St Francis Presbyterian

St Francis Presbyterian A friendly church serving Waterkloof and surrounds. Services are at 09:00 on Sundays and we are now gathering back at church for worship.

Resources are posted weekly for home worship. Visit this page regularly for inspiration and hope in these times

30/05/2022

From the grand sweep of a mountain range to the delicate grace of a single wildflower, creation declares the glory of God. And so should we, even when skies darken & storms roll over the parched earth of our lives. Few of us escape such moments of abandonment, & experience an inner conflict of feelings that everything is going wrong, yet God reigns supreme.
Few of us enjoy lives on a tranquil plain, moving smoothly from one event to another. For many, life is a roller-coaster ride of unexpected peaks & valleys. Repeatedly we ask the question, "Why?" as we try to discern God's path in a bleak & rocky landscape. The only place to go then is down on our knees, as we rest our heads in God's lap & weep before him. But often the spiritual core of our being is short-circuited by external pressures & internal fears. "What would God say about this? What would Jesus have us do?" are essential questions to which we must keep returning.
To be a person of authentic faith is a matter of commitment to God as the final authority over all life, seeking his leading in all things. In prayer, we first confess to God; then we claim his promises, acknowledging that he fulfills them; finally, we offer our petitions, imploring God to act for good in our lives. We take the risk of honesty as we reveal our deepest needs & our true selves to him. We commit our joys & fear to God in his grace.
Nehemiah 1:5-11 sets the tone for our prayer life. He shows that this is the first port of call when we confront difficulties & when we rejoice in life. He sets the example of seeking God's direction first in everything we do.
(Inspired & shaped by John Timmerman, "Not so far from home")

29/05/2022

Resource for remote worship between Ascension Day & World Environment Day focusing on a new heaven and a new earth

26/05/2022

We worship a loving & gracious God. When Jesus died on the cross & the veil in the temple was torn in two, the threads of our hearts began to knit & heal. Jesus offered himself as a living sacrifice for us, pouring out his blood in the cup of the new covenant. Through his blood, our relationship with God is healed & sealed for all eternity.
God is elusive & mysterious. Our minds flail at the edges of knowing God. He is above & beyond all things. But he is Immanuel, God with us. He pitched his tent among us; walks with us & talks with us. He wore a crown of thorns that pierced his skin & streaked his face with blood. We approach him with our rational minds in our catechisms, creeds, & Bible studies; but we also approach him like Mary Magdalene, choked with emotion as we bathe his dusty feet with our tears.
In his transcendence, we become aware of his complete otherness; in his incarnation & immanence, we are aware of his suffering & sorrows, his laughter & tears. Knowing God & discovering authentic faith lie in simply giving our lives to him & submitting fully to his will.
Lord, I stand in awe before the star-spangled skies & marvel at the vastness of the galaxies, praising you as the One who transcends all that is known & familiar to me. And yet, I experience, amidst my day-to-day routine life, the whisper of your encouragement, the power of your healing touch, the provision of my daily bread, & the wonder of your all-encompassing love. Thank you for allowing me to know you & for drawing me into a relationship of deep intimacy with you. Take my hand & walk with me, I pray, today & every day. Amen
(Inspired & shaped by John Timmerman's "No so far from home")

24/05/2022

We all feel alienated from God at times, especially when we suffer emotional loss or mental stress. We ask why God does so little in our lives & may even think he's withdrawn his presence.
St John of the Cross in his "Dark Night of the Soul" grapples with harsh reality to find God's comfort. Suffering shifts his focus from things of the world to contemplation as "a secret, peaceful & loving infusion from God" that kindles a spirit of love in us.
In the Bible, good kings submit to God's authority as spoken by the prophets; bad kings ignore him in their pride. Ezra (6 & 7) taught repentance & forgiveness, bringing both law & grace to the people.
God is orderly, holy & good; he doesn't tolerate evil. He is sovereign & omnipotent; & righteous in a way that we can't fathom. At times, God's people interpret his grace as a license to do as they please; but grace & order belong together, just as rights & responsibilities are interlinked.
Many forms of external, imposed order govern life today, but protection from discord & chaos doesn't necessarily constitute order; it's actually an inward state of the soul. Knowledge of God's will, & acceptance of his law & authority establish not only order in our lives, but a relationship with him.
Lord, I know I can never earn your forgiveness, but only receive it in faith as a gift; yet I need to live according to your laws in order to nurture an intimate relationship with you. Please help me to keep these two elements in balance in my journey through life in faith.
(Inspired & shaped by John Timmerman's "Not so far from home")

21/05/2022

Resource for remote worship focusing on Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones

21/05/2022

Most of us long for authentic faith. We've had it with pretense & superficiality. We want to know we're in a living relationship with God. We want to feel his presence; to see him, hear, know him in a deeply meaningful way.
God shapes events behind the reality we see. He alone sees the full picture. He provides for continuity in faith through his laws for righteous living, but we are notorious for slipping & sliding away from this solid foundation
Love in all its fullness of meaning is scarcely recognized by the world. Self-interest & self-deception govern our lives, but our major task as Christians is to discover what is true, & to walk in step with the truth. "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, & God in them." (1 Jn 4:16) And Jesus is the truth (Jn 14:5), while the Spirit guides us into all truth (Jn 16:13). Christianity seeks to transform the world, reshaping it in love & truth. That makes it a significant force in the world today.
The first sign of authentic faith is to see beyond our current circumstances to God as the highest authority; to acknowledge that he works in our lives to perfect his plan. Secondly, authentic faith relies on his authority for our actions & resistance to the bo***ge of sin. God's law is shaped in love & reflects the truth. It's at the heart of authentic faith.
Lord, I yearn for authentic faith & a living relationship with you. Help me to reflect your love in the world, & to be shaped by your truth so that my life may be firmly grounded in your laws for righteous living. Amen.
(Inspired & shaped by John Timmerman's "Not so far from home")

19/05/2022

Courage is one of the great biblical themes. In life, we often create a false sense of security based on what we possess. If not exactly cowards, we're often afraid of what might happen if we lose our homes, our jobs, our family or friends, our savings. Life is very fragile. We desperately need a form of security that transcends the temporal vicissitudes of everyday reality.
In his parting words to Joshua & the Israelites before they crossed over the Jordan into the Promised Land, Moses said: "Be strong & courageous. Do not be afraid ... for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave or forsake you" (Dt 31:6-7).
The call to courage also formed a central theme in the early church. Jesus spoke the peace of courage into the hearts of his disciples. Walking on the turbulent waters under dark skies, he approached his "terrified" disciples in their boat with the words: "Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid" (Mt 14:27). When Paul was imprisoned, the Lord appeared to him & said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome" (Acts 23:11).
We, too, can take courage because of our faith in Jesus. Paul exhorted the church in Corinth to "stand firm in the faith" & to be people of courage (1 Cor 16:13). As we engage in everyday life in the world, we need courage to hold fast to our faith, to authenticate our faith.
Lord, you call me to be courageous & not to succumb to the fear that so often dogs my footsteps & gnaws at my soul. Help me to find my security, not in the temporal things of this world, but in your infinite power, your divine wisdom, your all-encompassing love, knowing that you journey beside me wherever I go at whatever time of day. Amen
(Inspired & shaped by John Timmerman's "Not so far from home")

17/05/2022

Coming to the altar is about seeking Jesus & opening our lives to him. Often he comes to us not in a cataclysm of thunder & lightening, or in signs & wonders, but in the tenderest of whispers: "You are my child & I love you dearly."
Christianity is a love-driven faith that flows outwards to others, not inwards towards the self. Personal fulfilment is found in loving God with all one's heart, soul, mind, & strength; personal success is loving one's neighbour as oneself; peace of mind is living in faithfulness to God's covenant.
Love can never be isolated; it's intrinsically corporate. Faith isn't solitary; Christianity is a community of love that reaches out in action to others. We have multiple opportunities to nurture our communal faith, but often neglect them. What does "community" mean to us? The church community begins with a set of shared beliefs that draw us into communion with fellow believers. The sacraments bind us in communion with God. Through baptism we enter a sacred covenant of love.
Church fellowship shifts attention away from ourselves to others. Using our spiritual gifts in service gives shape & direction to our lives. The church is a means of sharing in "Christ's mission in the world" & emphasizes our calling to "make disciples" (Mt 28:19-20). It's all about bringing people into a deep personal relationship with Truth itself.
Jesus is "the way, the truth & the life". That's the heart of the church, the glue that holds us together as a community of faith. In this modern world so full of noise, pressure, confusion & woundedness, we need to gather together in mutual support within the community of love, & to stand by the Truth that sets us free that we might live abundant lives.
(Inspired & shaped by John Timmerman's "Not so far from home")

14/05/2022

We believe the afflicted are entitled to privacy. We're reluctant to express our need for fear of what others may think, say or do. This is woven into our social fabric, born of a fear of discomfort. If we listen to the needs of others, we feel obliged to minister to their needs but feel we don't have the time, talent or resources. We fear public shame & malicious gossip. This problem of the private self in a public world is an obstacle to building intimacy with God (John Timmerman).
Yet the one distinguishing feature of the church is as a place of grace (Philip Yancey). It must be a channel of God's grace to fulfill it's God-given identity. However, this might need more discretion than it did in the past given the nature & prevalence of the social media.
Fear is a double whammy. We fear exposing our own needs & we're afraid of others exposing their needs to us. We're bothered by our own spiritual inadequacy, & this makes us recoil from the needs of others. We find it hard to discover time for personal relaxation & time with God, let alone ministering to the needs of others.
We need a community built on trust; accepting of change & of the unusual, beginning in the hearts of individuals then extending into the Body of Christ. Unfortunately, personal need finds little place in our public liturgy & worship as part of rebuilding God's temple & creating sacred places to meet with him at our point of need; to find wholeness & rest at the feet of Jesus, who says (Mt 11:28): "Come to me, all who are weary & heavy laden & I will give you rest."
Lord, help me to overcome my fear, both of public exposure & of the needs of others that so often overwhelm me & leave me feeling inadequate. Help me to lay my burden at your feet & to become a channel of your healing grace. Amen
(Inspired & shaped by John Timmerman's "No so far from home")

12/05/2022

A second among the three modern obstacles to spending intimate time with God is the ogre of the unusual (John Timmerman). Modern society, he says, prizes the appearance of success & achievement, making it improper to reveal our personal weaknesses & pains, so we hide or domesticate them. We tailor our lives to fit images popularized by our culture.
Image is everything, but what shapes the image? Advertising that exposes our desires & links them to products, shaping us into a consumerist society. This eventually colours our entire way of life.
Modern society, says Timmerman, fears the ogre of the unusual, causing us to hide ourselves & our differences from others. If unnamed & unconfronted, these ogres grow more powerful & threatening.
The church today is guilty of denying & ignoring the ogres of the unusual, refusing to confess & confront them. Often it feels threatened by, & deeply afraid of the unusual. The church clings to the perception that "God is with us; all is well with the world". In fact, when God is with us, we discover all is NOT well with the world. Jesus moved where pain lived. He named sin, confronted it, healed it. Jesus was constantly interrupted by the ogres of the unusual. On the cross, he vanquished ogres more terrible than we dare to imagine.
Peter stepped out of the boat (Mt 14:25-31), but was then besieged by the ogre of the unusual & had to rely on Jesus to rescue him.
Lord, I don't even get to the point of stepping out of the boat in faith because I fear the ogre of the unusual, yet you challenge me to embrace change & to walk with you into the unknown. Give me strength & courage, I pray, to overcome my anxieties of all that is different & unusual. Amen
(Inspired & shaped by John Timmerman's "Not so far from home")

10/05/2022

This week we focus on the three modern obstacles to spending intimate time with God. First is the tyranny of time (John Timmerman, "Not so far from home"). Our energy is depleted by demands & obligations. Responsibility is the burden of today.
To combat the tyranny of time, we must set spiritual priorities, starting with discerning our spiritual gifts & calling. We often waste time doing the wrong things. Although beneficial, they aren't what God called & equipped us for. Christian time-management demands that we know who we are, what gifts we have, & how God wants us to use them. There are enough people equipped for God's purposes if everyone uses their gifts & abilities in fulfilling the tasks to which he calls them. But we suffer burn-out trying to be all things to all people; or we deny our gifts & fail to fulfil God's purposes. Some must learn to say, "No, not me"; others must learn to say, "Yes, Lord, I here I am.".
The call to serve in God's kingdom is extended to all Christians. Service is the basis of Christian living. Jesus came, not to be served, but to serve (Mt 20:28). We are called to imitate him. Knowing who we are & what God calls us to is the basis for a joyful life of faith in victorious living not servile drudgery. This takes place in everyday life. As we engage in God's works of service in the world, faith takes root & bears fruit.
In a world tyrannized by time, many people are wounded. Suffering turns inward. We bury our needs, hurts & griefs. But buried pain doesn't die; it proliferates & the tension becomes unbearable.
Lord, I need your direction & healing grace to conquer the tyranny of time so that I can spend intimate time with you. Help me to know myself & what you require of me. Then, give me the courage to say "No" to the wrong tasks & "Yes" to the ones to which you call me & for which I have been equipped & empowered through the Holy Spirit. Amen

07/05/2022

Resource for remote worship on national Mothers' Day, 08/05/2022

Address

150 Club Avenue, Waterkloof
Pretoria
0181

Opening Hours

Wednesday 09:00 - 17:00
Friday 08:30 - 11:00
Sunday 09:00 - 10:00

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