I was very happy to see this exciting news as I opened up e-Sword on my computer this morning.
I've been using e-Sword as my go to Bible program on my computer for years, and to now have this gem on my phone is a huge blessing.
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The Finnie family in Blighty, December 2021
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Dean and Paula pastor The Gathering together -
The Gathering -
Baptisms at The Gathering -
Preparing to serve at The Gathering's Soup Kitchen -
Soup Kitchen Welcome To 2022 lunch
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Serving hands - the heart of The Gatheirng -
Thankful Thursdays -
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HOPE Home Based Care Team -
Gathering Ground -
Staying fit as a family -
The Helderberg - The prettiest of the mountains we face
Showing posts with label bible study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bible study. Show all posts
During lockdown I've written four posts so far about books, which would suggest books are quite important in our house. Three of those posts were on the theme of 10 Books I Have Loved and the other post was about Lockdown Reading, looking at the books I have read in the first few weeks of lockdown. I will post Part 2 of that soon.
Q is for QuarrelsomeBefore I get myself into trouble let me state that my amazing wife is NOT a quarrelsome wife!
I've chosen Q for quarrelsome today to highlight some of my favourite verses in the bible, or perhaps I should be clearer and say that I'm highlighting some of the verses that I think are funny.
Proverbs 21 verse 19 is a great place to start: "Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife." I love the humour of this one and so too did the psalmist as he put it in there twice, see 25:24!
Proverbs 27 verse 15 is also in there twice and is also quite amusing. "A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;"
One of my favourite quotes from Wiersbe which I feel is particularly pertinent to those of us in church leadership. I'm convinced more leaders would at least look wise, even if they're not, if they exercised Wiersbe's advice.
We had an excellent bible study in Chris Nissen this morning. We were looking at the story of Samson as part of our series on Famous Bible Stories. The aim of the series is to equip the men with a good basic knowledge of where the famous stories are in the bible and what they're about.
Anyway, this morning we were looking at Samson asking the question; was his a wasted life or not? We came to the conclusion that his life was wasted but ultimately God triumphed and something good came out of it. We then sought to apply Samson's story to our own lives, what can we learn and how can we make sure we don't live empty wasted lives? Each of my men agreed that they want to live lives which reflect God's glory so that we can win the community for Christ. I was so proud of them for this!
Anyway, this morning we were looking at Samson asking the question; was his a wasted life or not? We came to the conclusion that his life was wasted but ultimately God triumphed and something good came out of it. We then sought to apply Samson's story to our own lives, what can we learn and how can we make sure we don't live empty wasted lives? Each of my men agreed that they want to live lives which reflect God's glory so that we can win the community for Christ. I was so proud of them for this!
For the last three years I've tried many times to help Peter get an ID document but without success. Peter was born many moons ago on a farm back in the days when such births were not registered. For most of his life, Peter's got away without needing an ID, but now that he's sick he needs one to enable him to access the social grant. Peter and I have been to Home Affairs, the police, the magistrates court, the local social services office and a few other places in our attempts to get him an ID. Recently we sent him off to Caledon to stay with family so they could help him, but he returned after two very frustrating weeks with no joy.
Today was a really good session for the simple reason that most of my old faithfuls turned up! Eight men came today which after the last couple of weeks is brilliant. I deliberately hadn't prepared a specific study as I wanted to talk about the future of the group and the direction of it. I'm really pleased that the guys decided they do want the group to continue, but more importantly they want to get back to doing 'proper' bible studies. This means a lot more work for me but it's a price I'm happy to pay! For the last few months we've been following the same material as the rest of the cell groups but it hasn't really been very good for my study group as most aren't members of our church. So, starting next Thursday we'll begin working our way through the book of Acts, looking at it's background, context and meaning of the text.
My bible study group went for a social this morning and we were blessed with a gift which enable us to go to a steakhouse where we all had a burger, chips and coke. As a group we had not had a trip out since John (an FYP volunteer) left a year ago so fun was had by most. Unfortunately, someone said something malicious to Peter so he was in a really bad mood all morning. Also, the weather was really naff so we couldn't go for the planned stroll along the beach. However, we did have a lot of fun and agreed to make a plan for 2007 to ensure we have more trips out. Amen to that!
The good news is that Dean doesn't have TB! Praise God!! The bad news is that he's going to have to see the Dr. and try to sort out his cough and wheeziness as it's been going on for quite a while now. Dean is really frustrated as he can't shake off the cough but really doesn't want to take any more antibiotics. Probably the biggest frustration is not being able to go cycling, he's missed two rides this week and one last week, so he's trying to sort out a ride for tomorrow.
As ever, the highlight of my week is my Men's Bible Study. This morning (and next week) I got the men to share a favourite passage from scripture and explain why the passage speaks to them and why it's a favourite. Two of the men have spoken to me privately to say they can't do it but the rest are all having a go. This is great as after two years they really should be able to take some responsibility for the group and what we study. Hopefully we can build on this exercise and start to develop their Bible reading skills and encourage them to be more active in sharing their faith. Please pray for this!
For the last few days Dean has been trying to help Michael sort out some alternative accommodation given that he and Joyce have been evicted from his father’s house and must leave there by midday on the 31st of March. The last two days have been particularly frustrating as we simply don’t have enough money between us to buy a ‘wendy house’ (we underestimated the full cost by half) despite some very generous gifts from some of you.
On Saturday we eventually had our much delayed trip up Table Mountain for our respective cell and Bible study groups. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in sight and no wind. We spent about 2 hours at the top and everybody appeared to have a great time. Only 2 or 3 folk had previously been up Table Mountain which made the occassion all the more special for everyone. The cable car was particulalry amusing for those who hadn't been before, especially once it started rotating after it had begun its ascent.
Left to Right: Cyril (in blue shirt),Danny, Michael, Basil, Peter, Trevor, Vicky, Alfred, Ernest & James.
As promised, here's a photo from our trip. You can see more on our Photoblog; Finnie's In Focus.This photo shows Paula with Cyril, Danny, Michael, Alfred & Peter standing over Cape Town.
We had an excellent morning looking at Job. We concentrated on the character of the man, looking at the first 2 chapters, a little at his interactions with his friends and then a bit more in depth at God's response in chapters 38 - 41 and finally God's amazing blessing on a man of great faith. Our study was followed by an excellent time of prayer which is so encouraging as I was struggling to get 2 men to commit to regular participation at the beginning of the year. Praise God! We now have between 8 & 9 men each week and look to be growing.
On Thursday Dean's Bible Study met in the containers in CNP again, after a few months of not being allowed access. Praise God! It looks like we'll be able to meet in there each Thursday which will be so much better as it is so big. Also, this means as a group we can grow, which is one of our key aims for next year. Please continue to pray that we would be allowed to use the container without all the nonsense of CNP internal politics getting in the way.
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