For the members, family and friends of the Downey Adventist Church
Easter Possibilities
Chained Up by Cary Fisher
T
here was a man that would walk around his neighborhood and every time he went by a certain house, a dog chained in the backyard would excessively bark at him as all dogs seem to do at strangers. After walking the same route day after day and having the same dog barking at him, the man started to pay some attention to dog. As he would come close to the fence, he realized some things. The dog’s name was Rusty and was actu-
ally pretty friendly even though Rusty seemed to be neglected for attention, was extremely dirty and in very poor health. Later, the man found out that the dog had been chained in that backyard for over ten years without ever being released from it. The man was so pained by the dog’s living conditions that he approached Rusty’s owner and demanded that he let Rusty go home with him. The owner finally agreed and for the first time since
being a puppy, Rusty was set free from his chains. The man cleaned Rusty up and nursed him back to health, and he witnessed a beautiful, friendly dog that was happy to be alive. This story perfectly illustrates what Jesus had done for us. Since birth, we have been chained to our sinful nature. We are like Rusty and need someone to come and unleash us. Our circumstances, choices and personality flaws have concontinued on page 2
O
—The Rev. James Martin
INSIDE
Easter Worship Service ur Easter Worship Service will be March 26. As we wrap up our series on Agape, we will celebrate the greatest example of love possible, Easter. With Jesus’ sacrifice, we were set free from the bondage of sin.
The message of Easter is not only that Christ is risen, not only that suffering is not the last word, not only that God gives new life, but this: Nothing is impossible with God.
Join us for this very special service. Be sure to invite a few friends and family members. This message of freedom is life changing! =
Taste of Health Seminar Pictures page 3 Looking for Love page 4 Taste & Inspiration on page 5 What’s happening? see pages 6 & 9 Our Church Family page 7 Kid’s Page on page 9
THE LATEST WORD Chained Up ... (cont. from page 1) fined us to an imprisoned grave, he set us all free of Christ (Romans 8:35). life that eventually leads which assured us an eterWe understand that no us to our demise. Paul nal life with an owner that matter how much we fall, once asked, “wretched truly loves us. God will never stop lovman that I am! Who ing us. will set me free from March 12 - If the body of death?” You Love Him (Romans 7:24). Therefore there is For our final small He answered his now no condemnation group sermon, we own question in the will follow the versfor those who are in very next chapter. es of John 21:15-25. “Therefore there is Christ Jesus During the time that now no condemnaPeter was asked by tion for those who Jesus if he loved are in Christ Jesus. him, Jesus revealed to For the law of the Spirit of Peter that the proof of his Life in Christ Jesus has set March love for Jesus was shown you free from the law of Newsletter by Peter’s willingness to sin and death.” feed Christ’s sheep. God’s March 5 - Nothing As Easter comes, let love for us was always Can Separate Us - On this us never take for granted meant to be shared. Sabbath, we study God’s what it meant for Jesus limitless love for us. Paul March 19 - Celebration to die on the cross and to asks the question that with Sabbath - This worship resurrect on the third day. God interceding, who can service will be an uplifting When Jesus rose from the separate us from the love testimonial time. Each of
“
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Jesus has risen from the grave, we also can be set free from the chains that have been created by the sins of this world. See you when the church gathers. =
”
March 26 - Set Free - As this weekend celebrates Easter, our church will provide a special service that commemorates
BILL AUMACK
WE DID IT
our small groups will share how the study of God’s unconditional love has impacted them. Our church always looks forward to these Sabbaths which also includes a fellowship luncheon afterwards.
The Latest Word V 28 N 03 responsible for this
LINDA AUMACK copy editor
ALEX AUMACK paper distribution
CARY FISHER pastor
address mail to: Downey Seventh-day Adventist Church 9820 Lakewood Blvd. Downey, CA 90240 office: 562.869.6013 fax: 562.622.1691
downeychurch@gmail.com www.downeychurch.com
distributed monthly issue date: Mar. 2016 copyright 1992-2016
2
March 2016 Taste of Health Seminar Pictures
Worship Schedule March 5 Cary Fisher
March 19 Cary Fisher
Nothing Can Separate Us
Celebration Sabbath
March 12 Cary Fisher
March 26 Cary Fisher
If You Love Him
Easter Sabbath Set Free
3
THE LATEST WORD Looking for Love by Bill Aumack
W
If we could just help everyone know about a God who loves them so much, what a difference it would make.
4
e are in the middle of our series, Agape. We are studying the concept of pure, true love. The kind of love that isn’t looking for anything in return. It’s the kind of love that is offered because we have value and should be loved. Of course, if you’ve been a part of the series, you know all that already. But lately a song popped into my head that at first seemed weird. It’s “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places” which was a 1980’s Country hit song sung by Johnny Lee for the movie Urban Cowboy. The song is about a man who has been looking for love, but can’t find it until he connects with this particular person. There’s nothing earth shattering about the song or the story it tells. Lots of people have looked for love. Lots of people have looked for love in the wrong places and either not found love or found something that they thought was love but later realized was not love. Then we find Mr. or Ms. Right and boom... happy ending. But as I reflected on that song, I wondered why
it popped into my head now. When we are talking about pure love, why is an old song about not finding love stuck in my head? That was an intriguing question. Clearly there are many people looking for love in the wrong places. People who desperately want to find love, a good kind of love. They want to be loved and find a loving spouse and have their version of ‘happily ever after.’ There’s nothing wrong with that. But sometimes I wonder about their methods of finding that person. They look in bars, night clubs, or whatever is hot at the moment. Many of the people in those places aren’t looking for love, they are looking for a hook up. There is a big difference. Some people try online dating. I guess it works for some people, but that seems like a weird and awkward way to find true love. And on and on it goes as they look for love everywhere. Some times we even look for love in non-human forms. We see people who get 85 cats because they couldn’t find love. Or they get over involved in some hobby or interest, because they can’t find a human to return their love. They compensate by being completely engulfed in this hobby or interest. Sometimes to the
point of shunning friends because they have to do some task for their hobby (also known as an addiction). But still what does the song have to do with the Agape series? While the sad truth is that some people will struggle to find someone to love them. Maybe if they knew that Someone already loved them, that would be helpful. What if they thought they were already lovable? What if they had the earth-shattering thought they were desired? Or that they were sought after. Or that they did indeed have value. I think that could be a game changer. Like Pastor Cary said in his sermon on week 2, if we ‘know God, then we can know love. But if we don’t know God, we can’t know love.’ I don’t know about you, but this gives me energy and renews my strength and desire to tell others about God. If we could just help everyone know about a God who loves them so much, what a difference it would make. Everyone should know about this kind of amazing love. So who are you going to tell? =
March 2016 Taste & Inspiration Baked Vegetarian Enchiladas Ingredients • 2 cans corn • 2 cans black beans, drained • 2 cups salsa, chunkier is better • 1/2 cup firm tofu cut or ground into very small pieces • 1 teaspoons salt • 16 corn tortillas heated 6-inch
blend or cheddar • 1 to taste sour cream for garnishing
Directions 1. Grease two 9x13 baking dishes. 2. Combine beans, corn, salsa, tofu, and salt, mixing thoroughly.
Pilar & Phillip ture into a warm tortilla and roll it up. 5. Place the seam side in the baking dish.
• 2 cans enchilada sauce
3. Add 1/3 to 1/2 of the cheese, and mix it in with the rest.
6. Pour enchilada sauce over enchiladas (I only used 1 1/2 cans).
• 4 cups cheese Mexican
4. Spoon some of the mix-
7. Sprinkle remaining
cheese over top. 8. Bake at 350°F. for 20 to 30 minutes. 9. If desired, garnish each enchilada with a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy! =
Daylight Savings Time starts on
Sunday, March 13 at 2am. Remember to ‘spring forward’ so you will be on the correct time Sunday, March 13th. Yay, for more sunlight in the evening! Boo, for losing an hour of sleep that night!
5
Downey Adventist Church Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
1
Thursday
2
Friday
Saturday
4
3
5:51 pm sunset Visit www.downeychurch.org S.S. – Sabbath School
6
9:30 am S.S. 10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary
7 pm Band Practice
7 pm Wed. Fellowship 9 am Pathfinders
5
7
8
9
10
2 pm Pathfinders
11 5:57 pm sunset
12 9:30 am S.S. 10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary
7 pm Wed. Fellowship
13
14
15
7 pm Band Practice
16
17
18 7:02 pm sunset
19 9:30 am S.S. 10:50 am Worship Celebration Sabbath
7 pm Church Board
7 pm Wed. Fellowship
20
21
22
23
24
7 pm Band Practice
12:30 pm Luncheon 2 pm Pathfinders
25 7:08 pm sunset
26 9:30 am S.S. 10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary Easter Sabbath
7 pm Wed. Fellowship
27
28
29
7 pm Band Practice
30
7 pm Wed. Fellowship
31
March 2016
Upcoming Events March Birthdays Tomas Aispuro – 6 Hatzuko Aispuro – 6 Johanna Luna – 12 Erlinda Garcia – 13 Doris Ramirez - 15 Linda Bewley – 20 Natalia Ramirez - 20 Darrell Stephens – 25 Humberto Michel – 25 Joel Huinquez, Jr – 26
Wednesday - 7 p.m. Wed. Fellowship Friday - 7:00 p.m. Band Practice Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar. Mar.
If your birthday is left out in the monthly newsletter, please contact the church office so we can put it in.
5 - Pathfinders @ 2pm 6 - Pathfinders @ 9am 13 - Daylight Savings Begins 19 - Celebration Sabbath 19 - Fellowship Luncheon @ 12:30pm 20 - First Day of Spring 26 - Easter Sabbath 26 - Pathfinders @ 2pm 27 - Easter
The Latest Word deadline is the 5th of the month.
Coming Soon Be sure to keep up with the latest news by signing up for the Wednesday email. You can sign up here www.downeychurch.org/Signups.html or send us an email at DowneyChurch at gmail dot com and we’ll add you.
April 16 - SGA Chorale May 7 - Mother’s Day Sabbath
7
THE LATEST WORD The Latest About
Our Church Family We sorrowfully report the passing of Clarice Murray. She passed away early morning Feb. 14, 2016. She was 94 years old. Clarice and her husband John, were charter members of the Downey Adventist Church. Clarice will be buried next to John at the National Cemetery in
Chattanooga, TN. If you would like to send a card or flowers, please email us and we will give you her son’s address. We sorrowfully report the passing of former church member, Ingrid Schulz. She passed away after a long illness.
Please keep the family in your prayers. If you have any Church Family news, please contact the church office so we can get it into the newsletter. =
Thank you to everyone who has been saving Box Tops for Education. That is greatly appreciated. For the Box Tops for Education, please save the Box Tops coupon. Please give your labels to Linda Aumack. Thank you for your support! =
The King
S
ometimes we speak or shout the truth without realizing just how right we are. That happened during Holy Week, first when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The palmwaving crowd hailed Jesus as their king — though he wasn’t the earthly king they wanted. Days later, during Jesus’ trial, Pilate taunted the Pharisees, saying, “Here is your king.” Furious, they protested, “We have no king but Caesar.” Pilate turned Jesus over to them. But still wanting to needle the insistent persecutors, he
8
wrote a sign reading “The King of the Jews” and had it fastened above Jesus’ cross (John 19:19). Was Jesus a king? Witnesses of the Resurrection thought so. The first Christians were accused of “saying there is another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:7). The writer of Revelation envisions the day when the whole world will understand that the risen Christ isn’t only Lord and Savior but also “Lord of lords and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14). =
No More Sting
O
ne spring day, a father and son were driving when a bee flew in the window and buzzed around. Because the boy was deathly allergic to bee stings, he panicked. But the calm father reached out and caught the bee in his hand, holding it tight. After a few moments, the dad reached over, opened his hand and showed his son the stinger,
stuck in his palm. “It’s okay,” the father said. “I took the sting, so the bee can’t hurt you.” Likewise, people who know Jesus as their victorious Savior no longer need to fear the sting of death. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, ESV). =
March 2016
9
March 2016
Ponder This... = “God proved his love on the cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.’” —Billy Graham = “Those hands that keep a million worlds from spinning into oblivion were nailed motionless to a cross — for us. … Can you trust him?” —Elisabeth Elliot = “Paradox simply means a certain defiant joy which belongs to belief.” —G.K. Chesterton
Downey-Florence Seventh-day Adventist Church 9820 Lakewood Blvd., Downey CA 90240
DATED MATERIAL Return Service Requested
10