Spudcaster

We take a glimpse into the life and ministry of Reverend Heidi Petersen of the Saint Barnabas United Church. This forms part of the podcast ministry set up at the church. The weekly podcast features sermons with occasional profiles on aspects of ministry. Ours is a small church community. Many find value in the podcast, as a means to re-listen to a sermon or deepen one’s spiritual walk.

The Saint Barnabas United Church set up this podcast as a learning platform for its 2020 confirmation class. For more podcasts from Saint Barnabas please visit the page. Candidates are asked to please watch the video, view the slideshow and submit the form. This is episode one on The Trinity.

Charmaine Rayment is a voluntary missionary at Jews for Jesus. She has a real passion for worship ministry. Rayment has agreed to become a contributor to a podcast series called “A Life of Worship”. This is the second teaching in a series devoted to the Tabernacle, looking at the brazen altar of sacrifice and how it fits into our journey of worship. Below, you will find some notes from the episode. Enjoy listening.

Notes from this episode

music by Petra

Shalom listeners! Today we are going to look at the Brazen Altar and relate that to our journey of worship. THE BRAZEN ALTAR (SACRIFICE) The first item of furniture we find in the tabernacle is the Brazen Altar which points to Yeshua our sacrificial Lamb. John 1:29 The next day, John sees Yeshua coming to him, and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Isaiah 53:7 He (Yeshua) was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. After accepting Yeshua as our personal saviour, the next most important step is climbing onto the Brazen Altar and dying to our will and desires. Just as Yeshua came to do the will of the Father and laid down his life as a sacrifice so that we could have eternal life, so we are to submit to the will of God. Romans 12:1 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice – holy, acceptable to God – which is your spiritual service. We have been created to worship God and to do his will not the other way around. Today we are taught to pursue our dreams and desires which are generally pleasant and that God is here to help us fulfil them. I wonder what Paul’s dreams and ambitions were. I’m sure they never included suffering for the Lord and yet because he was obedient to God’s plans and purposes, we today are blessed by his writing in the New Testament. Proverbs 16:9 The heart of a man plans his course, but ADONAI directs his steps. Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the counsel of ADONAI will stand. Proverbs 20:24 A man’s steps are directed by ADONAI; he directs it wherever He wants. Have you fully surrendered your life to Yeshua? Are you walking in God’s perfect will for your life? Is there an area in your life that you need to die to and are you willing to get on that altar of sacrifice and be obedient? Does God’s plan for your life conflict with your own plans? Meditate upon Proverbs 16:9; 19:21 and 20:24. Remember that this is all part of our worship.

Charmaine Rayment is a voluntary missionary at Jews for Jesus. She has a real passion for worship ministry. Rayment has agreed to become a contributor to a podcast series called “A Life of Worship”. This is an introductory episode in a series exploring inside the tabernacle. Below, you will find some notes from the episode as well as the podcast itself. Enjoy listening.

Notes from this episode

Music performed by Sarah Liberman

Shalom listeners! Over the next few weeks, we are going to go on a journey of Biblical worship. We can learn much about worship by studying the Tabernacle of Moses, the Tabernacle of David and the Psalms. So, let’s begin this journey at the entrance of the Tabernacle of Moses. The one and only entry point to the Tabernacle was the gate and in the same way the one and only entry point to worshiping God is through His Son Jesus (Yeshua). John 14:6 Jesus (Yeshua) said to him, “I am the way, and the truth and the life! No one comes to the Father except through me.” Just as there was one entrance, 1 Tim. 2:5 states that “there is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all…” Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” In order to truly worship God, we need to have a personal relationship with Him. Worship is our response to God as He reveals Himself to us so therefore it stands to reason that we cannot worship someone whom we do not know and if we do not have a personal relationship with God, then all we have is a dead religion. The ‘Gate’ for each believer is spiritually experiencing the first of the Lord’s Feasts namely The Passover Feast which points to God’s redemption through his Son Jesus (Yeshua) who in dying for the sins of the world became the once and for all sacrificial lamb. John 1:29 The next day, John sees Jesus (Yeshua) coming to him, and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This incidentally is in fulfilment to the statement that Abraham made when Isaac asked him where the lamb was for a burnt offering. Gen. 22:8 “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering….” NB. Please read John chapter 3 on the importance of being spiritually born again. John 3:3 Yeshua answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned; but whoever does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:36 He who trusts in the Son has eternal life. He who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless My Father who sent Me draws him – and I will raise him up on the last day. Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name and perform many miracles in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ In summarising what we have just looked at, we need to understand that it is not enough just to believe there is one God. James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe – and shudder!” We have to be spiritually born again and have a personal relationship with God. In our next session, we will look at the Brazen Altar and the Brazen Laver and see how that relates to our worship lifestyle.

Under the theme “Love is rising again and again”, Reverend Heidi Petersen delivered the Easter sermon. It was created for the Saint Barnabas United Church. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

Reverend Heidi Petersen preached the message for Good Friday. It was created for the Saint Barnabas United Church. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

Reverend Heidi Petersen lead us through a moving re-enactment of the night of Jesus’ arrest. This Tenebrae Service was created for the Saint Barnabas United Church. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

the coloured questionIt is said, that in South Africa, most people classified “coloured”, can only trace their parentage back about four generations. In order to fit in, people were forced to wipe out where they came from and who they were. And that’s why nobody in my family ever spoke of the famed Ouma Titties (at least not until it was safe to do so – until long after the dawn on democracy).

Ouma TittiesThe podcast De Bijbel is part one in a series documenting my family tree. I come from a quintessential South African “coloured” family. Trevor Noah wrote a book on the subject. As a coloured person, little is known about ones black ancestry. This was a social necessity. So, when my mother alluded to a Zulu grandmother, I was intrigued to say the least. That first podcast is available below:

The forced removalsAnd so next we explore another important chapter in my family history: The forced removals. This too is a lesser told story about the crime of apart hate. And this podcast helps anchor the story, by focussing on the end product of centuries of political and economic oppression.

Reverend Heidi Petersen delivered the sermon on Palm Sunday. The Old Testament scripture reading was taken from the book of Zachariah chapter 9, verses 9-13. The New Testament Reading can be found in Luke 19:28-44. The Palm Sunday podcast was created for the Saint Barnabas United Church. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

My daughter’s school hosted an open streets event in Johannesburg recently. Following on the example of Open Streets – Cape Town, the school decided to try out the concept in Johannesburg. It combined elements of a door-to-door “get to know your neighbours” campaign with a school fete. Spudcaster brings you a sneak peak into the Joburg event.

Local universities got on board too! As expected the event made for an entertaining podcast, reflecting the ambiance of the day. The weather was cold and gloomy but it felt like we were tucked away inside someone’s kitchen. It is an amazing concept. It’s a reclaiming of public spaces into safe spaces for play.

Photographs by Chris Anderson PhotographyA tiny wire bicycle on display

A story teller enthrals her audience

A little girl is interviewed about her experience

the children used the road for chalk drawings