20th Sunday after Pentecost – 26 October 2025
Psalm 65:1–13 • Joel 2:23–32 • 2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18 • Luke 18:9–14
Coming Events to Diarise:
Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting – 8 November 2025
National Church Board – 15-16 November 2025
Regional Leadership Conference – 5 – 7 December 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 Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God is a Master Planner. Everything that He does is planned to the last detail. Unfortunately, we sometimes think that planning is unnecessary when it comes to being the church. In fact, some think planning is a sign of lack of faith. The reality, however, is that planning is a sign of faith. It is difficult to plan for anything if you have no hope and faith about the future.
Jesus gave a parable of a man who wanted to build a house. He planned poorly by not budgeting properly, and could not finish his house because he ran out of funds. Jesus expects us to budget and plan adequately for what we are going to do. A king going to war must first determine whether his 10 000 soldiers will be able to fight the 20 000 soldiers of his enemy.
This month is the deadline for congregations to submit their budgets. Budgets are not an end in themselves. They are there to help us carry out our plans. Budgets support our plans, just like a budget support a man who has a plan to build a house. I want to request that each church think seriously about the plans behind their budgets.
In the same way, church budgets require offerings. Without offerings, church budgets are not worth the paper they are written on. Just as we prepare the church budgets for the plans we have for 2026, I am appealing to each one of us to also plan our offerings for 2026. Those who plan their offerings are consistent, whilst those who don’t plan offer whatever is left over in their personal budget. That’s poor planning. Faith helps us plan our offerings because we trust that God will provide. If we don’t plan our offerings, we don’t trust that God will provide for us to be able to give.
One of our values as GCI is being Intentional. Being intentional implies planning and acting according to that plan. Are you intentional about your giving? Do you just offer what seems right in the moment?
In the Book of Acts we are told about a couple who planned to sell a property and offer the proceeds to the church. However, after the sale, they thought the money was too much. They gave less than what the property sold for. Many Christians are like that. They ‘plan’ in their hearts what they will give, but when they receive their income, they think it is too much. So they end up offering much less than what they intended to give.
My prayer for this week is that we may all learn to plan better and be intentional about our plans. Amen!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
Coming Events: Please pray for the coming events in the next two months that everything goes well.
Sick Brethren: Please continue to pray for the brethren who are suffering from various sicknesses.
Offerings: Please continue to pray for the offerings and needs of the church as we count down to the end of 2025. Income is still below budget.
Have a blessed weekend!
Shalom!
Takalani
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Regional Leadership Conference – 5 – 7 December 2025
We are pleased to announce a Special Regional Leadership Conference taking place from 5 to 7 December 2025 at Aruka.
GCI President, Dr. Greg Williams, and his wife Susan will be joining us as the special guests, along with the Superintendent for Africa, Pastor Kalengule Kaoma and all Africa Regional Directors.
A special worship service is scheduled for Sunday, 7 December, and all members are warmly invited to attend. Please watch out for more details soon.
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REPEAT ANNOUNCEMNTS NOT TO BE READ IN CHURCH SERVICES
NATIONAL BUILDING FUND NOW OVER R1.4 MILLION
The National Building Fund has now passed R1.4 million.
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 November 2025 (2nd Saturday of the Month)
Our next Day of Prayer and Fasting is on Saturday 8 November 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:
· November 8
· December 13
SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSUE OF FACE TO FACE PUBLISHED
Our September 2025 issue of the online Face To Face magazine has been published. Please find it here: Face To Face
Online Bi-Weekly Bible Study
Next Bible Study on 29 October 2025
Please diarise and join the biweekly Online Bible study every second Wednesday at 19:00. The current series is: The Book of Proverbs.
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.