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Recently, Lance de Ruig and Keir Tayler visited Montenegro on an apostolic trip. Montenegro is one of the most unchurched cities in the world. He asked the leaders there some questions that will challenge you.
Read Lance’s blog about the trip as well.
by Lance de Ruig
Keir Tayler and I have just come back from the country of Montenegro, after having met (literally) all the Christian leaders in that whole country. There were three. One guy has been there for 25 years and has only 30 people in his church. Another guy has been there for 15 years and only has seven people in his church. He has just suffered a church split where his deacon took a whole lot of people with him, but they have nowhere to meet so they don’t even fellowship together.
That’s not easy. But caring means nothing if God doesn’t change our hearts.
Here’s how this motivates me. Montenegro might be on the other side of the world but I ask myself this question: What is stopping South Africa from being like that in a hundred years time? What is stopping our city from becoming like that?
I’ll tell you what’s stopping that from happening here: you and I telling others about Jesus.
You might never get a chance in your life to go to Montenegro or send money for the people there or do anything along those lines, but what you can do is care for your city, the people around you, and ask God to work on your heart. You can make sure that your children and your grand-children and your grand-children’s children grow up in a country where Jesus is loved and praised.
We can ask God to give us a heart for the lost simply because it’s something we say, or we can really let the reality of that sink in and mean it. Here’s a reality: 99 percent of Montenegro’s population right now is going to spend an eternity without Jesus. There are only three men giving up their lives to try and stop that from happening. So the question is, what are we doing?
Let’s open our heart to God and ask him to give us a heart for the people in our city, for the people in Montenegro and Eastern Europe, and the people of this world. This is about this world – this is about the fact that so many people are without God and hope. What are we doing? There are millions of people in Johannesburg right now without God and hope. We have a mission before us.
What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
What was it that made you believe it?
How should we “live” evangelism?
“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 with the theme 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.
If the Gospel doesn’t ignite our hearts we aren’t going to ignite other hearts with the Gospel! If the Gospel isn’t what we’re about, can we really expect ourselves to make it our life? Can we expect others to believe it? If we don’t feed on Jesus and nourish ourselves in Him (see John 6 for context) how can we have a passionate conviction to invite others to do the same?
Our city and our world needs the Gospel of Jesus. And God has commissioned us to bring this Gospel to a world without hope. As God works on our hearts in this respect, let’s talk about it!
So send us:
Everything will go up at our My Heart // My Love page.
Email your stuff to ryan@www.cornerstonechurch.co.za.
Officially we’ll kick off the My Heart // My Love preaching series on 27 July (in the third term) and this will also include a Love Joburg evangelism focus on Wednesday nights at Bedfordview. But let’s not wait until then! Let’s have God work on our hearts now!
This is the first Newsletter for Ukwakha Isizwe Foundation (UIF) for 2014. Ukwakha Isizwe is our social upliftment partner.
Every charity is always in need of support and Ukwakha Isizwe is no different. For every amount over R100.00 Ukwakha Isizwe makes out an 18A certificate which allows the donor to subtract that value from their taxable earnings. In the case of a business, it also counts towards your BEE score on Social Development, as UIF has a certificate to prove that more than 75% of the recipients are black people.
Ukwakha Isizwe is proud of the fact that the funds are used for the intended recipient, not for administration costs. It has grown wonderfully over the last four years but the need in our beautiful country continues to overwhelm them. With your support it is able to impact many little lives and so make our world a better place.
For details on how to donate, go to this page.
We’re living in what feels like a very precarious time in our country – it’s probably the first time since 1994 that many South Africans feel as fearful as they do today. Tomorrow we go to the polls and vote for who we think might be the best political party to govern our country for the next five years. How do we, as Christians, respond to all of the politics we see around us? How do we know who to vote for? How can we vote in good conscience?
(By the way, you can get a full list of the parties and candidates for tomorrow’s election here.)
Firstly, you should vote. Democracy isn’t necessary a Biblical and Christian ideal any more than any other political and economical system. Nevertheless, it’s good to vote.
Jeremiah 29:7 states: “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.” (ESV)
This passage has Jeremiah the prophet speaking the words of God to the Jews living in exile in Babylon. They hated living in a foreign land with a foreign leader, but the word of God to them was clear: trust for its welfare. We are to obey the laws of the land, pay our taxes, pray for our leaders, and finally, work hard for the success of our city and country. We all stand to suffer if South Africa suffers, but on the same argument, if South Africa is a success, we all benefit.
For most of us, voting is the easiest way to get involved and seek the welfare of our city.
Secondly, remember that God has not given us a spirit of fear. We live in God’s Kingdom and He will be our help in time of trouble. We don’t know what tomorrow holds but we do know that Psalm 22:28 says: “For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.” (ESV)
God is in control of everything. When we look at our country we can live in security knowing that ultimately God is in control. Sometimes it’s not obvious that God is in control, but our faith needs to be in the fact that God rules over every nation and He has a greater plan for us as individuals and as a society.
Daniel 2:20 states: “Daniel answered and said: ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings…’” (ESV).
Thirdly, pray. One of the clear guidelines God gives us in His word is that we are to pray for our leaders. We see written in 1 Timothy 2:1-2: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (ESV).
Whether we agree with the political affiliation or standpoint of a leader or not, we are called to pray for them. Trust God to guide and direct them to make decisions in the best interest of the country and its citizens. So regardless of who wins this election, we are to still pray for them!
And fourthly, we are encouraged to submit to them. Romans 13:1 states: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (ESV)
In this scripture we are given the directive to be subject to (or submit) to the governing authority placed over us. Furthermore, 1 Peter 2:17 says: “Honour everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the emperor.” (ESV). The emperor is a representation of any government and it is implying that we should not only submit to our leaders but honour them.
So, who to vote for?
All the above helps us to respond no matter what happens, but who do we actually vote for? This is entirely up to you, of course. Grab the full list of the parties and candidates here. You will have to do your research and make up your own mind about what you think of each party’s leaders. Pray over this list. Pray for each leader. Pray for our country.
Bedfordview is a voting station. If you want to help with hosting some of the voters tomorrow (voters will be getting a coffee) then you’re welcome to come in any time tomorrow.
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:
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!
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
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.
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 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 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 17: RT Kendall – Sermon on the Mount Pt 6
Session 18: Michael Eaton – 1 Peter pt 9 (on the Sunday night of that week)
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:
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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!
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.
Printed copies available on demand for R30 a copy – contact the office to order.
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