefits your children but rather because it benefits you to worship God. Your relationship with God will grow and that is our emphasis too with our children – to see that their relationship with Jesus grows. Create times and ways for you to worship with your children. Allow God to be acknowledged in all that you do. Find joy in worshipping God and let that be seen by your family so that they can want it too.

Don’t forget the memory verses each week and to keep collecting your medical sticker.

– The Children’s Church team

The Klopperpark Building Project

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We’re so excited about how quickly our Klopperpark site is growing. We have such a fantastic community that is flourishing in their walk with Jesus and our call to the wider community of Klopperpark.

One of the things that we’ve desperately needed is a building to call our own. Up until now, we’ve been sharing facilities with Hope Centre, which falls under the umbrella organisation of Ukwakha Isizwe (our social upliftment partner). Hope Centre has been doing some incredible things for the people in the area, helping to establish Pebbles Klopperpark, establishing a homework centre, Klopper Friday Club, a feeding scheme, and several other initiatives. But now, thanks to wonderful contributions from our Cornerstone family, we’ve just finished getting a suitable structure up for our Klopperpark site. Check out the photos:

We’re so grateful for this, but we know it’s not done yet. Now comes the hard, and expensive part: the inside. From sound systems to the bathrooms to chairs to paving, there is still a lot of work to be done.

Therefore, we’d like to open up the opportunity to our wider Cornerstone family to donate to the Klopperpark building project. If you feel that’s something you’d like to do, here are the details:

EFT transfers:

First National Bank
Branch: Bedford gardens
Branch Code: 252155
Account: 60963039992
PLEASE REFERENCE YOUR DEPOSIT: KPBUILD

If you would like to donate in cash form to this project, please put it in an envelope and mark it KP BUILDING PROJECT.

For more information, contact Bill through the office at 011-616-4073 or email info@www.cornerstonechurch.co.za.

An update from Waldo and Anika and their church plant in Paarl

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It’s been some weeks since Waldo and Anika Kruger embarked on their adventure to Paarl to plant a church. We thought we would get an update from them as to how they have settled in and how things are going.

Waldo, Anika, Janno and Lize are all safely in Paarl and getting settled into their new home and town. They have a beautiful view of the mountains from their garden. Let’s keep them in our prayers!

Janno, their eldest son, started at a new nursery school last week and is enjoying it, making new friends quickly. On his first day at his new school, Janno was showing a bit of anxiety about all the changes. Waldo prayed for him that he would be brave and have a “lion heart”. Then, surprisingly, the name of his class is the “Lion Class!” Janno was so happy about this, telling his parents how God answered their prayer, and that has given him so much confidence in all the new changes. It’s wonderful how God works in the little things as well as the big things!

Their business is now in full swing and they’re renting office and desk space with lots of other entrepreneurs, which is really great as they are meeting people who are interested in the fact they’ve come to plant a church.

They’ve just launched a Wednesday prayer meeting, and the couple who sold them their house decided to join them for that meeting last week, which was great. This Sunday, Waldo is preaching at Destiny Church (led by Winton and Ingrid van der Merwe) who are in our NCMI partnerships.

Waldo, Anika, Janno and Lize are all safely in Paarl and getting settled into their new home and town. They have a beautiful view of the mountains from their garden. Let’s keep them in our prayers!

Waldo, Anika, Janno and Lize are all safely in Paarl and getting settled into their new home and town. They have a beautiful view of the mountains from their garden. Let’s keep them in our prayers!

Prayer points

Here are a few things they would like us to pray for.

1. That they will make fantastic, God-ordained contacts in their town – contacts like Paul made in his ministry trips.
2. That God would continue to give them vision and strategy for this church plant.
3. That they would meet like-minded people
4. That they would minister to the local people in a relevant way – people that truly make up the town of Paarl and surrounds.
5. Business is slow. Anika and Waldo are sharing the load, but they need more clients.

Please continue to keep them in prayer and contact them with prophetic words, encouragement, etc!

Here’s a video of Waldo and Anika recently posted on the NCMI Facebook page.

Building on the Rock

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by Mary Geddes

At our last Exchange, Casper Versluis condensed the big subject of “Building on the Rock (the Holy Spirit and a People of God) into a 45-minute talk, which gave the attentive listeners a lot to chew on before breakfast. Here are a few of the points that he made:

He reminded us that Christians need to live in a radically different way from this world’s norms.

In order to live differently, it is essential for us to experience the Spirit in all aspects of our lives.

In the Old Testament, the people kept losing, then regaining the presence and closeness of God. Jesus’ coming changed that forever – the Holy Spirit could now dwell in each believer’s heart – the counsellor that Jesus promised he would send in his place.

We believers live in an interesting place – between the two resurrections. We choose to live a radical, alternative life, but we need constant spiritual renewal throughout our lives.

A bond has developed among the regular early birds who attend The Exchange. The camaraderie makes a person keen to arrive in time, i.e. about 6 am, to get a hot cup of coffee (or  tea, hot chocolate, whatever you prefer…) and have time to reconnect with other regulars and welcome first-timers.

People from various walks of life gather as equals to glorify God, to support and counsel each other and to enjoy friendship… and let’s not forget the lure of a hearty breakfast!

A willing team of staff, Life Team and volunteers start work before the crack of dawn and the tantalising scents of bacon, eggs and toast give us all a good appetite to help us start our work day well.

Here are some pictures from our time together.

Children’s Church – Term 4 begins

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This Sunday, you may have arrived at Cornerstone thinking you somehow landed up at a casualty ward with all of the doctors and nurses roaming around. Well, you were at the right place, and those incredible doctors and nurses were our Children’s Church teachers prepared to teach on this term’s topic, The Heart of Worship. The idea is that we need to check our heart and body to see how with everything, we can worship God.

Our Part
This week we started off looking at why we worship God. We looked at who He is, what He has done, and we realised that He is worthy of our worship. As the term unfolds, we will look at how we can worship God with a true, real worship that scripture teaches us and that God deserves.

Your Part
Firstly, try to download the curriculum to use at home. We only see your children for two hours a week, and so you need to continue with the lesson throughout the week. Speak to your children about worship, about why we do it and why we worship God. Look at scripture in the Bible. Try to read a Psalm together as a family and talk about it. And don’t forget to remember the memory verse.

This term each child will receive an “immunisation chart” and each week they will receive a sticker to check off what they have learnt. Even our Grade 7s are excited about the idea of collecting stickers.

Enjoy the term. There are some new teachers leading this term. Try to meet them.

We are looking forward to the journey!

– The Children’s Church team

Breaking our socio-economic barriers, AKA: visiting vibey places in Johannesburg

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At Fight Club, Phil Quinn spoke about unique places in Johannesburg CBD that are great to visit and help to break our socio-economic barriers.

Some of you have asked for the list of places he mentioned. Here are the details:

No. One Eloff Street (Joziburg lane):
(Just off the M2 Highway)
The Joziburg Lane is a hidden gem – an alleyway that runs along the side of the No. One Eloff building, lined with bespoke shops, eateries, artist spaces and culminating in the Joziburg Foodhall with its tasting bar, deli and foodstalls. See more details at joziburglane.co.za.

1Fox Precinct
1 Fox Precinct was part one of the first mining camps that sprung up at the time of the discovery of gold in the 1880s. Today, however, here you will find the Mad Giant Brewery and Urbanologi, a high-end, Asian-inspired tapas restaurant. For details check out 1fox.co.za.

City Central
City Central is in the center of Joburg (in Marshalltown at 85 Commissioner Street) and has awesome food and a bookstore called Bridge Books. For details, check out its Facebook page.

The Milk Bar (pictured above)
A really awesome restaurant/coffeeshop on Pritchard Street across from the South Gauteng High Court. It’s a favourite spot of lawyers and others working at the courts. Parking by the High Court is difficult, so it’s recommended you park somewhere else and walk to the Milk Bar. Check out its Facebook page for details.

Collector’s Treasury
If you love books, this is probably the biggest second-hand bookstore in South Africa – if not the biggest bookstore outright. It literally houses 2 million books. It’s at 244 Commissioner Street. Check out this writeup at JHBLive.com for more details.

Little Ethiopia
A bustling little gem on Jeppe street where you can find anything from clothing to fabrics to traditionally authentic Ethiopian food. “Walking down the street, one is drawn to the musical sounds of Amharic and Tigrinya, two of Ethiopia’s main languages, and the enticing rhythms of singers like Ejigayehu Shibababaw that float out of the shops and swirl casually above the traffic din.” Read more about it at joburg.org.za.

 
Also, read the write-up of most of these places at 2summers.net. This is a great blog to read if you also want to find other new and vibey places in Johannesburg. Pic courtesy of 2summers.net.

Children’s Church Reflection (18 September)

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As the Children’s Ministry team, we cannot believe this term has already come to an end. We are confident in saying that this term has been an incredible one for the children and the teachers. This week we rounded off the teachings on who God is to us by concluding with the truth that my God is my life. In the previous weeks we discussed how God is so many wonderful things to us: our courage, faith, joy, hope etc. This week we concluded with how God is ultimately our life. God gives us life, He sustains our lives, He is so involved in our lives and because of this we can live our life for Him.

Our Part

We used a metaphor comparing us to a tree to try to emphasise how we find life in Jesus. We are just like a tiny seed. We may seem small but we have a lot of potential. If we are not seeking life from the right sources, well, then we will never grow and become who God created us to be. A seed will simply remain a seed. But, if we turn to God, find our life in the Gospel of Jesus (who represents the water and sunlight to the seed) we will begin to see growth. Eventually we will begin to grow to heights we never imagined and ultimately bear fruit for God.

Fruits have seeds that when dispersed allow more seeds to begin the journey of life and growth to become a tree; and so the cycle continues. Our children have such great potential. They have a journey of growth to live and great fruit to bear. But the source of life is essential and our only source is Jesus. In all that we do we should do it as for Jesus. Our children can live this way. In everything they do, wherever they are, they can do it with Jesus and for Jesus. There is no better life to live than a life in obedience to Jesus.

Your Part

As previous letters have mentioned, keep reminding your children who God is to them. This week’s lesson emphasised that Jesus is our source of life. Keep explaining this to them. Tell your children the Gospel and see how they respond. We never desire to see children forced to have faith in Jesus and we never want to take our children’s salvation for granted. Many children can talk about Jesus but are they finding their rooting in Him and their life in Him? Keep chatting to your children and let God reveal these truths more and more to your family.

We have loved this term and the wonderful truths we got to teach. We pray that you continue this journey with your children. Next term we will look at the Heart of Worship and the wonderful ways we get to glorify God in all that we do. We are looking forward to it.

– The Children’s Church team

Children’s Church Reflection (11 September, 2016)

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One of the struggles we fight against is fear. Think of the many things that cause us to fear daily: finances, crime, health, our future, job security etc. It is not difficult to feel afraid in life. The exact same happens with our children. They too become fearful, anxious and uncertain about many things. Knowing this applies to all of us, it is so comforting to know that God says He will be our peace. When we are unsettled by whatever circumstance, God assures us that He will be our peace and help us to display such peace for others to see.

Our Part

Our desire this week was to help our children understand how God is our provider of peace. We looked at some of the things in their life that can affect their feelings; things that can cause fear, uncertainty and insecurity. Those things are real. But then we looked at what Jesus told His disciples in John 14:27. He says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Jesus promises that He will not leave us alone but will give us the Holy Spirit, and in Him we find peace.

We looked at the story in the gospels where Jesus calmed the storm. It must have been a massive storm knowing that fishermen were petrified on the boat. Yet Jesus, in one command, stops the storm and brings peace. He longs to speak such commands into our life and bring peace. Our response is that we need to turn to Him and trust Him in all circumstances.

When we live with peace we can also show it. We also encouraged the children to ask God to help them to show peace to others. Jesus says blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5). We must also learn to show peace to others.

Your Part

Once again this term we want to emphasise that the worries we face are real, but our victory in God is real too. Help your children when they are feeling insecure or fearful to remember who gives them peace. Don’t tell them that help comes from money or a good government or a safe country. Those are beneficial, but ultimate peace that weathers any storm comes from Jesus. There is such great security that our children can live in if we point to Jesus during the storms, however life-threatening they may seem.

This week, my son, Nathan went outside on his own in the dark and I heard him saying, “I’m not afraid because I have Jesus in my heart.” For some that seems menial. For him it was a massive victory. He defeated a fear because he knew Jesus was with him. There are more victories to be had for all of our children.

– Greg, Nicole and the Children’s Church team

Children’s Church Reflection for 5 September

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We have our hope in Jesus as an anchor of the soul. These few words have been ringing in my head and my heart (Nicole) for a few months now. In such uncertain times: the crime stats, terrorist attacks happening in the world, all the political changes locally and in America and all over the world, we can lose our hope. We become so focused on the problems that we take our eyes off Jesus and find ourselves wallowing in fear.

Anchors date back by millennia. The first anchors were most likely made out of rock. Ancient Greeks most likely used a basket filled with large sacks of sand and stone to anchor their boats. It was only in about 1813 where it got the shape which everyone knows these days.

Regardless of how the anchor has been made, its function has always remained the same. It prevents the ship from moving around when the waters are unstable.

Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this as a strong and trustworthy anchor for the souls, a hope that enters us into the inner place behind the curtain. How wonderful that God is our hope. We can put our hope and trust in Him because He keeps His promises.”

Our part
This week we focused on “God is our hope”. He is that anchor that keeps us secure. In our children’s church lesson we looked at many people in scripture who were given a promise by God. Abraham, Daniel, Esther and even the disciples. They were given promises of God’s protection, His promise that He will give us strength, His promise that He sent Jesus to save us. The amazing thing with all these characters is that God kept His promise and He still does. Knowing that God always keeps His promises and He can not lie makes it all so much easier for us to find our hope in Him.

Your part
As families let’s be encouraged to put our hope in God. Where God has given you as a family promises, write them up in your house, remind yourselves of them. Rejoice with your children that God says He will protect us, He will provide for us, He will save us, He will give us boldness and courage. Acknowledge as a family when God answers His promises and when the tough times come, put your hope in Him.

Much love! – The Cornerstone Children Church team