Weekly Update 21 March 2025

by Takalani Musekwa | Mar 25, 2025 | News

Third Sunday of Easter Preparation – 23 March 2025

Psalm 63:1-8 • Isaiah 55:1-9 • 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 • Luke 13:1-9

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.

This Friday, 21^st March is Human Rights Day in South Africa. It is a day dedicated to remembering that our country is now founded on the principle of human rights.

As we prepare for Easter, it is perhaps important to note that it is Jesus and his work on the cross that humanised humanity. He gave all races their humanity. He gave women their humanity. He gave poor people their humanity. We respect the rights of other humans because Jesus died for them, they are worth dying for. The UN Declaration of Human Rights is founded on the Christian faith, that all humans are created equal.

It took the church almost two thousand years to acknowledge the humanity of slaves, of women, and of poor people. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28 NIV)

When some Jews, including the Apostle Peter, tried to separate themselves from Gentiles, seeing themselves as better than Gentiles, Paul says “they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14). Respect for other humans and their rights goes to the core of the gospel.

My prayer for this week is that we may grant others the humanity that Jesus gave them when he took on our humanity onto the cross. 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 taking place in Aruka this weekend from 20-23 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 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

February 2025 ISSUE OF FACE TO FACE PUBLISHED

Our February 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

Messenger of God

The Art of Godly Restoration

Online Bi-Weekly Bible Study

Next Bible Study on 2 April 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