CCK 8 0' Clock - December 2013

December 2013 Eight O’Clock News

December 2013 8 am Service, Christ Church Richmond Road Kenilworth Telephone 021-797-6332

experienced when we first gave our lives to Him? Perhaps, a message from Derek Prince entitled Thanksgiving, Praise and Worship may help. ‘Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him; and bless His name.’ (Psalm 100:4.) ‘There are two stages of access to God. The first is through the gates, the second is through His courts. The gates give you admission to the courts, and the courts give you access to the actual house of God. But you can’t get into them except by the prescribed route which is His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. The first step of access to God is thanksgiving, the second is praise. A person has no close access to God unless such a person comes the prescribed way with thanksgiving and praise. Some of you may pray at times and feel you’re a long way from God. Quite possibly the reason is that you’re not coming by the prescribed route. You can stand outside the courts and shout at God, and He’ll hear you and He’ll have mercy on you. But you don’t have access to Him unless you come with thanksgiving and praise. You may say: Well, I really don’t have anything for which to thank God. Why should I thank Him? Things are going wrong—my life is all in a state of turmoil. The psalmist has given you three answers in verse 5. He says: ‘Be thankful to Him; and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.’ Those three things are always true. No matter how you feel, no matter what your circumstances are, these things never change. The Lord is always good, His mercy is everlasting, His truth endures to all generations. So you have three permanent, unchanging reasons for thanking God. Don’t focus on your feelings, don’t focus on your situation—focus on these eternal, unchanging aspects of God’s nature and of His dealings with us. And, you will be thanking God ceaselessly. We all have so much for which to thank God. Be Surprised by Joy—Joy to the World, the Lord has come! - Cheryl Anderson

Surprised by Joy I am sure you’d agree that as a child, Christmas

took forever to come around? The anticipation of that longed for surprise to be received was special and to be cherished. In this fast-paced era, things seemed to have changed—we’ve hardly packed away the Christmas decorations and the Nativity Scene when we’re unpacking them again! Some people therefore may say, Christmas is for children and they vicariously delight in the season by watching the surprise on children’s faces while at the same time feeling bored or jaded inside. ‘Satisfaction of desires is a reliable source of happiness but it does not add to a sense of meaning.’ This I read in a New Era Leadership Blog; ‘Happiness is about the present; meaning is about linking the past, the present and the future in a coherent story. Although we look for happiness, we don’t want it at the cost of meaning. Ultimately we need purpose and meaning to provide stability in life.’ So, to pardon the pun at this time of giving gifts, happiness may be about the present but how can this be transformed to ‘joy’ which contributes to meaning and sustains us far beyond the Festive Season? In his book, Surprised by Joy, CS Lewis describes three different experiences that engendered within him a feeling that surpassed happiness—he called the feeling ‘Joy’ and described it as a desire which in itself was more desirable than any other satisfaction: ‘I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic—the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again... I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and Pleasure often is.’ Lewis was indeed ‘surprised by joy’ when he crossed the threshold from atheist to Christian. So, how do we recapture the joy that we

December 2013 8 am Service, Christ Church, Richmond Road, Kenilworth Telephone 021-797-6332

NNNNeeeewwwwssss The Eight O’Clock


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HAPPY

SPECIAL

BIRTHDAYS To

Elizabeth Peter (2/12)

Margaret Murray (7/12)

Ethel Mitchell (28/12)

Adeline Sangster [92 on 26/12]

HAPPY 50th ANNIVERSARY To

Kari & Land Middelkoop (14/12)

Many, LORD my God,

Are the wonders You have done,

The things You have planned for us.

None can compare with You;

Were I to speak and tell of Your deeds,

They would be too many to declare. Psalm 40:5

Advent Meditation

As part of your preparation

for Christmas

we invite you to draw aside

to encounter God

in a series of Advent Meditations to be held

on Wednesdays: 4th, 11th and 18th December,

from 1 pm to 2 pm in the church.

ALL WELCOME

Led by Judy Sewell and Denise Wood

Monday, 18 November was a very special day in

Ken’s life and he celebrated it in style, both on the day and on Sunday, 24 November where Rose, Jane and Elizabeth hosted 75 special friends and family to lunch. Jane (left, above) and Elizabeth (right) had this to say about their dad:

I like my dad because: He tells funny jokes and

loves fruit and nut chocolate. He loves my mum—maybe a bit too much. He always asks me if I have air in my tyres and petrol in my tank and a torch next to my bed. I know he loves me very much but loves God even more. He telephones me early in the morning with a word of encouragement from the bible. He has a simple faith… I love my dad.

- Elizabeth

Dad, you have been a fully involved and

committed husband, father and grandfather. You have teased us, made us laugh and encouraged us by your genuine interest in all that we do. Throughout your life you have given and shared generously of what you have—shared your wisdom and skills and encouraged others, nurtured and embraced with unconditional acceptance many, many friends and family of all age groups. We are very proud to call you our dad. Love you loads!

- Jane

Cone of shame

Ken Clack turns 85 !

Cheryl and Ev wish all our readers a blessed

Christmas and a God-filled 2014. Thank

you for all your

contributions and

for sharing your

journey with us.


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Welcome, Rob and Sue Taylor

Sue Taylor: A HUGE

thank you

for the food,

flowers and

friendship

that have been

so generously

showered

upon us.

We are deeply

grateful for

the kind

welcome to

Christ Church!


Multi-media tapestry hanging in the hall in

Aberdeen Anglican Church (Eastern Cape).

Rob Taylor’s First Sermon

I am very aware that I come from outside this

church community and I need to be humble and learn before I presume to be definitive, but may I, with due humility and tentativeness, suggest five distinctive elements which I think are deeply embedded in the soul of this church. I may be off the mark with some of these and there may be others that I am missing, and I need your help in getting this right because it is really important that I do; but, in so far that I am putting my finger on something essential to Christ Church, it is equally important that we all see it and grasp hold of it more firmly and have a shared and intentional commitment to guard and enhance these promises of who we are. So here are the five:

Firstly, as an avowedly Evangelical church, I would suggest there is an implied promise that we have a high view of the authority and inspiration of the Scriptures and a commitment to expound and teach and apply God’s Word; there is a promise deeply embedded in the heart of this church and re-affirmed down the ages, that our spirituality and values are both drawn from and held accountable to the witness of Scripture. Secondly, as a related element of our Evangelical pedigree, there is an implied promise that we hold a high view of the power of the Gospel to transform the lives of individuals and the community and that we are not shy to call men and women to personal repentance and faith at the Cross of Christ… We share a confident affirmation of the full and complete redemption which Jesus has won for us through His death and resurrection and which is offered to us by grace through faith. Thirdly, we are a community which hungers to know the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, and that this hunger is reflected in the character of our prayer, our worship, our ministry and our personal discipleship; this heart for the ongoing infilling of the Spirit is validated by growing evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and by the depth of our fellowship together. Fourthly, a shared commitment to the mission of Christ in the world and in our calling people to offer themselves in various ways to engage relevantly and courageously with society as an expression of the Gospel in action—something essential to the DNA of Christ Church is that we look beyond our walls and give of ourselves to bless others as an expression of the Good News of Christ. Finally, a big commitment to children and young people, by fostering an all-age, loving, family-

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orientated community, but our bias in all this will always be towards the young and they will feature large in our sense of mission.

These are my first impressions… it remains my task, and the task of us all, to grasp, to guard, to celebrate and to enhance the ‘promise’ which should be our distinctive gift to everyone who walks in our door.

This season of transition reminds us all that we have been entrusted with something special. We are called to hold it confidently and with joy for it is truly Good News. To be the Church of Jesus, the King of kings and the Saviour of the world, is a wondrous privilege. Within that, for us to be this church of Christ Church and to build on the sound Evangelical foundations that have been laid over the last century is a great privilege; and perhaps the greatest privilege is to faithfully pass that promise on to a new generation. Jesus has entrusted us with a promise, and it is this promise that we hold out to our community; can we guard it; can we celebrate it, can we build on it and can we pass it on? To do so is our joy and privilege and our first priority in this life.

- Full text of sermon on CCK’s website

New Definitions

Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late. Caterpallor: The colour you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating. Balderdash: A rapidly receding hairline. Intaxicaton: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. Oyster: A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms. - The Wasington Post


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The 8 am Breakfast Team’s End-of-Year Breakfast

Pam Maytham (2nd left, back row) said : It was a lovely breakfast and Wendy created such an elegant setting

and the McKays (Janet and Rob) were top-notch butler and sous chef.

Back: Paddy O’Leary, Sandra Pryce, Elizabeth van Lingen, Jean Van Zyl Smit, Barbara Fish, Phil Rogers

Front: Cheryl Anderson, Alison Weston, Wendy Willcox

Remembrance Day Roses

Have We Learnt Anything in the Past 2068 Years ?

The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the

arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome will become bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance. - Cicero , 55 BC


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CCK

Ladies

At

Lunch !


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I think women have a common burden. I think at some point in our lives, we have a battle with our bodies and our reflections. The way the world is does not make this battle we so fiercely fight any easier: Our world is filled with messages that tell us exactly what is wrong with our bodies and what we should do to fix them. This time of the year is especially difficult with summer holidays around the corner, the guilt of the past winter’s comfort eating and prospects of Festive Season over-indulgence. Every magazine’s front page shouts ‘Get into shape now!’ or ‘Get that body beach-ready and they all offer ‘easy steps and a new groundbreaking diet’ that will ensure we get that body we’ve always dreamed of. Even advertisements on the backs of restroom doors for medication and fitness programmes have the question, ‘Battling to lose weight?’, in large, bold letters. And I am convinced every woman answers ‘Yes!’ to this question. Apart from mirrors, there are so many places we can see our reflections. A grade 8 girl I know had a Facebook status update which read ‘I love shadows—they’re the mirror image of yourself without the imperfections.’ How easily do we see our reflection and criticise (even hate) what we see? I think in the heart of every woman is the desire to be beautiful—whether we are little girls playing dress-up with our mother’s pearls and lipstick, a teenager getting ready for a high school dance, a young woman getting dressed for a night out on the town. And I don’t think this desire to be lovely, to be delighted in, goes away when our hair turns grey. During the 21 years I have been alive, I have had this desire for each of those years. I have also been on quite a journey with my body and reflection and I have fought some difficult battles. On this journey I learned of the one thing I always have, no matter what I weighed—the unconditional love of God. He loved me whether I stood in front of the mirror in a size 12 or a size 6. And He loved me even when I wished I saw something different. Instead of the shadow mentioned in the grade 8 girl’s status update, I think God is the reflection of ourselves without all the imperfections. And we are the reflection of Him. We are created in His image and we are wonderfully and fearfully made. By no means do I have it all figured out—I still battle daily. But no longer is it a battle of hatred toward my reflection. It is a battle of replacing lies with truths. It is a battle against

(L to R Katharina Brock, Margie Linegar, Romy Woods, Tessa Ferrandi and Sue)

Thank you for your wonderfully warm welcome to Christ Church and for this opportunity to introduce myself briefly and share a couple of the lessons I have learnt on my journey. Travelling light is a beautiful concept as it speaks of freedom from burdens, and about choosing what is essential. Travelling from Durban to Cape Town a month ago, we certainly experienced the importance of this. Facing two days’ journey in my little Corsa Lite with two dogs and two cats, we planned to bring the barest minimum with us—but a very dear friend with whom we spent our last night bestowed so much padkos upon us that I had my knees around my ears for most of the way! She is one of many precious friends left behind in Durban not to mention our beloved son and daughter-in-law. We all face loss and separation and one of the lessons I am learning about travelling light is to be able to cherish rather than to cling desperately, grasping onto what must be released . Cherishing people speaks of honouring and valuing

what the world says about me, my identity and image. And I fight fiercely to replace every worldly criterion of jean-size, body shape, hairstyle or whatever else with Godly criteria. Our bodies are merely vessels, carrying our hearts. And that is what God and people in our lives are after. Irrespective of what we see in the mirror and how we feel about it, God loves us. Unconditionally. We are free because God finds us—He finds you— captivating, beautiful, breathtakingly stunning. He delights in you and He wants you to share your heart with the world.

- Ansune vd Merwe

Women’s Lunch—Travelling Light


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them, always being grateful for the richness they bring to our lives but giving them space. This is particularly important for parents: my mother taught me that a parent’s job is to work yourself out of a job, to bring your children up to be independent, to love them unconditionally and to set them free. I’ve certainly not always found this easy, but when I get it right it brings joy to us all. The second lesson is one my Dad taught me as a young girl and one that Rob has built on. My father often said that it was important to keep short accounts, not to allow grudges to build up. My Mum and I were a little too similar, with volatile temperaments that would flare up suddenly, and there has been many a time when I have had to ask forgiveness and give forgiveness for hasty and passionate words uttered in the heat of the moment. When we married, Rob said that there would be one rule we must apply and that is never to let the sun go down on our anger—and although there have been agonisingly sleepless nights, I am so grateful that as we approach 32 years of marriage, we love each other more and more because the bedrock of our relationship is forgiveness, possible through the power of Jesus’ forgiveness that He lavishes upon us. One of the temptations for those of us in the church is to become so caught up in serving God that we lose focus. I am very grateful that God has cared enough to teach me this third lesson twice. (Will He need to do so again...?) When I had two little babies, John Wimber was in town and Rob was off learning about the power of the Holy Spirit and growing in his ministry—while I was elbow deep in nappy buckets and feeling left behind, until our gracious God spoke to me so clearly saying, ‘My girl, it’s not what you do for me that counts, but who you are with me that is important.’ Then a few years later we were at the New Wine Conference and one of the speakers pointed out the importance of not confusing ‘church’ and ‘God’, but to ensure that our first attention is always given to our personal relationship with God, then with our family and only then to our work and church involvement. Applying this is not easy, but we have sought to keep our boundaries clear, and I am so grateful that our boys have grown up not resenting a church that stole their parents but rather embracing the God whom we love. So I long, first and foremost, to be one who loves and delights in the love of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and to share that love with you my new family in Christ; and then gradually to see what He calls me to do for Him in this new place. I look forward to this season of travelling light together.

- Sue Taylor

A Daughter’s Tribute

I am the most fortunate of people to have had

the father I had. I have always been of the opinion that a child is lucky to have a vet as a father. To me Dad has been a mentor, friend, sporting partner and opponent, life coach, and above all, I believe, an example of what God intended fathers to be. He and Mum were married for 46 years until she died in 2001, and to this day those who knew them find it difficult to think of the one without also referring to the other. Conventional wisdom says that older folk should not be moved from their familiar environments. My parents moved to Cape Town for six months in 1999 when they were 78, a couple of years after Mum had a severe stroke. Dad cared for her with great devotion until she died two years later. Dad was embraced by the Christ Church community and often mentioned how he was bowled over by the love that was shown to him—meals arrived, friendships were formed and he established a vibrant and purposeful life in his 80s, participating in the choir, Feeding the Hungry, attending Alpha and Old Testament courses, he authored several hymns and carols (collaborating with Owen Rogers and Humphrey Clark), participated in numerous church meetings, as Donald corresponded for the Duck Pond for a number of years—and of the course in the Centenary concert! Some time ago Dad wrote, ‘We are so blessed at Christ Church to have leaders and teachers of such substance and so many opportunities for service.’ He certainly explored this to the full. It is hard to sum up such a multifaceted person who has lived such a full and interesting life. I will remember the twinkle in his eye, the poems he would write for our special occasions, his sense of humour and wit, his interest in people, his high standard of conduct yet without casting judgment on others, and his joy and zest for life. Dad placed his hand in the hand of God and trusted his present and future to Him.

- Sheila Clow at funeral of Gordon Clow 13/11/13 Tribute shortened.

The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

Upon those who dwelt

in the land of gloom

a light has shone. – Isaiah 9:2


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The Life of Faithfulness (Part 2)

Habakkuk makes a classic statement in chapter

2, verse 4—a statement which Paul references, a statement which according to the sages of Israel, if you take all 613 commandments (what God requires of man) found in the Torah, you can, as it were, condense them down progressively. Finally all 613 can be summed up in one statement that expresses the essence of man’s relationship to God. That statement is Habakkuk 2:4—‘The just shall live by his faith’. What it means (and meant to Jesus and to Paul) is not that you are saved by your belief but that the righteous is saved by his belief in God. What is being said is: the saved will lead a life characterized by faithfulness. The just shall give evidence of his salvation by his faithfulness to God—a life characterized by loyalty, fidelity, persistence in doing the things of God, steadfastness, steadiness (like the hands of Moses). And in that faithfulness God will perform miracles and just as He did for the Israelites as they battled the enemy, so God will do for you—in your faithfulness God will prove ever faithful. Lest we misunderstand, I pointed out to you that this view was not just the view of the NT, this was the view also of the OT. The sages said, ‘of all the crowning virtues that avail before the throne of glory, the first one on the list is faith’. Oh yes, there is need for justice and mercy and righteousness and shalom, but the first supreme crowning virtue is faith. ‘Because’, say the sages, ‘it is faith that is the base upon which man has a relationship with God, and God has a relationship with man.’ Faithfulness is of supreme importance, therefore Paul calls you and me to the obedience of faith. We, the church, are called to be the community of the faithful.

It must be said (even though it is not popular to say it) that Jesus would not comprehend the theology that some hold today—and that theology is that you can know Him as Saviour without knowing Him as Lord. Some believe you can be saved by your belief and then your relationship to Him as Lord is sort of optional—it is preferable, but optional. I am telling you that in the Jewish world of which Jesus was a part, such a concept would be totally alien. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus teaches that ‘not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ enters the kingdom of heaven’. What is the kingdom of heaven? That is the designation that Jesus used for His movement, His followers. It refers to Him as king and to His ruling and reigning over those who submit to His authority. That is His kingdom and it is a present reality, He inaugurated it when He came; He said, ‘the kingdom is at hand, as you go, as you heal, say

the kingdom has come upon you’. What He is thus saying here is, ‘not everyone who confesses me as Lord or says ‘Jesus you’re the Lord’. What He is meaning is that this term ‘Lord’ was a term that showed a state of repentance and obedience. In Luke’s gospel you can trace an interesting pattern. There you will see that many come to Jesus and they call Him teacher (rabbi)—that is a term of respect but it is also a term of distance. Anybody can recognize Jesus as a great teacher, but you find that there is a change among those who come to faith in Jesus as the Messiah, like there was with Peter. Jesus says to Peter, ‘throw your nets out in the deep on the other side’; Peter mumbles a bit and says, ‘okay, rabbi because you said it I’ll do it’. But after he does it and he sees the miraculous return of the nets being filled with fish, he comes to Jesus, falls to his knees and says, ‘Lord, depart from me’. There has been a conversion, a transformation from teacher to Lord. Those who call Jesus ‘Lord’ are a sign (in Luke’s gospel) that they have come to faith, they have come to recognize who this man is, and they are committing themselves to Him. So Jesus says, ‘just because you verbalize Lord/Adonai, this term suggesting that you are coming into my movement, that you are submitting to my authority—just because you say it or even because you believe it, is not enough. Not everyone who says this enters My movement, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven’. To be in Jesus’ movement means not only that you know Him as Saviour, but you submit to Him as Lord—it means that you are obedient to His will.

- Dwight A. Pryor (Dwight was a pioneer in helping Christians

understand the Hebraic dimensions of the life and times of Jesus and the early church.

He went to be with the Lord in 2011 at the age of 66, a productive life cut short by

the debilitating effects of rheumatoid arthritis.


Editorial Team

Tel. e-mail**

Ev Els 021 696 0336

[email protected]

Cheryl Anderson 021 715 4233

[email protected]

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Last Sunday I

was invited to have breakfast with Jesus. It was quite early in the morning and He had also invited other friends of His as well. There were Rob (Taylor) and Jeremy (Jobling), Richard (Haigh) - who was going to play some music, Peter and Margaret (Barratt), Clive and Alison (Kempton Jones), David (Leslie) and me. When we were all gathered at the Table, Jesus smiled at us, said a short prayer and invited us to be seated. I looked along the Table and noticed what a beautiful piece of polished timber from which it was made. One from His carpentry days? I wondered. It was a simple meal. Fresh home- made, crusty herb bread, still warm—and red wine in a beautifully carved wooden wine cup. After Jesus broke off a piece of bread, and passed it along for us to do the same, we began talking quietly to those nearest us. After a while Jesus passed the cup of wine along after he had taken a drink, and then spoke the words we all knew so well: ‘Do this, drink this in remembrance of Me’ There was a quietness about the meal with a sense that some new aspect of our faith-life was going to be revealed. When the meal was over, Jesus looked at each one and then in turn gave each one a verbal ‘gift’... encouragement for Rob, loving enthusiasm for Jeremy, hope for Clive and

Alison, inspiration for Richard, knowledge and wisdom for Peter and Margaret and steadfastness for me. We sat in humble quietness and then He said it was time for us to go out into the world and give away these gifts He had just given us. Part of me didn’t want to leave, but I slowly rose and left with a sense of renewed hope, a strong sense of having been forgiven and loved beyond all understanding—and I was anxious to go and do His will. In any case, next Sunday I can have breakfast with Him again!

- Wendy Gunn

Breakfast

with Jesus

Tony

Edwards

23 August 1934

— 27 November

2013

Our thoughts and

prayers are with

Rosy and her family

at this

very sad time.

Unto Us is Born a Son For to us a child is born, to us a son is

given, and the government will be on his

shoulders. And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and

peace there will be no end. He will reign on

David's throne and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it with justice

and righteousness from that time on and

forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty

will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6-7

CCK 8 0' Clock - December 2013

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