Second Sunday of Easter Preparation – 16 March 2025
Psalm 27:1–14 · Genesis 15:1–12, 17–18 · Philippians 3:17–4:1 · Luke 13:31–35
Coming Events to Diarise:
Pastoral Conference: 20-23 March 2025
Combined Church Service: 23 March 2025 – Members in Gauteng, Northwest and Limpopo (and anybody able to travel to Aruka) are invited to a special combined church service at Aruka on 23 March 2025 at 10:00. This will be at the back of the pastoral conference.
Aruka will be offering a light lunch for visitors. The cost is R70 per head. Children under 12 are R35 per head.
If members plan to visit and would like lunch please can they contact Nowakhe nowakhe@gci.org.za (066 250 8265) and book stating name/s and church area. Churches will then be billed in advance for their members who plan to visit as Aruka does not accept cash payments. Churches can then recoup from their members. Thank you for your cooperation.
Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting – 12 April 2025
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Preparing ourselves for Easter is about getting our minds to focus on the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. It is about understanding what the crucifixion and the resurrection mean to us as believers.
The crucifixion and the resurrection have brought us into communion with the Father, through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. We are now citizens of heaven where Christ is. We are seated with him in the heavenly realm. We share in Jesus’ sonship of the Father. He is in us, and we are in him. As he promised the disciples in that Last Supper, we look forward to dining with him at the end of this present evil age. This is what we celebrate at Easter.
Somebody once asked me “What is Easter?” Their question was from a concern that Easter has pagan origins. In answering them, I asked them, “What day is it today?”
“Sunday,” they replied. It was on a Sunday. I asked them what is the origins of Sunday? Some believe that the first day of the week was named after the Sun in honour of the Sun-god. That may or may not be true. But let’s assume it is true. How should we refer to the first day of the week? Well, in English we say Sunday because other English speakers will understand us. In my home language Tshivenda, we use a different word which has no relation to the Sun.
The same applies to the Easter weekend. In English it refers to the weekend that commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. In my language we call it the “Paseka” weekend, from the Hebrew word Pesach for Passover. So whether you call it Easter in English, or Paseka in Tshivenda, we mean the same time period. Whatever your language calls that weekend, we commemorate the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
My prayer for this week is that we may all grow in understanding the importance and meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection, even as we prepare ourselves for the celebrations in April. 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 next weekend from 20-23 March 2025.
Have a blessed weekend!
Shalom!
Takalani
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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 12 April 2025 (2nd Saturday of the Month)
Our next Day of Prayer and Fasting is on Saturday 12 April 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:
· 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
Use the gifts we have been given
Online Bi-Weekly Bible Study
Next Bible Study on 19 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
GRACE COMMUNION INTERNATIONAL-S.A –
FNB Account No: 74451599946
Account Type: 32 Day Notice account
Ref. NameSurname Church
Please reference your offering so that we can send a receipt.