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Friday, 6 May 2016
Saturday, 30 April 2016
Monday, 25 April 2016
THE GLORY OF LOVE
Service by Margaret Fourie
Readings:
Acts 11:1-18
Ps 148
Rev 21:1-6
John 13: 31-35
Message
In our reading from St John's gospel this morning, we
have another of these mysterious passages which over the years have become
familiar enough to us, but which may well have not much meaning for us. "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in
him is God glorified. If God is
glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself...." What does this mean? What does all this glorifying look
like? Picture the scene. Jesus and his disciples have just finished
the meal, and Judas has, minutes before, left the group to go to the
authorities. In a few minutes, they will
leave the upper room and go into Gethsemane, where he will, after some prayer
and agonizing, be arrested, tried over and over, and then condemned to death. Not the sort of glory most of us would
choose.
Perhaps we can shed some light on it from this
angle: those of you who are also single
will know what I mean when I say that every now and then someone will tell me,
"You are looking wonderful! Is
there someone special in your life?"
or "You look so radiant you must be in love!"
In other words, everyone knows that when you are in
love, you shine with a special radiance; there is a special happiness about
you, a glory. Certainly being in love is
one of nature's great beauty treatments.
We have all seen the very plain person suddenly become beautiful because
somebody has taken a special interest in them and has perceived them as
beautiful.
Loving and being loved is
transforming, a source of glory.
Perhaps Jesus was feeling very
close to God at that moment: he would
have needed to! Perhaps he was suddenly
very conscious of being surrounded by love - the love of the Father and the
love of these men - and of loving them in return.
In Lystra in Greece, St Paul was preaching the love of
God to a crowd of people when his eye fell on a crippled man: "he fixed
his eyes on him" says the REB. He
saw him and really looked at him, noting his need and understanding his
response of faith. He was more to Paul
than merely someone in the crowd. Maybe
there was something of the glory of God in his face as Paul saw him, for the
Bible says, "seeing he had the faith to be cured..." so it must have
shown. Maybe for the first time in his
life, this man knew himself unconditionally loved as he heard the gospel. Paul's response to this man's faith was to
pass on to him the glorious wholeness of Jesus, and he is healed.
The effect of love is transformational.
You may have had the experience of falling in love,
where suddenly the whole world is beautiful and you are conscious of being
powerful and competent beyond your wildest dreams. Suddenly everything is easy - even getting up
in the morning! Perhaps you have also
had the awful experience of having the relationship terminated - that feeling
of the light going out, of being worth nothing at all, of being unattractive
and of not wanting to do anything at all, in fact not being able to do much.
When we are loved we can do anything; when we are not
loved we are paralysed.
Those of you who get the Hogsback Times will also have been as upset
as I was about Shane’s hurt and
anger. The pain of being betrayed by
those you have loved is extreme. It
would take a closeness to God like what Moses experienced on Mt Sinai, or Jesus
on Mount of Transfiguration to turn that betrayal of Judas’s into glory.
Over the last few days in morning prayer we have been
reading about Moses and his time up and down Mount Sinai. Every time he spent time with God, on the
mountain or in the Tent of Meeting, when he came out he had to veil his face
because it shone so brightly with the glory of God. Being with God, spending time with him in
closeness transformed the shy, stammering Moses who had to speak through Aaron,
into the man who glowed with confidence and glory, and who could address the
crowds himself.
Love is a transforming thing. Jesus tells
his disciples after the last supper, "Love
one another; as I have loved you, so are you to love one another. If there is this love among you, then
everyone will know that you are my disciples." It will show, not only in actions, but also
because love glows and love transforms.
The awareness and acceptance of God's enormous love
for us, and the giving and receiving of love among ourselves will transform our lives.
The main way in which most of us will experience God's
love is through other people: sometimes it is given to us to know that God
is directly involved with us - we may have one of those sudden insights, or
experience a strange outpouring of God's loving mercy, but usually it is the
mediation of other people around us that makes
up our experience of God. It is the
privilege of the people of God to love with God's love.
Sometimes it is not easy (or even possible) to love someone
and we will need help. You;ve heard me tell
of my Mom whose aged mother had moved in with her. She told me, "I cannot love her. I just cannot manufacture love for her. She drives me round the bend. So I said to God, 'I cannot love her, but I
am prepared for you to love her through me'." In this way she became the conduit for God's
love for her mother. It is the
responsibility and the privilege of each of the members of the family of God to
express God's love for each other in tangible, truly caring ways. we are in a real sense the continuing
incarnation of our Lord.
Some of you may be feeling
·
insignificant, unimportant in
the scheme of things. Some of you may be
·
downright depressed.
·
Some of you may have come this
morning in spite of the sense you have of not being ready to face God.
·
Perhaps you wanted to creep in
and then out again without really being noticed, because you hoped that the
familiar rhythm of the liturgy would comfort you.
·
Some of you may have had
disappointments,
·
or be feeling abandoned or
unloved.
You will be having difficulty living life to the full;
you may even be having difficulty with living at all. (We don't like to let others know this, do
we?)
Whatever your crippling situation may be, there is a
chance of glory for you: spend a bit of
time now meditating on the extraordinary love of God for you; look
around you at the people in the pews with you this morning. This is your family and here you can
experience the love and acceptance of people around you and share that love
with someone else. Look to see where you
can exercise your own facility for being loving, and then learn to accept the
love that is offered to you.
For there is glory in love. It transforms us and makes everything
possible.
"As I have loved you, so you are to love one
another. If there is this love among
you, then everyone will know that you are my disciples." Know both these loves - the love of God and
the love for each other so that you too may be transformed and energised, and make everything possible for your
sisters and brothers in the faith.
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Pew leaflet 24 April 2016
To download the pew leaflet in PDF printable format click https://goo.gl/eKBM8c
Sunday, 20 March 2016
Palm Sunday- Breaking the Spell
Isaiah
50:4-9a
Phil 2:5-11
Luke 23:1-47
Today is Palm Sunday when we celebrate the
triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem on his way to die. We read the story in the gospel reading. It was all very carefully stage-managed, and
Jesus was very carefully fulfilling several prophecies about the Messiah and in
so doing, proclaiming himself messiah and forcing the hands of the Jewish
authorities. God sometimes intervenes and forces the issue – not waiting for people
to get around to doing what they say.
He knew that they would take the challenge, and
that they would have to take action and probably kill him because he knew that
they were planning to kill him anyway - remember when Lazarus died the
disciples didn't want him to go to Bethany, so close to Jerusalem, because the
Chief Priests and Scribes were planning to kill him then?
So why did he do it?
To "break
the spell"
(tell Yellow fingers story with Sir Galahad)
We often feel as if we are under some sort of
spell - listen to what St Paul says in Romans 7. Rather like being turned into a frog and
every time you want to sing, a 'gribbet' comes out! In fact, these stories of evil spells are really
paradigms of spirituality, and the rescue by the virtuous, innocent one is the
motif for the gospel story. The princess has to kiss the frog - the worst and most humiliating thing she could
have to do, but also the most loving
action towards something apparently unlovable. Also Beauty and the Beast.
Essence of Fall was disobedience and a desire
for power. Jesus is obedient and humble,
so reverses the pattern and is able
to remain without sin, and thus breach the stronghold and break the sin. He was the first one to enter Hades and be free to leave it. It is hard for us to understand the
redemption process, and every parallel we use has a weakness somewhere, as does
this one.
Where does
that leave us?
Are you still
under the evil spell of Satan, or will you step out of your castle and be free,
for look, your King comes, obedient and lowly, riding upon an ass, the foal of
an ass. And he has come for you. Because he loves you more than you can ever
begin to imagine.
Amen..
FormorePlam Sunday photos, click here: https://goo.gl/photos/wpXtPt8KKWacpqiH8
Sunday, 13 March 2016
RECTOR’S REPORT: VESTRY MEETING 22 MARCH 2016
This being my last report
at St Patrick’s, I look back over the 9 years I have been here, and find a
story of tremendous blessing and growth in our relationship with God. How special it has been!
Trevor
has covered much of what has happened during the year, and I will just give the
statistics and a comment. We started
2015 with a membership of 47 individual people.
During the year we lost Ticia Davies, Siya Bakula, Jeff and Jane Every,
Dick Richter, J-P Verster and Terry Barber who all moved away. But we ended the year with 50 members, which
means new members! We particularly
welcome Rev Dr Liz Thomas, Peter Smooi and Callie Lane, who are faithful
members. Liz made the move up to
Hogsback at just the right moment, and we give thanks for God’s provision.
We are truly blessed to
have people like this joining our congregation, and it can only bode well for
the future years at St Patrick’s.
While this past year has
been hard for many of us, we need to be prepared for what may be an even more
difficult year in 2016/7; certainly it will be tough economically. Being prepared for Christians is about
putting on the whole armour of God so that we are able to withstand Satan’s
efforts to dislodge our peace and make us panic and so make unfaithful
decisions. As long as we stick with what
God has taught us, and the resources God has given us, we will grow stronger
and stronger, and our peace and joy will increase.
I have been thrilled to
hear reports from the Monday Prayer Group; what is happening there is truly the
work of the Kingdom. The Tuesday group
goes on well. The annual Retreat has
been an amazing blessing to all who have attended. I commend it to you this year.
I believe that one can
take the spiritual ‘temperature’ of a parish by looking at the finances. We are certainly very healthy and continually
glorifying God in the use of our money.
So he keeps blessing us with more!
I do so hope that my vision of a small multi-purpose hall to be used for
outreach primarily to children and young people (that is, all under 50!) will
be realised. It will mean that we finally
get to serve an important section of our community that has been poorly served
up till now. And we will have a lovely,
cosy place for tea in the depths of winter.
As you all know by now, I
will be leaving St Patrick’s at the end of May, my last service being the 22nd.
I feel very blessed to be
able to say that I have absolutely no worries about doing this because of the
way that St Patrick’s is run, and because God has given us a wonderful new
priest in the person of Liz Thomas. Mind
you, she will have only a fraction of the time I have had, since she is
employed full-time by For Hare.
The team Trevor-and-Ann
Webster is amazing. Trevor is a great
Churchwarden and keeps things going super-efficiently, so that people think
there is nothing to it. Believe me,
there is plenty that he does. He would,
however, find it extremely difficult to be so good at it without Ann, who sees
that everything actually happens, the people are fed, the details are covered
and there is music as well! That is, I
suppose, what a good marriage is about – supporting each other all the
way. Thank you from the depths of my
heart, Ann and Trevor.
Norma Fivaz is another one
who quietly gets on and does a huge amount of work. She, like Ann, plays for weddings, funerals,
services and special occasions. She arranges
the Retreat; she and Ann produce the wonderful Carol Service each year, she
preaches and shares leading services with Ann.
She is an unusual person in the Church – an NG member licensed to an
Anglican bishop! Thank you, too, Norma,
for your great help and constant support.
Our third Lay Minister is
Lynn, who spends much of her time working away from Hogsback, but always slots
right back into her liturgical role as soon as she returns. She is also sadly leaving ST Patrick’s, in
April. Lynn and I have served as a team
at both St Peter’s in Camps Bay and St Patrick’s here, and she is a good person
to have around. She has a great pastoral
ministry – there are many people who are far more comfortable talking to her
than to me. I value her highly. I shall particularly miss our Morning and
Evening Prayers. Thank you, Lynn.
This last while we have
been very grateful for Ansie Klaassen’s Caritas ministry. She has been visiting the sick on behalf of
the parish, and has even arranged for food to be brought to those who are
temporarily unable to see to themselves.
Thank you, Ansie, for this important work.
The Fabric Officer (who
oversees the maintenance of the buildings), Sidespeople, Sacristans, flower
arrangers (also under Ansie) and our special Carol Nieth who sees to all the
weddings, dealing with their complications, also deserve a big thank you. Carol has also been responsible for having
the church cleaned, and we were very sad when Monica Semane, her worker, died
at the end of last month. We made a
small donation to the funeral on your behalf. Thank you for seeing to this so
faithfully every week, Carol, in spite of your tight schedule at home.
Thank you, too, to Maggie
for keeping our website up-to-date with pictures, and information whenever I
remember to send in the pew leaflets! And
Chris Everton who has fixed our driveway and provided labour and gravel when
needed, as well as planting for us is a hero.
There are so many others who contribute in many, many ways, and I want
you to know how grateful I am to have had the privilege of serving you, and how
happy I am to hand over to the new Council with confidence and gratitude.
God has led us this far
and we have each grown in grace. May we continue
to grow in obedience and joy in the service of our blessed Lord in 2016 so that
the Kingdom of God may find root in many more lives in Hogsback and beyond.
God bless us all.
Margaret Fourie
Lent 5 and Special Farewell to Ven William Fobosi
1 Kings17:1-16
Psalm 124
Galatians 6:7-10
Matt 6: 25-34
Seed Faith
Oral Roberts had this idea of “seed Faith”,
which develops Jesus’s words, “Give and it shall be given to you” (Luke
6:38). He outlined three principles –
1. God is the source of my supply
In Phil 4:19 St Paul says, “My God will
supply all your need out of the
magnificence of his riches in Christ Jesus”.
God is the source of all good things, even the technical miracles we
boast of nowadays. “Every
good and perfect thing comes from above, from the Father who created the lights
of heaven”, says St James (1:17)
Relax, Jesus tells his disciples, “Do not
ask anxiously, What about food? What
about clothing? What about the water and
electricity? These are the things that
occupy the minds of the HEATHEN, but your heavenly Father knows that you need
them all.
2. Give and gifts will be given you
There is a difference between the words of
Jesus and belief in Karma. In karma you
have control, and what you put out comes back to you in an automatic sort of
way, they believe. Here is something
different – there is a loving Person involved.
When Jesus says this, he goes on to add more (Luke 6:38): “give, and
gifts will be given you. Good measure,
pressed and shaken down and running over, will be poured into your lap …” God supplies generously.
Giving ACTIVATES, as it were, God’s
programme of supply. Plant a seed of
giving, and it GROWS. The paradox of supply is that if you are in
need, satisfy the need of someone else!
If you need money, give some away to a more needy person. Of you are
lonely, help another lonely person. Your
supply will not necessarily come from that person, but it will be there. Giving then is an ACT OF TRUST, even if you
don’t FEEL particularly trusting. Seed
multiplies after it is planted. If you
plant nothing, then 1000 x 0 is 0! God
is the great multiplier of our faithful deeds.
However, what we RECEIVE does not multiply
– only our faithful deeds and gifts. The
difference between tithing and seed faith is that seed faith happens BEFORE we
receive. Tithing is returning God’s
portion of what we HAVE received to him so that we do not steal from him.
Expect
a miracle
Our very expectation is a statement of
faith, and it seems that faith has a lot to do with miracles ( Heb 11:6), (Matt 17:20), (Matt 21:21).
(Mark 5:34)
If we were to make a little ‘action plan’,
it would be
Surrender – Make sure that Jesus is Lord of all your life, in every
part. Hand over your worries.
Acknowledge – that you owe everything to him, and that he is the
source of your supply
Give – make space for the blessing you need
Expect – Act out your faith in confidence
(Remember the word ebenezer= hitherto has the Lord helped us. He will not stop now)
After
a while it becomes a life style.
Many don’t receive because they have not made room in their lives for the
miracle, and frankly don’t really expect anything miraculous. So they make a plan B, just in case.
Health – pray for others who are ill; take food to someone
suffering; visit or write to them,
Loneliness – be a friend to a lonely person
Finance – give
Busy-ness – pray for others who are
busy. Offer to help someone.
Temptation – pray for others under attack
Study – pray for others studying, writing
exams or battling with theses.
Sleeplessness – pray for others awake in
the night
Remember the well in Death Valley – pour
the whole contents of this bottle into the pump to prime it. Then you will get as much sweet water as you
can ever want. Just be sure to leave a
bottle for the next one. If you don’t
pour ALL the water in, the pump won’t work.
Do you take the risk?
Put ALL your faith and trust in the One who
has never yet et anyone down, and who will not start now.
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