My dear friends,
The psalmist writes, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes
in the morning." (Psalm 30:5) So, I would like to start with a
question, "Have you ever cried yourself to sleep?" I am using the
word "cry" metaphorically because crying can happen with or without
tears.
John 11:35 reflects the compassion Jesus had for the sisters of
Lazarus. In that one instant we see that our God is an empathic God.
His heart
always
went out to those in anguish or despair.
God is still the same today even if it does not seem that way when
we have to grapple with our loneliness and pain. God feels our pain
and agony too. It is partly for this reason that He intervened in
history by sending the Saviour of the world.
The idiom goes, "Time heals all wounds." God's Word, however,
assures us that He is our healer. The passing of time may bring
healing of a kind but not total comfort, assurance and healing the
way God does. Many hurting people
today seek alternative ways of lessening their pain through
other means. Let's take comfort from the fact that God cares and
wants to bring us lasting hope and wholeness.
A year is like a thousand years in God's sight, a thousand years is
but a year. What we must
remember
is that the morning does come. Don’t give up! If we put our trust in
Him, He will wipe those tears away. In God’s perfect time He will
bring renewed hope with joy.
A closing thought for all of us at Christmas, "The darkest hour is
just before dawn. Hold on, your morning has come."
A blessed Christmas and New Year to you all.
Your friend & rector
Eddie
News from the Book Room…
Mary
has loaded up her Book Room with fantastic goodies – perfect for
Christmas gifts. Pop in
and have a look at all that is on offer.
From Sudoku and Word Searches to Bibles and Concordances,
Christian novels, Christmas decorations and puzzles there’s sure to
be something for everyone.
Once again the prices are fantastic!
Diaries and calendars for 2009 are fast selling out – so get
yours now! The Book Room
will be closing on Sunday 21st December, re-opening in
February 2009. Mary will
open up for customers during the week preceding Christmas by prior
arrangement.
St.
Saviour’s Soup Kitchen
It is good to report the re-start of this beneficial work and the oh
so willing band of workers.
A big thank you to Mark Goldsmith as he gets the necessary
ingredients from Pick ‘n Pay and Jack’s and anything else needed
through to Colleen and the seven or eight who then ‘produce’
approximately 250 litres of soup every Tuesday.
Half of the soup, rolls and bread are then taken to Sakasonkhe
Village in Gqebera from where Nocabisa Health Care Project operate,
using a container previously provided by St. Saviour’s and now very
suitably furnished for distributing and office work.
The soup produced is distributed on a daily basis at midday –
2 rolls per child and 4 rolls per adult as well as a container of
soup each.
The other half of the soup is taken to The Human Dignity
Centre in Victoria Road, Walmer (a division of Jerusalem
Ministries). Here the soup is distributed on a daily basis
amongst 115 benefactors; 41 children of the crčche and 86 children
of the aftercare.
Jesus said in a parable about Judgement, “I was hungry and you gave
me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was thirsty and you
clothed me…what you did to the least of these my brethren you did to
me. “ Matthew 25 vs. 31 – 46.
Thank you too to everyone who has made donations of ingredients or
money towards the running of the Soup Kitchen.
Alan Stansbury
St Paul's letters are not always the easiest to understand, with
even St Peter sometimes having his own difficulties. And this
particular Scripture has often puzzled readers, though one supposes
that the manifestation of known tongues on the day of :Pentecost was
certainly an astonishing sign, one that has not been unknown in our
own day and age.
However, the truth of this scripture came to me in a very direct way
when, many years ago, while visiting a well known Anglican
congregation in Houston, Texas, I had an experience which
helped to explain St Paul's words. This particular Church had
been the recipient of an especially powerful
renewal of the Holy Spirit. The churchmanship was high, and
bells and smells were the order of the day on a Sunday. On each
Friday of the week however, a very free prayer fellowship was held
in the church, and the numbers attending this gathering had grown to
between 800 – 1000. Such was the
widespread attention being given to what was
happening, CBS News had decided to film a brief documentary
which in the end became a 60 minute plus film entitled
"Following the Spirit"
In any event, at the Friday meeting for prayer and praise I found
myself sitting next to a Roman
Catholic deacon, who, armed with pencils and
notebook shared that he been sent by his chapter to do what
he called a
"sociological study"
on the Church. The church had a magnificent organ, with a
number of instrumentalists, plus a singing group which became quite
famous as the
Fisherfolk.
After some tremendous praise, the rector delivered an inspiring
message, and then called us all to prayer. The secret of this
church was of course, the extent and depth of its common prayer
life, and as we moved into prayer and
intercession, we all remained standing, many with hands
raised, which apart from other good reasons enabled the prayers to
be heard.
As with the early church, the charisms of the Holy Spirit were in
evidence, and in one moment of holy quiet a person on the other side
of the aisle began to offer a beautiful utterance in tongues. When
he had finished, the rector called for the interpretation. On my
side, a lady began to bring the interpretation. And as she
spoke, my neighbour, the deacon, who had been steadily writing in
his note book, suddenly dropped everything and
collapsed to the floor.
To begin with, I just left him, but as further praise began in
response to the charisms, I went down to the floor asking whether he
was feeling well. He turned to me and said "I am totally
overwhelmed. That man who spoke in a tongue did so in beautiful old
Hebrew, and the lady responded, not in
translation, but in a fair interpretation of what had been
uttered" The deacon was a Hebrew scholar, and realised that he
had experienced a miracle of the Holy Spirit. He subsequently
surrendered to the Lord, and that was the end of the sociological
study. His report back to his chapter must have been
illuminating !
It is very sad that in many of our congregations, we are not only
lacking in spiritual knowledge and understanding, but our corporate
prayer life has little depth, and indeed the space to allow the Holy
Spirit to move are often absent and corporate prayers the first to
be left out altogether. Usually to save time !
Study the word of God, and begin to discover the riches God has
given to his people, that he may be glorified and the church edified
and built up.
Contact OnLine
WebLog
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http://contact-online.blogspot.com/
News and commentary
from around the world
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CALENDAR DATES TO NOTE DURING DECEMBER 2008 & JANUARY 2009
| 3 |
Dec |
Wed |
Christmas Lunch in the Hall |
12:00 |
pm |
| 4 |
Dec |
Thur |
Lake
Farm Packers
- Meet in the Hall
|
9:00 |
am |
| |
|
|
Holy Communion at
Fairhaven
|
11:00 |
am |
| |
|
|
SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT |
|
|
| 7 |
Dec |
Sun |
Holy Communion |
7:30 |
am |
| |
|
|
Sung Eucharist |
9:00 |
am |
| |
|
|
Sunday School Christmas Party - Hall |
9:00 |
am |
| |
|
|
Muffins for Sale after both services |
|
|
| |
|
|
Carol Service - Bring Picnic Supper |
5:30 |
pm |
| 9 |
Dec |
Tue |
Morning Prayer at Lapa Munnik |
10:00 |
am |
| 10 |
Dec |
Wed |
Holy Communion |
9:00 |
am |
| 14 |
Dec |
Sun |
THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT |
|
|
| |
|
|
Holy Communion
|
7:30 |
am |
| |
|
|
Sung Eucharist, No Sunday School |
9:00 |
am |
| 16 |
Dec |
Tue |
Public Holiday - Office Closed |
|
|
| 17 |
Dec |
Wed |
Holy Communion
|
9:00 |
am |
| |
|
|
Holy Communion at
Laubscher Park
|
11:00 |
am |
| 18 |
Dec |
Thur |
Holy Communion at
Buffelsfontein
|
3:00 |
pm |
| 21 |
Dec |
Sun |
FOURTH SUNDAY
IN ADVENT
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Holy Communion
|
7:30 |
am |
| |
|
|
Sung Eucharist, No Sunday School |
9:00 |
am |
| 24 |
Dec |
Wed |
Office Closes
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Holy Communion |
9:00 |
am |
| |
|
|
Midnight Mass |
11:00 |
pm |
| 25 |
Dec |
Thur |
Holy
Communion with Carols
|
7:30 |
am |
| |
|
|
Sung
Eucharist with Carols
|
9:00 |
am |
| 28 |
Dec |
Sun |
Sung
Eucharist - ONE SERVICE ONLY
|
8:00 |
am |
| 31 |
Dec |
Wed |
Holy Communion |
9:00 |
am |
| 4 |
Jan |
Sun |
Holy Communion |
7:30 |
am |
| |
|
|
Sung Eucharist, No Sunday School |
9:00 |
am |
| 5 |
Jan |
Mon |
Office Re-opens |
|
|
| 7 |
Jan |
Wed |
Holy Communion |
9:00 |
am |
| 9 |
Jan |
Thur |
Holy Communion at Fairhaven |
11:00 |
am |
| 11 |
Jan |
Sun |
Holy Communion |
7:30 |
am |
| |
|
|
Sung Eucharist, No Sunday School |
9:00 |
am |
| 13 |
Jan |
Tue |
Morning Prayer at Lapa Munnik |
10:00 |
am |
| 14 |
Jan |
Wed |
Holy Communion |
9:00 |
am |
| 18 |
Jan |
Sun |
Holy Communion |
7:30 |
am |
| |
|
|
Sung Eucharist, No Sunday School |
9:00 |
am |
| 21 |
Jan |
Wed |
Holy Communion |
9:00 |
am |
| |
|
|
Holy Communion at Laubscher Park |
11:00 |
am |
| 22 |
Jan |
Thur |
Holy Communion at Buffelsfontein |
3:00 |
pm |
| 25 |
Jan |
Sun |
Holy Communion |
7:30 |
am |
| |
|
|
Sung Eucharist, Sunday School
Starts |
9:00 |
am |
| |
|
|
Egg & Bacon Rolls on Sale - both services
|
|
|
| 28 |
Jan |
Wed |
Holy Communion |
9:00 |
am |
|
!!
CAROL SERVICE REMINDER !!
Sunday 7th December
5:30pm in the Hall
Bring along
your picnic supper & enjoy an evening of carols.
Some of the Lake Farm residents will
be joining us for the Carol Service & we will present them with the
Christmas gifts at the Service.
The Sunday School and Choir will be
performing a few carols on their own with many old
favourites for the rest of us to join
in with as well.
Please indicate on the list on the
notice board if you will be
attending, for seating purposes.
CHRISTMAS HAMPER RAFFLE
We have had a fantastic Raffle Hamper donated by Bridget Hill!
It’s crammed with a huge selection of scrumptious Christmas
luxury eats, including a home baked Christmas cake.
Tickets are only R 5 each & the question super easy… “Who is
Eddie’s better half?”
We’ll even give you a clue…the name starts with an “N”!
The draw will take place on Sunday 21st December.
Tickets are available in the concourse
after Sunday services or from Mary in the Book Room.
Fish & Chips Evening
Once again a fabulous evening was had by all!
Thank you to Christine Sheehan & Dot Hanslow for all their
hard work in interpreting the
nautical theme - the tables looked stunning!
A big thank you too to Brian Dibben for, once again, being
our Bingo Master!
Well done to all our lucky prize winners.
The results of the R 1000 Draw Raffle
are as follows:
1st Prize
of R 1 000 to Mr J. Young
2nd Prize
of a Voucher for a Car Buff & Polish
from Owen’s Panelbeaters to Bianca Attinger
3rd Prize
of a Hamper to Pamper & Spoil
to Desmond Evert
Consolation Prizes:
Hazel Sharp, Tracey Evert, Amrit,
Prue Gillespie, Pam Pote & Carol Close.
A special hamper was given to Desmond Evert for his sterling efforts
in selling Raffle Tickets.
Desmond
sold the most ticket books ever!
A Family Reunion
Audrey Naude writes....
A rather
awesome function blew me away - it was the reunion of the Puttergill
family (Audrey was a Puttergill). The reunion weekend was held at
Mpekweni Resort.
How fantastic to meet up with family
who had travelled from as far afield as Canada, Australia, the USA,
UK and all over South Africa.
There were 215 relatives gathered in
the dining hall, representing six generations.
The opportunity gave me good
cause to reflect and thank God that I
was part of such a wonderful family.
The last time the family were together
en masse was at the Golden Wedding Anniversary of my grandparents,
in 1946.
This occasion was a true blessing,
especially in the society of today where families are so spread
apart.
Showtime 2009 is on the
way...
Tickets go on sale
soon...
Don’t miss out...
Keep a look out...
An evening not to be
missed!
See the notice board
for more info.
THANK YOU...
To everyone who assisted in the
fundraising efforts this past year,
especially with the cake sales, muffins & pancake sales and
Egg & Bacon rolls. All
your hard work in preparing and selling is greatly appreciated.
The total raised this year, from just these activities, is
almost R 10 500!
Thank You!
CONFERENCE FACILITY
Available
for that special function, lecture, or workshop.
Seating 10 to 50.
Contact: Mrs Janet Gordon
at the Parish Office 041 581 5118
Tues - Fri 9 - 1 pm.
IINDABA
DO YOU GET YOUR DIOCESAN MAGAZINE
EACH MONTH?
It's FREE -
available in the concourse
or
READ IINDABA ONLINE AT
www.pechurchnet.co.za/news/iindaba/index.htm
PE Church
Net Newsletter:
Full of LOCAL Christian topics and calendar events -
www.pechurchnet.co.za
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