The Vision and Mission of Livingstone Fellowship
“Coming to Him as to a Living Stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” 1 Peter 2:4-5 The Foundation and Chief Cornerstone is Christ Jesus Christ is the Living Stone, the Chief Cornerstone, the Stone which the builders rejected as worthless. If anyone falls on that Stone, he will be cut to pieces, but if that Stone falls on someone it will crush him to dust. Solus Christus! Christ Alone is the Head of the Church Christ alone is the Head of the Church. Christ alone is the Mediator between God and man. The wise man builds his house on a Rock. Christ is our Rock solid foundation. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” John 1:1. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Truth conquers. It is the Truth which sets us free. “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” 1 Cor 3:11 Come to Christ in Repentance and Faith We come to Christ in Repentance and faith. We who are God’s chosen people are a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God, called to worship, work and warfare, for the extension of God’s Kingdom. We who were dead in our trespasses and sins have been made alive by His grace, received by faith, on the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s own blood upon the Cross of Calvary. Living Stones, Sons, Servants and Soldiers He has taken out our heart of stone and regenerated us, so that now we are living stones being built up as part of His Church, His family, His army worldwide. What a privilege to be sons and daughters of the King of kings and Lord of lords! What a privilege to be servants and soldiers for the Creator, Saviour, Redeemer and Eternal Judge of the universe!
A Spiritual Fellowship
The Church is a Spiritual House. The foundation is Christ (Ephesians 2:20). The builders are Ministers (1Corinthians 3:10) the Church is Spiritual in its foundation and in its materials and furniture. The Priesthood of all Believers. We are called to be Intercessors. We offer living sacrifices – ourselves, our body, our life as a living sacrifice, we dedicate our time, talents and treasure to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. Romans 12:2 Reformed Faith in Action In this passage we see the distinctives of Livingstone Fellowship: Bible based. Christ centered. Missionary. Evangelistic, Reformed. Ministering to body, mind and spirit. Head, Heart and Hands. Putting feet to our Faith. Faith in Action. True love is measured by sacrifice. Postmillennial Eschatology of Victory. The most eloquent sermon is sacrificial service. Not only talking the Talk, but walking the Walk. Set Free to Serve Christ We have been set free to serve Christ. The Whole Church must take the Whole Gospel to the Whole World! Let the whole world hear His Word. “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 In His Steps “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps 1 Peter 2:21
14 Years of Livingstone Fellowship
It has been over 14 years since Livingstone Fellowship was launched as a Christian fellowship praying the Psalms, singing traditional Hymns, focusing on Bible teaching and preaching through every Book in the Bible. What have we accomplished in that time? Numerous books have been published containing the sermons prepared and proclaimed at Livingstone Fellowship, including: Two editions of The Ten Commandments – God’s Perfect Law of Liberty, which has also been translated into Afrikaans – Die Tien Gebooie – God se Volmaakte Wet van Vryheid. Answering Skeptics, which has also now been translated into Afrikaans and is soon to be printed and published. This series answered 14 common challenges and objections to the Faith. Practical Discipleship, which has been translated into Afrikaans and is awaiting funds to print and publish. A series of Firm Foundations for our Faith booklets, including: The Apostles Creed, Biblical Faith and Modern Counterfeits, The Authority of Christ and the First Day Sabbath and The Wonders of Water. Audio visual boxsets of all these preaching projects series were also produced.
Through Every Book of the Bible
The largest project of Livingstone Fellowship was preaching through every book in the Bible. This six year project involved studying, summarising and producing sermons on every Book in the Bible. These sermons were then shaped into chapters for Old Testament Survey and New Testament Survey. We also produced Audio Visual boxsets with audio MP3 discs of the Old Testament Survey sermons and New Testament Survey sermons. PDF’s of the books were also loaded onto these Audio MP3 and Data discs. Thousands of these books have been donated to Bible colleges, churches and Missions throughout Africa and are being used as text books in schools and colleges. We also produced the Livingstone Fellowship Reformation 500 Hymn Book which several congregations, missions, colleges and family are using for worship. Sermon Audio We now have over 800 sermons and lectures on our Sermon Audio page on the web. In the last year (2019) there were 161,140 downloads from our Sermon Audio page. The World Wide Web Our Livingstone Fellowship website www.Livingstonefellowship.co.za received 2,952 page views from 1,477 visitors so far this year. Social Media Platform Our Livingstone Fellowship Facebook page on social media in 2019 reached 10,353,940 people, with 15,774,836 impressions/views and 3,509,292 post engagements (likes, comments and shares) from 1,429,752 engaged users (people commenting, reacting or sharing) just in the last year.
Discipleship, Worldview, Evangelism and Missions Training
Livingstone Fellowship integrated Way of the Master and Evangelism Explosion training in our programme. Most of our members completed the Biblical Worldview Summit and Great Commission Course and most Livingstone Fellowship members took part in the March for Life to parliament and Missions in the Mall each year. Special Services We integrated Sanctity Life Sunday and the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted services into our calendar. Each year we observed Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday, Ascension Day, Pentecost Sunday, Reformation Day and Thanksgiving in our services. Regular outreaches and work parties for Literature4Africa were also a regular part of our programme. As were prayer vigils and outreaches outside abortuaries. We praise God for His grace and mercy. We have celebrated the Lord’s Supper, wedding services, dedications and baptisms. We have conducted funerals and memorial services. We have enjoyed Carol services and some of our members have sung Handel’s Messiah and other classics at special events. Love in Action We have assembled Boxes with Love for pensioners in Zimbabwe. We also mobilised work parties and donations to the needy.
Christ’s Last Command is our First Concern
We have sent out missionaries to the mission field, as far afield as Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Congo, Sudan, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania. Momentous Milestones We celebrated the Calvin 500, Livingstone 200 and the Reformation 500 events, using these momentous milestones to teach church history, to inform, inspire and involve Christians in working for Reformation, praying for Revival, calling churches back to the Bible and seeking to motivate and mobilise more believers to make Christ’s Great Commission our supreme ambition: through special services, radio broadcasts, articles, postings and publications we educated and enlisted many to focus on our Christian heritage and be inspired by examples of excellence. “Can you not do something more for God?” was a constant challenge: Christ died for you. What have you done for Him? Balanced Discipleship The cross is a symbol of our Faith. The vertical beam can represent our relationship to God. He speaks to us through the Bible. We speak to Him in prayer and praise. The horizontal beam represents our relationship to others. We reach out to fellow believers in fellowship. We reach out to unbelievers in evangelism. And all these four aspects of balanced discipleship: Bible study, Prayer, Fellowship and Evangelism are united in Worship. Everything must be done to the glory of God alone. Soli Deo Gloria!
Livingstone Fellowship
Inspired by the sacrificial service of Missionary Pioneer Dr David Livingstone, let us strive to be faithful to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ; steadfast in His service; inspired by the eschatology of victory; putting feet to our Faith; making Christ’s Great Commission our Supreme Ambition. Reformed in our doctrine. Missionary in our vision. Optimistic in our view of the end times. Praying the Psalms. Praying against evil. Reading and preaching through the Whole Word of God. Let the whole world hear His Word. Singing the great Hymns of the Faith. Christ shall have Dominion. Jesus Shall Reign. Stand up for Jesus. Fight the Good Fight. Who is on the Lord’s Side? From Greenland’s Icy Mountains. A Mighty Fortress is our God! Dr. Peter Hammond Livingstone Fellowship P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725 Cape Town South Africa Tel: 021-689-4480 Email: [email protected] Website: www.livingstonefellowship.co.za www.hmsschoolofchristianjournalism.org
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