Baptism and communion 2 October 2016

Hi Table View Methodist Family,

I look forward to worshiping with you at 8, 930, 11 and 630pm this Sunday.

At Baptism I ask the congregation to preach this sermon to those being baptized:

For you Jesus Christ came into the world; for you he lived and showed God's love; for you he suffered death on the Cross; for you he triumphed over death, rising to newness of life; for you he prays at God's right hand: all this for you, before you could know anything of it. In your Baptism, the word of Scripture is fulfilled: 'We love, because God first loved us.'

It is important that these words are not just words - but that they define our ministry as a congregation.  Our attitude to those whom we meet - those whom we baptize.

For each person we see we must remember: For you Jesus Christ came into the world...  If we treated people like we knew that - the world would be a better place.

We'll be baptizing and celebrating communion at 8 and 930; communion only at 11 and 630pm.

Youth Ministry

Sunday School and Youth Activities are on a break for the school holidays.  Our youth pastor, Iain Uys is heading up to George to write his candidate for ministry exam this weekend.  Keep him in your prayers.

Please bring your children to church, especially for Baptism and Communion this Sunday - I'll do my best to keep the sermon short.  Feel free to bring soft toys and colouring in (no noisy toys!).  Let them sit on the floor if they like.  Bring them to the front to witness the baptism; help them to know that Baptism means that they are also a part of God's family at Table View Methodist. 

Gideon's Bibles

On Sunday 9th Gideon's Bible distributors have asked to come and speak at our 8 and 930am services.  I've got a weekend off that Sunday - so I'll see you again on 16 October; Iain will be on duty when he returns from his exam.

Music Evening 21 October

There will be a planning meeting for the music evening on 4 October at 7pm.  Please chat to George Courie for more information.

Prayers

Members of our church work at the various universities and schools in the Western Cape.  Some of our members are students, some are police.  As we watch the news we might only see the radical edges of protests and policing; in the middle of all this are real people... the people who we baptize.  The people we sit next to in church on a Sunday; people who want to work together for the coming of God's Kingdom.

Please pray that our country and all those in power in various spheres of governance would work diligently and justly to find workable solutions.

Pray that we wouldn't only see the extreme edges - but that we'd learn to see beyond the hype in the media to the real problems at the heart of conflict in our land.  God can work through us to make a huge difference in the situation in our land.

God bless,

Rev Angus Kelly

Pastoral Note - The Teaching of Jesus

Hi Table View Methodist Family,
 

I look forward to worshiping with you at 8am, 930am, 11am and 630pm this coming Sunday.  Everyone is always welcome.  Our 930am service and 11am African Language + English service both have Sunday School.

Our society's vision / mission statement is:
 

We want to be more like Jesus, we need all the help we can get.
 

This Sunday I want to talk about the teachings of Jesus - and I've got about 20 minutes to do it; so I won't be able to cover everything he said.  I'll look at the Beatitudes of Matthew 5-7 and I invite you to read through them before Sunday.
 

Do we take Jesus advice?  Do we really want to be more like Jesus?  Is it even possible?
 

The good news is that the help we need is offered to us through the Holy Spirit, through the scriptures and through the community that surrounds us and helps us to be the people we were created to be.

If you want to catch up on recent sermons go to this website:
http://tableviewmethodist.blogspot.co.za/p/sermons.html
 

Baptism, Confirmation and Reception in to Membership
 

On the first Sunday in October we will be baptizing and on the first Sunday in November we will be confirming and receiving into membership those who are committed to the journey of discipleship with us.
 

Whether you are a member or a visitor I believe that we as a church should treat everyone as equal.  The decision to be a member of a church is about committing yourself to its ministry and mission.
 

Feel free to chat to me about what this means.
 

Fun(d) Raising Events

In order to meet our budgets we need to put on a few fund raising events. 

24 September - International Food Fair  No need to wash up or cook on that day - just come to church and sample some of our offerings.
 

21 October - Musical Evening (R40 including Boerie Roll)
 

3 December - Christmas Craft Fair
 

Serenity Prayer Series - January to February 2017

I'm planning a sermon series on The Serenity Prayer for next year.  Hopefully we'll get some fridge magnets made etc and hand them out at our Christmas and Advent services inviting all our visitors to join us for the series.
 

Think about how you can support this initiative.

Maybe you can form a small group with some friends to meet during this series to support and pray for each other inviting others to join?

How can we teach our children in Sunday School about accepting what can not be changed, changing what can, living one moment at a time, coping with hardships, surrendering to God and finding true joy?
 

Maybe you have a testimony to share with us about acceptance, change, joy in adversity, serenity and hope?

 

Alpha Course 2017
 

More planning ahead - I would like us to offer the Alpha Course starting 16 February 2017; it will be on Thursday Nights from 7pm.  The course will run until 11 May with breaks over the Easter Holidays etc.  I would like to encourage all Bible Study Groups especially to get involved in supporting, facilitating and leading the Alpha Course.
 

God bless,

Rev Angus Kelly

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Rev Angus Kelly

Tableview Methodist