From Pastor’s Pen May | June 2021

These are some of the words that I associate with Easter and the time of the church year we are in. Moving just out of Easter in April into the beginning of the time of Pentecost. For the new church this was a time of uncertainty. They were uncertain of how to do their tasks, they were uncertain of who should lead them, they were uncertain of where and to whom they should share this message of resurrection, of life, of excitement of joy, of a new beginning and of a revival in the relationship one can have with God. Together with this the resistance against the Jesus movement, the new church, was also growing in a very visible and physical way, bringing fear into the equation. What was the early church to do? For our congregation we also come with questions in this time. We wonder how we are to live out this beautiful message of God’s love for the world. Are we to commit fully now? How does committing fully look? Are we to start slowly, as there are still uncertainties regarding COVID and the regulations that go with that? What will we have this year? What are we as a church to do?

For the early church, the answer came from God the Holy Spirit by giving and revealing to the believers their gifts and abilities. This made the proclamation of God’s choice for the world, Jesus’ sacrifice for the world and the Holy Spirit’s presence among them possible. The gifts and abilities they had, led them to the roles that they played, each individual suited for a task. Not all were missionaries and not all were there for pastoral care. For our own congregation this is still true. All members of the congregation have gifts and abilities that they can use for the growth of the congregation, for the upliftment of the community and for the spreading of the Word of God. Last year as we had lockdown, we also had a soup kitchen. Members from our congregation and community saw a need, where they could play a role and they did. God’s love for all people was shown in this wonderful act. How are we to act this year? The many questions that go with this time of year go hand in hand with the many opportunities we have. At our committee meeting we had a great discussion sharing some of the focus point where we can see revival is necessary and those points were; growing the community of our congregation again, reaching out to fellow believers and building those relationships. The next two points were like what we had last year and that is to do something in the community for those in and around our church, by using the gifts and abilities the Holy Spirit has given us.

These are things that excite me, as I know there is so much we can do and so many abilities in our members.

Lent was a challenging time for us and the country. We had many uncertainties in what is going to happen next and we still do. I hope you took some time in Lent to think about the road Jesus walked for you and also took time to think about your own life and how you experience God in your day to day. Going into Pentecost let us take time to think about the early church and how they had to live with the challenges of the time, to be the body of Christ in their time. Let us also think about our context and our members, our community and let’s ask that the Holy Spirit lead us in this time, to show us our gifts and abilities and to lead us where we can live love, share kindness and bring hope.

Pastor Schalk Treurnicht