THANKSGIVING (Just a thought... (Letter from Theo))

Dear Emmanuel an Grace Family
This mail is the result of some thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head and I'm sharing them with you just because I have felt prompted to do so. This is not part of the church's programme, this is not going to be an event at the church, this is just an "idea-pebble" that I am throwing into your ponds to see what ripples might result...

For some time I have been thinking about the American and Canadian customs of observing Thanksgiving.
In the USA it is on the fourth Thursday of November...
Bill Hybels commented that the public holiday of Thanksgiving has "institutionalised gratitude" and this has captured my imagination. If I think of the challenges and proliferation of bad news and cynicism in our country, we might benefit greatly from doing something similar on an informal basis.

The basic thought around Thanksgiving is that it originated as a Harvest Festival / Celebration of safe travelling. It centres around a meal that is eaten in a celebratory awareness of and gratitude for God's providence and bounty in our lives. In the States there are all sorts of traditions: Roast Turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, roast potatoes, sweetcorn etc. But I think the more important menu items are a deep sense of thankfulness, togetherness with loved ones, laughter and warmth.

I wonder if it isn't time we make an effort to "institutionalise" gratitude in our setting!
So here's my suggestion:
Set aside the evening of Thu 22 Nov for a Thanksgiving Dinner:
- Arrange a special meal (Braai, roast, turkey - doesn't matter)
- Make an effort in the setting up - play some good music in the background, decorate, dress up
- Invite folk to share in the meal with you - doesn't have to be family
- Explain in the invitation and at the outset of the meal that this meal is a celebration of God's goodness
- Invite the people around the table to share ways in which God has been good to them.
- Write down a special "grace prayer" and have one person or everyone read it together.

The bottom line is a celebration of thankfulness and I think for those of us with kids this is particularly important. I am aware that this is a "school night" and I have some thoughts about another date in future (see below) but for now, let's go with what we have.

So here's the challenge: Put together a thanksgiving celebration
- You can have it as immediate family (and let it be an intimate celebration of God's goodness)
- or you can throw the net wider to include friends or family
The important thing is that it is not just "another Sunday lunch", it is about giving thanks.

In our context it might be better to have a "Thanksgiving" in June/July and I would love to hear people's thoughts on that, but seeing as the year is almost over, let's just go with the traditional USA date and if folk find it meaningful, go with a winter date next year.

So there it is:
"Splash!" an idea pebble in your thought-pond.
There is so much that God has blessed us with - it is "good to give thanks to the Lord" (Psalm92:1)
I'd love to know what you think!

God bless!
Theo

Bandana Sunday 2012

Every year we buy and wear bandanas in support of the sunflower foundation to raise funds for those suffering from leukaemia and related illnesses.

Our services were well attended and many bandanas were sold making a special difference to the Sunflower Foundation.

Here are some photos from the Emmanuel Service...

 Here are some photos from the Grace Service...
 

Global Leadership Summit 2012

Each year we have managed to take a crowd of folk off to the Global Leadership Summit. After two years at Hatfield Church, the Summit was held at Mosaiek Church in Florida and we were graciously hosted by the wonderful people of this congregation.

Once again we were exposed to some incredibly inspirational speakers and experiences. We returned from the Summit energised and enthused to continue doing God's work and to make a difference in His name.

Young Adults attend the Passion Concert at Centurion Cricket Stadium

Louis Giglio, Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels came to South Africa to run a number of Passion Conferences.

Passion Conferences are part of the "268 Generation Ministries" which strive to "...unite students in worship and prayer for spiritual awakening in this generation," using Isaiah 26:8 as their theme verse: "Yes Lord, walking in the way of Your truth we wait eagerly for You, for Your name and renown are the desire of our souls."

Five of our young adults attended and we were blown away by the number of people who gathered for the event - the stadium was chock-an-block - as we were also blown away by the powerful worship and the message from Louis Giglio.

New Data Projectors

We wanted to run a special series in the congregation, but we needed to be able to show video-clips in the day time and our nine-year-old data projectors weren't up to it. As it was an unbudgeted item, the board felt we could only purchase one. But it worked so well that a member of the congregation donated a second one!! Then when our old computer wasn't up to showing videos with high frame-rates, another member kindly donated a new computer! What an awesome congregation we have!

Confirmation Service 2012

 

We had six teens being confirmed this year: Teneal Brown, Jamie Catterick, Thomas Gray, Stephanie Schoeman, Kaycee Skinner and Michael Volschenk. The service was a special blessing and it was wonderful to have the parents come up to pray with and commit their children to the Lord in prayer.

Even birds find nests!

One of the lovely things that happens each year is that birds make their nests on our property. Over the years we have had Crowned Lapwings, Blacksmith Lapwings, Dikkops and most recently some Egyptian Geese visited too.

Lazarus our Gardener carefully erects barrier tape around the nests so that cars and kids don't squash the eggs and everyone is delighted when they hatch!

Lenti goes to Mabopane

Lentikile Mashoko was a Probationer Minister under Theo at Emmanuel a few years ago. We rejoiced when he was ordained at Mamelodi Gardens Congregation and then again when he was married to Tumi and then when their son Rorisang arrived.

Recently Lenti was called to Mabopane Congregation and it was with great joy that we were part of that joyous service. Theo was privileged to preach the charges and a contingent of Emmanuelites came along to the service.

Confirmation Camp

Keeping the fires of faith burning...
Over the years we have honed our confirmation process. Most of the basic teaching takes place on a Sunday Morning in our TAG (Teens And God) class where a team of about six adults dedicate themselves to give their best to our teens in a teaching program designed to equip them with the lifeskills of faith.

Then the teens meet with Theo and Craig for two or three Sunday afternoons to deal with the creeds and some of the meatier issues of faith. Then we have the confirmation camp. Interestingly, we don't head off into the wilderness but rather have a sleepover in the church. We start with an enjoyable braai and then a thought provoking movie ("Flywheel") which provides the basis for a number of the discussions we have the next day.

We find that the teens connect well and ask meaningful questions. Craig spoils us by taking care of all the logistics and providing delicious meals and we usually end with a braai where we are joined by parents and elders.

We had a wonderful group of young people this year and are excited about their potential in the life of the church in the years that lie ahead!

Our dedicated Musicians

 

Music at Emmanuel is a fun affair! We have lots of people involved and it is a lot of fun. Our musicians play because they love God and they love music.
 
They are dedicated and practise regularly and it is fantastic to have both young and old coming together to enjoy the wonder of music and to "plumb the depths of love Divine" in lyric and music.

Our Music Team has often gone the extra mile for special events like broadcasts and carol services.
 

We pay tribute to our Musos: Guitars, Keyboards, Strings and Winds along with the occasional percussion.
 


We must also mention our Sound Box team and the hard work they put in behind the scenes.
 

Thanks to our Musos and Sound Engineers!!!