Hello everyone. It seems that there is better news coming for us as we slowly emerge from social restrictions and lockdowns. I am thinking about you all a lot, and truly can’t wait to see you all again.

I have been thinking about what the Lord is saying to us as New Life community. And I believe that this week, he is reminding us that he is caring for us. Jesus said not to worry about food, clothes or money. He said, even as the Heavenly Father looks after the birds of the air and the wild animals, he will also look after his own children. This word worry speaks about a preoccupation with things that cause anxiety, stress and pressure. Here Jesus is reminding us that our Heavenly Father is ever mindful of our daily needs. Jesus teaches us in the prayer he taught his disciples to pray, “give us this day our daily bread”. Jesus wants us to trust him for all our daily needs – material needs, emotional well-being, mental health and spiritual needs. He urges us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”. (NIV)

Let’s keep in mind what Jesus has been speaking to us about right from the beginning of the year – to keep our eyes on him. To trust him, to rest in him, and find our joy and peace in Him. Let us keep being kingdom minded, and the peace and joy that emanates from that place will be yours.

I invite you to call or contact us on any of the numbers on this newsletter if you are struggling in any way. We are here to help and would love to hear from you. In fact, I encourage you to drop us an email, or a text message – or pop onto our Facebook page and leave a message there. Say Hi and let us know how you are going at this time. If possible, even upload a photo so we can see your face and what you’ve been up to. It’s fun to share!!

We are praying and talking and seeking God about how we will make the transition as we move forward after the virus has passed and things go back to some kind of normal. I am hoping that many things will have changed. I hope we appreciate one another more. I hope we are not so materially minded. I hope we have a greater desire for meeting together, and that we won’t take family and friends for granted. I hope we have a greater passion for sharing the love of Jesus with others and seeing the kingdom of Jesus manifesting here on earth.

Have a great week, and may the peace of God and joy, strength and power of the Holy Spirit be yours.

Pastor Glenda

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Hello everyone from the Noordam’s “Fortress of Solitude”. 😊

With Joe home on holidays we have been finding lots to do around the house. The garden is looking great, and I am cleaning bookshelves and cupboards. What tasks have you found to do? I think this time of isolation has been a wonderful opportunity to decide what things are important, to slow down a bit, and complete the jobs that have been waiting until we “have time”. A verse came to my mind the other day: Proverbs 6:6 “Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” I think there is something in this verse to consider – not just about the practical side of things, but the spiritual as well. I believe the Holy Spirit is telling us to be wise like the ants. Here we have time to “binge” on the word – to store up “treasure in heaven”. To get ready for the harvest. There is a strong prophetic feeling that this is a time of preparation for God’s people. Let us not waste the opportunity we have here to “be like the ant”. Use our time wisely, remembering that when Jesus returns, he is looking for people who have done what he has asked them to do, obeyed his word, and been faithful. Matthew 24 talks about “the master of the house” returning unexpectedly. We do not know the time or the hour. In Matthew 24:45 it says, “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his own household servants and feeding them.” There are people who are hungry for God’s word – they really want to know the truth that sets them free. So are you being wise? Are you storing up food ready for the harvest? I love the old King James version of the verse in proverbs … “Go to the ant, thou sluggard….” I don’t want to be a “sluggard”, do you? I hope we are all finding productive, meaningful things to do. I hope you school students are being responsible, and not complaining about your learning at home. I hope you are being reliable and following through with your tasks for the day. Both of these verses commend a person who can be faithful, even when they are not being watched or supervised. So let’s be a bit more like our friend the ant. Be wise. Be productive. Be faithful. This is the kind of person Jesus is looking for when he comes back in the fullness of time.

Have a great week – don’t forget to learn the memory verse from Sunday’s sermon.

Romans 8:9 (a) “But when the Spirit of Christ empowers your life, you are not dominated by the flesh, but by the Spirit…” (TPT)
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh, but in the realm of the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.” (NIV)
“But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.”

Have a great week.
Many blessings,
Ps Glenda

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