Another great weekend! Is God good or what? Here's a quick look at some of the things that happened this past weekend...
Friday night - Adolf and I took our youth group to see Jon Buller in concert at the Pantages Playhouse in Winnipeg. I'm so glad we went! More than just a Christian rock concert, this night became an amazing celebration of worship and praise - filled with singing and dancing. The atmosphere was electric as hundreds of people praise the Lord together. The evening was a fundraiser for Calvin Christian School in Winnipeg, and as a part of the night, the school's choir joined Jon on stage to sing some old hymns. Jon was also joined by Fresh IE and Steve Bell for some special songs. I got fresh vision for some creative things we're going to be doing with the youth in worship!
Sunday morning - church service was awesome, as usual. Tracey's worship team led us into the presence of the Lord, followed by a great time of communion, led by Pastor Alvin. When we dismissed our children to their classes, the older kids (K-Grade 6) went out to begin rehearsing for our upcoming children's Christmas musical, "Angel Alert" - coming up Dec. 18th at 6:00 pm (mark your calendars). After the children were dismissed, we looked at a thank you missions video from Pastor John and Debbie Overholt, the missionaries we support in Costa Rica. For your info, we had $587.98 come in for Costa Rica in October, and that's about double what our general missions giving used to be. Blessings to all of you who contribute to our missions fund!! See our mission report (below) for a link to the video if you didn't see it on Sunday.
After the video, I preached the second part of our "Transformation" series called "The Secrets of the Secret Place." I talked about how as we spend time in the secret place of prayer – in solitude, silence, and soaking – we are transformed into the image of Jesus. If you missed the service, you can download the audio message for free from our website by clicking here:
http://www.beausejourchurch.ca/index.php/downloads/online-audio-sermons
Sunday afternoon - Liza and I headed into Winnipeg to watch Phil Gut and the Nationals bantam football team play in the finals at the Bombers stadium. It rained, it snowed - good times! My son Caleb was one of the players chosen to play in the Nationals midget bowl which takes place next Saturday, after which football will be done for another season.
Monday - As most of you know, Monday is my day off, and so I spent a good chunk of my day working on the novel I'm writing, a Christian allegory / youth fantasy novel (similar to John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress or CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia). I'm participating in NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month - and joining with writers from all over the world to attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. I'm currently at 10,841 words, which translated to about three and a half chapters of my book. Pray for me! More than just an entertaining story, this is a book with a message that will challenge the church.
Monday Night - in the evening, we had our (wait for it!) first-ever youth worship practice! With about eight youth in attendance, they had a great practice, led by Mike Tomasson, and with help from Phil Trudeau and Patti Martin. I'm excited about what the Lord is going to do in and through our young people as they begin to worship together at their youth nights once a month. And who knows? Maybe we'll have them lead worship one Sunday morning!
So that's it for this week's weekend report. Here's a look at some upcoming events at BCC...
HOME GROUPS - WEDNESDAY NIGHTS:
We have just begun a new series called "The Life You've Always Wanted." I want to strongly encourage you to consider getting involved in our home groups, if you're not already involved. There are many benefits to being involved in a small group - relationship building with other members of the church (knowing, loving, caring and praying for one another); and also an opportunity to interact with God's Word and dig deeper. The series we're going through right now is looking at the spiritual disciplines, just like we're learning about on Sunday mornings. This Wednesday, we're going to look at the two disciplines of CELEBRATING and SLOWING DOWN. Here's a sneak peek at what we'll be looking at this Wednesday at 7:00 pm:
"Slowing... involved cultivating patience. A more traditional practice is solitude. Jesus engaged in in frequently (and) taught his followers to do the same. And as he said to them, "Come away to a deserted place," he says to us all still." Contact the church office for the address of one near you!
SUN. NOV. 13TH: THE SECRETS OF THE SECRET PLACE PART #2:Join us at BCC as we continue our series on Transformation! This Sunday we will continue looking at The Secrets of The Secret Place. Henri Nouwen said, "Solitude is the furnace i which this transformation takes place... (and) it is from this transformed self that real ministry flows." Solitude, Silence and Soaking in the Secret Place - three keys to life transformation.
That's it for this week... please know that Liza and I love and care for you and your family very much, and are praying God's richest blessings on you today!
Chris Jordan
Lead Pastor, Beausejour Community Church
Church Web-site: www.beausejourchurch.ca
My Personal Blog: http://thelandofpromise.blogspot.com/
About our Mission Field . . .
“Thank you”s. . .
(Mission Report by Janet Trudeau)
There is power in our words – in fact the Bible says we hold the power of life and death in our tongues (Proverbs 18:21). As Christians, we have a responsibility to speak life into those around us and an amazing thing happens when we tell another human being that they have done something to make a difference in our lives. We breathe life into each other. We build each other up, and encourage each other. Rather than just tell you how much our prayers and support mean to Pastor John and Debbie Overholt, and the team God has assembled for them in Costa Rica, hear it in their own words as shared in an email from early November:
We just received news of your church’s support for the Filadelfia church, so just want to say that pastor Juan Carlos will be more than excited to hear the good news. I know he has been a little preoccupied with how the rent was going to be paid coming up. Please convey our deepest appreciation and thanks to our Beausejour Community Church family. Here is a little video of our appreciation.
Blessings,
John and Debbie
In the video we see the area of Martina Bustos where the Overholt’s started their second church in 2009. Pastor Juan Zepeda was the one who required a risky brain surgery this spring, but looks great now! The video shows his humble kitchen in which, with help, we managed to prepare a meal for almost one hundred children and some of their moms during a community outreach this summer. It is in Martina Bustos that most people do not have running water in their homes which are made of corrugated tin. Speaking to us in English in the video was Pastor Juan Carlos, from the church in Filadelfia. These are his words of encouragement for our congregation:
(With a very slight translation)
Hi Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In these parts it is pouring rain. God is supernatural and the blessing is coming and touching many hearts who hunger and thirst for God.
Pastor Chris, thank you for being part of this Bread of Life. It is a piece of Canada in Costa Rica, a beacon of light and hope for many to reach the path of truth and life. Pastor Jordan may your God shed glory on your congregation, and may your leaders be planted by streams of water and their leaves not fall. May all that they love flourish.
Greetings to all and hope at his home in Costa Rica for great things.Thank you for your contribution. It will be of great blessing
Pastor Juan Carlos and Alejandra, Bread of Life Church
To Him be the glory
Once again I say it is an honour to be involved with this.
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