Dedication
It was a shock to receive the news of the sudden passing of the Rev Abraham Nkhata on the 9th of September this year. Abraham was a faithful and hard-working member of the UPCSA’s Mission and Discipleship Committee. He also served as the Convener of M&D for the Synod of Zambia and always attended to his tasks as Convener with diligence and excellence.
He was the minister at John Knox Presbyterian Church, Ndola, in the Copperbelt Presbytery and he will be sorely missed by the UPCSA.
On behalf of the Assembly M&D Committee, I would like to dedicate this year’s readings and devotions to Abraham’s memory. His wife, Rhoda, and children remain in our prayers. “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Chris Judelsohn, Convener of the Mission and Discipleship Committee
Introduction
Welcome to the devotions for the Month of Mission 2017.
The preaching series and Daily Readings for our 2017 October Month of Mission concentrate on Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom of God, particularly the parables of the kingdom and, in particular, the image of wine and wineskins.
The Gospel is always “new wine” – the love and grace it reveals are so transcendent that it can speak to all times and cultures. We need new wineskins to bring this wine to our rapidly changing world. The Kingdom Jesus describes and that is demonstrated in the the New Testament is a vibrant missional vehicle — it is the wineskin.
All of this points towards the significance of the Reformation and the 500th anniversary of Luther’s significant act at Wittenburg — a new wineskin was needed — which is why the Sundays will focus on the “five Sola’s” of the Reformation — they represent the wine and the Kingdom is the wineskin.
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