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Testing your Faith in Lesotho

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We regularly make trips into Lesotho to work with the churches we have partnerships and relationships with there. Check out our trips for 2014 post for details of when we’re going to Lesotho this year (our next trip is in June).

Odette dos Santos went on our recent Lesotho trip to Maputso and tell us how it went, the challenges there, and what impacted her:

What are some of the challenges the people and churches are facing there?

Unemployment and housing are big issues there. It’s difficult to build and have adequate buildings and houses. The church that we work with needs a bigger property and a building to meet in.

Also, many of the men feel inadequate – they feel that they can’t live up to what’s expected of them in their role as Christian men at home, as part of a church, and in the the community.

Plus many of the youth have huge challenges with peer pressure and their relationships. It’s difficult to hold up Biblical values.

Who do you think would be able to make a significant impact in this area?

Looking at the many challenges, people who are passionate about these things (or who do these things) should really think of going on the next trip:

  • Youth workers (youth and leadership development)
  • Children’s church teachers
  • Women (to encourage and minister to women)
  • Builders/handy-men/skilled labourers

What was your highlight of the trip?

The hospitality of the family that we stayed with as well as their welcoming and humble hearts towards us. Also, the women’s group: their hunger for a closer relationship with God as well as for God’s word. Their reaction to being validated as a “beautiful” and “specific” part of God’s creation i.e. Having a specific purpose in God’s kingdom was especially encouraging.

Will you go again?

Yes. I feel that these trips often “test” our faith in how God can use us to reveal Himself to others. Also, I believe that there is a lot of potential, at this specific church in Lesotho, for us to equip, encourage and mentor on an ongoing basis.

What would you say to others about going on such a trip?

It’s really quite simple: just be obedient and available to wherever you feel God calling you. He will do the rest. It is amazing what God can do through you when you have this kind of attitude!

My Heart // My Love

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Our new theme

We’ve had a fantastic season studying Jesus’ discipleship process with his twelve disciples. Our tag line for The Twelve series was “Preparing for the mission with Jesus’ disciples.” As we’ve come to the end of this series we’ve become aware that God wants to change our perceptions of mission and evangelism. In short: Evangelism needs to move from an event to a lifestyle.

We’re still working through God’s challenge to us at the beginning of this year – the challenge of seeking and saving the lost. Christ’s life can be summarised in that phrase. But if we’re honest, seeking and saving the lost is not our culture. Our culture is more about maintenance, self-centredness, and “I”.

The reality is this: if we don’t care for the lost and the fact that people are not being born again, we’ve got sick hearts. That’s why we want to focus on the heart in this next term with a theme called My Heart // My Love.

When our heart is moved with the Gospel our heart has a love for our city and the nations of the world. Inward to outward. We’re trusting God to change hearts. We’re desperate to see revived hearts which care for the lost – hearts which know, deeply, the benefits of the Gospel; hearts that urge us to pray for others and trust for real opportunities where we can share this wonderful liberating Gospel. This sharing is a lifestyle.

How we’ll be doing this

The My Heart // My Love preaching series will take place across the sites and we’ll also be running Equipping Courses on evangelism on Wednesday Nights at Bedfordview. Elders and some of the deacons will be taking teams out to practically engage people with the Gospel. We want to provide some practical learning opportunities like Jesus did with his twelve disciples.

With Easter and voting day (7 May) the term will be structured a little differently in the beginning. We’ll let you know how the dates are going to work out so keep your ear to the ground about that.

As always, thank you for your partnership, friendship and passion. It’s such a wonderful privilege serving our King together with you.

– Marcus and the elders

RT Kendall & Michael Eaton (19 – 23 May)

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It was amazing having RT Kendall and Michael Eaton, renowned Bible teachers, with us at Cornerstone Church Bedfordview for the week of 19 – 23 May 2014.

RT Kendall and Michael Eaton are excellent at making theology accessible and stimulating for everyone.

“R.T. Kendall… is a man of deep commitment to the Bible and wants others to know it, love it and understand it as he does.” – Billy Graham

On the right are the freely available recordings of all the sessions. RT Kendall spoke on the Sermon on the Mount while Michael Eaton expounded on 1 Peter.

Recordings

Right-click the link(s) and choose “save target-as”

Session 1: Michael Eaton – 1 Peter pt 1

Session 2: RT Kendall – Sermon on the Mount pt 1

Session 3: Michael Eaton – 1 Peter pt 2

Session 4: Michael Eaton – 1 Peter pt 3

Session 5: Q&A

Session 6: Michael Eaton – 1 Peter pt 4

Session 7: RT Kendall – Sermon on the Mount pt 2

Session 8: Michael Eaton – Peter pt 5

Session 9: Q&A Session

Session 10: RT Kendall – Sermon on the Mount pt 3

Session 11: Michael Eaton – 1 Peter pt 6

Session 12: Michael Eaton – 1 Peter pt 7

Session 13: Michael Eaton – 1 Peter pt 8

Session 14: RT Kendall – Sermon on the Mount Pt 4

Session 15: RT Kendall – Sermon on the Mount Pt 5

Session 16: RT Kendall – Q&A

Session 17: RT Kendall – Sermon on the Mount Pt 6

Session 18: Michael Eaton – 1 Peter pt 9 (on the Sunday night of that week)

The Whole Counsel of God

You can also download The Whole Counsel of God series by Dr Michael Eaton. This is an excellent 45 hours of preaching and teaching as Michael takes us through some of the following topics:

  • What is “the whole counsel of God” and what do we do with it?
  • The teaching about God
  • Creation
  • The teaching about man
  • The person of Jesus Christ
  • Salvation
  • Working out your salvation
  • The doctrine of the Holy Spirit
  • The doctrine of scripture
  • The doctrine of the church
  • The doctrine of last things

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Our new look website

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Welcome to our new look website! If you’re interested in knowing the changes or may be a little lost, here’s everything you’ll want to know.

1. Everything is pretty much where it was

We haven’t changed much in terms of where things are – we’ve added a few more options to the menu that make it easier to navigate, but the messages and resources and the things most people regularly use are located in the same place. So don’t worry, it’s all there 🙂

2. It works better across devices

The new theme works better on smartphones and tablet devices than the previous theme. For the geeks out there, it’s now a ‘responsive’ design. It also just looks nicer and we can do more cool things with it.

3. The ‘I’m New’ page is new

We’ve updated how the I’m New page works – it now provides five easy steps, with links, for people who are new to Cornerstone to get to know who we are and get involved.

4. You can now search for Cornerstone sites by area

The new Sites page makes finding a site in your area easier and quicker and is going to work great as new sites get added.

5. Resources will grow

With the new theme and coding available to us, organising the resources and messages is going to be easier and better – meaning that in the weeks to come you will be able to search by topic and other methods, and also download some song recordings. So keep coming back to see the new changes and resources going up! This is going to be an area we’ll be building a great deal as we go forward.

We’re excited about making the website a better tool for the Gospel in Johannesburg and helping guys to find us easily and get involved!

The Twelve study booklet

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Download The Twelve study guide – a collection of edited transcripts of our preaching series on the twelve disciples, including study questions. This is based on a series where we looked at the lives of Jesus’ disciples and focused on how Jesus discipled them, with the view of applying Jesus’ discipleship process into our context today.

Download PDF
Download .mobi (Kindle)
Download .ePub (Kobo and most ereaders)

Printed copies available on demand for R30 a copy – contact the office to order.

Listen and download the preaching series:
(Right-click and choose “save target as”)

Download Peter: Part One

Download Peter: Part Two

Download James and John

Download Simon and Matthew

Download Judas Iscariot

Download Four Disciples

Download Andrew and Nathanael

Download John

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Finance Course

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Maybe you’re new to banking and budgeting, or maybe you’re a veteran. Either way, our Finance Course will equip you with more effective tools to manage your wealth, debt and investments and enjoy a healthy, free relationship with your money.

The course takes place over ten weeks and there is a cost for the material. It’s based on a course with a proven track record of more than 30 years.

Start dates will be dependent on applications. To apply or get more details, contact the office at 011-616-4073 or email info@www.cornerstonechurch.co.za.

Estimated costs for Solan (India) Trip coming up

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A number of people have shown interest in attending the India Equip in Solan (9 – 16 May) and below you will find an estimate on the cost. It’s difficult to get an exact cost on flight details because this changes so quickly so this post only serves as an estimate.

OUTBOUND FLIGHTS :

  • Etihad Airlines depart Johannesburg on Friday 9th May at  09:25 via Abu Dhabi  and arrive in Mumbai on Saturday 10th at 03:00
  • Depart Mumbai on Jet Airlines on Saturday 10th May and arrive Chandigarh at 12:00 .
  • Taxi from Chandigarh Airport  to Solan .

RETURN FLIGHTS :

  • Depart Solan for  Chandigarh Airport by taxi .
  • Depart Chandigarh on Jet Airlines on Friday 16th May and arrive Mumbai at 15:15 .
  • Depart Mumbai on  Etihad Airlines on Saturday 17th May at 04:50 via Abu Dhabi and arrive in Johannesburg Saturday 17th May at 16:00 .

COST AT THE TIME THIS POST WAS PUBLISHED:

  • Etihad Airlines return Johannesburg / Mumbai / Johannesburg  is R 6073.00 ( This is an estimated cost based on a recent special.)
  • Jet Airlines return Mumbai/Chandigarh / Mumbai is R2818.00 ( This seems to have increased already.)
  • Total cost airlines will be R8891.00 (At the moment of publishing)
  • Taxi fare between Chandigarh Airport and Solan is about R600.00 return per taxi (3 passengers max)
  • Accommodation in Solan ( as per Raman in India ) is about R600.00  per night per room only …. therefore 6 x R600 = R3600 per room for 2.
  • Budget for  R200.00 per day for all meals .
  • about R 750.00 per person for the Equip registration cost.

Flight costs are changing daily and it’s important to secure the accommodation in Solan.

Please contact Bill Taylor through the office at 011-616-4073 if you are interested in going along.

School Holidays in the Toddlers Room

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Hi moms & dads,

Holidays are around the corner and that means your kids will be joining us in the main Sunday morning meetings. As much as we love for the whole family to be together, we know how tough it can be to keep your kids busy during the meeting. Unfortunately the Toddlers Room can only facilitate children from 0 – 3 years old.

We’ve come up with some ideas to help you:

  • Colouring-in books, books to read, sticker books, activity books etc.
  • Pack a box of crayons or coloured pencils & collect an activity sheet from the INFO desk before the meeting begins
  • If you have a tablet or smartphone, there are plenty of age-appropriate apps, games and movies that can be downloaded from your device’s store. (Please note: if you do this option, headphones are essential.)
  • Finally, we have two outside areas with speakers where you can sit and listen to the message while your child / children play. These are outside by The Coffee Shop and also outside at the sandpit by the downstairs Babies Bible Class room.

We understand that, for some families, only one mom or dad may be able to make a meeting with two children (one under 3 yrs and one over 3 yrs). We are happy to accommodate such a situation in the Toddlers Room provided you prepare a quiet activity for your older child during the meeting.

Have a great holiday!

Finding Our Story

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by Ryan Peter

“From strife to rest; from darkness to light; from death to life; from war to peace; from hate to love. This is the story of man and the story of God.”

This was one of the tag lines for The Story this weekend – three evenings of film, music, poetry and storytelling. It was a fantastic production in every way – moving and inspiring, showcasing the amazing talent we have in our community. (Yes, it was all a home-grown production!)

But what I took from The Story was such an overwhelming sense of my own sin and an even more overwhelming sense of God’s grace, and just how much bigger that grace is compared to my sin. It seems to me, after this weekend, that living with a deep sense of these two contrasting realities is necessary for a healthy Christian life. It’s partly why Jesus probably instituted that we regularly break bread, so we can remember what He did and why.

I must admit that The Story had a way of highlighting these two aspects deeply in a way that didn’t let you leave and just move on. It’s interesting how the Christian life is made up of so much sorrow (due to our sin) and so much joy (due to God’s abundant grace and mercy) all at the same time. I believe this is a good thing.

While I was moved I also had fun with friends at this weekend. If we do The Story again later on in this year I really recommend it. It’s a great opportunity to invite friends and family who may be closed to the Gospel but open to art and film, two wonderful ways of telling God’s Story.

Check out the photos below on our Facebook page.

Post by Cornerstone Church.

Junior Youth Camp 2014: A Transforming Time!

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By Cindy Hazley

“Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
Romans 12:2.

This was the verse and theme of this year’s Junior Youth Camp (YFC) and this is exactly what God did.

The camp started and ended with rain and more rain but as the rain came down so did God’s Holy Spirit. Worship is always a special time on camp but this year, no matter whether we jumped around like crazy, acted like monkeys, or even stood still, there was such an anointing and a feeling of His presence.

The main focus of the hall sessions and quiet times were how to be transformed. The children learnt that they need to be transformed from the inside out; the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit; and many other Godly principles through the skits, object lessons and testimonies that were shared.

In children’s ministry there is never a dull moment and activities included teams pushing cars across the sports field, human foosball, pool noodle hockey, circle games and even create-your-own-human-transformer. Of course God knew what the weather would be like over the weekend and looking back we smile as we realise that our “indoor in case it rains” programme was planned even before we started planning the outdoor games. God is so good.

Thank you to all the people who made donations so that so many more children could join us on the camp. Both children and leaders from all the Cornerstone sites joined together for this fabulous weekend away. They came ready to be transformed and with God’s grace they left as transformers!

Check out the photos below:

 

Post by Cornerstone Church.