Connection. of groceries. Sometimes our impact is the money we give to our missionaries,

Transcription

1 Connection Faith Journey Church home of Gaarde Christian School Journey - Pursue - Impact SW Gaarde Street, Tigard, OR Ph June - July 2010 Impacting Our World... Impacting our world is often done one moment at a time: generating a smile and a warm thank you for the harried clerk at a local merchant, or praying for a neighbor who has just announced to you that they have cancer. Or maybe it s giving up your coveted seat on the bus to the woman who is juggling 2 children, a stroller, a backpack and a bag of groceries. Sometimes our impact is the money we give to our missionaries, Pregnancy Resource Center or Teen Challenge. Other times our impact is more personal, as it was over Mother s Day weekend when we invited single mothers to come and celebrate Motherhood! Knowing that life is just so daily, taking care of the needs of their children (most often at the expense of themselves) we sought to provide just a couple of hours where these amazing women could take some time to breath and let others take care of them! A wonderful meal, hand massages, lots of laughter and fun, free childcare, some special gifts and a word fitly spoken were all part of an incredible evening of love and hope! ARTICLE Page The Pastor s Pen 2 June / July Calendars 3 Vacation Bible School June 28 th July 2 nd 9:00 am noon daily Schedule 4 Vacation Bible School is coming June 28th - July 2nd and is available to all children 3 yrs old and potty-trained up through 5th grade. This year's theme is Son Harvest County Fair. Can you remember the great smells, the excitement and tasty treats of the county fair? Bring your kids to join us for Vacation Bible School (VBS) this year as we recreate this exciting atmosphere full of laughter, learning and memories that will be sure to last a lifetime! To register your child for Vacation Bible School, visit our website at Click Ministries from the main menu, then Vacation Bible School. From here you can print our Registration Form. Complete the form and return it to the Faith Journey Church / Gaarde Christian School front office. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galations 5:22-23 West of 55 4 Missions News 5 Adult Ministries 5 Fusion Youth 6 Journey Kids 6 Royal Rangers 7 M pact Girls Clubs 7 Gaarde Christian Sch 8

2 the Pastor s Pen Birds, Planes and Interruptions to Plans Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the *purpose of the Lord that will stand. There is this scene in the third Indiana Jones movie In Search for the Holy Grail where Indiana Jones (played by Harrison Ford) is with his father Professor Henry Jones (played by Sean Connery), where they are being attacked from the sky by a WWII Nazi Germany fighter plane. After running (literally) out of options, Prof. Henry Jones opens his umbrella on the beach and begins to run at the very large flock of seagulls which causes them to flee into the sky. After the dumb-founded Indiana watches the birds strike the German plane, causing it to plummet and crash into the ground, Indiana s Father looks at his astonished son and proclaims: I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne: Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky. " Some believe these were the last dying words of the great conqueror and ruler Charlemagne. This was the movie scene and these were the words that rushed into my head a few days ago shortly after starting our flight home from vacation in Orlando, FL. Not long after taking off our plane made a loud clunk sound, then seemed to pause in mid-air and slow-down as if grabbed from behind. The plane slowly began to gain speed, upon which the pilot got on the intercom and calmly informed us that we had struck a bird. From the few feathers that were left on the wing outside my window, it looked to be a rather large bird or possibly a crane. Upon our return to Orlando we were greeted with emergency vehicles waiting for our arrival. We landed without incident and the plane was summarily washed, inspected by mechanics and the co-pilot and we were off an hour or so behind schedule. Our connection in Atlanta however was only thirtythree minutes between arrival and departure. We arrived at about 9:10am, with our flight having left for PDX promptly at 8:30am. We had missed our plane home, and The damage a bird can do to a plane. were forced to spend the next 10 plus hours waiting for our next flight out. Who would have thought that a mid-air collision between a Delta Boeing 757 and a whooping crane would end up with the 757 having to make a return emergency landing? It is interesting how much of our plans, and our arrangements get interrupted and we think ourselves so inconvenienced, so put out. I have learned a long time ago (painful lessons for another time) that most of my interruptions are in fact divine appointments. This faith journey that we are on can and will take us on paths and roads that make following Christ such a great adventure. We met some incredible people during our 10 hour stay at the Atlanta, Georgia airport. Take my encounter with Bill the weary businessman who was headed to Portland, and then on to meet his wife for some special time together. Bill s work demands that he is on the road five days of the week. Or Lafayette the waiter at TGI Fridays, or the many people who we got to connect with even for brief moments who were in the same predicament we were. Some of these wonderful people came to our aid in helping us with our airline troubles. In Jesus day, they walked or commuted by donkey or mule that would take them days to go a hundred miles. They would often find themselves at the mercy of strangers and in need of assistance. We fly in airplanes across the entire country in less than 8 hours and we find ourselves frustrated that we have been delayed and inconvenienced. We live in an age of incredible technology, yet when it really truly matters we are left at the mercy and hospitality of others. It is the connecting with other people, and the design of God that we are here for each other. People! Yes, people, are often the Lord s way of making it apparent life is and always has been about this precious commodity. We tend to focus on the means, the method, the money and the time, rather than the true end, God s purpose His wisdom in the moment is what truly matters. As that great thinker and theologian Os Guinness would say: we in modern times have too much to live with, and too little to live for. Friends we set about our plans believing what is will always be, and what we have planned and arranged in our little worlds will continue without interruption or delay. Tim Kizziar, Lead Pastor at Sisters Community Church brings this in focus when he makes the challenge: Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter. The book of James in the Bible says: Look here, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit." How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog it's here a little while, then it's gone. James 4:13 & 14 Journeying Together; Pastor Tom Walking with people, following God Page 2

3 JUNE - JULY 2010 Calendars june 2010 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT GCS Field Day (All Day Kinder- 8th Grades) Rangers Campout 5 6 Picnic Celebrating Pastor Frisinger s 12 th Anniversary w/ Ibach Park following 10 am service 7 GCS Awards 1:30 pm (1st-8th Grades) 8 GCS Kindergarten 10:00 am 9 GCS Last Day of School The Wave Prayer & Praise 7:00 pm Water Baptism 10:00 am Youth Parent Meeting following 10 am service YOUTH Summer 7 pm Happy Father s Day! NO PM Youth or Adult Cornerstone Meetings 21 Journey Summer Day Camp Begins Vacation Bible School (June 28 - July 2, 9:00 am - Noon Daily) july 2010 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT Vacation Bible School (June 28 - July 2, 9:00 am - Noon Daily) 4 Happy 4th of July! NO PM Youth or Adult Cornerstone Meetings The Wave Prayer & Praise 7:00 pm Girls Night Out Youth Pool Party & 6 pm Page 3

4 Service Schedule Sundays 8:45-9:45 am Sunday School - All Ages Nursery ( Birth - 2 Yrs ) 10:00-11:30 pm Worship Service Children s Church ( 3 Yrs - 5th Grade ) Nursery ( Birth - 2 Yrs ) 6:00 pm Adult Home Group - Multiple Locations Fusion Youth - Faith Journey Church Mondays 6:30-8:30 pm Blue Thread Ministries (1st Monday of each Randol s) Tuesdays 5:30 am Men s Bible Study - Davidson s Wednesdays 7:00 pm Adult Study in Modular #2 Fusion Youth ( Sanctuary ) Missionettes ( Girls Kinder - 5th Grade ) Royal Rangers ( Boys Kinder - 5th Gr ) Rainbows ( Girls and Boys 3-4 Years ) Fridays 7:00 pm The Wave - Prayer and Worship (2nd Friday of each month) Office Hours JUNE: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Monday - Thursday JULY: Church 9:00-4:00 pm Monday - Thursday School Office Closed West of 55 senior adult ministry You will guide me with your council, and afterward receive me to glory. - Psalm 73:24 Some of the events of late have caused me to think of homecoming. One of my favorite pastimes as a boy was walking the creek behind our home. Those walks were high adventure for me; rocks to skip, birds to watch, dams to build, animal tracks to follow, and, if I made it to the mouth of the creek, my dog and I would sit and share lunch while we watched the geese swim across the lake. We d linger as long as we could, but only just so long, for my father wanted me home before sunset. The shadows grew long and the hollows got dark fast in the woods. I d be wishing along the way that I was already home. Our house sat on a hill in some trees, but the light was always on until all the family was in. Often my father would be sitting on the back porch reading the paper, waiting for me. How did it go? he would ask. Pretty good, I d say. But it sure is good to be home. Those memories of walking that creek made me think of another journey the one I m taking now. It isn t always easy, but I know at the end of it there s a caring Father and my eternal home. I can hardly wait to get there! I m expected there. The light is on and my heavenly Father is waiting for me. I suppose He ll ask, just like my father used to, How did it go? Pretty good, I ll say. But it sure is good to be home! Jesus will be waiting for me, on His beautiful throne. He will welcome me home after the day is through! For the Christian, home is spelled H-E-A-V-E-N. In His Service, Pastor John Granholm Page 4

5 Pastor Kelly G. has been teaching Sunday night s Cornerstone group on 2 Peter 1:5-9. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you posses these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. While we were discussing perseverance as a group God brought to my mind our missionaries that are in other countries doing God s work. I was thinking about how much perseverance they must have to be away from their friends and families in the states. Who do they get encouragement from? 1 Peter 1:6 They lived like refugees, like strangers in the world scattered throughout the earth. Our missionaries are all around the world spreading the word of God. They leave their comfortable life in the United States, learn a new language, a new culture and place themselves in a foreign land. 1 Peter 2:18-19 They are subjected to brutal working conditions. Some missionaries are not in brutal working conditions, but some are. And those that aren t surely don t have all the modern conveniences that we have, and for some of us that can be brutal. They are punished for following Jesus 1 Peter 4:12. Many missionaries are in countries that despise the Christian religion and they have to be very careful how they meet together and teach God s word. Even in this day and age missionaries are martyred, we just don t hear about all the tragic things that happen. Think of how hard it must be to be away from your family and friends to go and live in a foreign country. Who do they turn to for encouragement when life is hard or when they are discouraged? Just think of the opportunities we are missing by not praying for our missionaries. They are there to do the work of God, and it is our job to not only support them financially, but emotionally. What opportunities have our missionaries missed because they have not been held up in prayer? What souls have been lost because we have been too busy to pray for our missionaries? I would like each of you reading this to adopt a missionary to pray for and encourage. Ask God to place one of the missionaries we support on your heart to pray for. Take a look at the newsletters in the missionary hallway take their address down and send them an encouraging . Donna Randol Missions News Russ and Beth Chambers Missionaries to OSU (Chi Alpha) Carl and Terri Gibbs Missionaries to Africa Tamara Henkes Missionary to Romania Dennis & Diane Holcomb Missionaries to Poland Ken Huff Missionary to Cambodia Eric & Jacquelin Jenkins Missionaries to Algeria Steve and Julie Kramer Missionaries to the Netherlands Bill & Carol Paris Missionaries to Tokyo, Japan Josh & Renee Ransom Missionary to China Matt & Heather Reigel Missionaries to Germany John & Beccy Rodli Missionaries to Azores/Portugal Ryan & Christy Thomas Missionaries to Mexico Rob & Jeanel Shipley Missionaries to East Africa David & Dorothy Yunuba Missionaries to Africa John & Carolyn Stewart Missionaries to Indonesia Chuck & Janet Wilson Missionaries to Botswana Let not your heart be troubled... Jesus Learning and Growing together... Let not your heart be troubled, familiar words to most, yet not always easy to follow in real life! People are losing their jobs, their homes and their health at an alarming rate. It is difficult for many to find the confidence to believe that the chaos that seems to be raining down upon our world is going to lead to anything but trouble. However, we are admonished twice in John 14 not to let our hearts be troubled. Adult Ministries Living With Confidence in a Chaotic World, the new Adult Cornerstone study will challenge each of us to live fully in Gods promises. We will examine how our hearts can be filled with so much peace that we can pour out and impact the broken world in which we live. Join us this summer on Sunday nights at 6pm! Pastor Kelly GrosJacques Page 5

6 Youth Ministries "I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." ~ Mother Teresa How often do we think this very thing?! We often wonder why the Lord allows certain things in life to happen and how on earth will we be able to handle it. The good news is that WE CAN HANDLE IT! God knows what's best for us, even when we can't understand His ways. No matter what is happening in your life, you can trust God will take care of it and you. Hang in there! God is in control! Summer is HERE!!! Every year around this time, young people are anxious to trade those textbooks for the great days of summer. Three whole months of glorious sunshine, vacations & relaxation - who wouldn't be excited?!! With the beginning of freedom close at hand, we are also excited for the opportunities we have to join in summer celebrations! PARENTS Sunday, June 13th after morning service Meeting in the cafe to discuss summer youth retreat & fundraiser! SUMMER YOUTH ACTIVITIES: Wed, June 16 - Summer Kick Off, 7pm Wed, July 21 - Pool Party & 6pm Sun, August 1 - $2 Bowling 8pm after youth Sat, August 7 - Carwash Fundraiser for Youth Retreat YOUTH RETREAT 2010 Sunday, August 15 - Tuesday, August 17 Camping & Rafting in Maupin, Oregon Kiel & Niina Downey Children s Church 10:00AM Freedom Kids Services for 3 yrs - Kindergarten On Sunday mornings, our little ones (three years old through kindergarten age) meet together to learn, sing and play. JourneyKids Services for 1st - 5th graders Kids, bring along your energy on Sunday mornings for Journey Kids! This is no time to sit back and watch... every child is an integral part of the service. Together, we re learning to worship, serve, reach out and translate what we re learning into action in our own lives. The laughs are many and the surprises frequent. Join us! Fusion Youth headed to the Portland Rescue Mission for the MERGE outreach in April. Our youth went above and beyond the call, even cleaning out garbage cans. It was an awesome opportunity to be a blessing! In April Journey Kids began a new series with a camping theme. We decided that our camp needed a name. Though there were lots of great ideas, by majority vote - we chose "Unbreakable ROCK". What an awesome name for an awesome group of students ready to stand on God's word. My vision through this interactive Bible story telling is that your child will walk away with a deeper relationship with God, ready to share Children s Church Ministries the good news with everyone they meet. Together, young and old, we DO make a difference and we ARE an influence to those around us. In the next several weeks we will continue to follow Paul s amazing adventures as he finds himself in some unique situations. Come join us on Sunday mornings at 10:00 am to find out what adventures awaits us. Alaina Worden Page 6

7 Royal Rangers clubs for boys kindergarten through 5th grade Royal Ranger Campout The Royal Rangers are having an overnight campout to celebrate the end of school and kickoff for the summer. We will be having a council fire with a message presented by our special guest, Pastor Tom. We will also have a hot dog and marshmallow roast, games, and pancake breakfast. If you are a boy in Kindergarten through 5th grade, we would love to have you join us. Contact the church office at for more information. Farrin Hockett M Pact clubs for girls first through fifth grade and Rainbows club for preschool aged girls and boys As I was preparing to write this article, I looked online to do research on what makes girls be girls. I found an amazing assortment of online tests girls can take to profile themselves and learn how to get along with other friends. Unfortunately, all of them came from a secular world view of watching out for ones own self as a priority. Our goal in each of the M Pact clubs is to not only teach the girls about biblical principles, but mentor the girls to apply biblical principles to their own lives. Teaching girls to consider others feelings over their own is the Golden Rule. Luke 6:31 says Do to others as you would have them do to you. Our M Pact clubs continue throughout the summer months with fun lessons and outdoor activities. We would love to have your child be a part of our clubs. In his service, Connie Frisinger, M Pact Clubs Coordinator Page 7

8 Gaarde Christian School Our school year is quickly coming to an end. Soon the teachers will be filling out the final report cards for the year. It is always encouraging to me as I read the report cards and see the progress our students have made in reading, language arts, math and all the core subjects. Our teachers work diligently to cover the student learning objectives for each subject area in their grade levels while helping our students to develop analytical and higher level thinking skills. What happens to everything they learned during those lazy days of summer? Most students will experience summer learning loss if they do not engage in some sort of educational activities over the summer. Research shows that students lose a month of academic achievement over the summer months. Here are a few suggestions you can do to help prevent summer learning loss with your child: Visit your local library. Most libraries have a summer reading program for tots to teens where students can set goals and earn books. Play thinking/learning games with your child. Explore the area by visiting the zoo, OMSI, local museums and historical sites. Get them involved in planning your vacation. Have them figure out how many miles you will be traveling, how long it will take and how much you will have to spend on gas. Cook up some fun together and let them do the meal planning, shopping and measuring where they have to use their math skills. Keep a family journal of summer. Leave it out where everyone can write in it. Not only will they be practicing writing skills but you will have a great record of your summer. Whatever you do to help your child stay engaged academically keep it fun and remember that summer is about a break from school. I am grateful for the opportunity GCS has in supporting you in developing a solid educational, spiritual and social foundation for your children. Watching them grow throughout this year has been incredibly rewarding. Thank you for entrusting us with your kids! Have a wonderful summer! Kellie Hooper GCS Administrator SW Gaarde St. Tigard, OR 97224