Young Adult Easter Convention...

If you are a Young Adult, you'll know that April rhymes with YA Easter Convention!
This year however, March rhymed with YA Easter Convention, Easter being early and all... In fact, neither April nor March rhymes with 'convention' but in our mind, it does!!!
So for many of us, from Friday the 21st until Monday the 24th of March, young people from the Western Cape met in the amazing campsite of Rocklands. What a better place to start the week-end by just being reminded of what an artist God is!! The view is quite stunning.
We were also spoiled with two great speakers, the one is Justin Mote from England and the second is Gary Rohm from Table View.
Gary gave some talks on 1 Peter and encouraged us to stand firm in a world that doesn't like followers of Christ.
Justin opened the book of Acts. It was such an encouragement to see how the Gospel moved to the end of the earth.
Going through Acts 9 with Saul's conversion, it was interesting to see how God uses Saul's persecution of the church and turns it into Saul's conversion to eventually Saul's commission - now called Paul - to go into that same town,Jerusalem for work of evangelism!! God has a certain sense of humour!!
It is a great encouragement for us, when we feel that we are just not worthy of our salvation, to see that even the worst of sinners (as Paul calls himself) has been changed by God as an example of mercy.

We also had a chilling session of Acts 10 and 11.
KILL AND EAT!!
The vision of Peter explained! The Gospel is for ALL of us, Jews and Gentiles! How grateful must we be that we've been included! I was very challenged about the warning not to be prejudiced against, race, nationality, culture...or anything that is somehow remoted from us.

Another challenging session for me was one where we were reminded of how persecution is often a good thing for the church. In the time of Acts, the Gospel spread because of persecution. God does promise us that our sufferings here are not in vain but for our good - meaning our godliness. Do we live our lives in that light, knowing that our suffering might actually be beneficial to us, and ultimately to the church?

All in all, it was a great conference,of which I can only write a few extracts.
If you would like to write the striking bits you heard or the challenging talks you've attended or just share the good pictures you took, please contact me!!! I would love to add them here!
But enough of writing, here are some pics!

These are our 2 speakers. Justin with big gestures, and Gary, deep in the Bible...



We had some questions and answers' sessions, with both of them. They did a remarkable job at answering on the dot questions that would take me hours of prep!!!



We obviously had some singing time before the sessions. Allen is fantastic to get the crowd in the right mood, to sing with conviction about what we sing. We sang songs in different langages, english, Xhosa and Afrikaans (nothing in french though...). The afrikaans one was one of the most beautiful ones!!


This was some Xhosa singing, with the famous groove that the african way adds to the singing!! With Craig, the second most famous white zulu, awesome!!




We also had some interviews. Those are two guys from Kayelitsha...


The convention was also characterised by lots of praying time. After some of the sessions, we broke into predetermined groups and chatted about what challenged us, and prayed about it. It was also a nice way to meet some people that we wouldn't have met otherwise.


There was also some tennis table playing...


...and some very noisy eating sessions!!


And always lots of time for fun and fellowship...



I can't wait for next year!!

And then he sang...

This is our After 8 room, it does need some improvement but on a night with quality music, a few candles were enough to give it a certain je-ne-sais-quoi.

And then he sang...
Not much to say in this post. It's about beautiful songs that were performed just for us at After 8.
Derek is leaving beginning of April to England for a year. We wish you all the best there, but really hoping you'll come back.
Here are a few shots (quite blurred) of the night.



Steven accompanied Derek for a song or two, another (very) talented musician. Steven is actually helping Derek to put into place his debut album. It should be quite good. A launch is planned somewhere end of March.




The congratulations of the fans at the end of the show...




...and the real life of an artist, packing up everything!!


Till next time...

Sowing and reaping fruit - not a post on gardening...

When I think of resentment, bitterness, hurt feelings... I tend to think of an old woman that has been left by her husband with her 2 kids to raise on her own.
An old woman that has never had the courage - or trust - to forgive the pig, sorry I mean the husband.
An old woman who is now living with all these feelings that she has cherished over time.
But is this a realistic picture? Am I too young, or too carefree to be filled with resentment, bitterness or anger. Are those feelings really directed towards the person that has hurt me or towards a God that I struggle to trust to take care of me?

I must say that yesterday morning service challenged me. And not only the sermon, but also the prayer that Graham led.
To pray for the people that feel overwhelmed with life, people that feel they have been wronged, people that think that life isn't fair, people that often blame others for their problems instead of examining themselves... well, to pray for all those people, I'm afraid includes most people. I don't know about you, but it definitely includes me. Do I not feel resentful towards my husband when my desires haven't been met? Do i not get angry when the people in my life don't meet my expectations? Then what happens to those feelings? I have a feeling (another one!) that they don't breed righteousness, godliness and Christ-likeness.

After the prayer came Ross who preached about sowing to the sinful nature and reaping, funny enough, the fruit of the sinful nature. Although immediately in my mind I think that I'm off the hook, it left no doubt as to the end result of those seemingly small and justified emotions that haven't been dealt with.
It's easy to think that because I don't cheat on my husband, because I don't steal in the shop, because I'm honest even to the point of pointing out to the cashier that she forgot to scan one article, and because I'm dedicated not only to my children, but also committed to my help my friends, then I'm not sowing to the sinful nature.
These are sure signs that I'm sowing to the Spirit. And yes it is! But what about those feelings mentioned earlier?

Can the sowing to the Spirit in most areas of my life erase the sowing to the sinful nature in those much less obvious other areas? Those safely guarded in my heart, hidden from everybody - sometimes even hidden from myself? How easy it is to deceive ourselves! How easy it is to justify a deserved anger, a reasoned resentment or an inevitable bitterness!
Do I not sow to the sinful nature when I nurture my grudges? What kind of consequences in my life can I expect if I cling to my disappointments and refuse to let go? How will I treat my family if I'm angry with them for what they did in the past? As Ross said, if I sow resentment, I will surely not reap love and happiness.

What then gets in the way of a forgiving heart, even when I have been wronged? My trust in God gets damaged every time I am hurt by someone. People often say 'you must just trust God' and although I understand the meaning of the sentence (even though I'm french!), it's harder to understand the application of it.
But on Sunday, I was reminded once again that I must trust God, even when I have been wronged, even when I just want to go and tell the person that hurt me exactly what I think.
Trusting God means that I can let go of those feelings and not be worse off. I can trust God for my 'emotional' well being.
Trusting God means that my heavenly Father knows that by not seeking to be proven right, by not demanding justice be done, I will be better off because I will have grown into godliness, I will have sown to please the Spirit and I will reap fruit of the Spirit, Christ-likeness, and ultimately eternal life!!
Pfew, what a journey!
I'll finish with this verse from Galatians 6 (this whole chapter is just very 'loud and clear') but verse 7 is frightening (if we look at ourselves,and not if we are hoping that the-friend-that-hurt-you-so-badly is reading it!)
'Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows'.
Obvious sowing, and less obvious sowing.
Happy gardening!!

Hidden talent...

This is a short post for good news.
Derek, our Derek - let's claim him before the world does! - should and will perform for us, in our own church on Sunday the 24th of February at After 8.
Derek describes his music as mellow and acoustic. If you go on his website at www.myspace.com/derekleisegang you can listen to 2 of his songs, Greenpeace and Set me sailing. There is some beautiful hidden talent in our YA.
Make it a date in your busy social schedule to stay at After 8 in two Sunday time!
You will see that I also added a link to his website. Go check it out and enjoy the melodies...
Now I would love to add some kind of link that would play the music but my knowledge of these things is very limited. Please someone help me!!

First social...

The one day that God decided to cut down the wind and give us scorching heat was...on the day of our social at Kirstenbosch! I don't know about you but I was really hot, too hot. It was also crowded, very crowded, but not necessarily by our own people. It seems that we had taken the prime spot for children-at-Kirstenbosch since the fishing club of mums-and-tots had planned to sit by the river.
However for most of us - those who don't have to worry about the whereabouts of their precious offpsring - it didn't matter.
Quite a few people managed to make it. I think we were about 40 people, with most of our leaders there!
Tiff and Dave organised the who-bring-what side of the social and even though it's not an easy job to plan for an event with an unknown number of people, they did a very good job. We did have an overwhelming amount of cross-buns, croissants, yahourts, muesli, drinks... Well we certainly didn't leave hungry, hot and sweaty no doubt, but not hungry!
As for the social side, well social is social. I'm hoping that there was some good discussions going. I heard and witnessed lots of laughing, chatting so I'm assuming it was a good time for everybody!

In my well-prepared manner :) I did bring my camera because photos speak louder than words. In my bad-organisation manner, my camera had no more battery :( but hubby-hub-nuch rescued me with his super-duper newly-upgraded cellphone camera.
The photos are a bit blurry but there are here nonetheless!





I even managed to get a pic of one of the most handsome guy present... No, not the one with head down!

What do you mean I'm biased??

For a first social, it went pretty well. We should have had more people though, but they missed out!!
Til next time... smile!

After 8...

What happens after 8 on a Sunday? No, it's not the Etv movie with Chuck Norris (!!)
For us at St James, it is our own After 8!!
After an amazing sermon by Mervyn on Genesis, yesterday was the start of After 8 for the year. No proper schedule yet, no big bash but what a better way than to start with testimonies on how God called two of His children to live a life pleasing to Him. Chris and Cheryl (see previous post) were asked to share how they came to understand that living a life without Jesus at the centre was pointless and literally depressing - for Chris. Whether they surrendered to Jesus at an early age for Cheryl or whether it took a bit longer for Chris, they both stand firm in the knowledge that only God could save them from their sins and are since then living a life passionately to serve Him.
For the whoooo and the aaaahh of the story we heard how these two met. We're not quite sure if Cheryl didn't want to speak to Chris at first and/or if Cheryl bluntly came to introduce herself to Chris but the fact is they got married almost 3 years ago. They knew that Jesus was at the centre of their relationship and that, mixed with butterflies in the stomach makes for a solid marriage.

Apart from the testimony time, After 8 is also a place designed for 18+ and twenty-somethings to just hang out after the service. We meet upstairs next to the Coffee Shop (with subsidised food and drinks to fit the budget). Ok, the room isn't as welcoming as... I don't know, more welcoming rooms, but we would appreciate your suggestions and your willingness to help us put them into actions!! If you want to repaint the room, get more couches, add candles or anything else, come and speak to us and we can help you make it happen.
In the meantime, here are a few pictures of what it's like to be part of God's family.
I apologise for the bad quality of the pictures, the lighting was not good and I don't know why my flash didn't help...


Candice with the 'béret' and her amazing voice. We're waiting to hear her again! Sorry I don't know the young man's name that seems to be in favour of Candice!



In the middle, another talented musician. Derick, you actually have to perform for us before you leave!




Chris and Cheryl being interviewed, deciding who played what role in the meeting...

Meeting the SLOBs

Who knows what SLOB stands for?

Chris and Cheryl are one pair of our leaders. They are, what our previous Young Adults pastor used to call, SLOB leaders. It sounds a bit bluuuurgh to me but it actually means something - which I can't remember right now - something about senior leaders. Basically they are leaders, training other leaders, in their case the Romans leaders.
Every Wednesday, before our 7.30 Bible Study, the leaders have to meet to be trained themselves so that they can actually deliver a Bible Study that will be truthful to the word of God, and not some odd ideas about what they think the Bible is saying.
So now those of you who are studying the book of Romans with us this year can have your mind put at ease knowing that not only your leaders are trained beforehand, but they are in very good hands with their own leaders Chris and Cheryl.

On Thursday evening we had the SLOB leaders at our house for dinner. I enjoyed it, I'm hoping they did too. Besides Chris and Cheryl, we had Leon, the other SLOB leader and Sarah-Jane his girlfriend. Leon is responsible for the Mark leaders, but we're not going to talk about Leon now because there is too much to say :) (He is such an easy target for teasing, but I love you Leon!!)
Here is a picture of those very much appreciated teams.






What was particularly nice on that evening, besides Leon, was to see their commitment, motivation and desire to serve the Lord in this way and to be ready to put time and effort in not only teaching the Bible faithfully but also to engage the people in their care at a more personal level.
Being part of God's family means that we need to get to know other Christians on a deep level to help each other to remain strong and firm in our walk with the Lord. We cannot do that if we are on our own with no one to encourage us when things are tough, challenge us when our decision making fails us and rebuke us when we allow the sinful nature to take over.
Please remember your leaders in your prayer time!
Til next time...

CHAOS?

Wednesday 23rd of Jan... Our first bible study!
You would think that after the 2 month break, we would have had enough time to get everything set and ready?
Mmmh no! Well yes but not 100%!
I remember a long time ago, we used to have these Sacred Cows evenings where a provocative statement or a misunderstood verse of the Bible would be thrown out there and discussed. The one time, Mervyn said "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly". Ah ah!! Now, I apologise in advance, Mervyn, because I don't really remember what he said after that but one thing remained stuck in my mind (probably because not being a perfectionist, it suited me just fine). You see, God being perfect and sinless, He cannot be with sin, which inevitably causes some problems for us, being sinful and all. So the only way to have a relationship with Him is to be seen as perfect - and that can only happen if we are seen through Jesus Christ. So God might see us through Jesus if we have accepted Him as our Saviour and Lord, but that doesn't make us like Jesus. We certainly strive to be like Him but will never get there, until we die.
All this long story to come to the point where Mervyn actually concluded that being a perfectionist is silly because things - and people - here on this earth will never be perfect. Perfection belongs to God only.
...
Now about our Bible Study, organisation was definitely not perfect but the evening was great. Wasn't it? Not heaven perfect, but the atmosphere was filled with christian fellowship and teaching.
We had about 70+ people that came. It's the big bulk of our YA community.
We welcomed the new freshly-out-of-school YA!! Welcome to all of you :)
We've been building over 3 years different Bible studies. Last year, we had a Mark's gospel study usually for the new comers and a Romans study for the rest. This year, we build on them and we now have a Bible Overview study. So far we have 3 tables of each study, with about 7 people per table.
It felt crowded, noisy, overwhelming, exciting, maybe even chaotic but everyone sounded buzzing with joy over the new year to come.
Here are some of our tables, catching up, introducing the new people and just chatting away.









Then Phillip took us into 1 Thessalonians 1 for an introduction of when and why Paul was writing to that church. This church was quickly built by Paul during his missionary voyages but he had to leave shortly after because of persecution. But his heart and his mind stayed with them and he was so worried about them that he finally sent Timothy to get the fresh news. And what news! Paul - who was concerned that they might have fallen away because he didn't really have the time to properly establish the church - was filled with thankfulness to God about the good news. Not only have the Thessalonians stood firm in spite of their sufferings, but their faith has now spread everywhere.
What a testimony to the power of God's Gospel! This is what the Gospel does. It produces faith with good work, labor motivated by love and is rooted in the hope we have in Jesus Christ!!

And that is only chapter 1!!

A NEW BEGINNING

So here we are, in 2008!
It's a new year for the life of our Young Adults at St James. A new year but the same missions. The same as it has always been since the beginning, and that is to learn more about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to understand him better so that we can follow Him in truth and in love.
How do we do that in a world that teaches us that there is no absolute truth, a world where right and wrong is all relative to each other's value system?
For us as Young Adults christians, it means that we turn to the only source of knowledge and wisdom, the Bible written by God's inspired men.
And that is what our Young Adults ministry is made up of:
* weekly Bible Studies where we find ourselves around tables and around God's word to study it and discuss it.
* regular socials (well hopefully with much work and organisation skills!)to get to know and love each other better so that we can spur one another on to good works.
* camps throughout the year where we go on a retreat for a week end to learn some more about our relationship with God and with each other.

In between, we also come together at church on a sunday morning and evening. Evening is particularly designed for us. The sermons are more Young Adults (YA) oriented and the music is loud - well loudER than in the morning!
On a well organised Sunday, there is a programm organised after church - After 8 - where some interesting people come and share what the Lord has done in their life, and how they serve Him. Other times a topic might be discussed. But After 8 is a programm under construction!
So it's a full schedule, full programm, tons of exciting things to look forward to.

This blog is one of the new things happening. It's an exciting project (for me at least!)and I pray firstly for time to manage it but also I pray that it will be a read that will be encouraging to other people to see how amazing and faithful God is and how He can work miracles in our lives by turning our hearts of stones into hearts of flesh, hearts that will have a desire to be living lives pleasing to Him.

So stay tuned!