All Saints News April 2019

Just recently – on a Thursday morning at the 9 ‘o clock service – I mentioned some of the desert experiences I have had – and the things I’ve learnt from them. So…without wanting to be repetitive I’d like to embellish on some of those stories. I pray you will find them edifying.

I had never been to the Groot Karoo before – having never really been a “desert” person – but when I went to Middelburg (Cape) for the first time I realised that deserts have a beauty all of their own.I remember sitting out in a farm yard and it was so qui-et that I could actually hear a locust eating some grass. What did I learn from that? What Jesus said to His disci-ples in Mark 6:31: “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest a while,…”It is good on occasions to separate ourselves from the hustle and bustle of life and to spend a day or two or three with Jesus. Call it a “retreat” or rather an “advance”!

Then…I met a young lady in the Negev Desert once who told me that she was having difficulties in her life, and in her words, “We find ourselves in the wilderness.”“And (Jesus) said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while…” Mk 6:31.Which leads me – quite conveniently – into a discussion about some of the things we can learn on a walk in the desert – or wilderness.

1. Unlike the Sahara, the deserts of the Emirates or the Karoo – the Wilderness of the Negev is not flat – it is a collection of unforgiving hills and mountains – although not completely devoid of life. So, the first thing I would like to suggest (as you study the picture of the Negev) is that Jesus does not want us to live our lives with everything planned out ahead of us for years. The words of a 60’s pop song by The Who come to mind:“I can see for miles and miles, I can see for miles and miles I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles, Oh yeah” .

Our Father – in the words of St Paul –says “… we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Cor 5:7.The well-known Arabic expression perhaps sums up this point, “Insha’Allah” – God willing!

From Dennis' Desk

2. Allied to this first suggestion, is the fact that we can easily lose our way in the wilderness and that’s why The Lord is my (GOOD) Shepherd. We need as Christians “to follow the good shepherd” lest we go astray and end up following that “bad” shepherd and end up on “the wrong road” and that could be devastating to our spiritual lives.

3. The picture of a flooded wadi in the Negev leads us to the next “Lesson from the Desert”. Our Lord Jesus warned us never to build on the sand – however conve-nient that may be, but rather to build on the rock. The reason for this is that wadis are dry, sandy river beds for most of the year – but every now and then there will be a storm in the Judean hills – and because the limestone cannot absorb the water it finds its way down to the Dead Sea – the lowest point on earth – and creates extremely dangerous floods in the wadis.

So, the last thing I would like to leave with you is that very often in life things go wrong very quickly and dramatically – just like a sudden flood in the desert – and it is at times like those that we need to remember the words of the psalmist in Psalm 121:

I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip;

He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who guards Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your guardian; the Lord is your shade at your

right hand. The sun shall not harm you during the day,

nor the moon during the night. The Lord shall protect you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.The Lord shall preserve your going out

and your coming in from now and for evermore.

UPCOMING EVENTS1

Date: 8 June

Tickets: R270 pp (incl. teas and light lunch)

About the SpeakerJaci Mun-Gavin and her husband, Richard, are the senior pastors at Anthem Church in Durban. Jaci is also a published author and mother of 7. Most people will recognize Jaci’s name by her publishings and by her blog, but more recently, by her family’s testimony regarding a recent tragedy turned miracle.

Towards the very last weeks of 2018, Jaci and her daughter, Kiara, were involved in a tragic accident that left Kiara seriously injured and clinging onto life. From that day on, this family embarked on a journey that no parent would ever choose. Yet, faith remained and God met them there, in their darkest hours.

Jaci Mun-Gavin, Senior Pastor of Anthem Church,author and mother.

youth service16 june at 09:00

Our next combined service is scheduled for the 16th June, which also happens to be a very important day in our South African calendar. We thought we could celebrate this day by giving this service to our youth here at All Saints!

Thanks to Michelle, the youth will be running this service and showing us a little bit more about who they are. Michelle will also be sharing during this service, and will shed some light on the vision for All Saints Youth. There will also be an exciting new logo reveal for both Buddies and Alive, which hopefully will represent this group of young peope in a fresh, new and dynamic way that celebrates growth. Please come along and support our Youth as they work together on their very first service as a team.

MAYMEMBERSHIP

MONTH

We are updating ourmembership roll. Please check your details at the desk

after the service, and we’ll give you a small gift to say ‘thank you’.

assisted suicideMy Life, My Death, My Choice!

You are invited to a fascinating talk byDr Rupert Rencken

Local Urologist20 June at 19:00

What is your take on Assisted Suicide? Perhaps some of the following quotations resonate?

• Thou shalt not kill (Exodus 20:13)• Those who have a terminal illness and are in great pain should have the right to

choose to end their lives, and those who help them should be free from prosecution (Stephen Hawking).• I will give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest and such counsel

(Hippocratic Oath).• This is not a matter of life or death, but about the timing and manner of death (Dr Marcia Angell).• Over himself, over his body and mind, the individual is sovereign (John Stuart Mill).• He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else … for in Him we live

and move and have our being (Acts 17:25, 28)• I want to die proudly when it is no longer possible to live properly (Nietchze).• The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised

(Job 1:21).• If our culture can’t fix it, cure it, medicate it, sedate it or surgically remove it, then

please get rid of it … because we sure can’t live with it (Joni Tada).• I believe in the sanctity of life. I know that we will all die and that death is part of life.

Terminally ill people have control over their lives, so why should they not have control over their deaths? Dying people should have the right to choose how an when they leave Mother Earth. I believe that, alongside the wonderful palliative care that exists, their choices should include a dignified assisted death (Desmond Tutu).

• I am not afraid of dying … I just don’t want to be there when it happens (Woody Allan).

Join us for this fascinating discussion, everyone is welcome.

arisegen in pictures Photos by heidi taylor

News2

arisegen in pictures Photos by heidi taylor

POTATO, LEEK AND ROCKET SOUP

Now that it is starting to get a bit chilly I thought a nice soup

would fill the cold evenings.

4 TBS butter 4 cups stock (chicken/ vegetable)

1 large onion bunch rocket chopped

3 leeks 1 cup cream

2 chopped potatoes seasoning

1. Melt the butter – add onion, leeks & potato & cook for 20 mins2. Add stock – Cook for a further 20 mins3. Add the rocket – cook for 5 mins4. Stir in the cream & seasoning5. Liquidise (if you prefer it smooth)6. Serve with croutons

3 nourishingnosh with lolly

CHIMICHURRI CHICKENChimichurri is an Argentinian spice and can be used as a marinade, as a dip or as a sauce. It is delicious as a sauce on steak or chops. It can also be added to vegetables and mushrooms in a pasta dish for vegetarians.

Mix together the following ingredients. This can be kept in the fridge for a week or so. I have also made a larger quantity and frozen it:

½ cup olive oil2 TBS vinegar½ cup chopped parsley1 tsp dried oregano1 tsp coarse salt & ½ tsp pepper2 chopped red chillies (these are optional depending on your taste buds!)

1. Rub a chicken with the chimichurri or I like to place it under the skin of the chicken.2. Sprinkle over salt & pepper & chicken spice 3. Roast your chicken in the normal way at 180 for an hour. (To keep your chicken moist – place the chicken on a rack with a dish of water under the chicken when roasting)4. Take out chicken and enjoy – such a delicious different flavour.

nourishingnosh with lolly

4STREET MINISTRY

We need volunteers to join our team in visiting those who live on our city streets. Visits take place

on Thursday evening at 19:00.

Find out more at the Info Desk after the service.

Thank you to our sponsors:

PINE RIDGE

And everyone who donates financially to this outreach.

Children’s Church Outreach

We are making aTower of TinsFor God’s Pantry!

Please bring a tin of baked beans, tomato & onion or pilchards for our Children’s

Church Tower.

notices

033 347 3177

www.allsaintschurch.co.za

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73 Montgomery DrPietermaritzburg, 3201

notices “Our purpose, under God, is to transform the world by allowing Jesus Christ to work in us, among us,

and through us.”