Weekly Update 23 May 2025

by Takalani Musekwa | May 23, 2025 | News

6th Sunday of Easter – 25 May 2025

Psalm 67:1–7 • Acts 16:9–15 • Revelation 21:10, 22–27, 22:1–5 • John 14:23–29

Coming Events to Diarise:

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 our ascended Lord, Jesus Christ!

Next Thursday, 29 May 2025, the people of Namibia, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Indonesia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and many others will not be going to work. No, they won’t be on work strike. It will be a public holiday. It will be Ascension Day. In South Africa it is no longer a holiday. It was observed for the last time in 1993. Since 1994, we have not had a public holiday on Ascension Day.

As GCI, our religious calendar is centred on the centre of the centre, Jesus Christ. We celebrate Jesus’ birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, the sending of his Spirit, what he is doing in his church, and his eventual second coming. Next Thursday, wherever you are and whatever you are doing, take a moment in your day to reflect on this special event. But why is this day so special? What does it mean? There are two things I want to highlight:

Firstly, Ascension Day reminds us of our ascension to the right hand of the Father’s throne in heaven. “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). When Jesus ascended to heaven, we ascended with him. We are now seated with him there. We often think of ascension as the time Jesus left us behind and went back to heaven. The truth is that he took us with him. He didn’t leave us as orphans.

Our lives are “now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ … appears, then [we] also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:3-4). Jesus’ ascension was our ascension, just as his birth was our birth, and his death our death, and his resurrection our resurrection. That’s what we celebrate on Ascension Day! Not only Jesus’ ascension, but our ascension with him.

Secondly, we tend to think of Jesus as having moved to another location far from earth. What we need to be aware of is that after ascending to heaven, Jesus returned 10 days later in the person of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit proceeds from Jesus and the Father. Through the Spirit, Jesus is with us until the end of the age. Long after he ascended, Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus. There has been many such encounters between Jesus and people over the past 2000 years. He is still meeting people today. Just as we are in him in heaven, he is in us here on earth. Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20). “…In this world we are like Jesus” (1 Jn. 4:17) Ascension reminds us of that.

My prayer for this week is that we may all experience the glory of the ascended life, the kingdom life that Jesus preached about. Amen!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Offerings: Please continue to pray for the offerings and needs of the church in 2025.

Have a blessed weekend!
Shalom!

Takalani

___________________________

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 April 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 28 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