Welcome to Evangelical Lutheran Congregation Kempton Park

P.O.Box 7178, 1622 Bonaero Park
26 Geldenhuys Avenue, c/o Nelson Rd
Bonaero Park, Gauteng Province, (No street deliveries) 1622
SOUTH AFRICA
+ 27 11 973 3182

Staff / Leaders

Pastor	Andreas Wernecke	Send an Email...
Evangelism and Communication	Heidi Meyer	Send an Email...
Treasurer	Michael Paul	Send an Email...
Secretary- Wed. and Frid am only	Tumelo (Tumi) Motswasele	Send an Email...
Secretary (Mondays) am only	Helga Tobler	Send an Email...

Weekly Schedule

Next Service Sunday 22.11.09	8.30amWorship
Sonntag 22.11.2009	10:00 Gottesdienstl
Sunday School/Kindergottesdien	8:30 am 10:00Uhr
Next Council meeting Wednesda	9thDec 09 6:30pm
Confirmation class	Tuesday 24..11
Thursdays @ 7:30pm	Brassband practice

Thirdlast Sunday of the Church Year 8.11.09

TEXT: Luke 17, 20-24 Now that we accompanied my mother during her last days in the ICU at Olivedale Clinic one does see human suffering, People lying under white sheets, tubes and monitors where you look, attentive nurses sitting at the patient´s beds, an occasional bleep telling the nurse, a drip has come to its end. One patient had a massive brain hemorridge Doctors operated on him – whether the operation was a success or not, nobody really knows not even the doctors. Someone entered the ICU and wants to lift the patient´s spirit. “ don´t worry, all will come right, even if you should not make it, don´t worry it´s ok, the Lord will make it right for you” Yes, there are so many situations in life where it seems that the only consolation one can give is the one that points beyond death towards the hereafter. Another situation, someone who has horrendous debt and sees no immediate way out, that person thinks along these lines as a possible solution to his problem: When I am dead, yes in the hereafter I will be free from my problem. Yet another person thinks to herself, ‘it seems all have turned against me’. Nobody loves me, I have no friends on this earth who stand beside me during these difficult times. Or when the best person ever in one´s life has passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly, and the sadness seems to eat one up. Can it really be true that the only consolation and answer to all this is –moenie worry nie, there is a life after all this, there is a hereafter, a life after death? Yes, the Kingdom of God is awaiting you! Some religious people say – “ look, don´t worry, Jesus is also there, where he´ll take care of you and all your troubles.” How do you feel when you hear these “caring and helping” words? If you ask me, I say to you, those words are no consolation and no help at all. It is a cheap consolation, a way to abdicate my responsibility at a crucial time of a person’s real need. Jesus will speak to us through the Gospel of St Luke this morning, and tell us what the Kingdom of God, which most people interpret as the hereafter, is all about. Jesus doesn´t speak about it as something that will happen or come our way some time in the far future . No, he wishes to tell us how relevant the Kingdom of God is for us each day of our lives, here and now. Let us sing…. Text Luke 17, 20-24- Gospel for the day Jesus says to you this morning – note that down - God´s Kingdom is right here among you and me, very present. Does that come as a surprise to you?. His message is a message of hope which is more than just a cheap consolation which is promised some time in future, at the end of times. He says: “Don´t look for signs, that are somewhere in the future. Don´t try to interpret the lightning, the wars, earthquakes or catastrophes, hoping that you´ll know when I return, or when the Kingdom is to come..” Jesus would like to focus your and my thoughts and sights on something else: “Look at me. I am with you right now. I give you hope now, hope that you can feel and through me you will experience God´s Kingdom even now. You don´t have to wait for the eternity or when you are dead. No! It is here and now. The Pharisees must have been looking very surprised at him then as some of you today look surprised. What? The Kingdom of God? Here and now? Surely we are not yet with God? Look around you, there certainly are no heavenly circumstances around us when one looks at and hears the news. Crime, murder, corruption, dishonesty and selfish greed where one looks. Kingdom of God? Iow heaven? Has certainly as yet not been created as we may expect it in the kingdom of God. Here in our world we still have War, crime and death, suffering and hunger, and it seems that nobody seriously does anything about it, to alleviate the situation.So to say God´s Kingdom is right here among us, that´s an illusion, right? And yet we pray every Sunday and whenever we say the prayer our Lord Jesus has taught us to pray, we say: your Kingdom come.” And with that we actually mean the eternal kingdom, which reaches beyond life as we know it and death. But Jesus says: The Kingdom is among you here and now. How would you imagine the kingdom to be? What is happening there in it? What can we do in the Kingdom of God and what not? I’m sure you can think of many things: Like no crime, no blatant racism, no war, no hunger or self-enrichment by the powerful. In God´s kingdom all are and have friends, nobody is persecuted, nobody needs to get cold, everybody lives a perfect and happy life.(whatever that may mean) Looking at these hopes and wishes that we have for the kingdom of God, then I realize, wait a minute, yes we could actually already have this kind of life here and now, right here in RSA where we live, among us, and that is what Jesus is teaching us this morning! Jesus even showed the people of his time, and us how that can be done. For that reason you and I have the written word. Jesus helped people: He consoled them and encouraged them. That is how he did it, that is how he physically introduced the kingdom of God into this our world then. And he told all of you when you were baptized: You! Yes, you are responsible for bringing the Kingdom of God into this community, this our country and world. I your Lord Jesus have started something for you and want you to continue with that what I have started and left with you as an example. What I am talking about is this: The nature of the Kingdom of God. Show the banner It reminds us of the day, when Jesus celebrated his last Passover with his disciples. – remember? What did Jesus do? Look at Peter, how embarrassed he looks – his Lord and Master washing his learner´s/disciples feet. It shocked the disciples. And Jesus said: Do me a favour, look at and read John 13 1-17 – Jesus said: “Now that I , your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet, I have left you an example that you should do as I have done for you.(Jhn 13, 15+16)” Jesus says: “The Kingdom is in your midst!” Therefore the kingdom of God is nothing outside of this world, but in our midst says Jesus and it needs to continue here on earth. Now, and not only when Jesus returns some day. You and I are Kingdom people, it is your and my commission “that you should do as I have done for you” says Jesus. What could that look like? Firstly we draw from the one source of energy and knowledge – the Bible – to ask for and discover God´s will for all people. We will have no share in the dishonesty, corruption and crime that presently goes on around us, all things which are driven by extreme selfishness. We are to serve the people around us. This could mean amongst many other things, visit and console people, be there for one another when someone is ill. Bring food, do the laundry, the garden and run some errands. Is someone new in your area, introduce yourself and make them feel at home. How many of us are strangers in this big city, no family or family structures around us. Christians, be extended family to each other, the helping and serving hand. The bouncing board for when someone has questions, the shoulder when one needs to cry, and so much more. (Add some ideas) What are your needs right now? Just imagine what that could do to our community, our society and country. That, dear friends is what Jesus says – when he says – the Kingdom of God is in your midst – and did they get to experience it, when he healed the sick, drove out the evil spirits, brought the dead back to life, made the blind to see, the lame to walk and when he fed the multitudes. All these things are what gives people a kingdom experience here. I think of the wonderful nurses at the ICU where my mom was, how caring and lovingly they served all their patients for long hours a day. The Kingdom of God is right among you. That is what Jesus said. Recognise that! It does happen, but the newspapers don’t report about that. Your also are part and parcel of this very movement, of God´s Kingdom which Jesus brought so close to us and which he left with us as a vivid example. Now it is up to you whether or not other people get to experience this and realise God´s presence here and now. It is upon you to make the petition of the Lord’s Prayer, your kingdom come, a matter of hope for all and that they may experience it through your doing. Amen!

We Lutherans live with the following Motto for the year 2009, taken from Luke�s Gospel, chapter 18 verse 27 " WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH HUMAN BEINGS IS POSSIBLE WITH GOD."---------- CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT At the Evangelical Lutheran Church 26 Geldenhuys Rd Bonaero Park 5th December 2009 from 6:00pm to 8:30pm 3 Choirs singing, Brassband and nativity scene Tea and Coffee served with Christmas cookies and cakes. Stalls to buy some Christmas decorations, cookies and presents. All in aid of St Francis Child Care Centre Please bring a new teddy bear for the St. Francis Child Care Centre, so that each child can receive one. ------------------------------- .--------------------

Evangelical Lutheran Congregation Kempton Park is associated with: ELCSA (N-T)
for additional information, see the denomination links.

For information about this page contact: kemptonpark@elksant.co.za

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