Click on the play button below to hear a brief story from John Hastings which he shared with Southpoint Church on 6 November 2011. God’s faithfulness to Southpoint Church has enabled people to connect with God through Jesus Christ. Some people’s lives have been changed forever because others were willing to attempt things that were sure to fail unless God stepped in. What will stepping out in faith and following God look like in 2012? John will be exploring this theme over the next few weeks.

Download audio file (20111106-Southpoint-Vision.mp3)

De-Sailly Otieno Story and Baptism from Southpoint Church on Vimeo.

Jenny Coleman Story and Baptism from Southpoint Church on Vimeo.

Brandon Williams Baptism & Testimony from Southpoint Church on Vimeo.

Michael Kemsley from Southpoint Church on Vimeo.

Since it’s time for resolutions, fresh starts, and/or re-commitments to disciplines that have faded, we wanted give you some tools to help you “resolve” to read the Bible better this year. As a church, this is one of the most vital practices that we can do together in 2011. As Psalm 119:105 reminds us… “[God's] word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Simply said, if we’re not reading our Bibles this year, we’ll be walking in the dark.

As you know, the Bible is a big book, more like a library, which contains 66 different books written by several dozen authors. Readers who approach it like any other book—beginning with page 1 and proceeding toward the end—can find themselves lost in a bewildering maze of ancient history and lists. Not to mention, busy schedules and limited confidence can end up discouraging a person from spending enough time in this amazing word from God.

A good Bible reading plan helps overcome obstacles like these.

We’d love for you to grab one of the reading plans below and use it to help structure some of your reading this year. Each approach offers an effective strategy for pushing beyond a limited understanding of the Bible … including how read the Bible topically (to get a concentrated view of a certain theme or subject), to see a “bird’s-eye-view” of the high points of the biblical story, or with a plan that guides you through the whole book. See the links below for reading plans we find especially helpful.

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Two-Week Topical Study Plans: Use this link to download a reading plan that contains two-week sections that each concentrate on a different topic. Content includes: the life of Jesus, the life and teachings of Paul, the Old Testament, on becoming a Christian …and many more.

* Two-Week Topical Studies (pdf)

30-Day Plans featuring important biblical topics and stories:

* 30 Days with Jesus (pdf): 30 days of readings about the life and ministry of Christ.
* 30 Days for New Christians (pdf): 30 days of passages for those new to the faith.
* 30 Days in the Psalms and Proverbs (pdf): 30 days of Psalms and Proverbs for worship and wisdom.

“Bird’s Eye Overview” Plans: The following plans offer a bird’s-eye-view of the Biblical story in three different levels of detail … 60, 90, and 180 days. The daily readings consist of selected passages that make up a sort of “guided tour” of the Bible’s high points. This arrangement should help convey the Bible’s “plot” without reading the whole book.

* 60-Day Plan: Read an overview of the Bible in 60 Days (pdf)
* 90-Day Plan: Read an overview of the Bible in 90 Days (pdf)
* 180-Day Plan: Read an overview of the Bible in 180 Days (pdf)

New Testament Study Plans: These are reading plans to help you study the New Testament.

* New Testament in a Year: Get the PDF here.
* New Testament (Five minutes a day / Five days a week): Get the PDF here.

Through the Bible In a Year: The link below will get you a PDF that will help you navigate the Bible in a year.

* Straight through the Bible in a year … from Genesis to Revelation. Get the PDF here.
* Old and New Testament together … Read the whole Bible, with something from both Testaments each day. Get the PDF here.
* Read from four places each day … Read the whole Bible, with readings from two books, Psalms, and Proverbs each day. Get the PDF here.

Read Online: Lastly, if you haven’t already discovered www.youversion.com , you need to discover it. There is an online Bible (in many translations) and a ton of online reading plans are found there ( http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/all ). What’s great about this approach is that you read and check off your reading each day online and it syncs with many different mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android). So, if you read online or on your phone, it keeps them in sync as to where you are on the plan.

Again, Happy New Year! We are excited about walking together this year using His word as a “lamp to our feet” as it guides us.

See you Sunday!

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(Note that the links above are all presented as downloadable PDFs so you might need to save them different ways based upon your computer. Some of you may be able to download with a simple click of the link and others might need to “right click” and “save as” to save. Also, if you are reading this via an RSS feed or via email, you may need to log into the blog to get the links to work correctly. Be aware.)

We spoke about how having empty seats was so important to our vision and how investing in the life of a non-church person and then inviting them to Southpoint when the time was right, is what Jesus called us to do in the Great Commission. We also spoke about how serving in one of the many volunteer opportunities available at Southpoint, gives you the opportunity to play your part in creating environments that play such a vital role in changing people’s perceptions of God, church and life.

On week 3 we spoke about the privilege of investing in what God is doing in the world and we launched our end of year pledge to create ‘a place for everyone’ in 2011. To date we have received pledges for R296,962.00 of the R600,000.00 needed. This pledge is over and above the regular monthly giving many of you have begun doing as you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ by trusting Him with your finances.

This pledge is an investment in peoples lives who still need to know about the life changing message of Jesus. The funds support the infrastructure and people that create the environments to which we love to bring our friends and family. We did a similar thing last year in the ‘Open Road’ pledge and these are some of the amazing things that resulted from your giving:

• - The Leadership Development Program where we were able to influence three next generation leaders who all play a strategic role in making the environments happen on the weekends;
• - The support we were able to give our Intersect Partners, both financial and through our Community Groups that creates stories like the Delft Family, Metro Kids Christmas and an evening at Rainbow House;
• - Some amazing and incredible stories of life change: Martin and Felicity Mester, Kevin September and Michelle Otieno, and Gavin Taylor, Alice Black and Amy Le Roux;

We sincerely hope that you never lose sight of how your investment is directly affecting the lives of people in Cape Town.

If you have not had a chance to pledge yet, be sure to download the pledge form here. Or if you are not in a position to make a pledge yet but would like to do so sometime in the next year, then send an email to us notifying us of your intention to pledge, once you are in a position to do so.

The staff and leadership at Southpoint wish you all a great Christmas and a blessed New Year!

This is the heart of what we do. This is why we invest so much time and money to create the environments that we do. Join us in celebrating God’s work in Martin & Felicity Mester’s lives! Take a few minutes to watch their stories.

Martin Mester from Southpoint Church on Vimeo.

Felicity Mester from Southpoint Church on Vimeo.

By continuing to give and serve, you are making an empty chair available to someone yet to experience a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. By continuing to invest in others, and then inviting them to church, you are filling these empty chairs with people who have yet to meet Jesus Christ.

By giving, serving and inviting, we are creating a place for everyone.

On Sunday we launched a four part series in which we will explore how Southpoint Church exists to bring hope and purpose to people of all ages. This video highlights four people who have found renewed hope and relationship with God through Southpoint Church.

A Place For Everyone from Southpoint Church on Vimeo.

Short Circles are conversational small groups that will meet on Tuesday evenings, starting 26 October, at The Attic, 23 Stellenberg Road, from 7-9pm for only 6 weeks and are based on a common topic of interest. Each Short Circle is limited to 12 people, and only available to those not currently in a Community Group.

The Short Circle topics available for this term can be found here, as well as a place to register for a Short Circle or to find out more.

What is so humbling to me is that they started off not knowing whether their idea of “creating a church that unchurched people love to attend” would even work. They just knew they had to do it. Today thousands upon thousands of people have come into a relationship with Jesus Christ through attending North Point and their influence continues to grow worldwide. At the end of the message he speaks about what are they going to do now that they are so BIG!

Haven’t they reached their goal? Are they not big enough? His answer is – it’s got nothing to do with size. Being the 2nd biggest in the USA means nothing if they are NOT growing and continuing to reach people with the amazing message of Jesus. Where God has brought them to, has provided them with more influence and more responsibility to share what they have, so they are going to continue to build new churches, not just in the USA, but across the globe, because it is their heart not so much to be BIG, but to grow and continue to provide places where unchurched people love to attend.

My dear friends at Southpoint, we are in this TOGETHER! We might become the 2nd largest church in SA, I don’t know, but that is not our aim. Our aim is to “lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ” by creating a church that unchurched people love to attend. My friends, this is happening now. Don’t miss it. It’s here!

Every week we see new people. Every month we are growing! I took a walk around on Sunday and was introduced to many people I had not met and did not know their names! I regret that but also LOVE it. Unchurched people want to attend Southpoint! Listen to the words of a person who has hardly missed a Sunday since she started attending 9 months ago: “if you had said to me a year ago that one year from now you will be looking forward to attending church every week – I would have thought you were insane!”

She is just one of many who have been invited to Southpoint and their first impression is: “I want to come back!” Well done all of you who are “Investing and Inviting” your friends, who are giving generously to the church, who are serving faithfully every Sunday to make our great environments great and who are praying faithfully.

I am humbled to be your partner and a part of what God is doing in the world today.

John

Instead of having our usual Wednesday evening, our Community Group met at Rainbow House, a home for up to 12 abandoned children in Goodwood. Afterward, one of our members remarked, “I think we got more out of it than the kids!!”

Our group loved the experience and have decided to make Rainbow House a regular once a term visit. We are reminded of how much love we experienced as children from our parents and want to be able to help these children experience some of that love.