Weekly Update 16 May 2025

by Takalani Musekwa | May 17, 2025 | News

5th Sunday of Easter – 18 May 2025

Psalm 148:1–14 • Acts 11:1–18 • Revelation 21:1–6 • John 13:31–35

Coming Events to Diarise:

National Church Board – 17-18 May 2025

Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting – 14 June 2025

National Women’s Retreat 2025 – 8 – 10 August 2025

SEP 2025 – 13 – 20 December 2025

Denominational Conference 2026 – 23-26 July 2026, Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre, Dallas, Texas, USA.

**Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,**

Greetings in the name of the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ!

When God wants to get our attention, to get us out of our comfort zones, it normally takes long for us to get it. When we read some things for the first time they make sense, but doing them is quite another thing. We often have to go back and read the same thing a few times before the penny drops.

When God wanted the apostles to reach out to the Gentiles with the gospel, he needed to do something more drastic to shake them into action. Firstly, he called Saul on the road to Damascus in a dramatic fashion. He then showed Peter a radical vision where Peter was instructed to kill and eat unclean animals. This vision happened three times for Peter to get it!

In other incidents, Peter denied Jesus three times before he realised what he was doing. After the resurrection, Jesus had to ask Peter three times whether he loves or likes him, and the asked him to look after the church. Once Peter got it, there was no stopping him.

I think the three avenues of church ministry are our Damascus moment, our three-fold vision of Peter to get us moving into unfamiliar territory of ministry. I encourage all our churches to take time to familiarise yourselves with the ministry avenues of Hope, Faith and Love. At the pastoral conference earlier this year, we spent time discussing how to have inspirational church services.

Here is the link for the Hope Avenue ministry, which I recommend that members who are involved in a church service must spend time watching together and discussing how to improve:

Hope avenue – Planning Inspirational Church Services

My prayer for this week is that we may all come to understand and implement the three ministry avenues of the church, and transform our churches. Amen!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

National Church Board: Please pray for the national church board meeting taking place this weekend at Aruka.

Mozambique: Please pray for the safety of Pastor Manuel Vasco and the church in Mozambique, as the unrest continues.

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

Have a blessed weekend!
Shalom!

Takalani

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NATIONAL WOMEN’S RETEAT 2025 – 8 – 10 AUGUST 2025

Registration for the National Women’s Retreat 2025 is now open. The retreat will take place in Polokwane, Limpopo at the Silver Exclusive Lodge. The cost per person is R2000 sharing, and R2400 single room (non-sharing).

Further details are available on the registration form available here: Register

SPIRITUAL EQUIPPING PROGRAM (SEP) 2025 – Applications Open

Applications for SEP 2025 are open. The closing date for applications is 21 September 2025. A non-refundable deposit of R600 is payable by 30 September 2025. The balance is payable by 31 October.

Please read the terms and conditions on the application form. The application form must be completed online by computer or mobile phone. To access the application forms click below:

Camper Application Form 2025 (13-18 years)

Vacation Bible School Form (9-12 Years)

Staff Application Form

REPEAT ANNOUNCEMNTS NOT TO BE READ IN CHURCH SERVICES

NATIONAL BUILDING FUND NOW OVER R1.3 MILLION

The National Building Fund has now passed R1.3 million. The balances for the various congregation are as follows as at the end of March 2025:

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 14 June 2025 (2nd Saturday of the Month)

Our next Day of Prayer and Fasting is on Saturday 14 June 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:

· June 14

· Jul 12

· August 9

· September 13

· October 11

· November 8

· December 13

March 2025 ISSUE OF FACE TO FACE PUBLISHED

Our March 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 14 May 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