Welcome Home to the Father's House

 

PASTORS POINTS

 

Prior to leading worship this morning, I was reflecting on the words of Chris Tomlin’s How Great is Our God. The chorus is ultra simplistic—solely and repeatedly affirming the greatness of God. The verses give several reasons as to why He is great, describing that He is clothed in majesty, wrapped in light, timeless through the ages, and perfect in His triune being. The bridge exclaims that He is the name above every name and that He alone is worthy of praise. This all brings the modern day hymn back to singing, in simplicity, the greatness of God.

While in college, I was worshipping in a chapel service and I began seeing or sensing, perhaps, a vision of Christ. He was much taller than I and He was wrapped, endlessly it seemed, in pure white, iridescent robes. It was as if Jesus and I were dancing, and His glorious robes were flowing all over me and throughout the room. I recalled in this vision times where, as a child, I would hide away in my parents’ bedroom closet—allowing the clothes on the hangers to flow around me and over my face. I can still almost smell the perfume and cologne emitting off their clothes, even as I tell this story. It was in those times that my parents’ fragrance gave me a powerful association with the goodness that I experienced in knowing them.

While dancing with Christ in my vision, I began personally experiencing the majesty, purity, and safety that comes from intimately knowing a truly great God. His greatness was flowing over me—ultimately giving me a powerful association of His Person, and the abundant life He intends for me to have. Such a deep and profound association displaces fear, anxiety, worry, and every other vice of the enemy. Even as we learned in concluding our previous series, “there is no fear in perfect love” 1 John 4:18. Perfect love comes from a perfect God. He is Great. His name is above every name. It is my hope and prayer that in the beginning sermons of this new series, you come to have a powerful encounter with God’s person.

Pastor Peter Visscher

G'day church family!

I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the amazing kids C.A.R.E team who serve faithfully every Sunday, ministering to our children. In an average Sunday service, we host 55 - 60 children, with one Sunday reaching 80! As we grow, this number won't likely shrink. So we are very grateful for our team of servants.

Andrea Acres has been a superstar writing curriculum for the age 2 - 3 and 4 - 6 classes. We are so thankful for her faithfulness and creativity every week.

In other news, every Thursday night at St. Andrew’s center, Amanda Rimes, Mitchell Fraser, Samuel Dmytrow and myself lead a pre-teen care group for ages 10 - 12. We are currently ripping through the purple book and learning about what it means to actually follow Jesus. We are now averaging 10 kids per week and it has been encouraging to see kids bring their non-Christian friends out to have some fun!

We are also looking at quotes for a nursery call system. This system will allow us to contact parents of children under 7 years old via vibrating pager. This would be helpful in case of emergency or if we need parents to attend to their child. This system will be especially critical for guests at our church because it will help them have peace of mind leaving their child(ren) with us. We may be having a Calahoo meats drive to help raise some money for this system.

Lastly, some time in August, we will be running our 4th annual children’s festival in the splash park! Our purpose is to reach out in the community and connect with families in Morinville. Watch for more details soon!

That is about it from kids C.A.R.E. What a privilege it is to serve the children of this family, and we are excited as God grows this ministry towards excellence.

Pastor Matty Coppin

Here we are! The end of our series on 1 John and the "Signs of the Believer's Overcoming Life" has come-but of course the living out of all that God has been teaching us from His Word is a life-long process. I believe that this church is more and more engaging in the victorious life that God wants us to live. It's my privilege as a staff member at MCF to see and hear a lot of stories from the many different ministries of our church. Here are a few:

• " Last week, Pastor Matty was away, and children's ministry was led by the great team of volunteers he has built up around him-so while we missed him, we didn't need him. I get to see Amanda Rimes, (Pastor Matty's second) join him every Thursday to plan the week's children's ministry events. She is so excited about being a part of the ministry and growing as a disciple in the process. Last week there were 80 people-teachers and kids involved in our children's ministry. Great job team!
• " It's been great to pray with our church families over the last while. Pastor Meagan calls the families who we are going to pray for, and it's so great to hear the requests and be able to pray for the needs that people have. I believe we are going to see many prayer requests answered and many testimonies of God's goodness as we pray together.
• " Our CARE Groups are growing-a new group is launching this week thanks to Kelly and Jocelyn Hansen. The Hansen's have been incredible supporters and contributors to the life of this church-they have tremendous servant hearts. They are passionate about their family and friends, and they get as many of them to come to church as possible! I am so excited about their willingness to enter into a new ministry opportunity that helps people build their lives with CARE.
• " Finally, over the last few months several people have given their hearts to the Jesus-in CARE Groups, in children's ministry, in one-on-one encounters, and in our Sunday Celebration!
  
  A victorious church is a church that is helping people find their way home to the Father's House, and it's so exciting to see that happening here from week to week as God ministers through this church family!
  

Pastor Luke

Last week, I had the privilege of sharing this testimony with our church family; Pastor Lou has asked me to share it again here. May you be encouraged afresh!

In 2010 I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Thirty years old, with a husband and five children, I reeled from the awful news. I stood in my bathroom and started to cry, wallowing in self-pity for the life that I felt certain I was to lose, and for my family. Fear grew in me: I became overwhelmed by this disease that was much bigger than I could handle. I realized I could do nothing to stop what was happening to me. I remember crying out to God, and telling Him how awful this was, how I didn't want this fear, how I didn't want to lose my life. I gave my life to Him and asked Him to deal with it and the cancer as He saw fit. In that moment, God filled me with His joy (Neh.8:10)! That joy bubbled up in me and I began to laugh—out of happiness, out of relief that this problem was no longer my own. I started singing to the Lord and God gave me his peace (Phil 4:6,7)! I no longer feared the unknown, I just relaxed in God.

Throughout the treatment, God encouraged me that He is Jehovah Jireh,"My Provider," Jehovah Rapha, "My Healer," and Jehovah Shammah, "He is with me." Later, God gave me a promise from His Word: "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord" (Ps. 118:17). Praise the Lord! After treatment was completed, I needed to heal, but by the end of 2011 I had some symptoms that caused the doctors to feel that the cancer was now in my bones. Tests started again. However, after 2 weeks, they found nothing and I was declared cancer free! And all the symptoms in my body were gone too!

In this journey, God has solidified in me the knowledge that although I will have struggles in my life, and will have to walk through them, I no longer have to carrying those burdens; God will carry them for me, and He will give me joy and peace to walk my life out in Him.

Cameron Patrickson

Pastor Candice

I heard this the other day from Travis Shepherd – a young family man in our church and I thought it would encourage your hearts and help you set your sights on how awesome God has made all of us. So have a great Easter Season as you celebrate the goodness of our God!

My name is Travis Sheppard and I am a humble warrior of Christ, a chosen saint put on this earth to wage war in the spiritual realm. I have fallen but risen again and again, I cannot be kept down, I make demons tremble; I can move mountains not by my own strength but by the strength of the holy God whose spirit is alive in me. I am bold. I have peace. I have faith. I am a minister or reconciliation posted on earth for a very special time, a time of harvest. I do not belong in this land; I am a citizen of Heaven. These are great times of trouble but times where the Lord will do His greatest work. Set your eyes on him not on the temporary king of this world. For whoever loses his life will gain it. WAKE UP! By the Spirit of God let the blindness fall from your eyes. The coming of our Lord fast approaches and you are sleeping. Fall to your knees and pray! Confess to the Lord your sins and be forgiven! Die to this world and your flesh and put on the armor of God! Jesus, the living God! LIVING! He is not confined to the words of Bible written by saints long forgotten. The Lord is alive! He knows your very thoughts at this moment and longs to share them with you. Pray for a renewing of your mind so that you will not be prisoner to this world and its ways… Holy Spirit come into our lives and reign.

Have you known love like this? A love that would have blood shed for you? A love that would have your Creator become a mere man and die a criminals death for you? Truly love like this is perfect and was bought with a price. Jesus longs to love you, to know you and to bless all your days. Flee from your self. Die to yourself. Pick up your cross and seek after all that is good and righteous. Love everyone and put yourself last. Count yourself as nothing and you will gain everything. Rewards await those who fear the Lord and find the narrow path, but great calamity awaits the one who cruises down the wide road with reckless abandonment, living life for all of its pleasures. DO NOT BE DECEIVED. It was Lucifer’s own sin! And he has used it on the world. He prowls around like a lion seeking for someone to devour. That is scary for a non-believer because those teeth are very sharp. What about the believer you ask? Is he not afraid of a savage man eating lion? Not a chance because the believer can SEE! And what he sees is no lion, he sees a defeated coward who hides behind lies and deception, who is bound in chains. His ticket to the lake of fire has been bought and paid for by Christ’s blood. He knows it and he wants company. He wants you. But Christ OWNS you and has plans to prosper you, not to harm you. But you have a choice to make. A choice of life or death. Which will it be? I pray that you will choose life. I pray that you will take up arms and fight along side me as a brother in Christ!! To bring light to this world in the name of our lord Jesus Christ! Hallelujah ! To you who hears this.

Pastor Greg Fraser

This passage describes Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem just one weekend before his death and resurrection. As I read this story in the Message, a new sense of vibrancy became evident to me. People we’re throwing garments and tree branches on the road before Christ, Entire crowds were overcome with praise and were shouting tributes to His name. It’s almost as though a red carpet was being laid out in anticipation for the King’s arrival. Ecstatic joy resounded from every street corner as people, wide eyed and eager, awaited the advance of Jesus, their King.

The text goes on to say that the whole city was visibly shaken, unnerved in fact. In our post modern age, I’ve witnessed this kind of sense in social media, on Facebook, when a powerful message goes viral and millions of youth are caught off guard and left desperately searching for answers—longing to get a piece of the new craze.

It is said that crowds went ahead and crowds followed. Many we’re experiencing a joyful frenzy and it was so contagious that many other’s followed along. Then there we’re some who were unnerved. They we’re left confused amidst the parade. They needed an informed friend to fill them in.

Where do you fit in this story? Where might some of your neighbors find their place? If you’re excited about the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord’s, then this week, in anticipation of Easter, make a conscious effort to herald His coming. Make a great commotion! Fill in your friends! Get on Facebook and make some phone calls. Let’s invite all our friends and family to join in our upcoming Good Friday and Easter Sunday celebrations. Then together, we’ll experience jubilee.

Pastor Peter Visscher

One Body, Many Parts

I was thrilled to be a part of the CARE conference a couple weeks ago. It was a powerful weekend of equipping and empowering for our church family and there are many people who God used altogether to make it happen.

As we were planning the conference and looking at volunteers to help, we had so many people who were willing to help and serve to make this a success. Not only was each person willing but they were fully capable and able to serve in the roles they were placed in. It completed each area so much so that if even one of them said, “I’m not needed” you would have dramatically noticed the gap. Every person was important and needed to work together to accomplish this.

That’s the great part about serving in the Body of Christ. God says in 1Corinthians that we are all body parts that make up His body and every body part has a purpose and is what He intended them to be.
1 Corinthians 12:12, 27 “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.” and “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it”

That’s the beauty of something like this. Every person was necessary to make this event successful and every person functioned so well in the area they were in. God is faithful and He equips each person to function and fulfill the role they are in, and we have great power and can accomplish great things for God when we unite and serve as the Body of Christ!

Pastor Meagan

Last weekend was our first ever C.A.R.E conference together as a church family. What i particularly enjoyed was seeing us together as a family, engaging with the material presented, and taking the journey together of the day.

As a church leadership we were so blessed to see people attend, people serve, and people meeting together. We are very grateful to the many people who served willingly, some without recognition doing things behind the scenes.

What truly struck my heart was on Saturday night at the youth outreach event. At the end of the sermon, the young people were called forward to be prayed for. Many kids came forward! But what was truly a blessing to me was to see some of the young married men who have come to faith in the last couple of years, standing up the front willingly ready to pray for kids. For a few of them this was their first ever time praying for people like this. These young men, every day men working out their faith, placed themselves in a position to be used by god.

I'm reminded of the verse from Ephesians 4:11-13;

He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. 12 His purpose was to equip God's people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ 13 until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God's Son. God's goal is for us to become mature adults-to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ.
We mature as we are equipped to serve. this is the goal of these conferences. I'm certain the young married men who prayed for teens on Saturday have walked a few steps forward in maturity as they were equipped to serve. What does this mean for you?

Matty

It was quite something to experience the sudden onslaught of winter this past weekend especially since it seemed it was all but cancelled. We were lulled to sleep thinking we had gotten away with any kind of test or hardship these last few months. I even spoke to an 84 year old man who claimed to have never seen anything like it. Then out of nowhere we were suddenly face to face with challenges of cold weather, deep snowfall, icy streets, frosty windshields and groaning vehicles. We were suddenly awakened from our blissful slumber to the realities of real life. We scraped our windshields, shoveled our driveways and dressed warmly. We rose to the challenge.

Perhaps that is what is happening in our church of late. Many of us could admit to have been somewhat lackadaisical in our spirits and in our walk with God, even coasting perhaps. While there have been some awesome testimonies and breakthroughs there has also been a little sleep, a little slumber a little folding of hands to sleep. We have been challenged lately by Pastor and by the Holy Spirit have we not? A challenge to awaken spiritually, to press in to the things of God, to revive our prayer life, to improve our church attendance and to be obedient to God's Word in our giving. This is a good thing.

The apostle Paul has a wonderful challenge for us in Philippians 3 from the Message translation. I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward-to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

From the desk of Pastor Greg
Ok if it is not obvious to you yet I want to point something out…God is moving us into a deeper place with Him and with each other. It is certain that it is not business as usual around here! So we all really have choices to make. Do we submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit or do we keep going our own way and doing our own thing? I believe that we are in the last days of history and as such the bible promises us that God will be returning for a holy church- a pure bride. So what does that mean to you and I who sometimes struggle with keeping the cheese on our cracker at a party never mind the pursuit of holiness in our lives.
I think the key is a great word called submission. You and I need to understand that God is not looking for perfection but he is looking for submission. Submission of our entire lives to Him- the good the bad and the ugly. God wants us to be yielded- submitted to Him. And that means a few things:
1. Agree with Gods assessment of you and of others
a. WE are fearfully and wonderfully made- we are the apple of His eye- we are accepted and secure and significant in Him. That sounds good however we are also hopelessly and helplessly lost and sinful without Him. We need to see ourselves and others in the light of that truth and be HONEST about who we really are and who we are meant to be.
2. Pursue Him and allow Him to make the changes He wants to make in you.
a. Agreement must be followed by obedience. It is not enough to say, "Yes" and then to keep doing whatever we want to do. He doesn't ask us to make the changes on our own - He is with us and so is the church - but we have to be willing.
b. The word meek - means a warhorse who follows his riders every move in battle - it literally means "power in submission"- and to be submitted means we can chose not to be but out of love and obedience we are!
3. Support His mission with your entire life.
a. Submission means to 'support the mission' and even though we don't have it all together God wants to use us right where we are at not when everything is perfect. By being honest with God and walking with Him daily allowing Him to make the changes He wants to make in us we are free to live meaningful lives for Him.
Ask yourself some very easy questions to determine where you are at in the area of submission. Where do I invest the majority of my time, my talents and my treasures? Do I believe that God has a right to direct my life with His word, the Holy Spirit and the authority of the church? When people challenge me with the truth of God's word how do I react? (Do I blame, justify, complain or submit?)
Obviously this is a huge topic but we need to start somewhere. My prayer for all of us is that we will truly live broken and submissive lives so we can ultimately rule with Him one day!
Peace and Grace be upon this church family,

Pastor Greg and Betty

CARE Conference
It is not always the situation that you are faced with that is important, but instead it is how you face it and walk through it. We all are faced with things on a daily basis. Some things we can feel ready and equipped for while with other things we can feel way in over our heads. With God, nothing is impossible. I do believe that He desires for us to be prepared for what we are capable of preparing for. I believe when we are prepared for something, we position ourselves in a greater opportunity /place to be used, because we are ready. Of course some things cannot be prepared for, but we are responsible for what we can.

If you want to pray for healing for someone you first need to understand what God's Word says about healing. If you are wondering why you are the way you are and why everyone else isn't like you, understanding your personality and other personality types will give you insight into yourself and enable you to learn about and work well with others. If you realize that your child thinks their daddy is the greatest hero in the world you need to understand that there is a great privilege and responsibility that goes along with that. If you desire to grow in your relationship with God you need to receive grace, understand truth, and experience God.

Join us at our CARE Conference on March 10th and 11th to learn more about these things. It is a full weekend designed to encourage, equip and empower us in our daily lives. We want to be a church that is maturing and is walking out in confidence the power of God working in our lives.
Pick up a brochure and register at the CARE table today!

Pastor Meagan Crawford

These days, I feel like I’m motivated to give the youth of our church an experience similar to the one I had as a teenager. During my junior high years, I attended a large youth ministry in Edmonton. It was in this time that my life began to feel especially exciting. It felt like all week I was awaiting Friday night—looking forward to seeing my friends, playing games, and connecting in some way with my youth pastor, Joe Weber, who over that time period became my absolute hero. In the moments where I felt invisible, insecure, and out of place, Joe would randomly show up to make me laugh or give me a word of encouragement.

Perhaps like many of the youth I deal with now, I can’t really recall many of Joe’s sermons—minus the one time when we talked about girls. What I do remember, however, is feeling incredibly significant. Somehow in those years, through the ministry of Pastor Joe, I caught a deep revelation that Jesus Christ was central to me feeling valued, which made me want to share my newfound identity with my friends.

Though the values of the youth group I attended were different from the one I lead currently, I truly experienced a season in my life where I felt (c)elebrated and (a)ccepted. It was time where I (r)eceived from God and was empowered to (e)ngage my community. Little did my youth pastor know at the time, but he taught me to C.A.R.E!

Just a few weeks ago, I sent my former youth pastor a message, expressing how profoundly he influenced my life. As words filled the page, all those feelings of significance filled my heart and in that moment I experienced a warm sense of Christ’s love for me and for my youth.

Whether you’re a mom, dad, aunt, uncle, or grandparent, the young people in your life need a revelation of Christ’s all-consuming love for them. That’s not something I can impart to them, but I can do my very best to let them know that they’re significant.

Impact Youth Ministries runs every Friday of the year from 7:30-10:30pm at St. Andrews Centre.

Pastor Peter Visscher

Christ our advocate:
The prosecutor rose and said "My name is Satan, and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell." He proceeded to tell of lies that I told, things that I stole and in the past when I cheated others. Satan told of other horrible perversions that were once in my life, and the more he spoke the further down in my seat I sank. I was so embarrassed that I couldn't look at anyone, even my own lawyer, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten about.
As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these things about me, I was equally upset at my representative who sat there silently not offering any form of defense at all. I know I had been guilty of those things, but I had done some good in my life - couldn't that at least equal out part of the harm I've done. Satan finished with a fury and said "This man belongs in hell. he is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise. Justice will finally be served this day."
When it was his turn, my lawyer first asked if he might approach the bench. The judge allowed this over the strong objection of Satan and beckoned him to come forward. As he got up and started walking I was able to see him now in his full splendour and majesty. Now I realized why he seemed so familiar. It was Jesus representing me; my Lord and my Savior. He stopped at the bench and softly said to the judge, "Hi Dad," and then He turned to address the court.
"Satan was correct in saying that this man had sinned. I won't deny any of these allegations. And yes the wages of sins is death and this man deserves to be punished". Jesus took a deep breath and turned to His Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, "However, I died on the cross so that this person might have eternal life, and he has accepted Me as his Savior, so he is mine."My Lord continued with "His name is written in the book of life and no one can snatch him from Me. Satan still does not understand yet, this man is not to be given justice, but rather mercy."
As Jesus sat down, He quietly paused, looked at his Father and replied, "There is nothing else that needs to be done, I've done it all."
The Judge lifted His mighty hand and slammed the gavel down, and the following words bellowed from His lips - "This man is free - the penalty for him has already been paid in full, case dismissed."
Christ lovingly smiled and said, "Everyone that has come to me and asked Me to represent them has received the same verdict as you, Paid in Full."

Pastor Matty Coppin

God wants our experience of Him to be full. In 1 John 1 the Apostle John is talking about having            
this full experience of God, and he writes in verse 3-4:

"…that which we have seen and heard [about God] we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; 
and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that 
your joy may be full."

What does it mean to be full? The following words express the range of meaning: 
            abounding, abundant, adequate, awash, big, bounteous, brimful, burdened,            
            bursting, chock-full, complete, crammed, crowded, entire, extravagant,
            glutted, gorged, imbued, impregnated, intact, jam-packed, jammed, jammed
            full, laden, lavish, loaded, overflowing, packed, packed like sardines,
            padded, plenteous, plentiful, plethoric, profuse, replete, running over,
            sated, satiated, satisfied, saturated, stocked, stuffed, sufficient,
            suffused, surfeited, teeming, voluminous, weighted

Wow! Who knew that it would take so many words to fully explain such a simple four letter word! I think 
sometimes our knowledge and experience of God is like that: we are satisfied with four letter word, and so            
we miss a lot meaning, richness, and blessing in what we have left unexplored, unexamined, and unenjoyed 
about God, who He is, who we are in Him, and who we are together as His children. 
           
Let's seek God for that more full experience of knowing Him-what a journey it will be!
         

Pastor Luke

2011 was a banner year for Morinville Christian Fellowship. Our church attendance was up, not only in the main worship service, but also in children’s church. That means more folks and more kids are calling Morinville Christian Fellowship home. More teens on average are coming out for Friday night youth service. And that’s good news! The Kingdom of God is growing! Financially, the church ended the year stronger than in any previous year, both in the general account and the building account, our Heart for the House campaign. Our ten-acre piece of land was officially paid off and the blue prints for our new building are almost finalized.

Rochester, our first off site church, is having its inaugural service today. A vanload of our people left early this morning to provide leadership to this new church on its very first Sunday. Pastor Greg is preaching and lunch will be served immediately following service. Look forward to an excellent report next Sunday (if being on a team that travels to Rochester interests you please contact the church office).

What’s happening in 2012? God is preparing us for increase: increase in salvations, increase in church attendance, increase in finances and most importantly increase in personal growth and commitment to the things of God. Lay aside the distractions that can so easily beset us. Keep focused and keep growing. Join a CARE Group, serve in ministry. Be a participator, not a spectator. A new name for our fellowship is on the way. A conference is being planned this spring for our church; watch for these announcements in the next couple weeks. Our church staff is solidifying and being groomed for church expansion.

Get excited about 2012. God is moving in Morinville!

Pastor Lou Brunelle