Weekly Update 21 February 2025

by Takalani Musekwa | Feb 21, 2025 | News

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany – 23 February 2025

Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40 · Genesis 45:3-11, 15 · 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 · Luke 6:27-38

Coming Events to Diarise:

Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting – 8 March 2025

Pastoral Conference: 20-23 March 2025

**Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,**

Greetings in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ words in this week’s gospel text, Luke 6:38, reveal powerful principles of the kingdom of God—generosity and reciprocity. The 2025 theme of GCI is Kingdom Culture. Some of the defining features of the culture of the Kingdom of God is generosity and reciprocity. Give and it will be given back to you. Love others the way you want to be loved back.

This verse teaches that when we give, we receive in return, but not in a limited or measured way. Rather, God’s blessings come in abundance, overflowing beyond what we could imagine. This is not simply about financial giving, but about the posture of our hearts in every aspect of life—our time, love, kindness, and forgiveness.

You will notice that in the preceding verse (v37), Jesus says “do not judge and you won’t be judged, do not condemn and you won’t be condemned, forgive and you will be forgiven” (LK. 6:37) Generosity is a posture of the heart. It permeates everything we do. When we have a generous posture, we live and let live.

Jesus describes the blessings we receive as “pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” This imagery illustrates the way grain was measured in biblical times. Merchants would not just fill a container but press it down, shake it to eliminate empty spaces, and pour more until it overflowed. This is how God blesses His people—lavishly and abundantly.

The last part of the verse reminds us that the measure we use determines the measure we receive. If we give sparingly, we will receive sparingly. But if we give generously, with a heart full of love and compassion, we will receive an overflow of blessings. This is not a transactional principle but a reflection of God’s nature, a kingdom culture and lifestyle—He calls us to live with open hands and hearts, trusting in His provision. That’s the culture of God’s kingdom – to be generous.

My prayer for this week is that we may all become what Jesus wants us to be – generous. Amen

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Building Fund: Please continue to pray for our building fund and other financial needs of the church in 2025.

Pastoral Conference 2025: Please pray for the pastoral conference coming up in March 2025.

Have a blessed weekend!

Shalom!

Takalani

___________________________

REPEAT ANNOUNCEMNTS NOT TO BE READ IN CHURCH SERVICES

NATIONAL BUILDING FUND NOW OVER R1.2 MILLION

The National Building Fund has now passed R1.2 million. The balances for the various congregation are as follows as at the end of December 2024:

Please support your congregation’s Building Fund by contributing additional offerings monthly or once off to the dedicated bank account as follows:

· Bank: First National Bank (FNB)

· Name: GCI Building Fund

· Account No: 6304 180 7835

· Deposit Reference: Name and Surname

You can also fundraise as a group or alone. You may have items that you no longer need or use which you can pawn and donate the funds, or approach friends and family who may be able to donate to the fund. If you need a letter to request donations please feel free to contact me.

Monthly Day of Prayer and Fasting –Saturday 8 March 2025 (2nd Saturday of the Month)

Our next Day of Prayer and Fasting is on Saturday 8 March 2025. Please see the dates for the rest of the year below, and diarise accordingly.

Please find some video links on Prayer and Fasting if you want to know more. Here are the links:

1. Fasting- The Forgotten Spiritual Discipline – https://youtu.be/7MgrVj_w9sY

2. Fasting Questions and Answers 1 – https://youtu.be/Mkk3U2KvPHg

3. Fasting Questions and Answers 2 – https://youtu.be/CghD-uxBbFk

4. Fasting Question and Answer #3 – https://youtu.be/ajKaWRgreLw (Question #3: How should I fast? Are there different types of fasts?)

Future Days of Prayer and Fasting:

· March 8

· April 12

· May 10

· June 14

· Jul 12

· August 9

· September 13

· October 11

· November 8

· December 13

January 2025 ISSUE OF FACE TO FACE PUBLISHED

Our January 2025 issue of the online Face To Face magazine has been published. Please find it here: Face To Face

Epiphany

Resolve to do good

The Light and the Darkness

Online Bi-Weekly Bible Study

Next Bible Study on 5 March 2025

Please diarise and join the biweekly Online Bible study every second Wednesday at 19:00. The current series is: The Book of Acts.

To connect to the biweekly Bible Study, here are the details: Click

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89054374373?pwd=NFZVaFJjVGxqQjc5K0YyeWEzVVZMUT09

OR enter the details below to join the meeting:

Meeting ID: 890 5437 4373

Passcode: GCI2021

Time: 19:00

OFFERINGS: (should Christians pay a tithe?)

Even though some churches are not able to meet, we urge you to continue to give your weekly Thanksgiving offering that you would normally give during church services. The bank details for EFT and Cash deposits are below:

The Banking details for both the weekly Thanksgiving Offerings and the monthly Freewill Offerings are as follows:

EFT PAYMENTS

GRACE COMMUNION INTERNATIONAL-S.A –

Account No: 593 800 27523 – FNB Current Account Number

Ref. NameSurname Church

Please reference your offering so that we can send a receipt.

CASH PAYMENTS