As the Orbus Community Centre for Orphan Care moves toward completion we continue to familiarize ourselves with the local community and try to ascertain the orphan situation and the needs of these children. We came across a family of 4 orphaned children living with their grandmother Stella in a very basic little mud brick hut about 500 metres from the Orbus site in Kameza village. We enquired as to their situation from neighbours and found that they were in need of assistance with pre-school fees for the 5 year old boy and clothing and blankets.

The Bible teaches that God can be known. The God of the Universe has chosen to reveal Himself to us. In Jeremiah 9:24 He declares that His people “understand and know Him”

Join us at SYPC in this series of Discipleship Seminars as we will be looking at several chapters of JI Packer’s Knowing God

Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14b-15)

A proper love for God necessarily involves a hatred for sin that leads to repentance. That should be obvious. Who wouldn’t understand that? If we truly love someone we seek their best interests. Their well being is our greatest concern. If a man says to his wife, “I love you but I could care less what happens to you,” we would rightly question his love for her. True love seeks the highest good of its object.

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, ‘I will work for food.’ My heart sank.

I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.

How would you like that on your tombstone, or for those in the modern techno-age as your Facebook ‘Status’?

Obadiah’s status for all eternity is that he “feared the Lord greatly”.

Sure, the context shows that he was not immune from fear of man, but the point is that the dominant note of his life was that he feared the Lord.

Isn’t it true that the unexpected gives life a certain freshness.

It can be little things or big things. Maybe it’s a bunch of flowers when it’s not your birthday or Valentine’s Day. Maybe it’s a surprise birthday party, or a visit from someone you haven’t seen for ages. Maybe it’s the boss calling you into his office and giving you a bonus – now, you’re thinking, that would be a surprise! Sometimes they are not immediately pleasant.

“If only I was a bit more like brother `X’  then I could do great things like he does. But I am just me” – ie, so don’t expect great things from me.
This is not only using comparison to camouflage a sinful heart full of fear, or indolence, etc. It is also illogical nonsense. I say illogical for it assumes firstly that they are different to you, and secondly it is that difference that makes the difference.
What we learn from Elijah is that he was no different than us ‘ordinary man’ — a man “with a nature like ours” (James 5:17); and that what really made the difference was God’s grace.
When we say we cannot do something that other believers in the past or around us are doing we are failing to realize why it is that these others [...]

“Every blessing that comes from God is sent with the same message, ‘And more to follow.’ ‘I forgive you your sins, but there’s more to follow.’ ‘I justify you in the righteousness of Christ, but there’s more to follow.’ ‘I adopt you into my family, but there’s more to follow.’ ‘I educated you for heaven, but there’s more to follow.’ ‘I give you grace upon grace, but there’s more to follow.’ ‘I have helped you even to old age, but there’s still more to follow.’ ‘I will uphold you in the hour of death, and as you are passing into the world of spirits, my mercy shall still continue with you, and when you land in the world to come there shall still be more to follow.’”

We are to “confess” Jesus, which means to acknowledge Him as Lord, and that in life or in death.
Yet we do not always do this, do we. Or if we feel we must we often temper what we say. Why?
“However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13). “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:42-43).
Are we any different today? Is the pressure against us greater? Are you sure?
In this morning’s message we will be looking at saying no to fear by saying yes to fear.
How do we overcome this fear of what others may think, say [...]

It is no understatement to say: ‘Forgiveness is the oil that keeps the church running smoothly.’

One of the jokes that keeps doing the rounds of the Internet relates to a lady going to a motor spares shop and asking for a ‘710’ cap. This of course left the salesman bemused and confused until she showed him where it was supposed to be. The joke comes with a graphic which shows that it was an OIL cap – she was reading it upside down.