The Bishop's Message

Dear People of God

I write this article within the octave of the Ascension looking forward to the celebration of Pentecost Festival.

The Ascension of our Lord entails four basic blessings from Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

        

-        His ascension guarantees a provision for a place of safety for us in heaven … " in my Father's house there are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you …" he will provide decent homes for us not shacks.

-        He said it is for your good that I should depart because if I do not, the Holy Spirit, the Advocate would not come. The Holy Spirit would be with the Church … with us to give us life in its abundance. We would be lifeless without the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.
-        His ascension saw Him being enthroned at the right hand of God where He sits as our Judge. He is able to see, as it was always the case with Him, who is right and who is wrong. He determines our destinies and the outcome of our efforts.
-        The ascension is a call to us all to transcend our hearts to Jesus. It is a call to lift up our hearts to God. It is a wake-up call to the mundane to live lives that befit our calling as children of God.
-        The ascension of Jesus is a challenge to all Christians to align themselves with the Prayer of Jesus that they be one (John 17).

PENTECOST.

On the day of Pentecost the Disciples were one at one place. They were of one accord. The Pentecost event calls upon the Church to be always Pentecostal; anything contrary to this feature renders the Church a useless organisation with no effect and irrelevant to her cause.

-        At Pentecost the first Christians were vibrant and viable. There was no economic recession.

-        They were always in prayer, fulfilling the injunction of our Lord that they should not give up praying. Prayer is a network that connects us with God. In our loneliness and solitude prayer gives us strength and will to depend on God.
-        As a result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit the first Christians were diligent in meeting at holy Eucharist because they had a living fellowship with one another, always giving thanks to God for everything.

The viability and vibrancy of any Christian community depend on its dependency on God through Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church. We may be resourceful in terms of income but without being amenable to Jesus we can never be vibrant. Viability informs vibrancy and vibrancy is informed by viability.

I often hear people saying we are not a Pentecostal church whilst referring to other churches as being the only ones that are pentecostal.  I refute that. We need to be a spirit-filled church otherwise we would have no audacity to take the church any step further than where we are. I pray that everything we do and say should emanate from and end in the spirit of God who is the Spirit of concord and unity. I would like to see our Christian communities praying fervently in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Yours affectionately in Christ

+ Sitembele Mthatha

Bantu bakaThixo abathandekayo

UNYUKO

Ndinibhalela eli phetshana ngeentsukwana nje emva koNyuko lweNkosi sele sijonge kumgcobo wePentekost.

Ulonyuko lweNkosi luza neentsikelelo ezine ezingundoqo:

-        kukuqinisekiswa ngeendawo ezikhuselekileyo ekhaya ezulwini … khumbulani kaloku ukuba iNkosi yathi : " endlwini kaBawo zininzi iindawo zokuhlala ukuba bekungenjalo ngendanixelelayo. Izakusilungiselela izindlu ezizizo hayi iimikhukhu.

-        Wathi kunilungele ukuba ndimke kuba ndingemkanga akayikuza uMoya oyiNgcwele, uMthetheleli. UMoya oyiNgcwele ubezakuza ezele kuyigcina iTyalike, thina ke nokuze asinike ubomi obugqibeleleyo. Besiyakuba ngabantu abangenabomi ngaphandle kwesikhokhelo namandla kaMoya oyiNgcwele.

-        Ukwenyuka kweNkosi kuthetha nokuthi uhleli ngasekunene kukaThixo njengoMgwebi. Unako ke ukwahlulela phakathi kwento entle nembi, ekwayazi mhlophe into esiyakuba yiyo nesiphumo semigudu nemizamo yethu.

-        Ulonyuko lweNkosi lucel'umngeni wokokuba siziphakamisele kuYesu iintliziyo zethu. Ngesi siganeko kuthiwa masivuke siphile ubomi obulufaneleyo ubizo lwethu njengabantwana bakaThixo.

-        Ulonyuko lukaYesu lukwa ngumngeni kuwo onke amaKrestu ukuba abuqingqe ubomi bawo

-        ngokomthandazo weNkosi ukuba ze babebanye. (John 17).

PENTEKOSTE

Ngomhla wePentekoste abafundi babebanye ndawonye bemxhel'omnye. IPentekoste likhwelo kumntu ngamnye ukuba ahlale ubomi basemoyeni kungenjalo asinalo ilungelo lokuzibiza ukuba siliBandla leNkosi oko kukuthi iTyalike.

-        Ngomhla wePentekoste amaKrestu ayenemihlali eme kakuhle kungekho kuhleleleka nakunqongophala kwanto.

-        Babesoloko behleli emthandazweni, besazi njalo ukuba umthandazo lityathanga lokusidibanisa noThixo. Kubulolo bethu umthandazo usenza silibeke kuThixo lonke ithemba lethu.

-        Ngenxa yokwehla koMoya oyiNgcwele iBandla latsho lakhuthala  ukuquqa eMthendelekweni kuba kaloku lalinobudlelwano omnye komnye bebulela uThixo ngezinto zonke..

Ukuba liBandla eliphilileyo kuxhomekeke ekuxhomekekeni kwalo kuThixo ngoYesu Krestu iNkosi  yalo. Singanezinto zonke sifume kodwa singenalo ulungelelwano noYesu ubomi bethu ngumphunga nje.

Ndimana ndibeva abathile besithi bona abakho kwiCawa yoMoya batsho bathi abanjalo ngamanye amaBandla. Ndiyayikhalimela loo nto, kukugqwetha oko. Ukuba siliBandla elingenawo uMoya iimizamo yethu ayinto yanto. Ndiyathanda ke ukuba sizaliswe ngamandla kaMoya oyiNgcwele ukuze siphile sibenolungelelwano nobunye.

Umnqweno wam ngowokuba sithandaze njalo sisemandleni kaMoya oyiNgcwele.

Owenu onithandayo kuKrestu.

+ Sitembele Mthatha