I love you like...

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth — for your love is more delightful than wine. I liken you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.

Hair, eyes, lips

His hair is wavy and black as a raven. His eyes are like doves by the water streams. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh.

Song of Songs

Listen, my beloved! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.”

Choose or Refuse

Every day we choose and refuse. We either choose integrity, credibility, obedience, faith, or we refuse integrity, credibility, obedience, faith. Moses chose to be counted with the people of God and refuse the worldliness of the royal palace - and the result was that he ended up in the back end of a desert. And again, God asks us to choose and refuse!

Revelation

Both the Kingdom of God and the city of Babylon are filled with sounds familiar to the life - or lack their of - found in their midst. What sounds fill your life?

In honour of John Donaldson

Jesus - bread of life, good shepherd, healer, redeemer, Lord and saviour. There's so much we can discover about Jesus through the book of John.

Friend, Worker, Sister, Soldier

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your home - grace and peace to you.

Supernatural or Superficial

Churches often fall into two clear categories, namely, those who are supernatural and those who are superficial. We as a church need the Holy Spirit to keep the kingdom alive in us and all we do.

Grace and Mercy

Let us hold firmly to our faith, and let us approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.

Faith and Patience

We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end - to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Enter this rest.

All too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, and so no fruit is produced.

Who do you say that I am?

On the way, Jesus turned to his disciples and asked them, "What about you? Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah."

Disciples not decisions

As he spoke about righteousness and self-control and the day of judgment, Felix became frightened. “Go away for now,” he replied. “When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again.”

Suffering.

Paul considers the pain and persecution he endured at the hands of opposition as a pulpit that God uses to declare and bring about His kingdom.

The Bible.

The bible. It gripped a king's heart and his obedience changed a nation. A verse gripped a simple preacher's heart and his obedience brought about the reformation!

Partnering with God

We are saved completely apart from what we have done. Now, however, God calls us to partner with us as we are shaped more into the likeness of Jesus and as more of His kingdom comes in our lives.

Father

Three dads (Mordecai, the husband in Proverbs 31, and Joseph) thunder the wonder of being a father and show the heart of our Heavenly Father!

Azazel

We have all made decisions in our lives that we wish we never had. What do we do to appease these shameful, debilitating regrets? Azazel!

Follow me

What does it mean to put your faith in a Rabbie named Jesus? What would posses grown men to leave everything they know to follow Jesus and be covered in His dust?!  Matthew 4

The grace of God

The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, training us to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.  Titus 2

An attractive gospel.

So that, in every way, you will make the teaching of God our Saviour attractive.  Titus 2

Unanswered prayer.

You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4

Standing still.

In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted.  Exodus 40

When God is silent.

A Canaanite woman came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word.  Matthew 15

Wait

While Jesus was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about."    Acts 1

It just so happened...

It just so happened that, when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.   Luke 1

An orderly account

With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.   Luke 1

Route 90 Road Map

In honour of William Tyndale was martyred in 1536 for translating the New Testament into English. His last words were "Lord! Open the King of England's eyes". Within a year afterwards, a bible was placed in every church by the King's command.

Xenophobia

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, DO NOT mistreat them. Leviticus 19.33

Dropzone

We are called to be a true witness in this, the capital city of South Africa. This is our dropzone, the place we are prepared for on Sundays, and the underlying calling we respond to on Mondays.

The God of Jacob

There's a 'Jacob' in all of us. Insecure, lonely, running from his past, grabbing at anything that offers significance. There's a God of Jacob standing in from of all of us. One who speaks louder than our past, who reaches out to us with His rest, who promises to never pass away, but rather to heal, restore and redeem.

Resurection Sunday

Easter often gets confined to Friday - the cross, the blood, our debt paid in full. However, there is more, wrapped up in the covenant of what happened on resurrection Sunday.

Good Friday

On this unprecedented day in history, God asks us...'Can I stand in your harm's way?'

Hot Cold - The Call

Whether we are in bondage, being dragged away by our bad decisions or living in a dark and lonely place, Jesus comes to us with hope, love, forgiveness and a future.

Hot Cold - The Values

What do we feel God is impressing on 3Ci to allow us to live a Hot/Cold Christianity, rather than wallow in a dull, dormant and domesticated (a.k.a. lukewarm) Christianity?

Hot Cold - The Redeemer

I have heard your cries, I have seen your tears, I know your pain and so I have come down to pry you loose from the grip of your oppressors. Exodus 3.7

Hot Cold - The Courage

We are NOT born again for safe, secluded, sanitized Christianity. We are NOT born again for dull, dormant, domesticated Christianity. Turn down the what?!

Hot Cold - The Garden Part 2

I find no flaw in you, and I have found no flaw in you. This is Kingdom living!

Hot Cold - The Garden

Fastidiousness -  being excessively particular, critical or demanding; hard to please.

Hot Cold - The Church

God's plan has always been and will always be to reach our city through the local church. God's plan has always been and will always be to reach you through the local church.

Hot Cold - The Ears

Are your ears awake? Are your ears awake? Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart, but listen and respond.

Hot Cold - The Voice

The call to the seven churches is for us to have ears that 'are awake', but having heard, we are to turn, to respond, and allow God to do in and through us all that He wants.

Hot Cold - Philadelphia Part 2

When we pursue all that the world pursues, and desire all that the world desires, we will continually despise the doors God opens for us.

Hot Cold - Philadelphia Part 1

Hot Cold is about God getting into the details of our lives, putting His finger on where we are lukewarm, calling us to lean in on His grace and mature.

Hot Cold - Laodicea Part 2

God's commands can often seem overwhelming, but when we simply put one block on top of the other, what He works out in our lives is unprecedented.

Hot Cold - Laodicea Part 1

As we begin our new series Hot Cold, we dig into Revelation 3 and find that it's not that God wants us to be hot or cold, but rather that He wants us to be hot and cold.

January III

January II

January I

Worn

The festive season is the one time in the year when we are overrun by the western world's desperate desire for all things to be made right, and the over realised hope that this year will be THAT year! But what if I told you that instead of us distancing ourselves from this, we should be cranking this hope up?!

Jonah Part 08

What's the big story behind the book of Jonah? All the stories of whales and storms and ships and sailors can easily make things a little fuzzy. As we wrap up this series, we step back and see the power of God to forgive, save and deliver even the hardest of hearts.

Jonah Part 07

Jonah showed us how to reach a city kicking and screaming! Today we turn to Paul's ministry to see how we can reach Pretoria with intentionality and tact.

Jonah Part 06

God's call upon our lives is not just to deliver His message to the world, but to also represent His heart to those who are far from Him -  who would otherwise not know of His compassion, kindness, unrelenting love and forgiveness.

Jonah Part 05

God calls Nineveh great, not just as a discription of its size, but because it is His desire to invest us in this city and use it as a great instrument for His glory. However, in general, we kick back against the city and by so doing miss the rich call of God on our lives.

Jonah Part 04

The word of the Lord comes to Jonah a second time, and this time he obeys. The result? The people of Nineveh believe God and repent! History is full of unprecedented displays of God's power and glory on the back of a simple act of obedience to God's word. What has God been saying to you lately?

Jonah Part 03

The whole story of Jonah carries no significance apart from the statement that 'the word of the Lord came to Jonah'. There were many prophets, ships, sailors, Ninivites and cities like Tarshish, but when God spoke it put everything in context and brought a weightiness to every decision Jonah made.

Jonah Part 02

Jonah, in the belly of the whale, after three days and three nights without hope, on the back of a raging storm and a near shipwrecked journey, after running from the word of God and fleeing to Tarshish, FINALLY gets on his knees and surrenders to God. Surely we too can say 'I am Jonah, I am Jonah.' Surely we too can say 'God is merciful, God is merciful!'

Jonah Part 01

The story of Jonah is far greater than a simple Sunday school story. It is the account of the relentless pursuit of God for the heart of His people, so that His purposes would prevail and the earth would see the glory of our God.

Kim Midgley - Singleness

Kim Midgley - Trials

Wild Worship - The Purpose of Praise

Wild Worship - 7 Ways We Worship

Wild Worship - The Lamb

Wild Worship - Jehoshaphat

Wild Worship - David

Wild Worship - Isaac

Our eyes are on You.

Jehoshaphat faced an insurmountable enemy with a simple faith in the God he served and in so doing, passed on a message for years to come: When we don't know what to do, there is One whom we can always look to!

Philippians - New season ahead

As Christians we only have one plumb line - the Word of God. To have it in our hands is one thing, but to have it in our hearts and to live it, well, that's where God's kingdom truly comes and all that He has for us is added to who we are and what we are becoming.

Philippians - New generosity

Throughout the bible the people of God have been generous with their time, talents, treasure, opportunities and responsibilities. This is so because the God we serve has lavished us with His generosity.

Philippians - New satsifaction

Contentment is not circumstantial, rather it is learnt, and God will continue putting us through circumstances so that - and until - we learn to be content with little or with much.

Philippians - New hope

God has always had His saints working strategically in the midst of wicked places, from Caesar's household to the cubicle you occupy on a monday. However, if we are going to live well as light in these dark places, we are going to have to live according to our convictions and not our comfort.

Philippians - New wiring

Throughout the letter to the Philippians, Paul refers to their thinking because 'as a man thinks in his heart, so is he' and 'we are transformed by the renewing of our minds'. So when Paul refers to how we ought to think, he isn't trying to be cute, but rather he is preparing the Philippians for warfare!

Family Day

As family, we stand together, serve one another, celebrate together and mourn with each other. We do life, we do fun, we play and we pray. We do all this in order to serve our King as we see His Kingdom come.

The Call 2014 - Session 8

On the back of what God deposited into our lives during The Call conference, we celebrate the privilege, joy and delight of what we are called too.

The Call 2014 - Session 7

God's radical dealing in the life of Peter and his wife so often reflects the seasons in our own lives, and their victories shout courage into our frail hearts.

The Call 2014 - Session 6

Peter was a remarkable man. His letters were sent to churches in 5 cities across 4 provinces who were having the stuffing knocked out of them in persecution, opposition and hardship. This morning we look at the thrust of his message to them.

The Call 2014 - Session 5

In the final session, we look at the victories and the vulnerabilities of the call of God on our lives and the value of imparting this call to the lives of the generation rising up in our midst.

The Call 2014 - Session 4

The opinion of man can be the most intimidating, neutral-enducing, courage draining stronghold in our lives. And yet for many of us, we live with it as if it is normal.

The Call 2014 - Marketplace Missionaries

Recorded live at The Call conference

The Call 2014 - Wow Women

Recorded live at The Call conference.

The Call 2014 - Session 3

The central thrust, under-girding foundation and all encompassing essence of our call is to fall more in love with Jesus.

The Call 2014 - Session 2

We seldom realise that just like every other child of God, Jesus also had to come to terms with His call, His purpose and His Father's plan for His life.

The Call 2014 - Session 1

Can you trust God? Do you trust God? Is He trustworthy? Where else can we go?

No, seriously...where else can you go?!

Philippians - New disposition

The gospel leaves no part of our lives untouched - our hearts, decisions, finances, relationships, language, priorities, attitudes and everything else, all gets nailed to the cross.

Philippians - New perspective

Paul very clearly views every moment of his life, every decision he has to make and every circumstance he has to face through one lens - the day of the Lord, that great day when every single one of us will stand before the One who 'longs for us'.

Philippians - New maturity

Philippians chapter 3 is filled with some of the most popular verses in the bible. It's built around Paul's autobiography and it gives us deep insight into how God works in the lives of His children.

Philippians - New ways

Epaphroditus gets singled out in Philippians because he is a brother, a worker, a fellow soldier and a servant. They are attributes celebrated in the New Testament church, but often overlooked today. Where did we go wrong?

Philippians - New language

'Do everything without grumbling or arguing', says Paul to the Philippians. It's an issue that has plagued the people of God for hundreds of years, and is still an area that trip up many of us and leave us without credibility in the public eye.

Philippians - New default

At the very beginning of his letter, Paul tells the Philippians that there is one thing he prays for them with all the love in his heart, and that is that they would live abandoned to the wisdom and understanding of heaven, so that their lives would be a true reflection of the kingdom of God.

Philippians - New attitude

Studies show that the young generation believe that financial independence is true success and the best way to achieve this is to be at the top of a major corporation. They view any relationship that slows their ascent up the corporate ladder as a drag on their success and are willing to do whatever it takes to take their place at the helm of society.

Philippians - New community

We significantly compromise our chances of maturing in God if we live disconnected from the local church. Grace and peace are experienced in community, the good work He began comes to completion in community, you are carried in the hearts of elders and deacons in community. This is a huge blight on modern Christianity, where so many saints live and think they do just fine as lone rangers.

Philippians - New understanding

'Now I want you to know', said Paul, 'that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel!' How does a person face such suffering with such strength?

Philippians - New beginnings

The letter to the Philippians doesn't ask much of us, it asks all of us! When we see what it is God is calling us to, our cry will be for the Holy Spirit to work radically in us, so that the gospel can flow unhindered through us.

Philippians - New Heart

God opened the heart of one lady who opened the doors of her home that opened the doors for the gospel, a church plant and eventually the letter to the Philippians which we are still preaching from 2000 years later!

#forgiven - Jesus

What happens when things go dry, when joy runs out, when we find ourselves spent, our hope lost, our strength gone? Jesus. That is all.

#forgiven - Sing

When God puts His finger on our sin, it's not to expose us, but to cover us. As a father, rather than condemn and reject us, He runs out to us, and gets between our sin and those who would stone us.

#forgiven - Yes

The King has risen. Long live the King!

#forgiven - Peace

The first word Jesus speaks after being raised from the dead is 'Peace'. God wants us to know the fulness of our forgiveness, so that we can enjoy the fulness of His pleasure.

#forgiven - Hope

If we turn the clock back 4000 years we see the heart of man fearful and suspicious then, just as it is now. We also see the heart of God throbbing and pursuing mankind then, just as it is now.

YouToo S01E10

Barnabas, son of encouragement, was a man who through his strong faith in what God was doing in others, made such an impression on the early church that nearly 2000 years later, we are still being impacted by his life.

YouToo S01E09

The bible is not a Hollywood script with heroes that are larger than life and have it all together. Rather, it's the story of plain, ordinary people's lives woven together by the Master's hand for His master plan.

YouToo S01E08

Leonard and Lorie Rutten, originally from Canada, spent nearly three decades ministering throughout Africa. We were privileged to have them serve on the eldership team at 3Ci for many years before planting a church in Edmonton, Canada.

YouToo S01E07

Leonard and Lorie Rutten, originally from Canada, spent nearly three decades ministering throughout Africa. We were privileged to have them serve on the eldership team at 3Ci for many years before planting a church in Edmonton, Canada.

YouToo S01E06

On numerous occasions in the book of Acts, we find the comment that 'the Word of God spread'. What was it that lead to these times? Was it something we can learn from and apply today? Of course! Here's how...

YouToo S01E05

What can happen in the shadow of an ordinary fisherman? One who denied Christ, fell asleep on Him at the darkest moment of His life, and then ran off to his fishing boat when everything seemed to have fallen apart? One ordinary fisherman, but one extraordinary fisher of men!

YouToo S01E04

The ministry of Lydia and Paul straighten out much of our distorted view of ministry. Together they show that bringing Jesus and the Kingdom to a dying world can flow through 'Even Me'.

YouToo S01E03

Whenever churches grow, we love to put systems in place to maintain the momentum. But the life of God is the LIFE of GOD - not based on structural authority, but on the presence of Jesus in the hearts of His people.

YouToo S01E02

God loves to take a man from Pretoria to meet a couple in Bazaruto, so that they can hear of the love of God that they so desperately crave. God thinks nothing of sending a lady from Botswana to meet a man from Durban in a city called Brisbane so that her hurt can be healed by the Mender of hearts. It's part of His pleasure and His plan for those we meet, and it will do us well to take notice of this.

YouToo S01E01

If you take the white off a golf ball, you'll find a ball of elastic inside, tightly wound together. It's impossible to cut through, but if you find the end of the elastic, the whole ball will unravel in your hands. This seems to be the way Jesus approached every person He met. He never used a set 'technique' to get to people's hearts, rather He found their end and before long their lives unravelled in His caring hands.

Terry Virgo - Works

There is a Saul in the Old Testament who, at the end of his life said 'I have played the fool'. There is a Saul in the New Testament who, at the end of his life said 'I have run the race, I have fought the fight!' God has plans for us and He wants us to fulfill them, to be good stewards of His manifold (multicoloured) grace.

Terry Virgo - Holiness

Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to call Romans 6 the most freeing chapter in the bible. But how do we live in this freedom? Is it up to me from here on, or is there a secret to a holy life?

Terry Virgo - Team

Just when the disciples are expecting Jesus to come as king and are fighting over potential positions in His kingdom, Jesus compels them to get into a boat and head into a storm. The storm was bad, but their thinking was even worse. Early promotion, positions or public ministry are far more dangerous than we'd like to think.

Terry Virgo - Grace

When we truly understand grace we will never be the same again. If Christ was the end of the law, if the law is obsolete and if we have been discharged from it's authority, what does that mean for us as Christians?

Father,Son,Spirit-Part 4

February 09:

The Holy Spirit, the gift and seal of our salvation, is in many cases shunned by those He was given to. Whether it be due to misunderstanding, a bad experience or comments made by friends and leaders, the Holy Spirit - in stead of being embraced by His people -  stands waiting for us to turn to Him and to no longer live separated from the Spirit of the Living God.

Father,Son,Spirit-Part 3

February 09:

For some, we see the Trinity as the Father, the Son and the Holy Scriptures. For others it's the Father, the Son and the Holy systems! To be baptised into the Holy Spirit is the lifeblood of the church and the privileged presence of the Spirit of the Living God in the life of a Christian.

Father,Son,Spirit-Part 1

Our identity needs to come from God the Father. Our feelings are a bad barometer to use when we are going through tough times. This is why the truth of the word is so important, and why we need faith in what the Father says of us, not what our shaky, insecure hearts keep screaming at us.

January - Part 03

We apologies for the poor sound quality.

What would drive a man to take his wife and five kids to one of the poorest nations in the world to lead a church in a slum city? In his own words 'it was the only thing that made sense considering the urges that God had placed on my heart'. Not my will but Yours be done!

January - Part 02

To walk by faith simply means that we trust God, His wisdom and ways, more than we trust ours. Sounds simple enough, but for many Christians it's a massive shift from self-reliance to entrusting our decisions to our heavenly Father. 

January - Part 01

What does faith look like? We might know the theology behind it, but what about its outworking? In other words, how do we live by faith and why is it so important in this day and age?