Spudcaster

Reverend Heidi Petersen delivered this morning’s sermon, entitled “Unpack your bags”. It is premised on the Old Testament reading taken from Joshua chapter three and the New Testament reading from Romans 8 v 31-39. The podcast is produced as a service to the church community and friends. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

Philip Bacchioni delivered this morning’s sermon, titled “Hold up your head”. Because Reverend Heidi Petersen is away. The podcast is produced as a service to the church community and friends. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

Reverend Heidi Petersen delivered this morning’s sermon, entitled “Nothing but the Cross”. The podcast is produced as a service to the church community and friends. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

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 part one of a new teaching series entitled “Abraham’s Act of Worship. Below, you will find some notes from the episode. Enjoy listening.

Notes from this episode

ABRAHAM’S ACT OF WORSHIP Part 1 The Bible is full of instruction regarding our personal lifestyle of worship however let’s begin by examining Genesis 22:1-19 as this passage contains a number of principles that express the requirements of a worship lifestyle. We also find the first recorded biblical use of the word worship (Shâchâh – Strong’s Concordance Ref 7812) in Genesis 22:5. TESTING Verse 1: Now it was after these things that God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham.” “Hineni,” he said. In Hebrew the word hinnênî means “Here I am, you have my full attention.” We find this word hinnênî again in Isaiah / Yesha’yahu 58:9 where God says “Then you shall call, and ADONAI will answer. You will cry and he will say, “Here I am.” We can be certain of one thing and that is we will be tested in our walk with God. Testing forms part of developing our character. How we react to tests and trials will expose our character as well as our relationship with God. Acts 14:22 “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” James / Ya’akov 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. I Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Messiah Yeshua. How do you respond to trials and tribulations? Do you ask God to remove the trial from you or do you work with him through it? Are you presently going through a trial and how are you dealing with it? Can you testify to God bringing you through trials and in the process transforming you more into his likeness? REACTION AND RESPONSE We have seen how Abraham reacted when God spoke. What is your reaction and response when God speaks to you? Worship involves hearing from God. Do you know his voice? Yeshua says in John / Yochanan 10:4…they know his voice. LISTENING Verse 2: Then He said, “Take your son, your only son whom you love – Isaac – and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains about which I will tell you.” Here we read that God gave Abraham an instruction. Notice however that God only told him to go to the land of Moriah. Further instructions would be given later. Our walk with God is exactly the same. God gives us general instructions and as we obey and move in faith, he then gives us the specifics. Worship is not a monologue but rather a dialogue as it involves God speaking to us as well. How do you know when God is speaking? One of the first things we need to ask ourselves when we believe God is speaking to us it does it line up with the Word of God. If it does not, then it’s not from God. That which we hear, must be confirmed. God always confirms his Word to us. Never rush into something but rather wait upon the Lord for his direction and confirmation. Does what we hear glorify God and draw us closer to Jesus? Remember that whatever God tells us to do will always bring him glory. Does it display the character of God and the Fruit of the Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh)? Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Ruach is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness 23 gentleness, self-control – against such things there is no law. Do you know God’s voice? When you communicate with God is it a monologue with you doing all the talking or a dialogue with you also listening? When God speaks, do you discern whether is of God or not?

Racist Judge Motata?I am quite possibly the first journalist to refer to a retired judge as a racist. Judge Nkola Motata’s conduct on the scene of an accident attracted a sanction: the Conduct Tribunal recommended impeachment. It is a topic of some debate as to whether a black person can be accused of racism. I, myself, am a proponent of the view that racism is a system whereby one group convinces another group of its superiority. That said, it would be impossible for a black man, in South Africa today, to convince a white man that he is racially inferior. This is so because white people are privileged. For all intents and purposes, they are on the top of the world food chain.

However, I do believe that it is possible for a black person to hold certain prejudices when it comes to race. And sadly, Judge Nkola Motata is no exception. He crashed his car into the perimeter wall of a residence in an upmarket suburb. He then proceeded to create an us vs them scenario on the scene. With himself and the black metro cops on one hand, and the lone white business owner on the other.

The K-wordFurther, and most egregiously, he continues to perpetuate a lie about the use of the k-word on the scene of the accident. During his conduct tribunal, and testifying in his own defence, the Judge uttered the k-word several times. He claimed the word was used against him by the homeowner. He also referenced false testimony to this effect. In South Africa today, the k-word is recognised as hate speech and is punishable by law.

But the jury is still out on whether black people can be criminally charged for using the k-word. According to Times Live “Businessman Peter-Paul Ngwenya is facing charges of crimen injuria in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court for allegedly calling Investec chief executive Fani Titi the k-word and a “Bantustan boss” in a text message. The pair have been at loggerheads after Ngwenya claimed that a business deal went sour and that he is owed R54m.” That was back in March last year.

In this podcast, we take you back to the crash scene. This is thirteen years after the fact, and long after mainstream media have left the story alone. But this story is so quintessentially about everything that is wrong with South African society. White privilege. Corruption and Ineptitude in the system. Politicians pulling the strings. Stereotypes about black people and drunkenness. Stereotypes about white people and the k-word. So journey with us on this latest podcast.

On the scene of the accident

The Judge is caught sleeping behind the wheel

Photo’s widely available on the internet

Reverend Heidi Petersen celebrates 20 years behind the pulpit of the Saint Barnabas United Church. Tributes to her life and ministry came pouring in as the Church marked the anniversary. The sermon was delivered by brother Sidney De Jongh and was based on the following scripture readings:

OT Reading: Ezekiel 37 v 1-14

NT Reading Romans 12 v 1-21

The podcast is produced as a service to the church community and friends. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

In this morning’s sermon, Neale Quilliam, a visiting pastor at St Barnabas United Church, discussed the call on Christians to add to their faith goodness and virtue. Reverend Heidi Petersen is away. The podcast is produced as a service to the church community and friends. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

In this morning’s sermon, Neale Quilliam, a visiting pastor at St Barnabas United Church, discussed how the Christian faith is coming under increasing attack. Reverend Heidi Petersen is away. The podcast is produced as a service to the church community and friends. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

Reverend Heidi Petersen delivered this morning’s Christmas day sermon, entitled “A picture perfect Christmas”. The podcast is produced as a service to the church community and friends. So visit the Spudcaster page for more podcasts.

More than half of South Africans are hungry. And yet there is sufficient food in the country to sustain everyone. So, why would the World Health Organization have to elevate food to a basic human right? The commodification of this precious resource is the source of the evil. And ordinary people don’t know how to keep the wolf from the door. Spudcaster spoke to Brittany Kesselman, a food-rights activist, and produced this podcast.

List of credits: “Uniq – Art of Silence” is under a Royalty Free music license. Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/er–pnwFDgU

The World Future Council: https://www.worldfuturecouncil.org › the-city-that-beat-hunger

Al Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2010/03/201032475337434970.html

Danny Booysen: post-production and editing

Additional resources: South African Survey

The City of Belo Horizonte