8 FEATURE:
page 9
page 9
FEATURE: A LOOK IN THE MIRROR page 11
WOMEN FINDING THEIR PLACE: GOD’S SLUMBER PARTY page 12
FINAL TAKE WITH ERIC TWACHTMAN
page 9 page 4
page 13
APRIL CALENDAR OF EVENTS
IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION WITH PASTOR JIM GOVATOS page 5
FAMILY MATTERS: ARE YOU LIVING OR EXISTING? page 6
ABOUT THE COVER: New Man
SENIORS MAKING THEIR LIVES COUNT
Watercolor and colored pencil on paper, 11’x 15”
page 7
by Susan Govatos ©2005
ON A MISSION: SERVING BEYOND OUR WALLS
For more information, please visit: www.susangovatos.com
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NAS)
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
EMAIL: COMMUNICATIONS@ALOMAZONE.ORG FACEBOOK: ALOMAUMCHURCHFAMILY / TWITTER: @ALOMAUMC WEBPAGE: WWW.ALOMAZONE.ORG
ADVANCE / APRIL 2012
Just as a caterpillar must wrap itself in its cocoon, and then shed the old covering to become a new creature, so must every person who chooses to follow Jesus Christ. We are transformed by God’s grace and Jesus’atoning death and are resurrected to new life. The artwork was also based on Leonardo da Vinci’s Vetruvian Man (c.1485), the study of the human body in perfect physical proportions.
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In The Right Direction Alive Man Walking When I first met Don, he was a deadman-walking. He was managing to propel himself around on two feet, but most of his life was dead. He worked in the auto industry as a hydraulic pipefitter. Most of his spare time was spent growing or smoking pot. He was an okay guy with two little girls, but he had no sense of direction for them, for his wife or for himself. He was just existing.
JIM GOVATOS SENIOR PASTOR, ALOMA UMC
ine brothers. Don and his Christian brothers and their families loved to go to Family Camp at a nearby Christian campground. There, amidst moving worship and great activities, Don and his wife found genuine rest and fellowship.
I also saw Don turn from a man who mostly cared about his needs into a man who was a champion for his family. He and He treated his wife with tenderness and “But God is care and became her greatest so rich in cheerleader for her artistic endeavors. He raised two girls into mercy, and fine young women who are now he loved us pursuing their own ministries. I so much, often wonder what would have that even happened to these girls if Don had though we continued to grow weed instead of disciples.
I first met Don through his girls. his wife wanted to have them “done” (baptized). As we began to explore what that really meant, Don found Christ and became fully alive. Over time, many things in his life changed for the better. I watched him come to life before my very eyes. His monotonous worked were dead bloomed into a mission field because of Don eventually became a pastor where he proclaimed the great love of Christ he had found. our sins, he and faced another challenge. His Being a bit of a scholarly district superintendent discrimigave us pipe-fitter, he began to do nated against him because of his life...” research and answer the full-on conviction that Jesus Christ questions of his fellow-workers. was the way to real life. She cut his He became a leader among them. salary and made him jump through endless hoops, but he not only survived, Don’s first great test of his new life came he thrived without bitterness and when his uncle was murdered. This rancor. In his old pipe-fitting days, he horrible thing threatened to break him might have taken a pipe to her, but and his family, but it didn’t. Instead, instead he chose to extend grace. Don’s assurance of eternal life in Christ led him to minister to family members In commenting upon the effects of and show them they didn’t have to be Christ’s Resurrection on people, Paul hopeless or bitter in the face of so great puts it this way: But God is so rich in a tragedy. His life shone as a testimony mercy, and he loved us so much, that to the Resurrection of Christ in the even though we were dead because of midst of a dark, death-filled experience. our sins, he gave us life when he raised Don’s relationships also found new life. Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s Shortly after finding Christ, Don and his grace that you have been saved!) wife joined our small group. In that Ephesians 2:4-5. People sometimes ask group Don made life-long friends with me if I really believe in the Resurrection. whom he did life. Prior to finding Christ, Believe in it? Why, I’ve seen it! In Don’s most of Don’s friends had been “pot life, and in the lives of hundreds others buddies.” But in Christ he found genulike him.
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Family Matters: Are you living or existing?
MERRY KENDALL DIRECTOR OF FAMILY MINISTRIES, ALOMA UMC
In his book, “When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough,” Rabbi Kushner tells of a man’s reasons for coming to him for counseling one evening:
at the bank to handle the changes that are necessary after the death of a spouse. The bank representative was walking me through the mountains of questions, papers, and signature cards that needed to be changed and signed. I remember thinking at some break in the paperwork, “She is acting as though he doesn’t even exist anymore.” And I suddenly realized, “He doesn’t.”
“Two weeks ago, for the first time in my life I went to the funeral of a man my own age. I didn’t know him well, but we worked together, talked to each other from time to time, had kids about the same age. He died suddenly over the weekend. A bunch of us went to the funeral, each of us thinking, ‘It could just as easily have been me.’ That was two weeks ago. They have already replaced him at the office. I hear his wife is moving out of state to live with her parents. Two weeks ago he was working fifty feet away from me, and now it’s as if he never existed…I can’t stop thinking that it could happen to me, that one day it will happen to me, and a few days later I will be forgotten as if I had never lived. Shouldn’t a man’s life be more than that?”
You see, I was getting myself out of bed every day and walking through the motions of life, but I wasn’t living. I merely existed. I wanted reality to be something other than what it was. Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that His purpose is to give us life in all its fullness. I realized that day in that chair in the bank that I cannot live life to its fullest when I am focused on what life is not. Are you living life in all its fullness? Or, do you merely exist? You can only live life to its fullest when you accept reality. Now, acceptance does not mean approval. You do not have to like reality to accept it. Acceptance means facing the reality of a situation and deciding what you are going to do about it. Here is what I have learned: Life is filled with changes. Even if you do nothing, life will change. Some changes are joyful; some are disappointing. You must face each change and accept it. You must realize that the only time you have is this moment right now. Stop saying, “I’ll be happy when…” and just be happy today.
I can remember one such experience in my life. It was about a month after the death of my husband. I was Each month Family Ministries hosts a special “Family Dinner” in Aloma UMC’s Fellowship Hall. This is a great opportunity to meet our Family and hopefully decide to become part of the Aloma UMC Family! Please see the events calendar beginning on page 13 to learn more about this opportunity.
ADVANCE / APRIL 2012 ADVANCE /JANUARY 2012
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To Win the Prize: BY ZELDA WATERFIELD ALOMA UMC MEMBER “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Cor.2:9
I thank God for my life. Good and bad events tell me I have a purpose on earth. No matter how long I live, I will have a purpose. I learn something every day, acquiring a stronger faith and strength. My main dreams were to marry, have children, and live happily ever after. I met the man of my dreams in high school. I did not ask God if he was the one for me, I already knew God brought him from Arkansas to North Carolina on a white stallion just for me. We married (folks said it would not last), had three daughters, eight grandchildren, six great-grandchildren. Reality and dreams are two different concepts. A marriage can never be perfect, but it can be a partnership of two people who love each other. One misconception about marriage is that is it is a 50/50 partnership. Compromise is the most important event of each day and unselfishly making each other happy. God must be a part of that reality and the big dream, which we are still working on. Neither one should take independence from the other. God gave us each a brain to reason with, if we both thought alike, one of us would be unnecessary. When we visited the minister for our before marriage lessons, his main advice was: to never yell at each other unless the house was on fire. Never go to bed without making up and telling each other I love you and/or I'm sorry. I have done a lot of yelling, some because I lost my temper, some because I was hurt, or because I was losing the argument. Now when we holler it is so the other one can hear what the other is saying. But, we have never gone to bed mad at each other. Every night we tell the other how
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much they mean to us. We have learned that aging does take a toll on the life we once knew. It takes longer to get some things done, we tire and take naps. It takes two to remember some things. Through prayers we have been able to survive Bob's stroke and other hardships most couples have had. God had a plan, transfers, leaving behind friends, buying a house, rearing children, losing loved ones and friends to death, financial and business problems. Leaving our hearts and minds with love and understanding of life, because of God's guidance. No, problems were never listed on my first dream page, but each one helped us grow, as individuals and as a couple. We stay active, travel some, always keeping our minds open to new ideas and views. As we age, we have found what real love is. We have a full social life with friends and a very close relationship with our family. Retired with an empty nest, except two small dogs to give us added company and exercise. We have been married 62 years this April. Now we pray for good health and strength to face new obstacles. We celebrate each day as a resurrected life. We know there is more on the other side of this life. God has told us that. So, if 62 years is all we get in this life, we know there is eternity on the other side, together. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always hopes, always preservers.” 1 Cor. 13: 4-7
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On a Mission: Francisco - A Pastor Alive in Christ By Missionary Bill Allshouse in Mexico How can I fulfill what I sense you want me to do? What about my family? Francisco had brought his family down from Northern Mexico to Irapuato for a better paying job with his company. He and his family were attending a small mission church in the neighborhood of Floresta where they lived. It was being pastored by a Honduran missionary couple, Danny & Carminda Pineda. As the church grew, Francisco’s burden to follow God and serve Him became greater and greater. He realized that things could not stay the same, but how could he make a change? He remembered the verse about being dead to self and alive in Christ and the power of His resurrection. He then made a decision to find a way to serve Christ full time no matter where he had to go to do it. Meanwhile, the church had been growing and Danny had been praying for God to send someone to take his place as permanent pastor so he could leave and start another church. Francisco finally came to Danny to share his burning desire to become a pastor. When Danny heard, this he knew the Lord had chosen Francisco to take his place. Danny started to mentor Francisco and include him in the ministry. Francisco started to come alive as the Holy Spirit empowered him to serve. He and his wife Maribel have been studying in our Bible institute and are now pastoring full-time in Floresta. They have a heart for the people and he has a real gift for evangelism. They have also started a mission work in another town. God is really using Pastor Francisco as he depends upon the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. He is truly alive in Christ.
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By Missionary Steve Mersinger serving in Brazil
By Margaret Law Howell Serving with The Mission Society in France Just look at Mireille Charton if you want to see what a resurrected life looks like. Mireille is a precious woman in her 80's. Through a mutual friend of ours, she began attending a group that gathered each week in our home in the southern suburbs of Paris. She grew up Catholic, but was neither a believer nor active. Over a period of several months, Mireille attended our home group faithfully coming with her friend. Soon after this, we led the first ALPHA Course offered in our local church. She attended and soaked up every ounce of truth she learned about Jesus and how He gave His life for her. We began to see a transformation in Mireille's life. She grew bolder and would repeatedly tell us, she didn't know how people lived without Jesus. She found hope, a purpose to live for, and she now lives to share Jesus with her friends and acquaintances. Jesus has resurrected Mireille's life.
If you’re like me, you can imagine what a “Resurrected” life would be like. A life of significance and meaning, marked not by fear, but by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit birthing in us the fruits of love, power, and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7). However, as I reflect upon the “Resurrected” life and my experiences, I see only one way to arrive and truly live: we must die. This doesn’t seem a pleasant Easter message, but it is the path to abundant life! When I came to Christ, I followed the advice of my church. I quit drinking, drugs, cursing, and women and became a good church member. But the things I eliminated were surface level solutions to my
real problems, the medication that covered my deep and hidden brokenness. Death only came as I started to seek to know Jesus. He touched and poked and tore at my issues leaving nothing untouched. He pointed to an open grave for me to enter vulnerably as I was and bid me come and die. During this season, as we reflect upon the abundant life, the Resurrection life, let’s not run past Good Friday. Though we should always be an Easter people; in this life of short-cuts and easy get-arounds, we must have the courage to remember that this resurrected life can only be reached through death. Only through this death, is true Resurrection life possible. Jesus bids us come and die, will we dare to truly live?
I still remember the first time she prayed at our home group. She was not one accustomed to praying and had never done so in public. As we were winding up that weeks meeting, I could see that Mireille had something on her mind. And sure enough, she wanted to pray and had written out her first prayer. She wasn,t sure she would remember everything she wanted to say. We all rejoiced to hear her share her heart the first time publicly with her Lord and Savior.
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Feature: An excerpt from Patrick Morley’s upcoming book “Man Alive”
Over the last four decades, I've met one-on-one with thousands of men over coffee, in restaurants, in offices, online, after Bible studies, or just hanging out at the racetrack--men like you. I've listened to their stories. I've heard what they said and didn't say. Christian men know--or strongly sense--that we were created to lead powerful lives transformed by Christ. But something is blocking them. With a few inspiring exceptions, most men I talk to are confused about what a powerful, transformed life really looks like. They have high hopes for what Christianity offers but little to show for it. Their instincts are screaming, "There must be more!" When men try to put into words what keeps them from feeling fully alive, they invariably describe one or more of these seven symptoms: • "I just feel like I am in this thing all alone.” • "I don't feel like God cares about me personally, not really.” • "I don't feel like my life has a purpose--it seems random." • "I have a lot of destructive behaviors that keep dragging me down." • "My soul feels dry." • "My most important relationships are not working."
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What a Man Alive Does Differently We all know a handful of Christian men we admire more than others. Their faith has become robust and powerful. They're living lives of influence because their primal needs have been fulfilled. They feel alive. Perhaps you have even witnessed their transformation from spiritual mediocrity. Likewise, you've known men who never seem to be able to get it together spiritually. What makes the difference? What are the guys who really have it together doing that the guys who live in spiritual mediocrity don't do? What differentiates strong men from those guys who always seem to be on the outside looking in? What do successful Christian men do that unsuccessful Christian men fail to do? What's Going On? Consider Jesus' well-known parable of the four soils. A sower went out and scattered the seed of God's Word on four kinds of soil: the hard path, the rocky soil, the thorny ground, and the good soil. Most men today would recognize themselves in the first three soils where the seeds don't grow. Yet they honestly want to be like the good soil where the fourth seed fell--to be men "who truly hear and understand God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted" (Matthews 13:23). What is keeping men's lives hard, rocky, and choked with thorns when so many urgently want more and when God created us for more--much more? Jesus gave us another insight when He was speaking to a group of confused religious men. He said, "Your mistake is that you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). Do you see it? Jesus made a direct connection between knowing the Bible and leading a powerful life. Lukewarm men are in error because they "don't know the Scriptures" and therefore "don't know the power of God." Their capabilities don't equal their intentions. On the other hand, transformed men "truly hear and understand God's word and produce a harvest." Digging into the Word of God is easily the number one factor that differentiates men who have tapped into God's power.
an Army explosives expert, so he asked for help. The chaplain suggested they put some dynamite on the rock to break it up. The explosives expert laughed. He said, "If we just detonated explosives on top of the rock, it would barely take a chip out of the rock--and we would shatter every window within a two-block radius! "But I can do anything with that rock you want. I can leave the rock intact and throw it anywhere in your backyard. I can split in two. If you want me to pulverize it, I can. You just tell me what you want, and I can shape a charge that will direct the power of the blast to do whatever you want." That's the kind of immense, versatile power that Jesus envisioned in making the statement in Matthew 22:29. In the Scriptures and in the Holy Spirit, you already have at your disposal the power-the dynamite--of God to change your life. Where Do We Go from Here? God gives us a huge promise in His Word. Jesus said it Himself: "My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." (John 10:10) You don't have to settle for being half alive. You can heal each of your inner aches and pains. You can be the good soil. You can be transformed. God will change your life, one verse at a time. It's not self-indulgent for you to become the man God created you to be. In fact, it's your destiny to lead a powerful life transformed by Christ--not without ongoing opposition, but equipped and trained with the power to prevail. You don't have to settle for being half alive. We are part of something bigger than ourselves, you and I. We share a common bond. And there are others too--millions of us. Everywhere. Men unwilling to settle for spiritual mediocrity. Men unwilling to settle for anything less than becoming fully alive. Excerpted from Man Alive by Patrick Morley Copyright © 2012 by Patrick Morley. Excerpted by permission of Multnomah Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
A Powerful Life The word "power" in the Bible is the Greek word dunamis, from which we get dynamite.
Ready to become alive? Join us for this year’s Promise Keeper’s event! Please see pages 14 and 15 for more information.
An Army chaplain had a huge boulder in his backyard. He knew
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Such a Time as This: God’s slumber party...You’re Invited! BY SUSAN HULCHER ALOMA UMC MEMBER
In my dictionary, page 458 defines the word “retreat” as “the act of withdrawing, as into privacy; a place of refuge, withdrawal or seclusion.” That definition might bring to mind endless hours of boring, monk-like silence…. (For moms of young children, this may sound like heaven!). To know the real definition of RETREAT, however, one needs to attend the Aloma Ladies Retreat at Leesburg Life Enrichment Center!! If being quiet is an option you are seeking, you will have an endless array of places that can afford you such meditation. However, if you are looking for a weekend away from home to chat with other ladies about feelings, families, parenting, in a non-judgmental atmosphere, this is for you! How about renewing friendships with church friends you only get to see for an hour or so on Sunday morning, or developing a friendship with someone you want to know better? How about enjoying amazing meals (including desserts!); ones you don’t have to plan, shop for, cook OR clean up? What about listening to fantastic praise music from Aloma’s renowned praise team, hearing words of encouragement from a speaker who somehow knows just how you are feeling, or genuine prayer time alone or with a partner? Oh, and when was the last time you actually watched the sun set on a breathtaking lakeside setting? Or maybe laughed until your sides hurt; ate snacks until 1:00 AM, or played games until waayyyyy past your bed time? If this sounds like something you have been craving, you need to mark your calendar for God’s Slumber Party , April 20 – 22, 2012. I attended the Women’s Retreat as Marilyn
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Coppenhaver’s guest 5 years ago, even before I started attending Aloma. I knew after that weekend that I wanted to go to the church that these ladies represented. I have attended the retreat every year since and laughed, wept, and soul searched. Needless to say, my name is permanently on the retreat roster! Even though sometimes it is difficult to leave the “jungle” for a weekend, it is so worth it! And if you’re still not convinced, did you know that befriending and receiving support from other women does more than just cheer us up; it also serves as a behavioral vaccine that can inoculate us from illness, depression, and create an overall sense of well-being? Scientific evidence indicates that friendships and close social networks can lower blood pressure, reduce the risks of diabetes and heart disease, ward off depression, reduce stress, and make us less susceptible to the ravages of old age! Well, sign me up! Amy Brady will be the guest speaker at this year’s party, along with amazing music lovingly presented by our own team. Please see below for more information. I hope to see you there! Women’s Spring Retreat Friday, April 20th to Sunday, April 22nd UM Life Enrichment Center in Leesburg You don’t have to be a member of Aloma to attend, so bring your friends, sisters, and mothers. Amy Brady will be this year’s guest speaker. Learn more about her by visiting www.AmyBrady.com. Prices are as follows: $160 (single room) and $115 (double, each person). The registration deadline has been extended to April 15th! For questions or to register, please contact Carol Repass at momrepass@aol.com or 407-760-5883.
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Final Take: and how we needn’t worry. Everybody giggles the giggle of the nervous, while looking at each other with something approaching trepidation. It’s here that social pressures began to have an influence. If that person over there goes and I don’t, then I would feel bad. (I do have a rough, macho image to protect.)
BY ERIC TWACHTHMAN ALOMA UMC MEMBER
Our instructor’s name was Bud and he was the kind of man who inspired a kind of quiet confidence. He calmly stood among us as we took in the glorious scenery of south east Tennessee. Squat, a tad thick around the middle, he had a large bushy white beard and piercing blue eyes. His quiet voice had the air of authority as though he had been sharing this vital information with people for ages, and as we stood around him, he had our rapt attention. I must say that only part of the fact that he had my attention was due to his quiet authority. Part was terror and dread, tied up in the fact that Bud was about to ask me to hurl myself off a cliff. Bud was a rappelling instructor. He was telling us how to tie the rope that would hold us up, and how to measure it out as we worked our way down the sheer face of the cliff. The sheer face of the cliff has jagged rocks fifty feet below. The mood is helped by his breezy attitude while he hands each participant a helmet – which he calls a ‘brain bucket’. He calls it that because its main function is not to keep us alive (nothing would do that after a fifty foot plunge to the jagged boulders of death below…) but to keep our heads looking nice for the embalmer. So on Bud goes about what to do and when
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This is all tempered, of course, by the reality that no embarrassment is as bad as plunging to my death on the rocks below. So finally my turn comes to tie in and start rappelling. I back up to the cliff, after checking (and rechecking) the rope – which looked substantial enough when we started, and now looks rather thin and unsubstantial. I lean out, as I’m told, and when I’m at about a 45-degree angle, Bud says, “OK, now; jump”. Just 3 small words. It was at that moment that I had a deeper inkling of Easter than I had had before. Right up ‘til then I had a choice to back out, make an excuse and leave. To make the choice to jump was what I always envisioned Mary and the women with her at the tomb being like on Resurrection Day and beyond. The scarlet cord of faith that held her up in the days that followed was every bit as tangible and lifesaving as what I experienced there in Tennessee. Her faith must have been real, and as I went down the mountain (safely – as must be apparent from the fact that this is not coming to you from beyond the grave…) it became clear that God offers me no less.
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April Events SPECIAL EVENTS Holy Maundy Thursday Service / Passover Seder Thursday, April 5th 6:00 pm Fellowship Hall This year we will be celebrating Holy Maundy Thursday with a Christian Seder. In keeping with Jesus’ celebration of the Last Supper, this serivce combines part of the Jewish Passover with a celebration of Holy Communion in the Fellowship Hall. Children ware welcome and encouraged to come. The evening includes with a potluck dinner and you are asked to bring a dish to share. Reserve your space by Monday, April 2nd. Easter Sunday Service Times Sunday, April 8th Sunrise Service - 6:15 am Traditional Service - 9:00 am Comptemporary Service - 10:30 am Easter Sunday - Pancake Breakfast Sunday, April 8th 10:00 am Fellowship Hall Come and enjoy a wonderful Pancake Breakfast Family Dinner Wednesday, April 25th 5:45 pm Fellowship Hall April’s Family Dinner will be a celebration of Earth Day on Wednesday, April 25 from 5:45-7:00 pm in Fellowship Hall! We will share a meal from the earth – a baked potato bar and Caesar salad; our children and tweens will show us how to praise God with singing, drumming, and sign language; and, the host of the BibleQuizzer.net podcast, Matt West, will be facilitating a Bible Trivia Challenge between the tweens and the youth! This FREE dinner is sponsored by Family Ministries and is designed for persons of all ages and family sizes – even if you are
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To register for a special event, please visit www.AlomaZone.org
a family of one. If you are able, we ask that you consider bringing a $1/person love offering to cover the cost of those that are experiencing financial difficulty. You will not want to miss this fun time to connect with friends and meet new ones! To ensure that there is enough food for all to enjoy, reservations are accepted until noon on Monday, April 23. Make yours now! Promise Keepers Friday , April 27 & Saturday, April 28 First Bapist Church of Orlando Join the Men of Aloma as we answer the call to live a life of significance and purpose through surrender to Christ! We will join with hundreds of men for a weekend of fun, inspiration, and break through. Each day, sessions will led by some of today’s best communicators including David Uth, Patrick Morley and more! Registration is $39. Reserve your by going on our website at www.alomazone.org
CHILDREN & YOUTH Sunday School Classes:
* B.I.G House Sunday School 4-year-olds through 3rd Grade * Garage Sunday School 4th through 6th Grade * Youth Sunday School 7th through 12th Grade *For Sunday School classes, children, tweens, and youth join their families in the sanctuary at 10:30 for the opening of worship and are dismissed to their age-appropriate groups.
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April Events CHILDREN & YOUTH Wednesday Night Bible Study (6:15 pm to 7:30 pm):
Located in Room 25
*VIP Kids 4-year-olds through 3rd Grade
Men’s Bible Study Every Tuesday morning from 6:00 am to 9:00 am Located in the Church Office Building.
* The Kool Crew 4th through 6th Grade * Youth Group 7th through 12th Grade For more information, please contact Merry Kendall at merryk@alomazone.org.
ADULTS
Men’s Prayer Meeting Every Saturday from 7:30 am to 9:00 am Located in Room 30 Friendship Class Every Sunday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am Located in Room 24 Insight for Living Every Sunday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am Located in Fellowship Hall Seekers Sunday School Class Every Sunday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am Located in Room 25 Couples and Spares Sunday School Class Every Sunday from 10:30 am to 11:30 am Located in Room 32
*For information on how to join a small group, please contact Pastor Andy at andys@alomazone.org. Christian Quilters Every 2nd and 4th Monday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm Located in Room 32 Tuesday Morning Bible Study Every Tuesday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Located in Room 32
SENIORS Senior Exercise Every Tuesday 9:15 am to 10:00 am Located in Room 24
SPECIAL NEEDS Family Prayer & Support Group Wednesday, April 11th 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm Located in Room 31
Life in Jesus Bible Study Every Sunday from 9:00 am to 10:00 am Would you like to contribute to a future issue of ADVANCE? Let us know by sending your name and contact information to communications@alomazone.org.
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Save-the-Dates FREE Vacation Bible School June 25-29, 2012, 9am to 12noon Finale on July 1 Pre-K thru 5th Grade (must be 4 years of age by September 1, 2012)
Registration will begin April 16 online at www.alomazone.org Just picture yourself in the air! You're flying, surrounded by endless blue sky and puffy white clouds…at Sky VBS you and your kids will discover what it means to trust God! All-new Imagination Station activities will give kids high-flyin’, hands-on fun! Plus, team-building games, cool Bible songs, and tasty treats keep everyone on the move. Bible lessons are made memorable and kids experience Bible stories in powerful, life-changing ways. God is active in our lives and his fingerprints are everywhere! The excitement is soaring, so get ready to take off!
early in the morning, my song shall rise to thee.” It blew me away. The day got even better with a host of dynamic speakers and Christian comedians and the worship band. The Holy Spirit was all over that Arena that weekend. Lunch was an amazing event on it’s own. PK fed 17,000 men in 30 minutes, you have to see it to believe it. Guys, I didn’t have a “come to Jesus” moment that weekend, I was already there. But I observed scores of men going forward to accept His free gift of Salvation. It was emotional. I left there with more awe of God than I had before I got there, and a deeper love for my wife. These events have a way of strengthening your relationships.
Men, a Promise Keepers event is coming to Orlando, April 27/28, at the First Baptist Church of Orlando. Personally, I am very excited about this. I had my first experience with one of these events in 2005 here in Orlando at the Amway Arena. I was a bit reluctant to hang out for a two day “church service” with over 17,000 men, I didn’t know what to expect because it wasn’t communicated very well. Let me help you to visualize it. Picture in your mind on that Saturday morning at 8:00 am, 17,000 men singing loudly together “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,
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Yes, I’m ready for PK to come back. I’ve missed the conferences, the singing, the confessing, the prayers and mainly the company of other Godly men. God has worked mightily through the PK movement. The time is ripe, God is calling forth the gathering of men and I’m saying yes to the call. I’ll see you there. Russ Patton For more information or to register, please visit us online at www.AlomaZone.org.
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