Springs Baptist Church

What are Conversation Groups?

Our Conversation Groups are essentially groups of people who gather together in a home-cell setting during the week to provide a mid-week opportunity of enjoying the worship of God together in welcoming one another, worshipping together in prayer, praise and thanksgiving, enjoying God's Word together as we feed on the truth of God's Word (the Bible), enthusiastically identify and implement areas where we may work together to serve our local church, the community and our country.

There are currently 4 active Conversation Groups:

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Please feel free to join us at your nearest group for fellowship, friendship and encouragement.

Discipleship Training

After some reflection, it was decided to put together a Training Course for persons to disciple mentor / go alongside new Christians.

Course material was put together from various sources, and the first course is scheduled to run from January 2011.

Please contact Johnny Dixon for more information

The Church’s mission is based on the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 28:19-20:

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

As a result, we have Springs as our Jerusalem, Gauteng as our Judea, Samaria as our South Africa, and then the uttermost parts of the earth - wherever the LORD may open doors for us to go.

• In Springs we have involvement in and provide support to the Crisis Pregnancy Centre - Hope iThemba
• In Gauteng, we currenlty support Jenni Meyer - Kids Gospel Ministry in Tembisa; and Campus Outreach
• In South Africa we work with SAAWE (South African Action for World Evangelization)
• The uttermost parts of the world finds our support going to Eben & Foong-Chan Burger in Senegal

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Our Missions work reports back on 2010:

Throughout 2010 there was a regular missions focus time slot during the evening service. The focus of these presentations ranged from countries, people groups and missionaries.  After most evening services we gathered for prayer which was focused specifically on the missionaries we support and the different countries and people groups.  This year included the additional support of Eben and Foong-Chan Burger in Senegal. They work among the Wolof people group.

We as a church then decided to be involved with an outreach project and so we felt led to bless Jenni Meyer in Tembisa by fixing up two classrooms at a school she ministers at. This project proved to be a testimony to many who observed our willingness to bless the school.

In October we had our missions weekend and we had SAAWE lead the Saturday workshop as well as the youth on Friday. The Sunday we had a guest speaker and took up a faith pledge and the church pledged to give R87,500 for the sake of missions. This is also 20% more than the 2010 pledge. So we praise the Lord for the willingness of Springs Baptist Church to support missions and to be serious about spreading the fame of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

A word from our Pastor

Grace! That, I think, is the best way to describe much of the past year. New faces have been added to our fellowship, which is always an encouragement, but the greatest joy of all has been the new hearts that have been received in new birth. Yes, there have been a few conversions, and with this, a few baptisms. What a privilege to witness the work of God's Spirit taking effect in the souls of men.

In addition to this, we have been on the receiving end of abundant financial blessing, enabling us the opportunity to completely paint the inside and outside of the Sunday School building. And again, so wonderfully, the Lord has ensured in the most wonderful way, the virtual meeting of our budget.

We have given more to missions than ever before, and the next year bodes even more exciting things in our support of missionary endeavours, especially in the sending of our own missionary to North Africa to serve in the Muslim world.

Our Conversation Groups continue to be well supported, and the fellowship of our members one with another seems to be very warm.

Indeed, the Lord has been gracious to us and we praise Him for that.

However, the year has also had a few heartbreaking moments, with two of our members graduating to glory. While we praise the Lord for the life and witness of Sandy White and Wally Tribelhorn, we sorely feel their loss. The Psalmist speaks of life as a vapour, in reference to its brevity. The vapour that was the life of these two saints was of the most fragrant kind, and as we remember them, we praise God for the way He presented Himself to us through their lives.

Even more heartbreaking however, has been seeing some walk away, some from the church and one from the faith she at one time seemed to hold so dear. As your pastor, you need to know that I am not indifferent to this. In those quiet moments of my soul, I grieve deeply over such things. How we need to pray earnestly for one another, that none might fall away. But pray...is anybody praying?

Prayer meetings remain, in the words of Leonard Ravenhill, the Cinderella of the church. How is it that that which is the greatest need for the body, corporate prayer, is the least supported. We see a slow, but apparently steady growth in church numbers, but not in the prayer meetings. Am I encouraged? No! How can we possibly hope for a powerful meeting with our God, for any increase in our current experience of God's grace (which is O', so gracious) if we do not pray? I try so many times to encourage our members to the prayer meetings, but so many still stay away. You need to know that it is then that I find myself asking: Is my ministry having any effect, or is the congregation just satisfied that they have someone to fill the pulpit each Sunday.

You need to know my heart, a heart that longs for spiritual blessings for you that surpass all that you could possibly imagine: O' why won't you pray!

But here I am, your pastor until the Lord moves me on, or takes me home, and until He does, I will press on to deliver His Word as faithfully as I possibly can Sunday by Sunday, pleading with the unsaved to come to Jesus and to find life, and pleading with the saved to awaken from their sleep, to surrender everything, and follow Christ with every ounce of their beings.

"For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father...that you may be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit in your inner being, that Christ may dwell in your hearts, through faith."

I love you all!

David Holdt

All sermons preached in the church are recorded in MP3 format - to listen online or download them, please visit our resource website www.conversations.org.za for further information.

Conversation Ministries has been established to manage our Resource Ministry. To help you discover the worth of the LORD Jesus Christ you can find:

• A Book Shop is located at the church with a selection of books from reputable and reliable authors, bibles, devotionals, etc.
• Sermons preached in the church are recorded and stored in MP3 format - these are available at our book shop directly after the service or event on CD. Alternatively, you can download these MP3 files from our resource website:

http://www.conversations.org.za

• A Library is available to encourage both adults and children in reading sound edifying literature.

A word from our Sunday School head looking back over 2010

"Conversing the Worth of Christ to the world, the next generation"

There continues to be a focus on "preparing for rain.' The church continues to pray for revival and so there is an urgent need to prepare for what the Lord will do.

The God-centred emphasis on the teaching continues to be pursued in the curricula taught. Bible verse memorization continued and there is the need to commit this to prayer and constant motivation the internalizing of God's Word - our two edged sword.

Prayer meetings for the teachers prior to the beginning of Sunday School continued and are most fruitful as we commit the lessons, teachers and children to the Lord.

The junior section has continued to the Old Testament and on with the New Testament highlighting how awesome God is, His sovereignty, sin and the need for punishment thereof by our holy and pure God, His goodness, love and mercy to His people and the good news of Jesus our Redeemer.

The Middle section has continued joyously learning that 'God always keeps His promises.' That's right His word is true, trust worthy and what He says He means both in saving grace, damnation and instruction for life and living. Prayer and Praise enable the children to see God's faithfulness in the way He answers prayer with a Yes, Wait or No, His way is better. There has been a consistent level of attendance of regulars' (9/11young people) plus a number of visiting children (7) The Holy Spirit has worked in the hearts of the children and many of these young children come voluntarily to church services, morning and evening.

Senior Section continues to study the 'The Blazing Center' by J. Piper which has led to a lot of lively discussion and growth, by the 8 youth attending the class in answering questions like these; What do you think will bring you happiness? How would you define or describe love? If God is completely sovereign, does that mean He is responsible for the evil in the world? Why does the universe exist? It is our prayer that each child will become passionate about Gods glory. God has been faithful in working in these young people. God has filled them with a passion for himself and it is being manifested in the eager, dedicated attendance and involvement extending to being involved in the different church ministries.

The outside of the Sunday School building was painted thanks to a donation. There continues to be the desire to build relationships with both the individual young people and their families. Family services have continued this year on a quarterly basis. The enthusiasm by our youth to partake in the different aspects is a delight and the teachers praise our Lord for such excitement and willingness to serve in the worship services.

God instilled such a passion and drive in the children, youth, Sunday School teachers and coordinators of portfolios for the end of the year play that all we can say is WOW, Lord Your faithfulness is glorious. Should anyone like a copy of the play "To live is Christ" DVD please, contact Bill or Margie.

The Children's library continues to be available before Sunday School and between Sunday School and church. Come and browse and encourage/support the children's interest to draw books and read both Christian and other books of interest.

Mission's awareness continued:

The collection of 5 cent pieces for "Open Doors" to purchase and distribute children's bibles to the persecuted church continued this year and the church members caught the mission and 60 000 coins + were collected and handed over. The young people were determined, even more fervently, to continue even after 6000 coins were stolen. Prayer items for coins were written by the children on the prayer room white board.

God bless each and every one of you teachers, assistants and musicians. To all the Sunday School team thank you that through thick and thin you have remained faithful in your service to our Lord in one of the most vital ministries in the church.

Bill and Margie.

Challenges and prayer

Prayer needs:

• Commitment of both children and parents.
• Vehicle and driver to fetch youth for Sunday School, to free teachers to be able to prepare and attend the prayer time.
• That God would lead, bless and build this work, glorifying His Name in it.
• For conversions. Oh Lord, let your children hear and believe Your Word!
• For Spiritual wisdom and faithfulness in preparation, delivery and relationship building as our teachers assist the youth in spiritual growth.

We give thanks to God for another year passed, and we were able to carry out our visitation to as many folk as possible.

We were once again able to visit folk, the elderly, those shut in and those who are ill. We thank each one for accepting us into their homes so graciously.

We still feel that this ministry is not reaching it's full potential as most times we only hear about someone ill when they are home from hospital and sometimes fully recovered. To those we are able to visit, we thank God for allowing us to do so. Ella and I feel most blessed from these visits, and we hope those visited feel as blessed.

The ministry to Pieter Wessels was tragically curtailed, after they had that terrible fire. However, I am still visiting Zenelle Mbeki Home (Tini Vorster) each month, as well as playing the monthly Bingo with the patients. I can assure you this small ministry is much appreciated by the patients.

At Christmas time, we were able to take a packet of biscuits and one of sweets to each patient, as well as the calendar we make up. What a blessing and joy this is to the patients, as in a lot of cases; this little gift is all they receive. This ministry is carried out by the Grace of God.

Please, folk we are to serve, and would love to visit you should you so wish. Please do not hesitate to let us know your needs.

May God bless you all as we serve Him together.

Ella & Cynthia

Worship Service Times

Below is an overview of the worship services at the Springs Baptist Church.

• 08:30 - Sunday School (Multi-generational Curriculum)
• 10:00 - Sunday Morning Worship Service
• 17:15 - Sunday Afternoon Prayer Meeting
• 18:00 - Sunday Evening Worship Service

Please join us for hearty and enthusiastic worship of the King of kings and the LORD of lords - the LORD Jesus Christ!

We thoroughly enjoy God's grace to us in providing a Christ-centred pulpit ministry provoking us to live cross-centred lives for His glory.

If at anytime, while you are browsing through our website, you have a question related to any of our ministries, please don't hesitate to contact us by visiting our CONTACT DETAILS page.

We have a vibrant youth who gather in two different groups - both catering for the specific needs of each group:

• Beavers (primary school - Grades 3-7) 
• Exodus (secondary/high school - Grades 8-12)

Please feel free to visit the links above for more information on the various youth ministries in our church.