Monday 30 September 2019

The Glory of Christ!


Glory to God!

As a church, we are on a journey of repentance - 180 days of prayer for 180° reversal! During these days of prayer and reflection, God has recently been speaking to us about the nature and glory of the Church. With the daily devotionals that Richard is writing and what is being shared on a Sunday, the Lord is bringing reversal in our thinking as we align ourselves to God's Word and revelation. We are being encouraged, challenged and stretched as God transforms us with His presence, truth and power! Hallelujah!

A couple of Sundays ago, Richard shared a message entitled, "Is your church on TripAdvisor?" In his sermon, Richard challenged us to see whether we approach Church like a restaurant or whether we understand God's view of the Church. As he compared "McChurch" to the true Church, Richard showed us that the Church should not be treated like a restaurant but as God has birthed her and purposed her in Christ. Looking at the analogies used in the Bible to describe the Church, such as branches in the Vine (John 15), a building whose architect is God (1 Cor 3; Eph 2:21,22; Heb 3:1-6; 1 Pet 2:4,5), the human body (1 Cor 12:12-27) and a nation that belongs to God (1 Pet 2:9,10), we learned that each have the following in common: Dependance on Christ, connection, equality, significant members, and purpose. The answer to the question whether our church is on TripAdvisor was therefore answered with a clear, "No!" as we are not a McChurch that is evaluated according to what customers think but we are the glory of Christ, the revelation of Jesus to the world!

On Saturday we had a brilliant time together at the Naturfreundehaus in Niederrad. We got together for a fun afternoon and evening of games, coffee and cake, fellowship, grilling, open stage, face painting, praise and worship and more; simply enjoying each other and getting to know each other better. We were even joined by local refugee kids who felt quite at home with us and played with the other children and even joined us during praise and worship. We loved the location and are sure to meet there again in the Summer next year! Thanks to all who organised and contributed toward the wonderful time we had together!

Having celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary last week, Richard spoke to us on Sunday about the relationship and profound connection between marriage and the Church. In his sermon entitled, "Strong marriage, strong church!" Richard gave us four keys to a strong marriage and thus to a strong church as we looked at Ephesians 5:21-33. Based on their own experience as a couple, Richard shared what he and Frances have learned over the years that has helped them to have a good marriage. The four keys are Commitment, that is rooted in living in covenant, Consideration, Communication and Compassion. All four are essential for a strong marriage and a strong church! We had a lot of fun exploring each key and learning how important each key is for marriage and for the Church to reflect Christ.

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

Upcoming events

Tuesdays from 19:00 - 21:00: Bible Study at Alt-Hausen 34
30.10 at 19:30: KLF Prayer at Alt-Hausen 34




No comments: