Therefore I Will

This month Perry is revisiting the Therefore I Will sermon series, which is a continuation of the sermon series of the same name that we started in May of this year. So far we have looked at the 1st 4 clauses of the Soldiers Covenant:

“I will be responsive to the Holy Spirit’s work and obedient to His leading in my life, growing in grace through worship, prayer, service and the reading of the Bible.”

“I will make the values of the Kingdom of God and not the values of the world the standard for my life.”

“I will uphold Christian integrity in every area of my life, allowing nothing in thought, word or deed that is unworthy, unclean, untrue, profane, dishonest or immoral.”

“I will maintain Christian ideals in all my relationships with others; my family and neighbours, my colleagues and fellow Salvationists, those to whom and for whom I am responsible, and the wider community.”

To view this weeks Sermon Transcript check out the link under Current Sermon Series which is a recap of what we have covered to date.

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Sunday Sermon

I’ve uploaded the transcript of this mornings Sermon in which Annette shared about the value of a humble offering. In the face of the world’s great needs, our Self Denial Appeal offering may look small. But images from Scripture of an ordinary life, a little boy’s lunch, a cup of cold water, a few mustard seeds, and a widow’s offering, all tell us that God can take the most humble thing and multiply and magnify, expand and enlarge it into something great that will make a difference in the world.

Jesus commends the ‘poor’ widow for giving “all she had to live on.” This is courageous giving and espouses great trust in God to provide for our needs – To read this and the previous messages that make up the Sermon Series ‘Planting Seeds of Hope’ which coincides with this years Self Denial Appeal follow the link above or download this weeks message here.

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Candidates to be hosted

The Southland branch of the National Council of Women will host a candidate’s evening on September 9. All candidates standing in all southern electorates as well as Southern Maori Te Tai Tonga have been invited to attend.

The evening will be at the Invercargill Salvation Army Citadel in Tay St, starting from 7:30pm. There will be a gold coin donation at the door.

Candidates attending are:

Invercargill: Labour, Lesley Soper; National, Sarah Downie; Green Party, David Kennedy; NZ First, Ria Bond; Democrats for Social Credit, Stephnie de Ruyter.

Clutha Southland: Labour, Liz Craig; National, Todd Barclay; Green Party, Rachael Goldsmith; Democrats for Social Credit, Jason Jobsis; Independent Coalition, Karl Barkley.

Te Tai Tonga: Green Party, Dora Langsbury; Labour, Rino Tirikatene.

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Sallies tighten up

Sallies tighten up: Restrictions unfair, says regular client

The Sallies Kitchen run by the Salvation Army has been forced to impose rules on when people arrive and is asking for donations for the meals…

This was the front page headline that the Invercargill Eye ran on Thursday 21 August 2014. The following article written by Brittany Pickett from our perspective didn’t tell the whole story though….  

The Sallie’s Kitchen has placed new restrictions on Invercargill’s needy. Run by the Salvation Army, the kitchen provides meals to people in need on a Tuesday.

Regular visitor Michael Ward is concerned the new restrictions are excluding a lot of the people who are truly in need. Now he has seen people being shut out for not arriving on time, he said.

"There were still empty tables in there and they were turning people away," he said. The kitchen had also been asking for money for the meals. "Some people can’t afford it," he said.

In March, the Salvation Army had been facing surging demands for their services but Ward was upset because people he knew needed help were not able to get into the meal. "I thought the Salvation Army were there to help people not to turn them away," he said.

Salvation Army Captain Perry Bray said the demand for their meals had been overwhelming the group. "What was happening previously, we were having two sittings and it was getting out of control," he said. There was now just one sitting and people had to arrive and be seated by noon, Bray said.

What the group was trying to do by putting these parameters in place was to just help the people who really needed assistance, rather than just "feeding addictions. A lot of needy people are still coming through for assistance," he said.

Seeing so many people still in need was upsetting because the group was there to help people. Asking people for a small donation to go towards the meal was to help pay for the provision of the food, he said. Not all of their food was donated and they had to purchase supplies for their meals, he said.

Salvation Army Major Jan Smithies said reducing the meal to one sitting was partly to aid the aging volunteers. "Is there a way that we can make it less strenuous for volunteers but still meet the need if there’s a need there?" she said.

They used to serve upwards of 100 people but were now catering for a more manageable 45 to 50 people, who were the most in need, she said.

The donations were not compulsory for diners. "Of course if they haven’t got it they won’t be turned away," she said. The aim of the Salvation Army is to give a hand up, not a hand out, she said. "It gives people a sense of dignity, it’s not just a hand out," she said. If 30 of the people were able to give a dollar it would help pay for the next week’s meal, Smithies said.

The report failed to mention that we were serving up to 100 people, but since S.I.T. who are now providing assistance for students, the numbers of people coming through to our meal had actually decreased to about 40-50 people. Therefore, we made some changes that were communicated to both volunteers and clients to make the meal more manageable over one sitting.

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Transforming Our World: One Message

In the latest ‘The Officer’ magazine, the title of The General’s article is “Transforming Our World: One Message – The Message of Jesus, Bringing Freedom, Hope and Life”.

He starts off by saying; Many of the public respect The Salvation Army in the main because of our work in serving suffering humanity.

In a recent televised interview (The General – Andre Cox) was asked: ‘The Salvation Army is well known for its social services and humanitarian services. How is social work in The Salvation Army enhancing evangelism in Army ministry?’

His immediate response was that the question should have been put round the other way, or perhaps even asked differently: ‘How does our spiritual and God-given calling to preach the message of transformation in Christ impact The Salvation Army’s social work?’

We can never escape the reality that all that we are and all that motivates our service stems from our personal experience of, and relationship with, the risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. If we ever deny that, we cease to be The Salvation Army!

Therefore, in all that we do, we will unashamedly communicate Christ.

He goes on to explore the personal encounter that Levi has with Jesus from Mark’s Gospel, Mark 2:13-17. The full article is available to download from here.

In closing the General says the following:

Jesus performed many miracles during his earthly ministry and he still performs miracles today through the transformation of our very human nature, motivations, thoughts and actions. Jesus has the power to change and transform our conscience and our heart. God is still in the business of transforming our world and that is the message that we are called to share faithfully with this generation!

In all we do, I (The General) pray that we will not be primarily concerned about the reputation of The Salvation Army; that we will not preach ourselves but instead work tirelessly to bring about positive change and transformation through the proclamation of the message of Jesus who alone brings freedom, hope and life.

He prays that our lives and actions will be clear signposts, leading people to discover a personal and living relationship with Jesus.

We know this stuff – right! We have territorial goals to remind us of the ‘main thing’, but the challenge is that we would communicate Christ unashamedly in everything that we do – not as an add on, or even when someone asks us. People need to know that we do … … … (you fill in the blanks) because of what He has done. They need to know that this is the predominate reason for our very being. We’ve been very good at the “walk”, we need to “walk and talk” it though.

Many people comment on our walk, they see the great work of The Salvation Army and they love us because of it; they give us sizable donations come Red Shield Appeal. But those I ask: “Do you know why we do what we do?” have no clue – sometimes because we haven’t told them.

Do you know why we do what we do?

The next time someone thanks you for the work that you do, at the Family Store; in Community Ministries; through the Bridge; as you give them a hot drink etc. Why not ask them the above question and then follow it up with another: “would you like to know why?” If they do and you have time, have a conversation, or even book a time with them over coffee and fill them in on the reason for our being…

After-all “We can never escape the reality that all that we are and all that motivates our service stems from our personal experience of, and relationship with, the risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. If we ever deny that, we cease to be The Salvation Army!”

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Sunday Sermon

I’ve uploaded yesterdays message transcript in which Annette shared about insignificant beginnings. A seed can appear small but grow, in the right environment, into a large tree.

A seed of hope; a word of encouragement can have such a profound impact on someone’s life that they experience transformation.

This is part of the Sermon Series ‘Planting Seeds of Hope’ which coincides with this years Self Denial Appeal. You can either download it by following the links on the [Pages] side menu, the link above or you can download it here.

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