A Monthly Insight into the Abundant Life November 2011

Welcome! Welcome to Abundant Life! We are glad you are here. We trust that wherever you are on your spiritual journey, that you will find something for you and your family here at ALCC.

It is our hope that as you join us in your our journey of seeking and finding God, your purpose and His plan for your life, that you will be changed.

Those who call ALCC their church, their home, are everyday people just like you. We are all wanting to follow Christ and bring the message of hope to a hurting world.

Where lives are being changed

Pastor Bill and Kathy

640 Grosvenor St. London Ont N5Y 3T4 519-858-4123

abundantlifechurch@hotmail.ca

REAL PEOPLE, REAL LIVES, BEING TRANSFORMED

Conversation Groups Sunday nights 6:30 at ALCC

6 part series

Lift/Renovation Celebration Sunday November 20 10:30 am

With special Guests

Irene Mathyssen Rev. Ken Raymor

Refreshments to follow

NOVEMBER is my favour-ite month of the year though this one is looking to be cold. No need to complain as most of us will be enjoying fellowship throughout the week in one of these ministries. IGNITE: This month‘s se-ries is called, ―Beautiful Things‖. Inspired by Gun-gor‘s track, by the same name, the youth will be exploring how God does not waste our lives espe-cially our pain, outsets, etc. IGNITE leaders will be sharing a testimony each and every nights of revela-tions of God‘s marvellous

hand. Join us on Tuesdays from 6:30-9:00pm. HIS KIDZ: First of all, Children‘s Ministry has a new director in Wendy Oster. A long time Sun-day school teacher who is full of passion and is ex-cited to bless the children of our community. YOUNG ADULTS: We will be continuing to join conversation groups on Sunday Night and have a special event each month. This month, we will be getting together on Sun-day November 6 after the Finale of NOT A FAN and head off to Crabby Joes

(Dundas and Hale) for half priced appetizers! MUSIC TEAM: If you haven‘t already, check out Matt Redman‘s new album, ―10,000 Reasons‖ as we will be adding several songs throughout the year from that album! Thanks for all the love and prayer! In this together, Tony Mejia

you in your walk with God. Many times, we have doubted in our faith and we hope this series will help us to grow in our understand-ing of what to do in those dark times. On Sunday nights, we are going to have a Video series called ―Storm‖ with the Pastor who taught Not A Fan. You won‘t want to miss this either. We are so blessed to have these tools to grow in the things of God! Men! On Saturday November 5th, we are going to have a work bee that starts at

8 a.m. Ceramic floor needs to be finished, touch up paint, and much more. I need a pile of men to help please that day. Lunch will be provided for the workers. We hope to be finished by 4:30 in the afternoon. Thanksgiving! So glad that our Building project is wrapping up. Looking forward to having all our church family back and celebrating the good things of God. Thanks for your love, support and on-going prayers!

From the desk of Tony

Celebrate

Jesus

Celebrate! Sunday November 20th! As I type this newsletter, I grow with anticipation of the lift project being fin-ished. On Sunday Novem-ber 20th, we are going to have a celebration service and dedicate the lift to the glory of our Lord. We will have special guests Rev. Ken Raymer and Ms. Irene Mathyssen, Member of Par-liment with us that day and I would encourage you to bring a friend to celebrate our church building becom-ing barrier free! ?

Faith & Doubt! This series will challenge

Thoughts from PB

Page 2 Abundant Life Community Church

Many times, we have doubted in our faith and we hope this series will help us to grow in our

understanding of what to do in

those dark times.

Page 3 Abundant Life Community Church

Remembrance Day Lunch

Wed. November 9 11:30 am—1:30 pm

$10

See Pastor Mike

REMEMBERING WAR AND PEACE:

Had a visit with my 89 year

old Uncle Bob Brown this past summer and took this

picture of him proudly holding his Army Jacket. The youngest of four broth-

ers, he‘s amazing, hardly a grey hair and still lives alone!

He served in

WW2, in the USA Army Re-

cognisance, Company 803,

Tank Destroyer

Battalion. He was enlisted

Feb. 14, 1942 at age 20 and

was discharged Feb. 28, 1946

with 4 Bronze Stars and a Citation. His

most vivid memory was landing on day 3 of a battle, with heavy equipment at

Omaha Beachhead, Normandy to wit-ness the carrying out and burial of

what he later learned was the highest

causalities in one day of the entire war; 16,000 men. His first thought

was ―I‘m not gonna make it, but if I

do I’ll never forget all of you.‖ He says ―They‘re still all with me in my

head.‖ Fortunately for my Gramma Brown 3 of her sons served and 3

returned. 1946 was a very happy year for her.

This next picture is me

sitting on my Uncle Carl Hurl‘s knee at age 2.

Dad left to serve on my 1st Birthday and now

mom‘s little brother was

leaving at age 18 after training for the Royal

Canadian Air Force to be a navigator on a fighter

plane. His plane was shot down over Ger-

many when he was 19.

He was Gramma Hurl‘s only son. Sometimes do you ever question

―Why Lord why?‖ We all have those questions and I can only put them in

my file case under ―I‖ for ―I don‘t

know but God does.‖ Just RE-MEMBER, they fought over there

so Canada and USA could live in

PEACE. Know this: We are living in peril-

ous times and we must prepare for the raging of Satan as his time

shortens (Rev. 12:12). But Jesus will be revealed as the Captain of

the Host. If you‘ve been in the

wilderness perhaps saying ―Why Lord

why?‖ lately, don‘t look at it as a time of

punishment, but a

time of preparation and of learning obedi-

ence. Get ready to battle with interces-

sion that assists God in this spiritual battle.

Learn to be a Prayer

Warrior. Isaiah 42:13 boldly states:

The Lord will go forth like a Warrior, He will arouse His zeal

like a man of war. He will raise

a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies.

Through the Church and our inter-cession, Christ Himself is prevailing

against His enemies. The time has

come for His Church to grow in all aspects into Him (Eph. 4:15), who

is our Head, even Christ our WAR-RIOR KING. Note the first verse

of a very old hymn, Onward Chris-tian Soldiers:

Onward Christian soldiers! Marching on to war,

With the cross of Jesus going on before;

Christ the royal Master, leads

against the foe; Forward in to battle, See, His

banners go!

From my Heart to Yours Annette

FAITH ―we made a decision to

turn our lives and our wills

over to the care of God. “

We demonstrate faith just by the fact that we are involved in

recovery taking an honest look at ourselves. If we didn‘t have

faith in the promise of a better

future for our self or our fam-ily, we wouldn‘t put our self

through the hard work and pain involved in recovery. But

as time passes, we may grow

discouraged at the length of the process. We may have our

spirits dampened by the ups and downs along the road,

feeling our faith ebb more of-ten than flow. For most of us it

will take faith and patience to

inherit the promise of a new life.

Sometimes the insanity of liv-ing with our own habits, hang-

ups or hurts or with people

who are acting in bizarre ways

can cause us to become des-perate for help. We may feel

despair and wonder is there

really a way out of the insanity of our current circumstances.

Maybe our plight is impossible, at least without God‘s help, but

faith can make even the impos-sible happen. Faith is a mysteri-

ous commodity. According to

Jesus it takes a small amount of faith, real faith, to make a big

difference. Faith is so important! Some

phases of our recovery are very

painful and we will need faith in God‘s love for us through other

people to help us get through this pain. Recovery is a time of

correction, a time of facing problems and character flaws

and a time for changing incor-

rect beliefs. There may be sea-sons when we do have to pay

for our past. God will use these times to redirect our life toward

something better. This is where

we need to have faith that God

knows what he is doing when it comes to the ―Big Picture‖

in our life.

To wrap this up, we are run-ning a race. The Race of Re-

covery. Faith in God can give us the motivation to run the

race, with a real chance at winning life‘s rewards. He-

brews12: 1b-2 says “And let

us run with endurance the race that God has set be-

fore us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Je-

sus, on whom our faith

depends from start to fin-ish.”( NLT ) It is God‘s will

for us to win the Race of Life. There will be pain from the

exertion, but we are told to pace our self and bear the

pain with patience. Hebrews

12;1a tells us that there is a huge crowd who have run the

same race and finished well waiting to cheer us on. Halle-

lujah! We are not alone.

Page 4 Abundant Life Community Church

This is where we

need to have faith

that God knows

what he is doing

when it comes to

the “Big Picture”

in our life.

2003– 2011

Celebrate

Recovery BBQ Night

Thursday Nov. 24

6:15 pm

Marty & Blanche

Fisher CR Directors

Sunday Mornings 10:45

Games Snacks Bible Stories

Testament references. One of the best known manifestations (a theosophy), occurred when Abra-ham pleaded with the Lord that Sodom be spared from destruc-tion because his nephew lived there. The Lord would have spared the city if ten righteous people could have been found, but this number fell short so Sodom was destroyed. Genesis 19:24. At an earlier time God made this promise to Abraham: ―In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.‖ Genesis 12:3b NKJ. Verse 13 reveals the Father‘s

promise that the Messiah would come through Abraham‘s line: ―In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.‖ Gen 12:3 KJV. When Jacob pronounced his final blessing upon his sons he stated that the Savior would come through the line of Judah, his fourth son. ―The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.‖ Genesis 49:10 KJV. A similar promise was made to David. ―I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My ser-vant David: Your seed I will es-tablish forever, and build your throne to all generations.‖ Psalm 89:3&4. This promise was ex-tended to Solomon with one con-dition: ―Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked then I will establish the throne of your kingdom forever.‖ 1 Kings 9:4a&5a. Later through the prophet Isaiah, five titles of Mes-

siah were announced: They are ―Wonderful, Coun-selor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.‖ Isaiah 9:6 NKJ. His life mission is fore-told in Isaiah 53. The agony of the cross is prophesied and de-scribed by David in Psalm 22. These are only a few references foretelling events in the life of the Messiah. They indicate the long range planning of the Trinity, to be fulfilled in God‘s time. See

IN GOD’S TIME

“TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON, A TIME FOR EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN.‖

ECC 3:1 NKJ

God‘s timing is always per-fect. The most important event in human history was planned before ―man became a living soul‖ in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:7. No other being in all of God‘s creation on earth became a living soul. The cul-mination of the preplanned event of Christ‘s incarnation is recorded here. ―But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth, his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were un-der the law, that we might re-ceive the adoption of sons.‖ Galatians 4:4&5 KJV. Many Old Testament refer-ences prove that the Babe born in Bethlehem was not the be-

ginning of the Messiah‘s life. Jesus said to the Jews ―Before Abraham was, I Am.‖ John 8:58. God issued the first promise of the coming Re-deemer by a declaration to Satan. ―I will put enmity be-tween you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel.‖ Genesis 3:15 NKJ. Another verse revealed Christ‘s birth-place. ―But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of

Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler of Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.‖ Micah 5:2. Many more passages foretold details of the Messiah‘s birth, His life mission on earth and His rule through all eternity. Jesus appeared many times as the Angel of the Lord (Jehovah), according to Old

Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 for ac-counts of the Messiah‘s triumph and His exaltation and the an-nouncement of the Messiah‘s everlasting reign. GOD’S TIME IS NOW! - ―Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.‖ 2 Corinthians 6:2b KJV. This is our opportunity to accept God‘s offer of salvation and He has extended this invita-tion: “For God so loved the world that He gave his only be-gotten Son, that whosoever be-lieves in Him shall no perish but have everlasting life.‖ John

3:16 NKJ. Another important fact is recorded here: ―Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we

must be saved.‖ Acts 4:12 NKJ. No one can know when the end of time will come

either to him/her or to this dispensation in time.

One of the warnings against complacency is noted in this

Proverb: ―How long will you lie there, you sluggard?

When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slum-ber, a little folding of the hands to rest- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.‖ Proverbs 6:10 NIV. This warning applies to both the lazy in body and the lazy in spiritual matters. And... ―And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.‖ Romans

13:11&12a NIV. Peter left this message: ―But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.‖ 1 Peter 4:7 NKJ. James adds these words. ―…establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at Hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!‖ James 5:8b&9 NKJ. Solomon contrib-

by Dorothy McKeen

Page 5 Abundant Life Community Church

utes this encouraging

message: ―He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 KJV. Peter reminds us that our mental attitude is of great importance: “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of

God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6&7 NKJ. Accord-ing to the next verse we are to exercise patience: ―But let patience have its per-fect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.‖ James 1:4 NKJ. Another pas-sage teaches the same truth: ―Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.‖ Galatians 6:9 NKJ. An additional quote reveals what we should be doing while we await God‘s timing for the culmi-nation of all things: “But grow in the grace and knowl-edge of our Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now a n d f o r e v e r . Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18 NKJ.

Remember our Veterans who

died for our freedom as well!

Save Me from Myself by: Brian “Head” Welch

I don‘t read autobiographies. Most of the time, I find the author is waving their own flag, so to speak. This book is the autobiography of Brian

―Head‖ Welch, ex-lead guitarist of the ―Nu-Metal‖ band, Korn; best known for their song, ‗Freak on a Leash‘.

When I started to read it, I was engrossed with Brian‘s

frank, direct way of speaking about his life. He talks about his life growing up, how he achieved his dream of being a

rock star and how Korn became the band that helped shape the heavy metal genre it is today. He also talks about his disillusionment, obses-

sion with money and his 20 year addiction to drugs. This is not a book for children, if I were to rate it as a movie, I would have to say 18A. Although Brian

doesn‘t go into graphic details, he is so real that he doesn‘t cut anything out. Brian doesn‘t do this for

shock value‘s sake, but because he wants others to know how low he had fallen and how desperate he was for a Savior.

This book is a true example of God‘s grace and how He will choose whoever He wants. When you read Brian‘s story you are challenged to look at your own life and

truly die to self. It also shows that when you witness to someone (even the lost

causes), seeds are being planted and though it may be a long time, if God wills it, a harvest will be reaped.

While a lot of conversion stories end with salvation, Brian‘s journey had just be-gun. He gives details on why he quit Korn (a BIG shock to the world) and the vari-

ous changes he had to make in his life. Not just for his new faith‘s sake but for his young daughter‘s. He talks of surrender and how God replaced all of his idols

(money, drugs, etc.) with Him, and how he became broken for a tribe of head-

hunters in India. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to see a life changed by nothing else except God‘s

grace.

ALCC Magazine is starting a new book review section this month called ―WATER YOUR MIND‖. We have asked Teletha Giffin to write

this monthly review to spark an interest in a book that you may otherwise never read, one that you have already read, or may help

you with your circumstances and situations in your life.

So to start I have asked her review a book that has impacted her life. A biography of Brian Welch, former guitarist to the band Korn. I have

also read this book, and it is wonderfully honest and real. I hope you enjoy!

Teletha Giffin is a faithful member of

ALCC since 2004. She is homemaker and is raising 2 lively little boys with her hus-

band Dustin. She is a avid reader, loves to paint, write,

enjoys Italian cooking and hopes to visit

Italy one day...soon!

See Brian Welch’s I AM SECOND video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf5WYigZHME

Page 7 Abundant Life Community Church

James & Debbie Goodwin 1st

Happy Anniversary:

Jefff Huff 6th Debbie Fama 7th Paul Maling 8th Nicole Sotzek 15th Mike Menard 15th Jeff Neely 18th

William Holthof 19th Darlene Visser 28th Kathy Fretz 30

Happy Birthday

Sunday Mornings 10-10:25 am

Tuesday Morning Bible Study 10 Prayer

BREAK 11 Study

Bill & Kathy Innes 28th

Page 8 Abundant Life Community Church

Tuesdays @ 7 pm for ages 11-19 years

Welcome to our new

Young adults: de fine 18-29 years

Meeting Sunday nights @ 6:30 pm

Our purpose is to develop and grow in our faith, discuss the issues on the minds of

our generation and fellowship.

Young Adults Group

Sundays 6:30 ALCC

Exegetical tidbits Will Whyte

faithful to His cove-nant. Even when all surrounding circumstances make it

look like God has abandoned his world and people – He has not! 2 Tim. 2:13 reminds us that ―If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.‖ Paul‘s point here is that the Gos-pel is evidence that God is acting in righteousness – he is acting rightly toward his people and he is still being faithful to the cove-nant he made with Abraham (Gen. 15). And anyone who be-lieves and trusts in this crucified God will find life in that trusting relationship. Thus, God‘s right-eous people (true Israel), are those who trust Him and what He did on the cross. Ro. 4:5 reads, ―…to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.‖

The Righteousness of God Romans 1:17 (PT. 1)

The righteousness of God is the central theme of Romans. the

problem is many people ask ―What is righteousness?‖ Good question! Let‘s take a look… Genesis 15 tells the story of God making a covenant with Abraham. God declares what HE will do (15:4-5, 7) and the response to this is Gen. 15:6, which reads, ―Abraham believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteous-ness‖ – here is one of the first appearances of the word, and it comes in the context of a trusting relationship. This sheds light on the words of Jesus when he said ―Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled‖ (Matt. 5:6). Those who desire righteousness must first trust God, for God sees trust as a necessary attribute of righteous people. In fact the only two times Jesus is ―amazed‖ are at the centurion‘s trust (belief) - (Lk. 7:1-10) and at people‘s lack

of trust (belief) – (Mk. 6:1-6). It is no wonder Paul concludes this verse with a quote from Habak-kuk 2:4 ―The righteous will live by his faith (trust).‖

One of the basic ingredients of righteousness in the OT is rela-tionship – and the proper actions within the given relationship – those being in keeping with God‘s character, grace, mercy, justice, etc. Thus N.T. Wright defines righteousness (dikaiosyne – Gk.) as ―God‘s covenant faithfulness.‖ Gordon Fee defines the word as ―God‘s right-ness in acting toward his people.‖ Both of these defini-tions speak to the idea of right-eousness. Fee’s speaks to the fact that God‘s actions toward his people are always in keeping with his character of love, mercy, and jus-tice – thus He always acts rightly toward both his world and his people. Wright’s definition hark-ens back to the Genesis account when God first made the covenant with Abraham. God will keep up his end of the deal – he will be

Those who desire

righteousness must first trust

God, for God sees trust as a neces-sary attribute of

righteous people.

What’s Happening?

Saturday Nov. 5: Men’s Breakfast and Work Day 8-9 am breakfast

9-4 Work Day

Sunday Nov. 6 Not a Fan Movie Night Bring a snack to share

Monday Nov. 7 Staff/Elder/Board Meeting

7 pm

Wednesday Nov. 9 LIFE Seniors Lunch 11:30 am—1:30 Pm

Sunday Nov. 13 Missions Lunch Meeting

Sunday Nov. 20 Lift/Renovation Celebration

10:30 am Cake and refreshments / Special Guests

Thursday Nov. 24 CR BBQ 6:15 pm

Coming in December

Dec. 5 Christmas Tea Dec. 18 Christmas Dinner

Dec. 24 Christmas Eve Service Dec. 30 Youth All Night-er

Salvation Army Christmas Kettle

Kids Christmas Program with Candy Bags

Victoria Park London, Ontario

Movie Night

Nov. 6 @ 6:30 pm

Bring a snack

to share

Drinks provided

Thursday 7 pm

Tuesday 7

Tuesday 10 pray 11 study

Thursday 11:30 am

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Romans Bible Study

10 Prayer Break

11 Study

Senior’s Lunch

11:30

to 1:30 pm

WALK 6-7 pm

Prayer 7 pm

7 pm

BBQ Night Nov. 24 6:15 pm

4 Men’s Steak

Breakfast & Work

Conversation

Groups

6:30—8 pm

7 12

14 18 19

21 25 26

28

Music Practice

7 pm

November 2011

Good Morning

Cafe

Morning Gathering 10:30 am

10-10:30

Youth Night 7 pm

Conversation Groups Sunday’s 6:30 pm