David's Notes

Greetings, 

"God loves us at least as much as the person who loves us the most"  is a quote from a book entitled Good Goats - Healing our Image of God by Dennis, Sheila & Matthew Linn. 

Take some time over it because it has the incredible power of healing our deepest fears of God's judgement and challenges our worst images of God.  

Shalom, 

David 

Quilt

QUILT FOR SALE

 

The Midlands Quilters Guild meet once a month in our hall. They have kindly given the church a superb quilt to sell in order to install another blind on the verandah.

 

See the picture:

 

This quilt  reflects superb skill and creativity in its design and execution. The retail price of such a work is R3000.

 

We are offering it first to our congregation to put in an offer of R3000 or more. The quilt will go to the highest bidder. Email Bill Houston on billhouston@sai.co.za with your offer or phone him on 033 3434951.

 

Everyone will win – someone will get a wonderful quilt in time for the winter cold and the church will get another blind!

David's Notes

Greetings, 

Head deep in his study of theology  Robert Marsh had a question that continually plagued him - "how would I do this if I believed God was real?"  He realised God can easily become an abstract concept, a set of values we try to live by or the projection of our wishful imagination.  By 'real' he means a God who is present, interested, involved and wishes to interact with us.  What are you about to do in the next hour? Have you considered that God may be interested in what you are planning to do? 

Public Meeting

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David's Notes

Greetings, 

In Trevor Hudson's latest book "Friendship with God - how God's offer of intimate relationship can change your life" he quotes William Barry who was wanting to distinguish between real faith and pseudo faith. 

He quotes Barry, '"Fear not, trust in God and He will see that none of the things you fear will happen to you"; that of real religion, on the contrary, is "Fear not; the things you are afraid of are quite likely to happen to you, but they are nothing to be afraid of."' In all the changes of our lives we are tempted to ask God to deliver us from all that we fear instead of asking God to guide us as we confront the Goliaths in front of us.  

Grace, 

David  

A new way of doing things

Circuit (801) Statement by the Ministers

We desire to embody Christ's love for the world.  However, we confess that we have not always achieved this, failing in our mandate to be "Together a Transforming Discipleship Movement".

 

We therefore commit ourselves to the following:

1.   To work together as a circuit and not as individual societies.

2.   To explore ways in which to share our rich resources and assets – be they human or financial.

3.   To create effective disciples for mission by encouraging our clergy and laity to use their unique gifting in relevant areas.

And so we call our churches and every one of our members to:

1.   Understand our discipleship identity by embracing the Mission Imperatives of the MCSA, which are:

a.   Spirituality

b.   Evangelism and Church Growth

c.    Justice and Service

d.   Human and Economic Development and Empowerment

e.   Education and Christian Formation

2.   Explore ways in which to overcome our insularity by working together for increased efficiency

3.   To strive together to be agents of change and transformation.

Sent from my iPad

Royal Variety Performance

ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE

 

"The Winter function, "Royal Variety Performance" will be starting at 6pm on Friday the 19^th June.

We will have a "bring and share with your table" supper. Tea, coffee and pudding will be provided.

We will even have our own 'Lady Royal' and her guests gracing us with their presence.

The evening is not a competition, but an evening of fun and sharing one's talents .

We are challenging all Home Groups, Society Stewards and other groups of HMC to come up with an item to share.

Auditions on the 31^st May after the Sunday service at about 10:30.

Please contact or email me by the 29^th May if you would like to share your talent.

Looking forward to a great evening"

 

Kind regards

Michelle Hoctor

083 772 4940

hoctor@telkomsa.net

 

The team

On your marks

Getting ready for the fun run/walk

Karkloof Camp

David's Notes

Greetings, 

We have had our telephone lines stolen this last week and the church line will not be available for an indefinite amount of time.  

We also had a short power outage the other night and there I sat with no power, no telephone my family up in Thabazimbi and 

I felt a little sorry for myself. Ag Shame!  Then, after getting over myself, I got thinking and praying for those who are constantly been 

undermined by corruption and incompetence.  An ophthalmologist friend shared a story that KZN has run out of the local anaesthetic  

used for her operations.  The implications are that people who spend hours travelling to the hospital are now being turned away and due to 

the waiting lists their operations may be postponed for months. The misfortunes we may suffer have the hardest impact on those who 

have the least.  May the christ-compassion within us continue to reach out to those most affected by the evils of our world. 

Rev. David Barbour
033 3431708
barbour@absamail.co.za

Ladies Breakfast

Morning Retreat @ HMC

Becoming Disciples -A Morning of Sacred Conversation @ HMC

Greetings, 

Come and take a walk with Jesus this Saturday morning. 

We have a lovely group who are making time to grow their friendship with God. 

There is still place if you would like to join us.  All you have to do is let me know by tomorrow afternoon.  

We are meeting from 8:00am until 12:13pm.  Just don't forget to bring yourself & an open heart.  

Grace and Love, 

Rev. David Barbour
033 3431708
barbour@absamail.co.za

Your help is needed

Hello,  

The time to advertise the fun run/walk for refugees has arrived.   

We have just received the 5000 flyers from webprinter.co.za and we are ready to go.  

We would like to give each willing member of the church a pack of flyers to take to their friends, schools, organisations etc.  

Please don't forget to pick up a pack at church on Sunday or the next.  If you require more than the pack given please ask for more.  

If you are taking a poster and flyers to any organisation would you please write the name of the organisation on the roster at the back of the church. 

The reason is so we can monitor where we have distributed and advertised and where we haven't.  

If you would like to to see where the fundraising money is going to you can see their work on Facebook by searching for Refugee Social Services.  

You can also see the kind of projects they undertake by going to their website http://www.refugeesocialservices.co.za

We are very conscious of the plight of refugees in the world and in our own country at the moment. The attacks on foreigners seeking asylum in our country has been front page news of late.  

We have been advised by the UN Refugee Council to support the refugees in our own country as they are not getting the same profile that other refugees are getting in places like those fleeing from Syria for example. 

Let us work together, serve together, wherever we can for the love of Christ runs deep. 

Grace and Love, 

Rev. David Barbour
033 3431708
barbour@absamail.co.za

David's Notes

Greetings, 

How is the 'Commending Christ' adventure going for you?

I hope as you have prayed and seen how God normally loves through you that you will begin to 

find opportunities to be more open about your relationship with God.  It can start in the smallest of ways but 

there are God given moments when your evident life in God can turn others towards the grace moving through you.  

On the 21st of March I am leading a guided prayer morning. If you have never been on what is called a 

retreat or a quiet day as others call it, this is your opportunity to test it out.  Instead of a having a talk or too much input 

you are rather led through different ways of praying that assist you in listening for God's action in your life now. In between the group sessions 

there is time for you to be on your own.  It is always surprising what insight God drops into our hearts when we allow 

the time and space to do so. It is also a great time to allow all that we have learned about in church and fellowship groups become more real for us 

in our lived experience of God. We normally end our time together with communion. 

So come along for the morning at the church.  We begin at 8:00 and we will end at 12:30.  Tea and Coffee will be on tap all morning.   

Bring yourself, a bible and a notebook to jot things down.  

What would help me is if you would let me know if you are coming either by sending me or Anne an email or phone call.  

Grace, 

Rev. David Barbour
033 3431708
barbour@absamail.co.za

Where do we seek our consolation?

Greetings, 

Here is the painting from Carl Spitzweg called Ash Wednesday that we used in our meditation on Ash Wednesday. 

David's Notes

Greetings, 

I have just returned from four well spent days in Johannesburg at the first module of the spiritual direction training offered by the Jesuit Institute of South Africa.  What impressed me deeply was the ecumenical nature of this work that brings people together from the Hervormde, Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, Baptist, Charismatic and other denominations.  Having a Catholic mass on Sunday evening where all were invited to participate was an experience and sign of God's reconciling work and presence. What was also of great value to the Methodists on the training was the presence of Trevor Hudson as one of the team who will be nurturing us for the next two years.  This is a ministry of accompanying others in their relationship with God that holds the potential of allowing us to be and become all God desires of us now in South Africa.  It is becoming so apparent that the church (you and I) need to be serious about our presence, as God's people, in a country that is showing signs of falling apart at the highest levels.   

We start our Lenten journey this Ash Wednesday at 6:00pm. 

The painting by Carl Spitzweg called "Ash Wednesday" will assist us to listen careful to the scriptures and our approach to Lent.  

Grace, 

Rev. David Barbour
033 3431708
barbour@absamail.co.za

MCSA Response on SONA

The Methodist Church on SONA 2015

 

"The chaos witnessed at the State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2015 was hugely embarrassing domestically and internationally for the South African nation. It was a sad day for our nascent and hitherto exemplary African democracy," lamented Bishop Zipho Siwa, President of the SACC and Presiding Bishop of the MCSA speaking from India, where he is preaching at an international conference. "Such unfortunate and unparliamentary behavior does not augur well for the future of the rainbow nation and negatively affects both voter and investor confidence. It only serves to entrench the groundswell of negative sentiment towards our country and as such, risks gradually impacting our economy in ways which will hurt its growth."

"The increasing reliance on political muscle and a failure to listen to each other's grievances can only lead to heightened public dissatisfaction and a repeat of the continued political lashing out we are currently witnessing. To use a cliché, history has a tendency to repeat itself because no one listens.  The scenes witnessed at the SONA 2015, orchestrated by the EFF and the DA, aggressively dealt with by the ANC, raise serious concerns for us as a church. They are symptomatic of growing disgruntlement with the way the country is being governed. We urge all stakeholders to observe parliamentary procedures of debate which are underpinned by the Constitution of the Republic to avoid further turmoil which could culminate in civil unrest in the country.

We commend the serious attention given to the energy and water crises crippling the nation in President Zuma's address. We will watch and hold the government accountable for the implementation of the short and long term plans outlined by the President.

We would have liked to hear more informed strategies to deal with poverty, education and the health sector crises. Concrete strategies to facilitate the redistribution of land have yet to be carefully formulated, an urgent concern given the reported increase in farm invasions. The continuing violent service delivery protests, the resurgence of xenophobic attacks and the unbridled looting of foreign owned shops are symptomatic of the underlying corruption and socio-economic issues which, if not dealt with competently, have the potential to negatively impact the moral fibre as well as the economy of our country.

The churches pray that government and opposition parties will reach a consensus on the decorum of debate, astutely engage in conversations and dialogue that will heal our nation and advance the causes of Nelson Mandela's proud nation, grow our economy and improve the living standards of our people. Ordinary people demand that our office bearers discharge of their duties in a manner which will solve the concerns of the common man. This is the mandate upon which all stakeholders are elected to office, universally.

Released on behalf of Bishop Zipho Siwa

Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa and President of the SACC

 

For more information contact

Bongie Moyo-Bango

Phone: 011 615 1616

Cell: 0781315137

Email: bongi@methchurch.org.z

Week Of Guided Prayer

Fellowship Group Leader's Breakfast

Prayer ministry training