Photo courtesy of Lilla Amos

Tomorrow  William D. Carter III leaves us to go back to the States to continue his studies at  Princeton Theological Seminary. William has lived these past eleven weeks, here in South Africa, to the fullest and has brought much laughter, many Godly sermons, beautiful music and much more into our lives.  Yesterday he preached his last sermon at Mowbray Presbyterian Church , well his last sermon for this visit, that is!  We are confident he will be back again!

Photo courtesy of Lilla Amos

One of William’s trademarks is his penchant for wearing bow ties, so in honour of him, the gentlemen wore bow ties to church yesterday morning.

The following is an excerpt from William’s sermon:

The God that we serve wants us to be renewed in our faith. He wants us to have that unmovable faith, the type of faith that believes against the odds, the type of faith that sees the impossible, that is the impossible. I just don’t talk about faith – I live faith. I have an experienced faith. I have witnessed faith.

That is what we call faith, the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. It’s not seen with your eyes but it is seen with your spirit because, “If you don’t see it, before you see it, you won’t see it.”

He ended his sermon with a prayer for us, as a congregation:

It is my prayer that you would become a better community of faith, ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness thereof. It is my prayer that you would allow God to direct your way, to direct you in your purpose, in your destiny, into all that He has ordained for your life.

I pray that God will increase your love for one another, even the one you don’t like, I pray that you get it right. I pray that you mend broken relationships. I pray that healing stops by your house. I pray that peace stops by and eats Sunday dinner with you today. I pray that you don’t look at one another as White Dave, Black William, Colored Kenny, Domestic Worker Nombooso and Professor Trevor, I pray that you not see class and color but see one another as Children of the Most High God!

Lastly, may you walk in holiness and try your best to be as blameless as possible. To the best of your ability, live a life that is pleasing in the sight of God… And remember that just like the Thessalonians, God will always take care of you.

It is my prayer that God will interrupt your plans, that He will inconvenience you as you go about scheduling the plans that you have for your life. It is my prayer that you will be interrupted by God reminding you that “God will take care of you! Through every day, over all the way, God will take care of you!”

I encourage you to write, write books, write more books, teach one another, step out of your comfort zone, take a risk, invest in one another, dance in the rain, allow your voice to be heard because somebody needs to hear from you, sit among the people, love one another, listen to the stories of one another, affirm one another, make plans but leave room for God to step in and make alterations. And may you never forget that no matter how far you feel away from God, God has, and will take care of you.

Thank you for having me… God Bless You, until we meet again. Amen!

Our prayer for William is that he will continue to be obedient to the guiding of the Holy Spirit, that the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart will always be acceptable in God’s sight. Our prayer is the same prayer found in Ephesians 3:

We pray that out of God’s glorious riches He will strengthen William with power through His Spirit in his inner being so that Christ may dwell in his heart through faith.  That William will be rooted and established in love, that he may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that he may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Amen!

You are going to be missed,William!

You can read more about the time William D. Carter III  spent in South Africa on the following links:

https://noelene2014.com/2015/06/17/meeting-bishop-tutu/
https://noelene2014.com/2015/07/07/one-of-the-many-perks-to-being-a-christian/
https://noelene2014.com/2015/07/23/youre-right-on-track/