It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Dear friends,

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas in our house. Liza and the girls did some Christmas baking last Saturday, and we got the Christmas tree, lights and decorations put up. We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas all month long - I love Christmas!


To help to get you into the Christmas spirit, I am going to be posting a daily devotional to my word.of.the.day blog at http://chris-jordan.blogspot.com/. Check it out, and feel free to sign up to receive the devotionals in your mailbox every day!


Praying that you would experience the joy of Christmas,
Pastor Chris

Water Baptism - This Sunday, Nov. 30th

Dear friends,

This Sunday, November 30th, we are having a water baptism at Beausejour Community Church. For the benefit of new members of our church family who might wonder what water baptism is all about, I have put together this short little teaching from God's Word. Have you been baptised in water since you became a believer in Jesus? If not, then perhaps the Lord is speaking to your heart about being obedient to Jesus, and being water baptised this Sunday morning? If you would like more info about water baptism, let me know! - Pastor Chris

WATER BAPTISM:

I. WHAT IS WATER BAPTISM?

1. BAPTISM is our PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION with JESUS:

“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also share his new life.” (Romans 6:1-8).
- Water baptism identifies with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection.
- Water baptism is like a funeral – where we testify that the old sinful nature is dead.
- We are no longer slaves to sin – sin no longer has power in our lives! (This doesn’t mean we are now perfect – we still make mistakes – but we have the power to say no to sin)
- Water baptism is also like a resurrection – we are raised to new life in Christ.

2. BAPTISM is our DECLARATION of JESUS as LORD:

“Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38).
- Therefore, it is essential that there first be an inward change of heart.
- If you haven’t repented of your sins, and trusted Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour, then the baptismal ceremony has no more meaning than taking a bath.
- Baptism without true faith in Jesus will not save you. First believe, then be baptized.

3. BAPTISM is a PICTURE of our ENTRANCE into THE CHURCH:

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.” (Gal. 3:27).
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” (1 Cor. 12:13).
- Water baptism pictures our entrance into the Church by physically illustrating (through immersion in water) what happened spiritually in our lives when we received Jesus as our personal Saviour. By baptism, we are confirmed in New Covenant relationship with God, which is our sign that we belong to Him.

4. BAPTISM is like a WEDDING CEREMONY:

“For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.” (Eph. 5:25-27).
- In a wedding ceremony, you are publicly declaring before witnesses your death to other relationships, and you are establishing a new and permanent relationship with your marriage partner. Baptism is a public declaration before witnesses that you are dead to sin, and have established a new and permanent relationship with Jesus Christ.

II. WHY SHOULD I BE BAPTISED?

1. To Follow the EXAMPLE of JESUS:

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3: 13-17).
- As Christians, we are called to follow the example of Jesus, and He was baptized.
- Notice the supernatural experience in Jesus’ baptism: The Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and God the Father affirmed His Sonship, and said that He was pleased with Him.

2. To obey JESUS’ COMMANDMENT:

Jesus said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20).
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16).
- Jesus has commanded us to believe – AND be baptized in water.

3. To follow the EXAMPLE of the EARLY CHURCH:

“Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins… Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” (Acts 2:38-42).
“But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.” (Acts 8:12).
“Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.” (Acts 8:35-38).
“Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.” (Acts 18:8).
- Everyone who became Christians in the book of Acts were also baptised in water.

III. HOW SHOULD I BE BAPTISED?

“Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, because there was much water there.” (John 3:23).
- Baptism comes to us from the Greek language. Baptismo means “to cover wholly with fluid, to immerse.” Therefore, we believe baptism is by full immersion.
- NOTE: Water baptism is only for believers in Jesus. Therefore, we do not baptise babies.

IV. WHAT SHOULD I WEAR WHEN I AM BAPTIZED?

Pants or shorts and a shirt are recommended. Other items are fine as long as the clothes are not revealing when wet.

V. WILL I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY?

The Sunday morning of the water baptism, Pastor Chris will conduct a special baptism class before the service to explain its meaning and answer any questions. Baptism will take place in the morning service at the church. Pastor Chris will introduce you and then ask you if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour. You will then be briefly lowered into the water, afterwards you may leave the water, dry off, and watch the others. We encourage you to invite all your relatives and friends to attend your baptism. Other than stating publicly that you have accepted Christ you are not required to say anything. However, you will be given to opportunity to give a brief testimony if you desire.

Pastor Chris Jordan
http://www.beausejourchurch.ca/.

Boomerangs, Footballs and 24

Dear friends,

THE BOOMERANG BLESSING:

This past Sunday morning at church, we wrapped up our eight week series "The Blessed Life" which went through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. We have been looking at how God’s desire is that we would experience the blessed life – where we would be happy, supremely blessed; and spiritually prosperous, with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favour and salvation. What a timely message in today’s uncertain, shaky economy! This week, we looked at the last three sections of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus taught us three more keys to experiencing the blessed life: The Boomerang Blessing, Prayer and the Goodness of God, and The Highway to Heaven and Hell. To listen to this audio sermon, or read the notes from this message, visit our church's website by clicking HERE.

THE GREY CUP PARTY:

Sunday afternoon, we had our first men's ministry meeting in a long time - a Grey Cup Party at Alvin's house. It was great! We had about a dozen guys who came together for some macho male bonding over a football game, as we watched Calgary defeat Montreal 22-14. Most of the guys there were Bombers fans, and I was the only Roughriders fan, but it wasn't about the football. It was just a bunch of guys hanging out and eating deer jerky together. Awesome!

24: REDEMPTION:

Sunday evening. Liza and I sat down together to watch the 24 movie "Redemption." It's been about a year and a half since 24 was on TV (because of the writer's strike), and this two hour movie was a nice little appetizer to whet our appetites until 24 comes back on TV starting in January. Liza and I really don't watch a lot of TV... we're watching through the Gilmore Girls on DVD right now... but 24 is our one and only 'must-see' TV.

WATER BAPTISM:

This week, I'm getting ready for our water baptism that's happening this coming Sunday, Nov. 30th at our church. We have about half a dozen youth, and almost as many adults who are going to stand up and make a public profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm especially excited about the fact that our oldest son, Caleb, is wanting to be baptised, which will make it extra special for me. Colossians 2:12 says, "For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead."

Praying God's richest blessings on you and your family today,

Pastor Chris

Calvin & Hobbes

Dear friends,

One of my favourite comic strips of all time is Bill Waterson's "Calvin and Hobbes." Not only are the strips uber funny, they are also sometimes deep and philosophical as well. Here are just a few of my favourite strips, for your enjoyment...


















Note - click on the strips to see a larger version of them...

Seven Snowy Days in Beausejour

Dear friends,

Well, it's begun snowing in Beausejour. And the snow has continued falling, and falling, and falling, with no signs of stopping! And I know, it's been a while since I've updated my personal blog. I've been busy! Here's a look at my last seven snowy days in Beausejour!

Friday the 14th - Wedding Rehearsal:
My Friday's at the church are usually spent finishing up my Sunday sermon, and mopping the floors. (As we don't have a full time janitor at the church, many of those kinds of duties fall on my lap! However, I am very thankful to the Lord for Nettie, one of the wonderful women of God in our church who helps out with some of the cleaning during the week!). I finished off the day in the evening with a wedding rehearsal at the church for Ben and Judy.

Saturday the 15th - The Wedding:
I love weddings. These are definitely one of the more enjoyable aspects of the pastoral ministry. I had the privilege of joining together Ben and Judy in holy matrimony today, and this was the 10th wedding ceremony I have performed. They had the ceremony and reception in the church, which as you can imagine made for a long day, having to clean up and set up the church after the event to get ready for church on Sunday. Thankfully, I had a great crew - some of our church ladies, and some of Ben & Judy's friends and family - helping me!

Sunday the 16th - Overcoming Worry:
For the past seven Sunday mornings, I have been preaching a series called The Blessed Life, going through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. This week, we looked at Matthew 6:25-34. We talked about how worrying doesn’t do anything to help you, in fact, it often makes things worse. We considered the three keys that Jesus gives us to overcoming worry in our lives: Refuse to worry, meditate on God’s love, and put first things first – seek God’s kingdom. I also had the joy of doing a baby dedication for Ken & Shannon's baby boy, Landon. We went over to Landon's grandma & grandpa's house for a special luncheon after the service.

Then Sunday night, I had the opportunity to hang out with our young people at youth group. (It was our youth leader Al's birthday, and his wife Zerlina took him out for dinner). It's been a couple of years since I was a youth pastor, but I felt like I was in my element, as we played games, I shared my testimony with them, and we had a Bible discussion about water baptism, God encounters, and hearing God's voice. It was a long and full day, but it was good. I thank God for Al and his team of youth leaders who help our young people to know God more!

Monday the 17th - Day of Rest:
Because Sunday is a 'work day' for me as a pastor, Monday's are my day off. And because Liza was in the city, I had a quiet day at home alone (well, almost alone, our two dogs Cooper and Jack Bauer were there of course!), reading and relaxing.

Tuesday the 18th - Volleyballs and Stargates:
This morning, Liza and I went to watch Caleb play in his first volleyball tournament. His team did pretty well - coming in third out of eight teams, but we weren't able to watch the whole tournament as I had to get back into the office to work. After dinner, the boys and I sat down to watch our new season of Stargate: SG1. (To those of you who don't know, that's a science fiction TV series starring Richard Dean Anderson AKA Macgyver, and is one of mine and the boys favourite past-times).

Wednesday the 19th - Cross Connections and Home Groups:
On Wednesday, we kicked off our new Christian Club at ESS school in Beausejour, with seventeen students from grades 6-12. After the pop and chips (youth love free food!), we had some ice breakers, get-to-know-you-better games, and listened to the song "Hero" by Superchic(k). "Heroes are made when you make a choice." Every week, I will be sharing with these students life-changing principles from God's Word. The "Word of the Week" for this week was Proverbs 17:17 - "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born to help in time of need." I love being able to be in the high school, to be building relationships with students from many different churches in town (and several of them unchurched), and impacting them with God's love.

In the evening, Liza and I headed out to Larry and Patti's for our weekly Life Group. Our home group has about ten regular attenders, and we just wrapped up a DVD curriculum series called "One Month to Live" by Chris & Kerry Shook. Tonight, we had a dessert fellowship and games night. It was fun!

Thursday the 20th - Bible College:
Perhaps one of the things I miss the most about my ministry from when I served at Bible Fellowship Church in Surrey, BC was the teaching I did at Pacific Life Bible College. For eight years (from 1999 - 2006), I taught two courses there - Bible Research for first year students, and Hermeneutics for second year students. Since coming to Beausejour, I have been leading a weekly Bible study at our church, and last Thursday, we just finished a verse by verse study of the Book of Revelation. Today, I decided to begin a new study, taking my Bible Research course and condensing it into a four week mini-Bible College Bible study. I think the first session went well, and look forward to continue teaching people how to get more out of God's Word.

Finally, on top of all of these unique and various activities, I have people dropping in almost every day for prayer, counselling, ministry, or just to visit over a cup of coffee.

And there you have it, a week in my life... It's been busy, but it's ALWAYS busy, so that's nothing new! "But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love." (Acts 20:24). I love this job!

Praying God's richest blessings on you and your family,
Pastor Chris

Three Year Old Nearly Falls Off Cliff

Have you seen this video yet? Three year old Alaina Pitton stumbles through a fence that ran along a 150 foot cliff. Visit our blog at http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/ to watch the video.

New Mini-Book - With Jesus in the School of Prayer

Dear friends,

I have just finished writing my newest mini-booklet called, "With Jesus in the School of Prayer." If you want to download & print out a copy of this mini-book, click HERE. If you read it, I'd love to hear your feedback on it. Would you like to learn how to pray effective, powerful prayers? Let’s go to Jesus and say, ‘Lord, teach us to pray!’

Here's one of the stories that I share in this mini-book:
Things looked bleak for the children of George Muller's orphanage at Ashley Downs in England. It was time for breakfast, and there was no food. A small girl whose father was a close friend of Muller was visiting in the home. Muller took her hand and said, "Come and see what our Father will do." In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money in the home's account. Muller prayed, "Dear Father, we thank You for what You are going to give us to eat." Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. "Mr. Muller," he said, "I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o'clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is." Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children the milk so he could empty the cart and repair it. This was just one of the many ways that God provided for them as they walked by faith and trusted God.


Praying God's blessings on you today!
- Pastor Chris Jordan
http://www.beausejourchurch.ca/

Look and Watch

Dear Friends,

I just discovered a new blog that has been started by our family & friends over at Kingsway Foursquare Church in BC. The blog is called "Look and Watch" and is defined thus:

At Kingsway over the next couple of years we will be doing something specific in prayer. Every few weeks, we will intentionally pray for a different Foursquare Church, learning what God is doing through them, in them and with their communities. Our goal is that by connecting to other Churches across Canada, God will open our eyes - we will see the bigger picture of how He is working and moving through the power of prayer in this nation.

This week, they have highlighted our family, Beausejour Community Church, and they are praying for us. Check out their write-up here: www.lookandwatch.blogspot.com. And, let's return the blessing and pray for God to move in a mighty way in the congregation of Kingsway Foursquare Church, amen? Bless you all today!

- Pastor Chris

Photos of the Family

Chris, Liza, Caleb, Tori, Austin & Hannah - fall 2008.

Anatomy of a Mini-Book - "Hunger and Revival"

Dear friends,

Some of you might be wondering how I am able to find the time to write, in the midst of the busyness of life, the ministry, and everything. Here's how I do it. Because writing is one of my passions, I set aside about 10 minutes a day to write my mini-booklets, which I post on my the.word.of.the.day blog in devotional form. Then, when I have come to the end of the series of devotionals I have written, I compile them in booklet form to be printed.

I have just finished a series on revival, and have compiled the past 10 days of devotionals into a mini-booklet called, "Hunger and the Need for Revival." If you want to download & print out a copy of this mini-book, click HERE. If you read it, I'd love to hear your feedback on it! Tomorrow, I will begin a new devotional series on my blog called, "With Jesus in the School of Prayer." My desire is to have at least three more mini-books written by the end of 2008, and then in the New Year - to begin work on my first full length book, that I want to get published. Pray for me...

Praying God's blessings on you today!
- Pastor Chris Jordan
http://www.beausejourchurch.ca/

Sunday Blitz

Dear friends,

Wow. What a Sunday we had at church today! It was a whirlwind of activity this morning. Before service, I had a membership meeting with three people who are becoming new members of our church family. Liza was busy during this time finishing getting ready for her children's ministry class. After praise and worship ended, we called Brenda, Lloyd and Val forward, to pray over them and receive them into membership in our church family. The Bible says, "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased." (1 Cor. 12:18). Jesus Himself said, "I will build my church," and it's neat to see how He's growing the church in Beausejour! We are looking forward to a great water baptism service at the end of this month, where half a dozen of our youth, and a few adults as well, will stand before the congregation and make a public declaration of their faith in Jesus, after which they will be baptized in water at a swimming pool in a local hotel in town.

After we prayed for our new members, I gave an opportunity for some of the ladies from our church to share testimonies from the women's retreat last weekend at Camp Cedarwood. Barb shared an amazingly powerful vision that the Lord had given her, and Liza shared a little bit of what the Lord did as well. I read a testimony that Brenda had e-mailed me about a vision she had from the Lord, too. It was a life-changing weekend for all of the women who attended.

After we dismissed the Kingdom Kids to go to their classes, we presented Ken and Gail - our worship leaders - with a gift certificate from the Keg, to let them know how much we love and appreciate their continued faithful service to our church family. We have so many amazing volunteers who contribute to the success of the ministry of our church - from those who care for the babies in the nursery, to the children's and youth ministry workers, home group leaders, ushers and greeters, singers and musicians, host homes, and those who help out serving during the week.

My message today was a continuation of my series on "The Blessed Life" from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7. We are are studying verse by verse through this passage of Scripture. Today we looked at how God has given us three keys to receiving heavenly rewards in our lives: Generous giving, powerful praying, and faithful fasting. I encouraged our congregation to give, pray and fast for spiritual breakthrough in their lives.

This Tuesday, we are setting aside a day to seek the Lord together in prayer and fasting, believe God for revival for our church, our community, and our nation of Canada. If you're able to come and join us, we are praying from 5:30 - 6:30 am, and then from 1-2 pm at the church. When Jesus called His disciples to pray with Him, he said, "Could you not tarry with me one hour?" Could you not give one hour to seek the Lord in prayer, and one day to fast - as the Lord leads - for a spiritual breakthrough in your life, the life of your family, and our church? It's time for revival!

Praying God's richest blessings on you today,
Pastor Chris