His Grace Magazine

Grace His

March 2021

He is Risen

"He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.." Ministries

WOOD

Luke 24:6-7

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Table of Contents His Grace Magazine!

March 2021

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" John 14:6

Comic.................................................................................Page 3 From the Pulpit.................................................................Pages 4-6 Poetry Page........................................................................Page 7 Bible Study.........................................................................Pages 8-9 Book in Review..................................................................Page 10 News...................................................................................Pages 11-14 Recipe Page........................................................................Page 15 Athletes for Christ.............................................................Pages 16-17 Timeless Truths.................................................................Pages 18-19 Prayer Page........................................................................Page 20 Celebrations.......................................................................Page 21 Movie in Review................................................................Page 22

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Comic...

March 2021

His Grace Magazine!

The Word According to Elijah

Thank You Jesus!

Wait!

Happy Resurrection Day!

Thank You Jesus!

Thank You Jesus!

Thank You Jesus!

John 11:25

“Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”

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From the Pulpit...

Owner/Publisher: Rob Wood

A

His Grace Magazine!

s Good Friday draws closer in another couple of weeks, I wonder how many people, even Christians, will actually give it another thought of the importance of the day, or the weekend, for that matter. Will we stop and ponder the incredible sacrifice that was made over 2,000 years ago, or will we just get excited because it's another long weekend?

I pray that we all will spend the day reflecting on what Jesus Christ did for us. The sacrifice He made for us deserves our attention, not only on Good Friday, or because it's a long weekend, but because of everything He went through just for us.

What does sacrifice mean to you? Here is

On the Cross

a story of four brave men in World War II. They were called The Four Chaplains.

George L. Fox, Alexander D. Goode, Clark V Poling and John P. Washington: All together they became known as the 'Four Chaplains' and are remembered, not only for laying down their own lives to help others, but also for comforting those who were wounded. World War II had many heroic stories, but the story of the Four Chaplains is told all over the world and shown as a great example of self sacrifice.

All four of them had met at the Army Chaplains School at Harvard University.

They all had different backgrounds: (George Fox was a Methodist minister, Alexander Goode was a Rabbi with a PhD, John Washington was a Catholic Priest, and Clark Poling was a Reverend of the Reformed Church of America). At this point in their lives, history had brought

them all together.

On February 1943, all four men boarded the ship, Dorchester.

It was a renovated luxury liner and was being used to transport troops. There were 902 aboard the ship as it headed out to sea in the harsh Atlantic Ocean.

They were leaving Newfoundland and heading to Greenland.

On the evening of February 2, 1943, the ship was attacked. A Nazi U-boat fired a torpedo that hit the ship; the Dorchester was sinking fast.

Several stories surfaced told by the many survivors from the ship. Every one of them told a story of complete bravery of the four chaplains who got down to business of saving lives and taking care of other men. They gave their life jackets to other men and refused the order to abandon ship.

They then started to help the men that were wounded because of the explosion, and for those who couldn't get off the ship to safety, they led them

March 2021

to Jesus Christ and salvation. At the end as the Dorchester started to vanish under the water, all the survivors saw the four chaplains holding each other arm in arm, singing and praying to the end. What a heroic story of self sacrifice and of love, as 1 John 3:16 says, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

Jesus Christ did the same thing for us He died on the cross for all of us. Yet a lot of people just keep ignoring Him; they don't want to hear about Him or even hear His name. They would rather talk sports, the daily news or even the weather, but not about Him. Some Christians don't even like talking about Him, which I find very strange.

After all, He is the one we are supposed to be following; He is the reason we are to pick up our cross and carry it, so why is it so difficult to mention His name or ask them

His Grace Magazine!

From the Pulpit...

March 2021

questions about Him. Matthew 16:24-27 says, "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works." When we mention the name, Jesus, it should make people's eyes light up; it should make them smile; it should make them love more, just like He loved us first.

1 John 4:19 says, "We love Him because He first loved us."

You have every right to resist and reject God if you want to; it is totally up to you.

But the Bible does tell us that in spite of all our rebellion and our rejections towards God, He still loves

On the Cross

you. He loves you so much that He gave His son to die on that cross for all of us. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

We don't understand all that happened on the cross that day. But we do know one thing, that He was tortured without mercy, He was whipped and scourged; they mocked Him, then He was made to carry the cross as far as He could until Simon of Cyrene helped Him carry His cross.

Matthew 27:32 says, "Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.

And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying,

"Hail, King of the Jews!" Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off of Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross."

Jesus took all our sins upon Himself because God took all of our sins and laid them on Christ as He was nailed to the cross. He took hell and judgement upon Himself, everything that we deserve He bore upon that cross.

That is why Jesus uttered those terrible words from His mouth, as the skies drew dark and stormy.

Matthew 27:45-50 says, "Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?"

That is, "My God,

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My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!" Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him." And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit."

Jesus said this because He couldn't see or feel God anymore. For the first time, you see the very meaning of hell in separation from God in that a dark shadow passed between them both ... between God the Father and God the Son ... for the very first time since eternity began. Christ suffered all the pains of hell for us on the cross.

We need to ask God every day for mercy because God can forgive all the sins that we have commited against Him. God will wipe them all away,

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From the Pulpit...

give us a clean slate, all because of what Jesus Christ did for us. Not because any of us deserves mercy and have our sins forgiven, but it's by grace we are saved, through faith and not of our own works, for any man should boast, because you cannot work or buy your way into heaven.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

That is why the cross is an offence to a lot of people; they say they don't like the cross, it offends them.

Isn't it funny how you can talk about anything else that is popular, but you can't talk about Jesus or the cross? That's because it claims to be the power of God and to be the only way to salvation.

That's why it makes this claim without an alternative...because the world would say there are so many ways to heaven, and

His Grace Magazine!

On the Cross

everyone will go to heaven. A lot of celebrities think this way; they will get a rude awakening one day, because we are going to heaven only because of what Jesus did on the cross.

You see, there is no other way to heaven other than Jesus Christ. John 14:6 says, "Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." If there was another way, Jesus would have never died on the cross. Let's put it this way: if there was another way, any other way whatsoever, do you really think Jesus would have allowed the Romans to nail Him to the cross? No, I don't think so; in fact, there would have been a few thousand angels come down to take care of the Romans that were there.

On the night before He died, He knelt in the garden of Gethsemane and He asked if it was possible to let this cup pass from Him. Jesus was saying, 'Oh

God, if it's possible to save this human race, if there is any other way, Oh God, then save Me from the cross.' Matthew 26:39 says, "He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." You can almost feel God reaching His hand down to Jesus in the garden and saying to Him, 'Oh my Son, I know how hard this is, and You know how much I love You, but I tell You there truly is no other way; the cross is the only way

March 2021

that the human race can be saved.

So you see, without Jesus Christ, you can never enter into the kingdom of heaven.

You can go to church every week, you can live a good life, give to charities, help everyone you meet, and not even know Jesus. Even atheists can live a moral life, but it's NOT enough. none of that matters. At some point in your life, you must receive Jesus Christ in your life and into your heart.

Eternal life doesn't begin when we die, it begins the minute we accept Christ into our heart.

WOOD Ministries Publisher/Sales/Graphic Designer/Writer: Rob Wood wood.ministries.2020@gmail.com

Editor/Writer: Donna Wood

wood.ministries.2020@gmail.com

Writer: Lynne Wood

wood.ministries.2020@gmail.com

Owned and published by Rob Wood of Wood Ministries.

Contact us @ 905-380-4489, or email us at wood.ministries.2020@gmail.com

Poetry...

March 2021

His Grace Magazine!

The Body of Christ

Christians are to be grounded in truth And commanded not to abandon Gatherings with other believers To gain knowledge and instruction.

As a part of the body of Christ, We all have a role to play.

The world really needs our presence To be a lamp and lighten the way.

Do you not understand That the wages of sin is death?

A physical, spiritual and eternal end Awaits those who don't confess.

Growing in grace and wisdom Helps one appreciate God's gift; Believing in the shed blood of Christ Assures eternal life with Him. God, help us to appreciate more fully How much we have been forgiven; Draw us closer in your truth And make us fit for heaven.

(Ephesians 1:7)

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”

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His Grace Magazine!

Bible Study...

March 2021

Romans 12

"What is our function as Believers?"

omans 12:45: "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another."

Because we have been made sons and daughters through Christ Jesus by God's mercy, we belong to the body of Christ, which is the church. We offer our lives to God as an ongoing act of worship, which requires that we not conform to this evil age, but renew our minds and perspective so that we can see and understand what God wants, so that we can be used

by Him to get it done.

We are the means by which Christ functions within the world.

The church is a body with many members, yet it is only one body. They are all tied together by sharing the same life, and they are tied with the Head so that they function as His means of expressing His life in this world.

As we are being saved

by God, we become

more integrated with each other as believers.

The body of Christ is the church...people born anew by the Spirit of God and added to this new creation by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When somebody asks you, "Have you been baptized by the Holy Spirit?", the answer is, "Yes," if you are a Christian. You couldn't be a Christian

the very life of Christ.

All believers are both baptized by and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit baptizes us into the Body of Christ, He puts us into Christ; as Jesus says in John 14:20, "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you." It is this dual ministry of the Holy Spirit, baptizing us

without having been baptized by the Holy Spirit. You are made part of His body. It is not always accompanied by tongues, or healings, or fire, or even a chill down your spine. You do not feel it nor know when this takes place, but from that point on, when you exercise faith in Jesus Christ, there comes a flooding into your being

into the body, filling us with the Spirit so that we are both "In Christ," and He is "in us," that constitutes the mystery and the marvel of the church.

It takes many members to make up a church; we are all joined together to make one body. We belong to one another in unity and service, bringing the operation

of God's kingdom in this world, just like our physical bodies have many organs and parts, but each part cannot exist on its own.

Some members of the church are more prominent and get the attention. But without the behind-the-scenes work of other members, the church cannot get off the ground.

For the proper functioning of the body of Christ, there has to be dozens of faithful servants humbly working behind the scenes, who don't care about getting the glory. Their desire is to make the church be all that God wants it to be.

Utilizing each other's gifts as a whole body is what brings meaning and fullness to the body of Christ. We are able to operate as God designed us, blessing the entire body.

In the apostle Paul's letter to the Roman Christians, he explains the different gifts and how each gift has its special purpose which God uses as a tool to work His good: Prophesy The believer proclaims a

March 2021

Bible Study...

divinely imparted message and brings light to something that is hidden. The Prophet applies the Word of God to a situation so that sin is exposed and relationships are restored. Usually, the Prophet would have a strong sense of right and wrong and speaks out against compromises and evil.

Serving - The believer is driven to demonstrate love by meeting practical needs. The Server sees projects through to the end and enjoys doing physical work.

Teaching The believer is passionate

His Grace Magazine!

Romans 12

about discovering and validating truth.

The Teacher is concerned with the accuracy of information, especially church doctrine and is often gifted with research abilities.

Exhorting The believer wants to see believers grow to spiritual maturity. An Exhorter encourages and is involved in the ministries of counseling, teaching and discipleship.

Giving - The believer wants to use financial resources wisely in order to give to meet the needs of others. The Giver finds the best buy, notices overlooked needs

and maintains a budget.

Organizing/ R u l i n g The believer accomplishes tasks and solves problems through analysis and delegation.

The Organizer can discern talents and abilities of others and knows how those individuals can best serve on a project.

Mercy - The believer is sensitive to the emotional and spiritual needs of others. A Mercy-Giver is drawn to people in need and seeks to demonstrate compassion, understanding and love to them.

Our gifts are chosen for us by the Holy Spirit,

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and no matter what gifts we 'desire,' we are not going to get it unless the Holy Spirit has already chosen it for us. But we can earnestly desire that the higher gifts be manifested among us, which are those gifts that edify and help others.

This is the purpose of the gifts.

Each of us, in our individuality, possess a unique role in the church.

There is nothing more beautiful, more effective and more delicately balanced than the church of Jesus Christ.

Spiritually, it is the most marvelous organism in the whole universe.

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His Grace Magazine!

Book in Review...

March 2021

God works all things together for Your Good

Living in the promises of Romans 8:28

Book by: Robert J. Morgan Written by: Lynne Wood

G

od works all Things together for Your Good is the title of a book written

by Robert J. Morgan.

Robert has served for over forty years as the teaching pastor at the Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, Tennessee.

He is a best selling, gold medallion writer of many Christian books.

He is also a writer

for Dr. David Jeremiah and Turning Point Magazine.

This book is based on the promise of Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28 is such a powerful verse and is meant for everyone who

absolutely loves and trusts God, and has faith in His promises. Your greatest joy should be loving God. This passage was also one of Ruth Graham Bell's favorites. You can use this scripture many times, you can never wear it out, and God will never tire of you using it. "All" is the biggest word in this verse because God doesn't just say some things, a few things or bad things, but that He will take care of all things.

There are many great stories in this book of how this verse has helped people get through the storms of life confidently, knowing God is right there beside them.

The promise of this one powerful verse is scattered throughout the Bible.

When you think about it, every person in the Bible that truly believed in God, such as Abraham, Noah, Joseph, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Peter, John, Paul and Jesus had a Romans 8:28 moment. Think

about what they went through and how God helped them for their good and for the good of others.

With Good Friday just around the corner, it's time for us to pause and remember the worst time in all of humanity, when they beat, tortured and crucified our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary.

Death could not hold Him, for on the third day He rose from the grave to bring amazing light to this world.

Through Jesus we are saved, if we repent and truly believe. All things worked for His good and through Him, they have worked for ours.

Verses 38 and 39, the last two verses of Romans 8, I believe, says it all. "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

His Grace Magazine!

March 2021

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New Song & Award

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Carrie turns 38 and has a new song

ountry music and pop singer Carrie Underwood just turned 38 on Wednesday. For her birthday, she had released a new song from her new album called "My Savior" with the song, "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus."

Carrie announced the new upcoming album on Instagram; she shared some of the thoughts on how she approached the old hymn.

It's truly an easy interpretation with an updated feel, but it does still reflect the eternal truth that has stirred so many hearts of

Christians all over the world for many years.

It is the faith that we

all that does not please God. It is part of the Holy Communion, as

have as Christians that the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for us all will wash our sins away and make us clean from

the wine represents the blood of Jesus that was shed for us.

This album is a great gift given out to all

of us for her birthday.

This beautiful song is to remind all of us, that there is hope in this sometimes crazy world we live in. The hope we speak of is the name Jesus, and His blood does cover all our sins. All we have to do is kneel before Him and repent of our sins.

Carrie Underwood new album, "My Savior" which includes the song, "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus" Will be released on March 26th, in time for that day we love to celebrate ...

Resurrection Day.

was quite shocked to be nominated for the fifth time.

Zach performed his song, "There was Jesus" with singer Dolly Parton, who is a legend in the country music scene.

"This is very much my story if I think back to the last 20 years that it took me to get to where I'm at in my life." Zach

said, "Even if I go back further than that to my childhood, I think about all these moments that I missed in my life. Now I can look back and see that God was in the middle of every one of them and working out the details. It's just a special song."

This is Dolly Parton's 50th Grammy nomination.

Zach also talked about his new song, "Less Like Me." It says that we are imperfect and we try to become better people with God helping us.

Last year, Zach took a break from performing to spend more time with his family. As much as he enjoyed that break, he is really looking forward to getting back out there in front of his fans.

Zach Williams and Dolly Parton, Wins a Grammy for 'There Was Jesus'

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n Sunday, March 7th, Zach Williams and Dolly Parton won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance song for their duet on Zach's song, "There Was Jesus."

After he received the award, he said, "Without God, obviously, none of this is possible." Zach

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His Grace Magazine!

March 2021

Severe Weather

For the first time in 800 years a Volcano erupts, and a 7.0 Earthquake hits Japan

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volcano that has been dormant has sent lava flowing in southwestern Iceland on Friday for the first time in 800 years.

The eruption was a minor one, since there was no sign of ash or dust in the air.

Geophysicist Pall Einarsson said, "The more we see, the smaller this eruption gets."

The eruption that happened in the Gelidinga Valley is the

first on the Reykjanes Peninsula in 800 years.

In the last three weeks, this area has had about 15,000 earthquakes.

They're not planning any evacuations at this

time unless there is significant activity in the volcano and its gases.

Also, in Northern Japan on Saturday there was a very strong earthquake; it shook buildings

in Tokyo and that triggered a tsunami warning in that area.

The earthquake was 7.0 magnitude that struck off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. This area was also heavily damaged in 2001 with the earthquake and a tsunami that left more than 18,000 people killed.

At this time, there were no reports of damage, but many people had minor injuries.

Dozens of Twisters hits the Southern US Hard

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here are tornado watches up in parts of Georgia and into the eastern Florida Panhandle. Residents are preparing there and Carolina is also bracing for very severe weather.

AccuWeather said in their post on Twitter, "The severe weather threat will continue to shift eastward, with damaging winds, torrential downpours, and hail is possible."

This same storm system has brought forth nearly two dozen

twisters in the deep South from Missouri to Alabama.

One of the hardest hit areas so far is Moundville, Alabama, which is just south of Tuscaloosa.

Officials there have reported several buildings and homes have been damaged.

A resident said, "It is a miracle that everyone is okay here."

There were dozens of University of Alabama students who were forced to take shelter in

a parking garage as the storm system passed them by.

A little south of the university, Greater Faith and Victory Worship Center was hit again.

The church had rebuilt after a tornado hit them in 2011.

Pastor Warren Montgomery said, "I mean, things like this are going to happen and it's just how we respond to it. We just think God is going to do something greater."

Hailstones the size of

baseballs were reported near the Alabama, Mississippi line.

A chicken farm in Waynesboro, Mississippi, had heavy damage as the storm tore through the farm's metal structures.

The storms are now heading toward the Carolinas where the severe weather is expected to bring torrential rainfall with winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour and a threat of tornadoes and hail.

March 2021

His Grace Magazine!

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Coach fired for Praying

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High School coach loses in court, hoping Supreme Court will help

high school football coach who was fired for praying with his players suffered a setback with a courtroom loss.

Three judges made their ruling unanimous on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals; they said that coach Joe Kennedy's 50 yard line post game prayers did violate the Constitution's establishment clause.

Judge Milan Smith said, "Kennedy's

attempts to draw nationwide attention to his challenge to the district showed that he was not engaging in private prayer. Instead, he was engaging in

public speech of an overtly religious nature while performing his job duties."

Coach Kennedy said, "Praying, I can do anywhere. The Christian

side of me is like you don't take away my faith. Prayer makes no difference where you do it. But the Marine in me? It was like, yeah I will fight for the Constitution and everybody's rights. It means something to me I got blood in that game."

Kennedy's lawyers plan on appealing the decision, hoping that the Supreme Court can overturn this wrong.

Government drops charges against Pastor

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he Pastor who was imprisoned when he violated the COVID-19 laws that were put in place by the government is being released from jail.

The Grace Life Church Pastor James Coates was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was locked up on February 16th, for having in-person worship services that violated the Edmonton, Alberta, health orders that demanded he limit his attendance to 15%

of the churches total capacity.

Attorneys with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Rights, who represented Pastor James said that prosecutors have agreed to withdraw all but one of the Public Health Act Offenses that Pastor James had been charged with. He will be released from jail without any conditions.

This is a change from when in February, Pastor James refused to sign a bail condition

that would require him to stop preaching unless he came into compliance with what the government ordered.

At the time Pastor James' bail had been denied, Alberta Court of Queens Bench Justice Peter Michalyshyn said the decision was necessary and justified because the pastor is 'bound by law' and his 'refusal to the condition of release and multiple noncompliance with the stated intent to continue concerns public safety.'

The Justice Centre will defend Pastor James on that one remaining charge against him, the charge that centres around the 15% capacity limit.

Pastor James' trial has been scheduled for May 3rd.

The news of Pastor James' release comes days after GraceLife Pastor Jacob Spenst read a letter sent by Pastor James, thanking them for their support and their prayers for his release from jail.

His Grace Magazine!

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March 2021

Drew Brees Retires at 42

After 20 Seasons of Football

ew Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, the NFL's leader in completions and yards passing, made the decision to retire from the game of football after 20 seasons, which included the last 15 seasons with New Orleans.

Drew said, "Til the very end I exhausted myself to give everything to the Saints organization, my team and the great city of New Orleans." Drew made his decision after he won 9 of 12 regular season starts while he completed 70.5% of his passes in 2020, and then won a wild card round playoff game, but they ended up losing the divisional round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went on to win the Super Bowl.

Drew suffered from a serious injury this season and missed four games with multiple fractures to his ribs and a collapsed lung. It was his second straight season that Drew missed some of the season due to injury, after only missing 1 game in 13 seasons. In 2019, Drew

had surgery on a thumb injury on his throwing hand, where he missed

earlier that he was on "borrowed time." He had not let his intentions

5 games in that season.

New Orleans Saints coach, Sean Payton, said that Drew had a lot of different injuries during his time playing with the Saints, but he played through the injuries when he could.

Drew is the NFL's all time leader in yards passing with 80,358, but with Tom Brady playing another season, he is at the age of 44 and that record could be broken by Tom, who has 79,204 career yards passing. Drew 571 career touchdown passes is second place to Tom Brady, who has 581 passing yards.

Drew had said

known until now. His retirement ends his career which showed non-stop flexibility and rejuvenation on all levels.

Drew's most productive season was after he had major reconstructive surgery on his throwing shoulder in early 2006.

Drew then joined the New Orleans Saints after Hurricane Katrina smashed through New Orleans in August 2005.

The city was devastated from the storm. When Drew moved to New Orleans, he bought a house that was renovated -a historic home, a block from Audubon Park.

The hurricane had forced New Orleans to play the whole season away from home in 2005; as a result, they finished their season with a record of 3-13.

The next season with their new head Coach, Sean Payton making the play calls and with Drew carrying them out, the Saints won 10 games and a divisional playoff round game in a rebuilt Superdome.

The Saints lost to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game. It would be the first of nine seasons where Drew led the Saints to the playoffs.

New Orleans Saints only Super Bowl game came in 2009, where Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl. Drew was the game's MVP, where he celebrated with his first child, Baylen .

Drew had 32 completions on 39 attempts during that Championship game. It tied a Super Bowl record.

Drew donated more than $35 million to charities' causes in New Orleans and Gulf Coast region.

Recipe...

March 2021

His Grace Magazine!

Coconut Cream Pie

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• 1 c sweetened flaked coconut • 1 can coconut milk • 1 1/2 c carnation milk • 2 eggs, beaten • 3/4 c sugar • 1/2 c flour • 1/4 tsp salt • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 1 c whipped topping

• Spread coconut on baking sheet and bake until golden brown, approx. 5 min.

• In med saucepan, combine milks, eggs, sugar, flour and salt; mix well • Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly • Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes more • Remove pan from heat; stir in 3/4 c toasted coconut and vanilla extract • Pour into prepared graham wafer crust; chill until firm - approx. 4 hours • Top with whipped topping and remaining toasted coconut Graham Wafer Crust: • 2 c Graham Wafer crumbs • 1/2 c melted butter • Mix well, press into pie plate and bake on 300 deg for about 5 min.

• Let cool before filling with pie filling

Proverbs 16:24 “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

His Grace Magazine!

Athletes for Christ...

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March 2021

Willie Horton Tragedy brought Willie to Jesus W

illie Horton was born on October 18, 1942 in Arno, Virginia, a small town in the corporate limits of Appalachia. Willie was best known as one of the strongest men to ever play Major League Baseball; maybe because he was the youngest of 21 children of James and Lillian Horton.

Willie hit a home run at Tiger Stadium at the age of 16 years old during one of his all city high school games.

Willie was blessed to play in the Major Leagues for 18 years, which included 15 years with his favorite team the Detroit Tigers, where he won the World Series in 1968. One of the plays that Willie made in that series in game 5 was his play to home plate, where he threw out the speedy Lou Brock.

Willie has had many achievements in the game. In 1975 and 1979, he won the American League Designated Hitter Award; in 1979 he was voted American League Comeback Player of the Year. He was also chosen to play in the All Star game five times. Willie played in over 2,000 Major League games; he had hit 325 home runs, he drove in a total of 1,163 RBI's and he topped off his great baseball career with almost 2,000 hits, finishing at (1,993).

Willie played for six teams: Detroit Tigers, Texas

Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners. He retired on October 5, 1980 with Seattle. Willie went on to coach several Major League teams after his playing career had ended. Willie was a four time All Star, and the Detroit Tigers retired his Number 23 jersey in 2000.

Willie had great statistics, but he also was a great teammate who was respected by all players in the league, including his teammates. Willie never forgot what it was like growing up with no food in Detroit, or even the terrible pain of losing his parents tragically at a very young age. In 1967, during the Detroit riots, Willie went over to the rioters and looters and tried to talk sense into the people. In doing so, he risked his life by trying to calm the situation and to the city.

Willie Horton day was celebrated on Thursday, October 18, 2012. Willie became the fourth person in Michigan history to be given the honor of having his own day, with the third being Rosa Parks.

In 2003, when Willie was 60 years old, his nephew was fighting cancer.

Willie asked him how he was feeling, but his nephew told him, 'don't worry about how he was feeling, but he should worry about his own soul.' His nephew's comment really hit Willie hard and made him think about his soul. A few days later, Willie's nephew passed away.

On the day of his funeral, Willie was told that another one of his nephews had been killed. When Willie was at the church he was completely overpowered

by God's message of love. Willie knew

March 2021

His Grace Magazine!

Athletes for Christ...

Willie Horton Willie Horton with the Detroit Tigers

that at that very moment, it was finally time to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour, and he did.

Willie and his wife, Gloria, have seven children, 21 grandchildren, 23 great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. They live in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

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od is continually at work in this world through His body, the church. The church consists of all those who have truly been born of the Spirit and are a living body, growing and developing within the world in order to touch the hurt and death of the world with the love of God. All those born of the Spirit are members of the church and in each one of them the Spirit of God has come to dwell and give to each gifts that the apostle Paul calls, "The manifestation of the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:7).

The Spirit determines what gifts we get. The gifts of the spirit are not your abilities or your talents, but abilities to function in the realm of the spirit, not the body, so that the health of the spirit is improved, enhanced and strengthened and the results are what we call 'blessings.'

Spiritual gifts must serve others, to build up and edify others. They are used to strengthen others, resulting in bringing life, joy and harmony together in a beautiful expression of love.

The various gifts

His Grace Magazine!

Gifts vs. Fruits

of the Spirit form the foundation by which the work of the church is to

opening the doors to the captives, setting people free from fears, anxieties

be done in the world.

This is where God starts; He equips His people with gifts.

Do you know what your gift is so that you are able to function within the body of Christ? You have at least one, if not a combination of gifts, just to suit you, your personality and God puts you right where He wants you to use it, not only in the church among the other believers, but out in the world as well. That is where you begin to function as a member of the church.

The work of the church involves healing the broken hearted, giving deliverance to the poor,

and selfishness, and leading them to freedom, power and healing. This is what we are called to do and it takes every single one of us to do it.

When someone is blessed by something, they feel spiritually healthier and that's precisely the function of spiritual gifts ... to make the human spirit free, strong, whole and sound and able to live and function as it was intended.

Some of the gifts of the spirit are Knowledge, Wisdom, Healing and Prophesying: The utterance of Knowledge is the ability to go through the Word

March 2021

of God and to set it forth in a way that God wants it revealed to man.

Wisdom is the ability to take that Knowledge, or revelation, and apply it to something, to have insight into the way problems can be solved by the knowledge of Scripture.

The gift of Healing is the ability to restore to health, either physically, socially or psychologically.

The gift of Prophesying is the ability to see what God is doing in the world, to spot it from the Scriptures, to profess it in such a clear way that people understand where and how God is working today. It is a gift of discerning false doctrines.

The Lord Jesus assigns ministries for every member of the body. These are opportunities for service, either geographically or demographically, with regard to a certain age level. This is the opportunity to serve and use your gift as our Lord opens for you. There are many types of service and abilities which we did not have before we became Christians, and God gives us the power to do so.

His Grace Magazine!

March 2021

Jesus tells us in John 15:5-8: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be My disciples."

The purpose of this vine, obviously, is to bear fruit. This fruit is fruit the Spirit produces.

Galatians 5:22-23 details what the fruit of the Spirit are... they are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

All of these qualities really are manifestations of the first one, Love.

God is love; Joy is love enjoying itself; Peace is love resting; Patience is love waiting; Kindness

Gifts vs. Fruits

is love reacting; Goodness is love choosing; Faithfulness is love keeping its word; Gentleness is love empathizing; and SelfControl is love resisting temptation.

The fruit, in other words, is Christlikeness. Right in the midst of circumstances of life there can be more likeness to Christ, more of the moral character of Jesus, more fruit. As Christians, we have that within us which produces the fruit of the Spirit.

We do not have to work at it; we do not have to agonize and struggle to produce these qualities or characteristics; they are brought about naturally by the vine.

Our Father makes us heed and hear the Word which corrects and changes us. This is called 'pruning.' Our heavenly Father is at work to cut off and prune back the unfruitful branches so that we might produce more of the Christ-likeness, the fruit of the Spirit. This is the work of the Father.

The pruning confronts us with a word of truth that corrects and cleanses, causing us to see it, feel it, hear it and pay heed to it.

Jesus says in Matthew 7:15-20: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

The fruit of the Spirit defines the true Christian and distinguishes godliness from worldliness. The fruits of the world stand in direct contrast to the fruits of the Spirit: lack of compassion vs. love; strife vs. peace; immorality vs. self

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love."

(1 Corinthians 13:13)

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control; idolatry vs. faithfulness; pride vs. humility.

There is a big difference between the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. The apostle Paul hints in 1 Corinthians 13 that the fruit of the Spirit is far more important than the gifts of the Spirit; that becoming loving people is far more important than whether we are active, busy people.

Both are necessary, but one is greater than the other.

The gifts are given to enable us to achieve the fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit is what God is after, and every congregation should be infinitely more concerned with the fruit of the Spirit than they are with the gifts of the Spirit.

Christians may receive different spiritual gifts, however, we should each be known by the same fruit of the Spirit. Love is the key; Love is the main thing. Love is the work of the Spirit of God within us reproducing the character of Christ.

WOOD

Ministries Written by: Donna Wood Photo by: Donna Wood

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Prayer...

His Grace Magazine!

One Baptism

March 2021

Dear Lord, We thank You for the privilege to be a part of the body of Christ and for the gifts by the Holy Spirit.

We have all been baptized into one body; We pray that we may fulfill our function in life to be an instrument of Your working right where we are in our lives.

We ask in Jesus' name,

Amen “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?

Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings?

Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?”

1 Corinthians 12:29-30

March 2021

Celebrations...

His Grace Magazine!

January & March

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Happy Birthday!

January Kathleen Denniston March L ynne Wood d o o W a n n Do y h t R r o ob Wood w e s o N d r Fo Brenda Reid l l a H a c i n o M T i y ff k any Sierra s n i m a K n Do C orey John Dwy r e l l i M n Do er

Happpy Anniversary!

Agnes & David Reid

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..."

Jeremiah 1:5

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T

His Grace Magazine!

Movie in Review...

Risen “The Resurrection of Christ”

he movie, Risen, is about a nonbelieving Roman soldier who hunts for Jesus Christ's body, as he didn't know that Jesus had risen from the dead. Risen is almost the follow-up to Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion, with a few war violence and killing scenes but with a powerful Christian, biblical view and the reality of Jesus Christ's

resurrection.

Clavius is a Roman military Tribune often called upon by the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, to lead missions. Pilate sends Clavius to make sure the Roman soldiers crucified Jesus correctly.

The Pharisees came to Pilate to tell him that the soldiers needed to guard the tomb of Jesus because of the prophecy that Jesus will rise from

the grave. The Pharisees do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah who will rise again after three days, but rather believe that Jesus’ disciples would come and steal Jesus’ body in order to make the prophecy true.

Clavius sends soldiers to the tomb to guard it, but they fell asleep. The next day, the soldiers come forward and says that Jesus’ body was gone from the tomb. Clavius is now at fault for not making sure more was done to protect the body. Pilate tells Clavius he must go out and investigate and find Jesus’ body, so Clavius gives the order to dig up all the recently dead bodies in order to hopefully find Jesus’ body.

As the days go by, even the smell of the dead bodies doesn't bother the hardened heart of Clavius. Lucius is new to his job and he is assisting Clavius with the search. He is able to find one man who knows about Jesus’ followers.

The two manage to bribe the man to give them the information they need.

March 2021

When they find and catch Mary Magdalene, she tells them they won't find Jesus’ body because He has risen. After more of Jesus’ followers are brought to Clavius, he wonders if what they are telling him could be true.

Will Clavius begin to see the truth about Jesus and the resurrection?

Risen is a dramatic movie about Jesus and the resurrection. The movie is very well done with great suspense and excellent acting. There are some violent battle scenes, but nothing gory.

Overall, Risen is a powerful story and is a great movie to bring a secular friend to see, as it shows a skeptical nonbeliever turning to faith.

This movie captures the essence of the biblical story of Jesus while also adding a dramatic element. After watching this movie with your friends or families, tell them about the rest of the story in the Bible; or better yet, ask them to read the Bible for themselves, or read the Bible to them.

Risen is available on Blue ray and DVD.

Grace

March 2021

His Grace Magazine!

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New stories every month!

Interesting Christian topics, Great Movie, CD and Book reviews!

Get your FREE copy of His Grace magazine today!

Call 905-380-4489 wood.ministries.2020@gmail.com or check out our magazine on-line @ Ministries www.issuu.com/His-Grace

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March 2021

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