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Newsletter
Rugby Congregation January 2013
Shepherds Voice Welcome 2013 My dear brothers and sisters, through Gods grace we have been ushered into 2013 and it is my wish to all of you that we are able to experience Gods presence everyday during the course of this year. When I look at the special events for this year I am filled with a tremendous amount of excitement and I know that you too will look forward to these events after you have read about them later on in my message. But first, I wish to share with you an article by our Chief Apostle in the December 2012 issue of the Our Family, I recently read a proverb as follows: The most important thing is to know what is most important. In a spiritual sense we need to concentrate on knowing what is truly important and I wish to provide you with a list of what is important: In life is our health In our family is a strong bond and love In our relationship with our neighbour is that we are continually willing to forgive In our life of faith is our loyalty to the Lord In view of the future is the expectation of the imminent return of Jesus Christ and our worthiness to receive Him Dear members, may we take to heart the message of our Chief Apostle so that we will be able to prosper naturally and spiritually this year. I wish to highlight the two great events we will celebrate this year: Service for the departed Sunday the 3rd March 2013 Chief Apostle service Tafelsig 10H00 Pentecost divine service Sunday 19th May 2013 Chief Apostle Service from Hamberg congregation, Germany.

On this day the church will be celebrating its 150th birthday as well as it will be the retirement of Chief Apostle Leber.
We as a congregation will have special activities leading up to these two events, the details of which will be advised to the congregation on Sunday the 10th February 2013. Warm Regards, Stirling Kolbe
Pentecost 2012 Greeting Word 2012 " The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.' (Luke 18:27)

Thanksgiving Weekend

Inspirational Food for Thought The Three Trees


Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: "I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!" The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on it's way to the ocean. "I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I'll be the strongest ship in the world!" The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world." Years passed. The rain came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain. The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his ax, the first tree fell. "Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!" The first tree said. The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his ax, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters!" thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!" The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me," he muttered. With a swoop of his ax, the third tree fell. The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter's shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feedbox for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, nor with treasure. She was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals. The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river. Instead she was taken to a little lake. The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" The once tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God..." Many, many days and night passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feedbox. "I wish I could make a cradle for him." her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful." she said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world. One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through with the wind and the rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew she was carrying the king of heaven and earth. One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything. it had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God. That was better than being the tallest tree in the world. The next time you feel down because you didn't get what you want, sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you.

Happy Ever After

The 11th of November 2012 saw our Shepard Sterling Kolbe on the other side of the altar with lovely wife Elaine Kolbe receiving their 25th Wedding anniversary.

Housed by Observatory Congregation, family and friends and members of Rugby and Observatory bore witness to a renewal of commitment and joined in the blessed celebration of lasting loveThe Silver Anniversary blessing was bestowed by District Elder Worship and was adorned with the romantic and thanksgiving musical offering by the collaborated choir. Sterling and Elaine, May the next 25 years prove to be even more fruitful and blessed than the last and the Lord shine his light on your union forever and a day

Pictures of Rugby Congregation when Shepherd Simpson was Rector

Letter From Apostle Diedericks

Before you can love others, you must receive God's love for yourself, because you cannot give away something you don't have.
God deeply and intimately loves you! His love for you is unconditionalno strings attached, and there is nothing that you can do to get God not to love you. Indeed, Romans 8:38-39 says that there is nothing that can ever separate us from God's love. Knowing that God loves you is central to your understanding of the Gospel, for the entire Gospel is based on God's love (See John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:16, 1 John 4:9-10). The good news is that God hasn't withheld His love from us; instead, God has poured out his love into our hearts (Romans 5:5). But what do we do with that love? We know God loves us, but so what? What should we do with God's love? Give it away! Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:11). In other words, our response to the news of God's love for us needs to be to love others. Indeed, Jesus repeatedly commanded us to love others (See Matthew 5:43-47, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 6:27-35, John 13:34-35, John 15:12,17). However, it is impossible to love others unless you know, believe and receive God's love. 1 John 4:19 says, We love because he first loved us. In other words, we are able to love other people, because God first showed His love to us. If God hadn't shown His love to us, we would have no standard and no example on which to base our love for others. Similarly, 1 John 4:7 says, Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Here again, our ability to love one another is only because love comes from God. Think of your ability to love others like a glass of water. At first, the glass is empty. If you don't have any water in your glass, then you obviously can't give water to anyone else. But when you hold your glass under a faucet and let the water pour out into your glass, it will fill up. Then, once it is full, your glass will overflow, and you can let the water pour out to everyone around you. If you don't have love in you, then you can't give love to anyone else. Therefore, you must first receive God's love, before you can love one another. Listen to your prayers, because they locate your level of spiritual maturity. What are you praying for? Are you asking God to give you more stuff--a bigger house, a new car, a bigger salary? What you pray for indicates what is important to you.

It is a great lesson to examine what the people in the Bible prayed for. King David, in Psalm 27:4, prayed, One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I maydwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. He asked God for just one thing: that he would dwell in God's presence. David clearly knew that in God's presence he would receive everything he needed (see Matthew 6:33).
Paul also didn't pray for worldly things. Instead, in Philippians 1:9, Paul prayed that the church would walk in love: And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more. Paul knew the importance of love, and so he made it a point to pray that the church would grow more and more in love. Furthermore, he prayed that believers would be strengthened spiritually: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being (Ephesians 3:16). In short, your prayers can tell what you consider to be important. If you are only praying for worldly stuff, then you are neglecting what is of lasting value: knowing God, dwelling in His presence, walking in His love, and being strong spiritually. Therefore, decide to adjust what you're praying for. Learn to listen to your prayers, because they locate your level of spiritual maturity

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