February 2016
640 Grosvenor St. London Ont N5Y 3T4 519-858-4123 churchalcc1@gmail.com Week at a Glance
Twitter: @LifeALCC
10am CafĂŠ 10:30 Service
www.alccnet.com
Paradise Kids & The PlayRoom KidMin 10:30
discovery faith and purpose
LIFE Groups 6:30 pm
connection sharing and caring
Tues: Ladies Coffee Hour 10:30
response serving and generosity
Wed: Ignite Youth Group Thurs: Celebrate Recovery 7pm
simplicity
The simple message of Jesus bring healing and rescue to all people
Sermon series
Instagram #abundantlife_london
discovery| connection| responsibility | simplicity
Diapers…. A few months ago, I mentioned in the pulpit, that if we come across a Syrian who has come to Canada to live, reach out to them, welcome them and share the love of Jesus. Have you ever had your words come back to haunt you? On Saturday January 23 rd, I was in Toronto teaching. I had a moment where God put a face to on this crisis. I was going down the elevator of the hotel I was staying in, and there was a man with his little boy. I looked over and said “good morning”…well the little boy was scared to say the least. His eyes looked older than his age. I reached out my hand to welcome them, and I began to tear up and I realized wow, talk about a moment to be a “Jesus with jeans on” to a very broken man. I will not forget that little boys face for a long time. As I got off the elevator, I noticed so many of these precious people. It felt like I was in a refugee camp. They were just moms and dads waiting in line with their kids for breakfast. Just that week, Kathy had gone to a meeting and heard that the greatest need of our new Syrian neighbours in London is diapers. It was answer to a prayer when I had asked God “what can we do as a church?”. So over the month of February, would your family buy ONE package of diapers and we will collect them over February? It is a need that we as a church can meet! Let’s build a diaper mountain. The series we are teaching in February is on Anger… I sure can get angry at things in my life when I see the brokenness of this man and his son…but now I want to do something about it, JOIN ME! I wonder if this was what James meant when He wrote… Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 PB and Kathy
Which one is harder to do? Put God first or squeeze God in? Let's talk about the latter. Each day you have a list of things that you do. From getting yourself ready to scrambling to get things done. Then things pop up that has your attention or you now need to squeeze in. If you have children, a significant other or close friends, you know that they come out of nowhere and ask for your attention or even demand it. You go on social media and you are asked to like, comment and share which you avoid that causes you to keep scrolling and view other content or you actually respond and that takes up your time. Your place gets your attention because you feel the need to tidy or clean if you do it or not; it still comes across your mind. Laundry piles up, dishes stacked, food is expiring, fridge empties, bills need to be paid, phone calls are ringing, you are looking for this or that, your body ask you for food, washroom breaks, someone is crying, another is angry, due dates are here and that's not the end of it all! How do you squeeze God into that? John 10:9 (AMP), "I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (rest)." Putting God first is hard though it's the door you should enter. You enter into a place that offers peace, comfort, guidance, correction, strength, rest and so much more for your day. It says that you "will go in and out [freely]" which means God isn't going to hold you back or hold you down where you are afraid nothing will get done. He's a gentleman. He wants you to come to Him to get what you need for the day and enter back into your busy life with Him on your side, with His wisdom from the Word and a mindset that all things are possible through Him. You see that you can call on Him at any moment and He'll be what you need. He is all we need. Find or make time to enter through the Door; Jesus. It isn't easy but it's worth it. To answer the first question, they are both hard but you choose what path to take. The Door man, Tony Mejia
Welcome! We are glad you are here, and we trust that are feeling at HOME. It is our hope and prayer that you will join in as we share our lives and celebration of faith together. We believe our life is about discovering who God is, using this faith to live out His purpose and His plan and to live it with passion. We call ALCC our HOME. We are intentional about relationships with God and each other to bring the message of HOPE to our community.
Good Morning Café When we wake up in the morning, we all have our rituals, traditions and “must do’s” before we head out the door. That’s why we offer our
Good Morning Café
to you at 10 am. You will be greeted by a warm and friendly smile from one of our weekly hostesses and you can choose a beverage of coffee (hazelnut or regular), tea (regular or seasonal favourite), juice and not to mention a homemade snack from our dedicated Café Team. So come a little early to enjoy this time of relaxing and the opportunity to get to know your fellow Lifers!
10– 10:30 am discovery| connection| responsibility | simplicity
Sundays 10:30-noon
The PlayRoom and Paradise Kids will travel through time and take a look at the life of Joseph. As they do, they will develop good character and learn what God wants from us in how we treat others through Micah 6:8! This is what He wants from you: Be fair to other people. Love kindness and loyalty, and humbly obey your God discovery| connection| responsibility | simplicity
Welcome Care Givers! The purpose of PARADISE KIDS room is to provide you with a safe place to nurse/change your baby, and eventually leave them in the loving care of our
Paradise Kids Team Feel free to sign your child in at any time during the service. Some care givers would like their child to stay with them for the music or until they (the child that is) gets restless. Once you have signed them in, you can pick them up at the end of the
Kids Valentines Party Sunday Feb. 14
Soup/Sandwich & Movie Night Sun. Feb. 14 @ 6 pm
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the Paradise Kids Thank you Cathy, Roy and Tony for setting up the new tv. The kids loved their music time; and gave a suggestion of Thomas the Train and Toopy & Bino!
ladies night SISTERHOOD Every January, we meet together with the women from around our London section, our Sisterhood of fellow Christ followers. This year we chose to HONOUR Kathleen for her faith in adversity, leadership, kindness and love. A wife, mother of 2, board/elder, and accountant of the church. She is one busy lady!
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alcc leadership day apart We had a great time discussing and dreaming about the future. Learning how to “unlearn� some things, and how to implement the vision for our future was both fun and informative. Looking forward to the next 5 years and excited about what God has for us.
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life lunch There is something very comforting about sharing a meal with friends. New friends, old friends, and “getting to know you” friends. We enjoyed a delicious traditional roast beef lunch. Thank you to everyone who helped peel potatoes, set up and serve. Next LIFE LUNCH: Tuesday February 23 @ 12:15-1pm
“The best meals are those prepared by loving hands.” Ken Poirot life groups Sunday nights @ 6:30pm. The men will be doing a group about based on the Anger Workshop, and the women’s group will be in a group using Joyce Myers “7 Secrets of a Confident Woman”.
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Wedding Celebration William & Jenn Monday Feb. 29, 2016 10:30 am Abundant Life Community Church
Soup/Sandwich & Movie Night Feb. 14 @ 6 pm
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Tuesdays 10:30 –noon
A study in 1&2 Thessalonians We come together to share our experiences, strength and hope in our lives with Jesus. As we learn from God’s Word, and take time to pray, we are building a SISTERHOOD of faith. Our time of sharing/praying/caring is open to everyone.
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Since 2003
The spiritual principle of Step six is Willingness. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:10) Step (6) is all about discovering hope. When we are upset, we often depend upon our addiction to make us feel better. As we get rid of our addiction, we face the deeper character defects that God wants to heal. Our addiction functions as a place of “shelter” from our pain. But when that “shelter” is removed, deep anger may surface, exposing even deeper character flaws that need healing. Jonah had a glaring defect of character: he couldn’t forgive and have compassion on the people of Nineveh, whom he hated. When God decided not to destroy them, Jonah threw a temper tantrum. “The Lord replied, Is it right for you to be angry about this? Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city… And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. The next morning ..the plant soon died and withered away. And as the sun grew hot, God sent a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die.” God did this to show Jonah that the real problem wasn’t the loss of his shelter. Hatred was the real problem. The removal of our sheltering addiction may expose deep problems. This may spark defensive anger as God touches our deepest hurts. It is all right to let the anger out. But it is also important to let God take care of the real problem. Jonah 4: 4-8. NLT How can we honestly say that we are entirely ready for God to remove our defects of character? If we think in terms of all or nothing, we may get stuck here because we will never feel entirely ready. It is important to keep in mind that the twelve steps are guiding ideals. No one can work them perfectly. Our part is to keep moving, to get as close as we can to being ready. Most of us have made numerous attempts at self-improvement. Perhaps we have consciously tried to improve our attitude, our education, our appearance, or our habits. We may have had success in self-improvement on some level. However, when it comes to our struggles with defects of character, chances are we have experienced only deep frustration. There is a reason for our frustration. These character defects can only be removed, never improved. The illustration given us in the bible is that our sins and defect of character must be put to death, as Jesus was, with the hope of new life to follow.
We meet every Thursday 7 pm Pot Luck Dinner Thursday February 18 @ 6 pm
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His Torch
I'd like to invite you to read my mini series that gives birth to 10 mini chapters. I feel like the Holy Spirit has spoken through me and has literally helped me to give birth to this article which at the end of the series I pray I can bring us closer to Jesus. Part 1: A New Beginning
Today I am opening up my heart, my mind and my body more than ever to God. I'm listening, watching talking and praying to Him, loving on Him and His creation. I'm searching and researching preparing for battle. I believe God has called upon me to show a side of Him that not many people are ready or maybe even prepared to accept. Today I asked for a word from God and the word is "Risk". I saw it plain as day on my laundry hamper which is full of words and ironically that one stuck out like a sore thumb. So it sounds weird but I want to show what I believe God wants me to show you. So speaking of words, first we know that among many words to describe our God here are just a few which describe Him: perfect, holy, powerful, mighty, forgiving, protective and compassionate. We know our God is a loving God and He loves all of us with a pure heart. I want to invite you to see what I see through my eyes for a moment. In my eyes Jesus was a true vegetarian, a true protester and a true protector that ultimately gave His life not just us but for all flesh, when He arrived at the Holy Temple He did so on a donkey not just any donkey, a colt which is the foal then He drove them out at the holy temple and there were and are lessons to be learned in this scripture but the commotion He caused also set the very crucifixion of our Lord Jesus into motion and altering our future forever. Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” Matthew 21:12-13 When I search deep into my childlike faith and wander with our Lord in the pages of His love story I sense something more, it's in my bones and I feel He was protecting not just us the children of God but all of flesh that He created.
~Burning bright and lighting a way with His word, -For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light... Let's burn bright together for our Savior. ♡mer♡
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Let’s build a DIAPER MOUNTAIN Bring in diapers (ALL SIZES/AGES) Feb. 7-28
WHAT CAN I DO? Providing the comfort of a caring heart and warm feet Phil and Donna Williams
The Neely Family
Servant Heart Ministries
YWAM International
Dominican Republic
Bringing hope
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Doors open 5:30 pm Come early & join in the PRE-YOUTH activities
Student ministry 11– 18 years
finding connecting belonging
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