Reporting back... September School 2021 and Indaba 2021
Launching Building Stones
Featured articles... Amadoda KaThixo, Kings Cross Music, Hope Risen and more
Meet the church!
Welcome to the very first King’s Cross Ministries newsletter, in which we hope to keep everyone in the network connected and inspired by sharing our stories, triumphs, difficulties, joys and sorrows with one another.
With that in mind, if you have an update or story from your context, please send it to info@kingscrossministries.com
Enjoy!
CHAIRMAN'S LETTER
John D'achada
Greetings
I am excited and honoured to contribute to this, the very first King’s Cross Ministries newsletter. Many of our friends and partners, and those who have completed a King’s Cross course over the last eighteen years, have requested that we keep them informed about what God is doing within the ministry. This newsletter serves as a way of doing just that into the future.
A New Team
As chairman, a position I have been asked to serve in, I have a unique opportunity to remind us of where we started all those years ago - as well as be the older guy who keeps the stories of God’s astounding faithfulness alive. Happily, I also have the joy of casting vision into the future with a truly active and committed Board who have made Kings Cross Ministries their very own. The days of Gill and I carrying out the
instructions that the Holy Spirit gave us for King’s Cross alone are over. The time of an Apostolic, Prophetic, and Teaching team steering the ministry into the future is what we can now all look forward to.
While, at first glance, it may feel like nothing much has changed, as I have met with the Board, I have begun to realise that everything has changed for this ministry.
A New Wineskin
Kings Cross Ministries is not a new-born baby or even an awkward teenager, but a young adult that has a bright future as we follow the Biblical mandates that the Spirit gave us all those years ago in Perth Australia. We have moved from a mama/papa operation to a highly equipped, theologically sound group of determined leaders who know their calling and identity in the Kingdom of God and the church.
For those of you who do not know, King’s Cross Training (as King’s Cross Ministries was formerly known) has always had a Board that has helped to steer Gill and I through the many open doors of ministry in the past. What is different now, is that we are part of a team that is not only steering the ministry through the open doors that allow us to teach the four theologies, the Lord has asked us to co-operate with Him in becoming a new wineskin, a church-planting ministry. As such, we are committed to helping church leaders and church planters with every area needed to equip and strengthen the local, regional and worldwide church. With this change of identity and role, we have also had a change of name - from King’s Cross Training to King’s Cross Ministries.
The church will never go away, and it remains God’s primary agency for proclaiming and showing His Kingdom on Earth. So, to be invited to serve the church in a broader and deeper way, and thus see the Kingdom of God grow, is the greatest honour that the Head of the Church could ever have offered us. To do this on a team comprising so many wider associations and partnerships built up over the years, is truly very humbling.
The Way Forward
Even though we have learned so much over the years, we are being taught daily how to fulfil what God desires for His people to be a healthy witness on the earth. Jesus’ prayer for the unity of His people, as recorded in John 17, must become the cry of our hearts too (while being mindful that His prayer was not a call for us to compromise with any skewed teaching or practice that we may come across for the sake of false unity). King’s Cross Ministires, and those who choose to associate with it, must facilitate unity across all the new and existing churches. Our call is to help plant healthy churches that have unity with the other churches that have made the Kingdom of God their highest calling. This will require breaking down and pulling up the sectarian behaviour that prevents the cross-pollination of the many wonderful gifts of Christ that He has sent to His church. I pray that you will join King’s Cross Ministries in this most holy calling of responding to Jesus’ prayer for unity by the Spirit and the Word.
As the founder of the old Kings Cross Training, and now the Chairman of the new Kings Cross Ministries, I invite you to join us on the journey of planting new churches and serving future church leaders. Thank you for taking the first step on this journey by signing up to receive this newsletter, and by reading it. Please feel free to contribute by contacting any of the Board members to give us your feedback.
Your brother in Christ
John D’achada.
PROPHETIC VISION
Gill D'achada
It is a very great honour and privilege that the Lord has now released King’s Cross to become a church planting movement in our own right. It shows that a level of maturity has been reached. And, in keeping with this, every person within the movement will be ‘bumped up’ to their next level, so don’t be surprised by this – and don’t be surprised if, after the initial rush of promotion, you feel like a baby again. This is just because you have been ushered in to a new dimension of your calling and must start learning all over again – like going from Primary School to High School.
This development from training ministry to apostolic church planting movement has actually been going on, quietly, behind the scenes for a few years now. The Lord initially spoke to us about King’s Cross Training – a river – turning into King’s Cross Ministries – a delta – in 2020. While we understood the symbolism, we did not at that time understand that this meant embracing the calling to be a church planting movement, to be a united Christian civilization with a unique ethos.
What does it take to be a church planting movement? It takes movement. Upward movement, outward movement, inward movement. Upward movement entails the willingness to grow up into Christ, fruitfulness and maturity. Outward movement involves the willingness to leave our comfort zones in order to carry the message of Christ to other places. Inward movement means we need to grow in fortitude and perseverance.
Armed with the resources, tools, experience and support that we now, collectively, have, we can surely embrace this new call of God with enthusiasm and faith even though we very well know that discouragement is an every-present temptation to those who go forth to plant, especially in areas where secularism reigns supreme. May our morale constantly be lifted by the hope of the coming of the Lord. We know that he is returning soon to set up His Kingdom so let us draw comfort from that and be busy about His work while we wait for it.
There is nothing more thrilling or more important than telling a lost and discouraged world about the glories and loving-kindnesses of our God – and nothing more pleasing to Him than providing havens of healing, sanctity and support for His saints on Earth. The one’s and two’s are important to Him so don’t allow small numbers to accuse you anymore than you would permit the swelling of numbers to puff you up.
To those who are discouraged today, Maranatha! To those who are brimming with excitement over the work that is forming under their hands. Maranatha! Our Lord is coming and to Him be all the glory.
A BRANDING CHANGE
KING'S CROSS PROPHETIC DESTINY REFLECTED IN NEW BRANDING
For a brand identity to be truly powerful and inspired, it should reflect the prophetic destiny of that organisation – whether that be a business or a ministry. This is certainly the case with the new branding developed for King’s Cross Ministries.
King’s Cross Training (as it was first called) was formed in 2002 by John and Gill D’achada. At that time it’s mission was to bring glory to God and to strengthen the Church by equipping believers and church leaders in the Word of God.
Our mandate from God was to develop theological resources and training on both church and leader level to strengthen believers and the teaching ministries of churches but to do so in a way that would make theology very accessible to people. We definitely did not want to reproduce existing theological training institutions and the way they did things, so we committed to ensuring that our training was always:
Modular
You can be trained in bite-sized pieces.
Mobile
You don’t have to come to us, we’ll come to you.
Contextualised
On the right level – participants, teachers, children; in the right language (translation); encased in a culturally suitable design.
Engaging
We coined the term ‘pop theology’ to describe our mandate to make theology fun, interesting and attractive to the church.
The branding that was developed perfectly reflected this mandate. The train spoke of training and of the mobility of the ministry.
In 2020 the Lord began to subtly shift the mission and vision of King’s Cross. He showed that whereas King’s Cross Training had been a river, fast-flowing and carrying its content from place to place, denomination to denomination – it was now going to form into a Delta.
It was going to slow down and break up into many, many different rivulets and canals and channels of water and ‘drop’ its silt (content) that would become the ground upon which a new civilization would be able to form.
This was a call and a mandate to become an apostolic church planting movement in our own right.
In September 2021 all interested parties met for the very first Indaba at which the ‘new’ King’s Cross was officially inaugurated. Our name was changed from King’s Cross Training to King’s Cross Ministries to reflect the shift from a theological training ministry to a church planting ministry – a river to a Delta.
A CHURCH ON EVERY STREET CORNER
King’s Cross Ministries is a worldwide church-planting movement with a mandate to see the Earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord. It’s a lofty vision, perhaps even unattainable, but we believe that when there’s a church on every street corner, we’ll be enticingly close to realizing this vision.
VISION
Scripture: “The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord”
Habakkuk 2:14
MISSION
Develop King’s Cross Ministries into a worldwide church-planting movement until there is a church on every street corner
How: Equip and mentor house church pastors and other leaders
Identify
Develop resources in order to equip and train
Equip and train
Mentor & support as they are mobilized
VISUAL IMAGE
Our Creative Team comprising Chelsey Wilson-Roos, Gill D’achada and Don Schult was briefed to produce a new logo and new branding that would reflect the new prophetic destiny of the ministry while providing continuity from the past.
Note how the new logo still carries important symbols from the past, the train, the red circle but also shows how the train tracks turned into a river and subsequently into a Delta with fertile fields.
REPORT BACK
INDABA & SEPTEMBER SCHOOL 2021
2021 has been a year of ‘firsts’, including the inaugural KCM September School. We were pleased to welcome and host visitors and partners from outside Gauteng, including Maxwell and Grace Chembezi from Mzuzu, Malawi (Golden Diadem Church), Johan and Chelsey Wilson-Roos, Tunde Demjan and Alan Moffett from Cape Town (Coastlands City Church) and Lorie and Joana Nel from East London. There were also many friends and partners who joined in online from Middle East, UK and Australia along with a good crowd of local Joburgers.
Wow! From the get-go the unity was tangible and the Spirit of God graciously presenced Himself amongst us, sharing words of wisdom, encouragement and warning – making it plain to all that God is at the centre of this thing we’re calling King’s Cross Ministries.
Wonderful worship, led by Burger and Chelsey, was followed by inspiring teaching from John on the Lifecycle of a Healthy Church. It was intense, it was exhausting but the consensus was…it was worth it and we need to do it again.
We’ll soon be sending out a summary of the words we received from the Lord, and some of the highlights of the teaching times, so look out for that in your Inbox.
The September School culminated with our first ever King's Cross Ministries annual Indaba.
The purpose of the Indaba was to facilitate a meeting of King's Cross Ministries' partners and associates and to map out the start of our journey as we transition from a theological training organisation to a global church planting movement.
During the Indaba, we explained how we see the organisation evolving into a movement that facilitates and is actively involved in establishing house churches in various contexts and what it means to be a part of King's Cross Ministries. The time together concluded with the election of our first chairman, John D'achada and the appointment of the Executive Director, Don Schult.
Save the date for this year's September School and Indaba 26 to 30 September 2022... more info to follow
LATEST COURSE NEWS
BUILDING STONES
IT'S TIME TO BUILD
The King’s Cross development team is very excited to announce the launch of a new course – Building Stones.
Building Stones is a spiritual formations course that builds on the doctrinal foundations already laid in Foundation Stones. If Foundation Stones is about what you need to know and believe as a Christian; then Building Stones
is about what you must do to build yourself up in your faith.
Building Stones is very different from our other courses, in that it is intensely practical. During Building Stones you will work with a personal mentor, a spiritual director, who will travel your journey with you.
Building Stones will help you to discover what the Bible says about the formation of a strong, useful Christian life that is wholly submitted to Christ. It will also equip you with living practices that will help you to grow in your knowledge of God and mature in Christ.
Building Stones is one of the 6 participant’s level courses required for the OCN certificate – so all OCN registered students will need to complete it. Who else should do Building Stones? Anyone who is eager to experience God on a deeper, personal level. Anyone who is eager to explore the various spiritual disciplines. Anyone who is eager to strengthen their spiritual life on every level.
PERFECT FOR EASTER
GET HOPPY!
At the very core of Christianity is a truly astounding Central Truth that is celebrated all around the world at Easter time. This Central Truth concerns the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
There’s no better time of year than Easter to carve out some space in which to contemplate the cross and the resurrection. And the book 10 Reasons To Get Hoppy About Easter is the perfect opportunity. Every Christian needs strengthening in this truth and every house church pastor will be inspired by the in-depth, yet readable, topics such as the prophecies related to the resurrection, the timeline of the resurrection and the evidence for the resurrection.
Exciting news and updates from our members and associates across the globe. If you have a story to share with us of how the Lord has opened a door for you to teach His Word or testimony of His faithfulness, why not share it with us, send an email to info@kingscrossministires.com
Amadoda KaThixo: Men of God
The work in to Tembisa that's changing lives
King's Cross Music
Preaching through song and praise
Hope Risen
Facing human trafficking head-on
G'day! From Australia
Small beginnings in the land down under
ARTICLE | Ryan Muller
Amadoda KaThixo: Men of God
God never ceases to amaze. Around March of 2021 God used our resident Evangelist, Chad Eales, to open a door for him and I to teach a group of men in Tembisa the King’s Cross Ministries participants level of Foundation Stones. The group that comes together calls themselves Amadoda KaThixo which translated equates to Men of God. Unbeknown to us when we first arrived, these men were actually pastors and church leaders that represented entire groups of churches and they first got together in 2014 in order to try and unite the churches that these pastors represent.
One of the leading men, Bishop Khubeka, opened our first meeting by talking about unity which, immediately led me to John 17:20-21 where Jesus prays that today we might be one (united) as Jesus, The Father and Holy Spirit are one. This began the theme and launching point from which we would start our teaching.
Chad and I took the opportunity presented to teach the Word of God to these men, our brothers in Christ, and as our continued presence grew, we became aware of how different cultures will treat teachers of God’s Word. In some cultures, for example, its considered rude to ask the teacher questions if you don’t understand something as its seen to be a sign of disrespect. It could even be considered embarrassing as it could tarnish the question askers reputation. This would explain why when we kept asking if anyone had questions, the class was silent, but we could see written across the men’s faces that they were bursting to ask questions.
This was a major lesson for us in working cross culturally, and the lesson is this: When confronted with an unfamiliar culture or environment, observe what’s being practiced and ask with genuine interest how and why people do and say the things they do. Ask for understanding.
We see that Paul did this in Acts 17:16-31, especially verse 23. So, when no questions were forthcoming, we took the opportunity to ask them questions in order to learn from them what their cultural challenges were. We relied on God to reveal the root of many issues and used the Biblical texts to humbly submit the Truth to our brothers and allow The truth to set them free. The reality is that we were there to learn from our brothers as much as we were there to teach.
For many months we reasoned with our brothers in Tembisa while submitting our teaching to them, and we were encouraged when the context started to open up. At times there was raucous debate as some of the men there took a stand on issues such as obeying the Sabbath religiously, but we continued to teach repentance from dead works and were amazed when men in the room took on the religious and sided with the Apostles doctrine! Breakthrough!
At times, teaching felt like talking into a dense fog. However, we could tell that we had broken through when we felt that fog lift. From those moments on, we knew that the Word was being received and we could feel The Holy Spirit’s anointing upon the words that we were teaching. The difficulty with teaching like this is you don’t always get to see the impact you make on people’s lives. Like as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6-8, one sows, one waters but God causes the growth.
Week after week, Chad, James Menney and I would return as work and travel permitted and to our amazement we continued to be invited back. We were being received by our brothers and we could see their faith increasing as the context opened up to us and questions of all varieties started coming at us from all angles.
Matthew 10:40-41 was unfolding before our eyes as our brothers received us, and Jesus was faithful to keep His word bringing freedom to these men’s lives. Our training and immersion into our studies with King’s Cross paid off massively as we realized we were able to answer these questions with relative ease because our theological training was of such an excellent standard.
All the while we continued to be respectful to the times and rules of the men that they clearly held as leaders and spokespersons in the room. We continued to learn together. This too was a major realization as arrogance will certainly close doors that we desperately need to keep open in order to obey Jesus’ mandate in Matthew 28:19 to go and make disciples of all nations.
We finished teaching the Foundation Stones in November of 2021 and had the tremendous pleasure of inviting John and Gill Da’Chada, King’s Cross Ministries founders, to the certificate ceremony in December. To our amazement, the double garage that we so fondly taught in on Tuesday nights had been transformed into a king’s dining hall, as shown in the photo below:
And so, with tears in our eyes and hearts full of joy, we broke bread with our brothers and sisters, as the Pastors, Bishops and Archbishops’ wives joined the festivity and the King’s Cross team handed out the certificates for those who had successfully completed the participants level. Once again, we were blown away by the testimonies of the wives that stood up and spoke about how their husbands had become better men by attending Foundation Stones. It was only at this time that we became aware that our brothers had taken the Good News home and were teaching their families and their churches what they had learnt.
The unity in the room was palpable and we were tasting Jesus’ prayer from John 17:20-21. It doesn’t matter what colour, culture and income bracket we fall into, the Word has the ability to cut across all those barriers and bring unity and peace. Praise be to Jesus for such an amazing evening and for the privilege of seeing Him work in others’ lives. Hassan Kanj, from Lebanon, and Chantal Muller were able to join the festivities and enjoy the African food, as John and Gill handed out the certificates.
By the end of the evening, we were struck with a sense of awe, amazement and wonder as we contemplated what 2022 would bring as King’s Cross was once again invited back to teach the Big Picture material. We kicked off in February of this year and, once again, the journey of presenting God’s word has begun. I look forward to reporting on the work we see God advancing.
Love and blessings from our Tembisa team.
ARTICLE | Burger Pretorius
KING'S CROSS MUSIC
In the last year, we have seen several new churches and discipleship groups form that would like to partner with King’s Cross Ministries. This is a very exciting and challenging phenomenon; it means we need more musos! We never seem to be able to keep up with the move of God.
During the last year we have endeavored to raise up musicians who are realising that they are as much theologians as the preachers are. We believe that, in some respects, praising God together is of even more importance than preaching, because when we praise God together, we are all preaching at the same time.
To help the preaching of praise to be of a standard that God expects, we have written, and are busy writing, music that is easy to sing, but more importantly theologically accurate. So far, we have written 24 songs and released 1 single – Trust (Psalm 23) – and we are aiming to release another 2 this year.
Pray that we able to equip the people that God adds to our number all throughout the movement, to lead God’s people in songs of praise all over the globe, and that we will be able to give them content that will bring praise to our God.
Listen to Trust (Psalm 23) now
Available on most popular music streaming services, just search for "Trust (Psalm 23)"
Spotify
Apple Music
YouTube Music
ARTICLE | Tabitha Lage
HOPE RISEN
Hope Risen Foundation formally known as Hope For Women was established in 2009, founded by Tabitha Lage.
We are lighting the way in the dark, reaching, restoring and re-integrating adult and children survivors of human trafficking, prostitution, addiction and rape. We are built from the foundation of Gods Love, Hope, and Justice.
A ministry ending Human Trafficking and Exploitation through Prevention, Intervention, Restoration and Re-integration - Love Heals Home.
We do this through careful, compassionate and strategic planning providing the best solutions and creating sustainable efforts in partnership with those locally and globally.
Rob and Tabitha have been journeying closely with John and Gill/Kings Cross over the past 1.5 years (after meeting one another 5 years ago)
On Sunday 6th February JCC held a church service at the new Hope Risen Land, the land where the Love Heals Home for women and children is going to be established and Hope Risen Team gave a presentation in person and online sharing the message and vision of Hope Risen Foundation.
A few Testimonies from the morning:
"A young girl was so impacted by the morning that she is now praying on her knees every night for a girl who is disabled, her dad keeps us posted"
“A non believer was touched by the holy spirit and was in tears, impacted by the love of God that morning, he has now started to receive prayer”
“A woman who has had 2 miscarriages came to the morning pregnant but did not know if the pregnancy would make it. She got a vision as she walked onto the land that her baby was going to be born - pregnancy is going well”
“One of our partner organisations stood with Hope Risen and we prayed together, uniting in the spirit”
“Gorden of Legae Le Nete, is part of our Discipleship group, was so touched by the morning and would like to use the KC material in the recovery plan for the men”
“A survivor of gang rape was deeply touched and further healed that morning”
This was a big moment for Hope Risen Foundation and JCC in the spiritual and the natural. A ministry that has been embraced by a church with love and support. Thank you JCC!
For more information and to find out how you can help support Hope Risen, visit their website and social media pages
Dance to Stop It: Awareness and Fundraising Opportunity
Dance to Stop It, is a movement of love, hope and justice for survivors and victims of Human Trafficking. Dancing is a very big aspect of healing for the survivor and it is also tons of FUN which every survivor deserves.
At Dance to Stop It, we want you to experience the same thing!
Join our community, get some healing, shake your body and be part of something bigger than yourself. STOP HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
We greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you.
We are Giulio and Dolores di Somma and live in Yanchep, the northernmost suburb of Perth, in Western Australia (see Google maps). We are a retired couple.
Our relationship to Kings Cross Ministries and John and Gill D’achada goes back to September 2015 when they visited with us in here in Perth and taught us the Foundation Stones participants’ and teachers’ courses. Since then we have visited South Africa twice. First in in 2016 to do Big Picture and second in 2019 to do Living Stones. John and Gill visited us in Freemantle in November 2017 enroute to their children in Melbourne. We have also completed the ‘What on earth course” online and are registered OCN students. We try to attend the ZOOM courses and meetings whenever the time differences permit this.
We have previously taught Foundation Stones. We are now doing it with two separate groups. On a Thursday evening via ZOOM with a couple who live in South Perth and on a Sunday evening at our home with two couples. We are also counselling two women on a regular basis in recovery from emotional trauma. On Sunday mornings we attend Midpoint Church Perth where I have spoken recently about the prayer of agreement. Dolores attends the mentor group fortnightly which is led by Gill.
We are currently praying in Yanchep that God would bring a man of peace across our path and base this on Colossians 4:3-4 my paraphrase, “Pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which we are in Yanchep. Pray that we may proclaim it clearly, as we should”.
Our vision for the future is one in which we are trusting God for an apostolic miracle which will enable us to buy a farm and start reaching out to the community on two fronts; firstly, emotional healing from trauma through weekend retreats and secondly discipleship through church planting and teaching Foundation Stones.
MEET THE CHURCH
Johan Wilson-Roos, Cape Town
In this edition of "Meet the Church", we chat to Johan, an elder from Coastlands City Church in Cape Town.
I left the previous church where I was part of the leadership when it became clear that the theology I hold would not allow me to build unity with the rest of the leadership. For a short while I, and the others who left at the same time considered joining another gathering of believers but it quickly became apparent that the best way to move forward was to meet as a small group of believers and fellowship around God’s word.
Soon we were joined by some others and we had a lovely little house gathering - I remember we started by working through Matthew. We had a lot of robust discussions… the number of times I had to say as gently as I could muster “Let’s see what the Bible says about it, okay?”… too many to count. But we slowly started finding some illusive unity and grow our agreement. Sadly some were not as invested in finding agreement and parted ways, but by and large there was great joy as we continued to break bread together with glad and sincere hearts.
Then, as if conjured out of a hat, the pandemic came and stopped our lovely discipleship in the group. But what the enemy meant as a nip in the bud God turned to a pruning which yielded more fruit: our discipleship group was quickly thrusted to a church plant as we mobilised actions to reach and connect church members during the lock down. Now, instead of meeting once a week we started meeting twice a week via zoom. Our focus also shifted from Matthew to the Kingdom mandates - I remember trying to preach about dominion over the devil while trying to navigate the 40 minute window that zoom allowed us to use in the free version. We soon upgraded the account.
The next season was like walking against a gale - two steps forward, one step back. Able to meet, then not able to meet. People wanting to meet, people to scared to meet. But slowly we started encouraging everyone and God has been so faithful to us - all but one came safely through the pandemic. We sadly lost our dear brother Keith which was a hard blow. He was such a Barnabas - a son of encouragement - during the early days of Coastlands. However, we no longer mourn our loss but rather rejoice that a saint is with Jesus and awaiting amazing rewards.
As soon as we were able to meet again Tunde and I were ordained for eldership in Coastlands. Since then another elder, Alan, was ordained, I got married to Chelsey and we’ve had slow growth and maturing. We still need to renew our minds constantly to reform our ideas about church and how to do it in a godly way, but God is so faithful to us and we enjoy His abiding presence.
Tunde and I were ordained on 21 June 2020, so one and a half years.
Seeing how God blesses those who mature. Growth in numbers is always nice, of course, but seeing someone take God and his word seriously and make changes, and then seeing how God blesses and prospers his people is super encouraging.
There is a form of torture where a man’s arms and legs are tied to four horses pulling in opposite directions. I fancy I have an idea of what that feels like on an emotional level. Sometimes the responsibilities of church, home, family, and work call loudly and don’t work symbiotically. Then again, no one is impressed by a juggler who is just tossing around one ball, and it is keeping these responsibilities in tension which becomes an attractive witness.
I got married… but I’m sure that’s not quite what you’re after.
My humility is challenged daily - or rather my lack of humility. Arrogance just doesn’t fly for long - maybe that’s why the calling of the apostle Paul started with him falling off of his high horse. Though I often fail I try to avoid arrogance. Humble pie tastes bitter.
Right after noticing that my desperate appeals for Jesus to return to earth that very instant have not been answered in the affirmative I let God know that I suppose I’ll trust Him and rely on the guidance of His Spirit again.
In house church I often focus on revisiting the purpose of the previous Sunday’s preach by looking at another text. However, to meet the prescription of 1 Corinthians 14: 26 I try to instigate more discussion and encourage members to participate. People share their experiences and frustrations. I often have to gently correct a view which does not accord with the Word. We eat and break bread together. We pray to God and for one another. Often we sing songs of praise to God. Sometimes this format is put on hold for a couple of weeks as we prioritise running a Foundation Stones course which is always encouraging.
Tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to join Coastlands City Church?
+
I left the previous church where I was part of the leadership when it became clear that the theology I hold would not allow me to build unity with the rest of the leadership. For a short while I, and the others who left at the same time considered joining another gathering of believers but it quickly became apparent that the best way to move forward was to meet as a small group of believers and fellowship around God’s word.
Soon we were joined by some others and we had a lovely little house gathering - I remember we started by working through Matthew. We had a lot of robust discussions… the number of times I had to say as gently as I could muster “Let’s see what the Bible says about it, okay?”… too many to count. But we slowly started finding some illusive unity and grow our agreement. Sadly some were not as invested in finding agreement and parted ways, but by and large there was great joy as we continued to break bread together with glad and sincere hearts.
Then, as if conjured out of a hat, the pandemic came and stopped our lovely discipleship in the group. But what the enemy meant as a nip in the bud God turned to a pruning which yielded more fruit: our discipleship group was quickly thrusted to a church plant as we mobilised actions to reach and connect church members during the lock down. Now, instead of meeting once a week we started meeting twice a week via zoom. Our focus also shifted from Matthew to the Kingdom mandates - I remember trying to preach about dominion over the devil while trying to navigate the 40 minute window that zoom allowed us to use in the free version. We soon upgraded the account.
The next season was like walking against a gale - two steps forward, one step back. Able to meet, then not able to meet. People wanting to meet, people to scared to meet. But slowly we started encouraging everyone and God has been so faithful to us - all but one came safely through the pandemic. We sadly lost our dear brother Keith which was a hard blow. He was such a Barnabas - a son of encouragement - during the early days of Coastlands. However, we no longer mourn our loss but rather rejoice that a saint is with Jesus and awaiting amazing rewards.
As soon as we were able to meet again Tunde and I were ordained for eldership in Coastlands. Since then another elder, Alan, was ordained, I got married to Chelsey and we’ve had slow growth and maturing. We still need to renew our minds constantly to reform our ideas about church and how to do it in a godly way, but God is so faithful to us and we enjoy His abiding presence.
How long have you been leading a house church?
+
Tunde and I were ordained on 21 June 2020, so one and a half years.
What has been the most exciting and rewarding part of running a house church?
+
Seeing how God blesses those who mature. Growth in numbers is always nice, of course, but seeing someone take God and his word seriously and make changes, and then seeing how God blesses and prospers his people is super encouraging.
What has been the most challenging part of running a house church?
+
There is a form of torture where a man’s arms and legs are tied to four horses pulling in opposite directions. I fancy I have an idea of what that feels like on an emotional level. Sometimes the responsibilities of church, home, family, and work call loudly and don’t work symbiotically. Then again, no one is impressed by a juggler who is just tossing around one ball, and it is keeping these responsibilities in tension which becomes an attractive witness.
What is the biggest way in which you have changed since leading a house church?
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I got married… but I’m sure that’s not quite what you’re after.
My humility is challenged daily - or rather my lack of humility. Arrogance just doesn’t fly for long - maybe that’s why the calling of the apostle Paul started with him falling off of his high horse. Though I often fail I try to avoid arrogance. Humble pie tastes bitter.
What do you do in your average house church meeting?
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Right after noticing that my desperate appeals for Jesus to return to earth that very instant have not been answered in the affirmative I let God know that I suppose I’ll trust Him and rely on the guidance of His Spirit again.
In house church I often focus on revisiting the purpose of the previous Sunday’s preach by looking at another text. However, to meet the prescription of 1 Corinthians 14: 26 I try to instigate more discussion and encourage members to participate. People share their experiences and frustrations. I often have to gently correct a view which does not accord with the Word. We eat and break bread together. We pray to God and for one another. Often we sing songs of praise to God. Sometimes this format is put on hold for a couple of weeks as we prioritise running a Foundation Stones course which is always encouraging.
OUR FEATURE PRODUCT
FOUNDATION STONES INFOGRAPHIC POSTERS
An innovative way of learning and remembering the seven Foundation Stones, the Foundation Stones infographic poster can be used when you are teaching Foundation Stones and is available in a handy A4 size, ideal for traveling, and a larger A1 size.
This infographic depicts the seven foundational doctrines as your Christian journey through life, from the time you get born again to the moment you stand before Jesus in Heaven.
Who should get this?
Teachers and House Church elders will find this an invaluable teaching tool. Put the poster up when you teach and revise Foundation Stones to help students understand and recall.
Accompanying the infographic poster is a set of seven infographic Foundation Stone modules. Each of the Foundation Stones has been developed into an A4 page that links back to the visual symbol of the stone from the main infographic poster and includes a summary of the main points of that doctrine.
Take advantage of our special launch discount available during the month of April
