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Sunday 13 October 2002 - "50 Years of Faithful Ministry"

(For the photos and powerpoint presentations, click here)

(Summary of brief talks by Friedel and Erlo Stegen during the celebration)

Friedel Stegen:

or

Rom 1:16

16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

This verse is a summary of Erlo Stegen's life. Right through his life he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ that sets a person free from his sins - anger, lust, adultery, hatred, jealousy, criticism, etc. This Gospel of Christ is so precious so us, because of its life-changing power demonstrated all these years.

We experienced the eyes of the blind opened, the crippled healed, the Gospel preached to the poor, and those bound by the chains of hell set free. It is the living, powerful Gospel of Christ. That is why we thank God for his life, and love him. We experience that this Gospel of Jesus Christ is still the same today as it was 2000 years ago.

Thousands in South Africa, Africa, Europe, America, Australia, etc. have found God changing and renewing their lives through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They found new life and hope.

We also thank God that through thick and thin, and against all odds, you remained faithful to God.

I want to leave you with these verses of encouragement from -

Hag 2:4 - 7

4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:

5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.

6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

Erlo Stegen:

or

Today I stand among you as the least. Learn from me that God is able to keep a person. Let all the nations listen and hear that one must seek first the Kingdom of God.

If you seek the Lord with all your heart, then be encouraged by what I've experienced - He can do even greater things for you. We do not know what the Lord has in store for us, but while we remain faithful to Him, we know that we have only seen the least yet.

In Dt 33:25 we read, "... as thy days, so shall thy strength be". As we get older, the working and power of God increase. Let us work while it is still day and make use of the time God has given us. Let us stand together and pull together. Let us follow God wherever He leads us, forgetting our own interests, for God works far above what we can ask or expect or pray for.

God has given each of us a task to fulfill, and woe to us when He returns and we have not fulfilled it. Do not waste your time on things of no value, for there are more important things, of eternal value, to do.

Do not let yourself be held up by grudges, e.g. so and so did not respect or greet me as they ought, etc. Stretch forward and grab hold of that which God has set before us. Do not let the devil play around with you as a cat with a mouse. There is work to do and complete in God's Kingdom.

Forget the sins of others against you, and confess your own; sort out your own life with God. Have you made right your life with God, or have you started and never completed it? Did you put your hand to the plow and then looked back? Some are so busy with the sins of others, and the grudges they have against others that they cannot progress spiritually. If I was busy with the sins of others, where would I be today? Let the dead bury their own dead, but let us serve the Lord faithfully.