New Message and Audio Sermon, Upcoming Events, Inspiration, FREE Scripture Wallpaper, Parade Photos

Did you and your family grieve the "alone in the garden" as Jesus prayed to be delivered?  Did you collectively shake your head in "No, not I!" as he was betrayed into the hands of the authorities?  Did you flinch in pain and anguish as he made his way through the booing, hissing crowd in excruciating pain?  Did you weep at the foot of the cross as he meekly hung upon the cross for YOU and me?  Were you bereft as he spent three days in the sealed tomb? 

Most importantly, did you rejoice when he rose again to show that he is ALIVE and well and does your life today, this very moment reflect that miracle?  Did I catch you at a difficult moment of your day, perhaps a mundane one?  Does this bring you back to the fact that whatever your day is bringing you, count it all JOY!  Yeah, wherever you are, whatever you're doing I dare you to dance with joy at knowing you were bought for a price - you're FREE.  Now, enjoy your perfectly extra-ordinary day! 

We have much new content for you today including:

• An inspiring message from Pastor Joseph
• Audio recording of Sunday April 24th Sermon (thanks to Leila for the recording!)
• Current and Upcoming Events
• New thought "From the Heart"  (click From the Heart tab top of this page)
• New Scripture wallpaper Isaiah 26:3  (click The Gallery tab top of this page)
• Review of April 24th Children's Church lesson  (click Childrens Church tab top of this page)
• Photos from April 23rd Easter Parade photos  (click OCC Photo Album tab top of this page)

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Pastor Joseph Fernandes

Today I’m going to take a bit of a short turn and discuss something that isn’t related to the sermon that I spoke on last Sunday. As I was preparing to write this entry, I remembered a story that my instructor had told us about back in my days of theological training. It was quite simple yet profound and I feel that’s it’s something that I should share at this time.

The initial conclusion that I came to as he told us about this part, was that just as a symphony has a conductor - that we as believers have a conductor and his name is Jesus. I thought that perhaps Jim  would tell us that when we were led by the conductor that we would all come together and our lives would be a symphony to God. However this was not the case, instead he spoke about the person who played the triangle.

At this particular performance there was someone who played the triangle and every now and again this person would strike his or her triangle at a precise moment and it would lend to the musical piece that was being played. Jim went on to explain that sometimes we can think that we play such a small or insignificant role in God’s Kingdom but this simply isn’t the case – this isn’t the way that it works.

We all play a crucial part in God’s symphony and we need to remind ourselves of this as often as it is needed. At Osoyoos Christian Centre the last couple of weeks I’ve had the pleasure of acknowledging many of the individuals who put in so much work and effort to make things happen. It doesn’t matter what part or role that they play, what is important is that it complements the thing that we are doing as a church and we need this. It all lends to a much larger production. 

Today I just want to share this thought with you and to allow it to serve as a reminder that the role that you play in the Kingdom of God is a very important and significant role.

Maybe you’ve felt that you hold this tiny insignificant triangle and every now and again you are motioned to hit it and then you wait and wait until it’s time to hit it again and because of this feelings of doubt or insecurity have cropped up. If this is the case you need to remember that your role in God’s symphony is very important. You can’t judge what you do by what others are doing in the kingdom – rather you need to keep your eyes focused on God and move when He gives the motion. You’ll find that if you do this that the part that you play is equally as important as all the other parts and together it sounds and is amazing!

Blessings,

And the following is my sermon from Sunday, April 24th, titled "User Friendly Interface"  Click on the triangle to play the mp3 audio recording.

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EVENTS:

Prayer at Kaye's Every Tuesday - 10:00 a.m.

7806 Gravenstein

Thursday Night Open Worship Every Thursday - 7:00

Osoyoos Christian Centre
42 Finch, Osoyoos
For more info: 250-495-2550

An intimate time of prayer - personal, community, government and worldwide for the Lord to meet spiritual and physical needs.  Bring a friend!

Mariposa Christian Ministry

Mariposa Gardens
8816 97th Street, Osoyoos
Sundays at 2 pm

We welcome you to join us if you are able to assist with your musical talent or to help with fellowship! Email us for more info:  occwomenonline@gmail.com

Communion Sunday & Fellowship Luncheon

Sunday, May 8th

This is a pot-luck style luncheon.  A sign up sheet will be circulated this Sunday and alternately you may recieve  a call from Barb regarding your contribution.  Please, spread the word, bring a friend - or TWO!  

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As always we encourage you to leave a comment here on our blog or you can also email us at occwomenonline@gmail.com

New Easter Events, Sermon from Pastor Bart, Worship Song "Away Team" & FREE wallpaper - Isaiah 35:2

Welcome to OCC online! 

We hope that you've been walking through the bible up to THE CROSS as the Holy Spirit reminds us of the significance and impact of the sacrifice God made of His Son, Jesus Christ on that day in history - as a reminder that our lives were bought at the price of blood.  Blood that washes us as we live our imperfect lives, gives us hope, renews and restores lives and that we will never take that for granted.  The bunnies and eggs are cute, chocolate delicious etc, and we enjoy these things as tokens and traditions but never ever to replace what Easter really represents.  Getting together with family, sharing good food, but not just that - let's share the GOOD NEWS which is life changing, that Jesus is RISEN - He's alive and living and our hope is in Him.  We wish you a blessed Easter weekend.

A little note - we welcome some of our church family - Ken and Marg Smith, coming home to OCC this weekend for a visit!  It will be wonderful to have you here.  And also "a little bird" told me we can expect to be welcoming our church family members Dale and Florence Archibald home in the very near future.  Dale and Florence have been ministering down south across the border for several months and we look forward to fellowship and hearing about their RV ministry and adventures when you return!

Today we have the following new editions to our site:

• Audio Sermon for Sunday, April 17th - guest Pastor Bart from Park Drive, Oliver on this page
• Worship song Let it Rain - "Away Team" guests from Park Drive, Oliver - under the "Music" Tab



• New FREE scripture wallpaper to decorate your computer - under "The Gallery" tab
• "Shirley's Quilts" commentary under the "From The Heart" tab
• New Events - upcoming events for OCC and community, Easter Parade etc!
• New Tab - OCC Children's Church - moments with our little ones

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THE GOOD WORD - words of wisdom by Pastor Joseph Fernandes will return next week!  He's enjoying some quality time visiting with his Mother who visits from Toronto!

We hope you enjoy this inspiring audio sermon which was delivered by guest Pastor Bart from Park Drive, our sister church from Oliver.   There may be a slight overlap in the middle part of the sermon because of technical issues - please forgive me.  We thank Bart and the "Away Team" for their faithful support and ministry to OCC.  Y'all are family!

Click on the triangle to start player:



*****

EVENTS:

Prayer at Kaye's Every Tuesday - 10:00 a.m.
7806 Gravenstein

Thursday Night Open Worship Every Thursday - 7:00
Osoyoos Christian Centre
42 Finch, Osoyoos
For more info: 250-495-2550
An intimate time of prayer - personal, community, government and worldwide for the Lord to meet spiritual and physical needs.  Bring a friend!

Inter-Church Good Friday Service April 22nd at 10:30 a.m.
Osoyoos Baptist Church
6210 97th St
Phone for more info:  250-495-6581

Easter Parade

Saturday April 23rd 1:00 pm on Main Street
(if you would like to take part IN the parade, we meet at 20 mins to 1 on Nighthawk Drive!)
Churches of Osoyoos joining together to proclaim Jesus!

Easter FREE BBQ
Gyro Park @ 1:30
Servin' up simple food and Good Fellowship!

Mariposa Christian Ministry Mariposa Gardens
8816 97th Street, Osoyoos
Sundays at 2 pm
We welcome you to join us if you are able to assist with your musical talent or to help with fellowship! Email us for more info:  occwomenonline@gmail.com


"Good Word" from Pastor Joseph, Sunday Sermon (audio) by Betty, Upcoming Events and FREE John 10:27 Wallpaper!

Thanks for "virtually" visiting Osoyoos Christian Centre through our online blog.  We hope you find the time you spend here of value and leave feeling uplifted and inspired.  Our blog - like life in general - is continuously changing and we would love to have your feedback.  We love to recieve comments - there is a comments feature at the bottom of this post.  Have a suggestion - perhaps you might have a thought about Pastor Joseph's "Good Word" or you may want to encourage Betty on her message of "unity" this week.  At any rate - your voice is what makes this blog a two-way conversation.  In today's busy schedules this virtual meeting place can be such a blessing. 

This week Pastor Joseph continues along the word he's been providing over the past several weeks - today he will focus on Eli.  Again, we highly encourage you to let Joseph know what you might have gained from his words - and questions are always welcome. 

Under current events we will invite you to an Inter-Church Good Friday service.  It's a special time when the churches of Osoyoos come together to worship at this time leading up to Easter.  Why not bring a freind along?

This week's FREE computer scripture wallpaper was requested through our comments - thanks for asking!  We have added an extra screen size of 1360 x 768 in case you happen to need this size.  You will find this wallpaper under "The Gallery" tab at the top of this page!

In case you do not know just how to download and install our wallpapers on your computer, please email us and we will try to walk you through the process.  Send your email to occwomenonline@gmail.com

Be sure to check out a "Spring Cleaning" challenge you can take part in, online and for FREE on our "From The Heart" tab at the top of this page too! 

We warmly welcome Joseph's Mother who will be visiting us from the other side of Canada!

We also look forward to Pastor Bart and "The Away Team" as they minister to us with music this Sunday - accompanied by Pastor Joseph who will bring us our Sunday Sermon. 

Lastly - we're posting a 10 minute segment of Sunday's worship music under the "Music" tab - enjoy some soothing music in your busy day!  Miles leading "Lord I Give You My Heart" & "God Will Make a Way"

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by Pastor Joseph Fernandes

If you haven’t listened to the audio version of my last sermon, that’s alright because I’m I want to briefly touch on one of the points that I spoke about.

In I Samuel 4:13(a) we read the following words:

“Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God…”

When it comes to the authorship of I Samuel most scholars believe that Samuel himself penned the first of these two books – well, up until the point that he died which is before the end of I Samuel. I raise this point because when we come to I Samuel 4:13 it’s evident that the author (Samuel) had a first person perspective of this event. I have not doubts that he was with the elderly Eli at the very moment in question and this is why he could write that his “heart trembled.” In my mind’s eye I see Samuel beside him as Eli says “Samuel, in my heart I can’t help tremble – I fear for the safe return of the ark (my paraphrase).”

 

What we see at this time of Eli’s life is a man in great turmoil – look at the use of the following verbs – sitting, watching, and trembled.


Interestingly, if you look down at verse fifteen we read: “Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see.” Do you see the picture of this man sitting there, watching, even though he couldn’t see, but he tries his best to look and to find out what is going on and he does so because he’s in a place of turmoil. He acts in a way that doesn’t make sense—but isn’t this often the case in our own lives? We find ourselves in a place of turmoil and end up doing things that don’t always make sense.


Now, what I really want to bring your attention to is that I don’t believe that this is what God intended for Eli’s life, especially as he is nearing the end of it. Keep in mind that he was the priest of the house of Aaron. Eli knew what it was to enter into the holy of holies and present the sacrifice before God. While the Israelite congregation watched from within the courts of the temple—they could only guess what it was to experience what Eli experienced once a year on the Day of Atonement.  I believe that what God wanted for Eli was that he would grow to a good old age and then be gathered to his fathers. I believe that the way he should have exited from this life would have been a time that was not wrapped around in turmoil, but it was.


This truly is a sad story – and it’s meant to be seen as one, and the very fact that Samuel included it when he could have left it out tells me that it is a story that he wanted heard and known.


If you look at I Samuel 2:29 it says there: “Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offering of Israel My people?”


This is a sad story because even though Eli knew what it was to enter into God’s presence, he still put his sons before God and was self serving.  What we see in Eli’s life is what the Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 6:7: ”Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Eli sowed in his sons and in himself and at the last days of his life he reaps turmoil. He made his choices, sowed his seeds—but these were not seeds that honored God or gave him priority.

Now, I’m not going to leave my comments on down note, as true as it may be; the thing is - God DOES NOT call us into a life of turmoil!



We don’t see this anywhere in his holy word. Jesus calls us into a place of abundant life; he calls us to cast our burdens on him and to take his yoke instead, because it is easy and lighter.


When we find our selves in that place of turmoil we really have to take a step back and find out where it came from - what choices, decisions did we make?   And, yes it’s true that sometimes we find ourselves in turmoil because of the choices others made.  Either way we need to realize that this is not the life that God intends for us.


Does this mean that we’re going to live a life of easy and tranquility?  Well, you know the answer to that question just as well as I do - NO! 


I believe that when we really get a hold of a right understanding of the life that God wants us to experience through Jesus Christ and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we’ll begin to make those choices that will not reap turmoil. We’ll understand that in Christ we can truly have abundant life and we’ll make the right choices to walk and live in this reality.  

Notice I said with the help of the Holy Spirit -you’re not left alone in this process!


Blessings,

*****

In case you were unable to attend last Sunday, April 10th - you can listen to this inspiriting audio sermon by Betty. Just click the (triangle)  button to play.

*****

EVENTS:

Prayer at Kaye's
Every Tuesday - 10:00 a.m.
7806 Gravenstein

Thursday Night Open Worship Every Thursday - 7:00
Osoyoos Christian Centre
42 Finch, Osoyoos
For more info: 250-495-2550
An intimate time of prayer - personal, community, government and worldwide for the Lord to meet spiritual and physical needs.  Bring a friend!

Inter-Church Good Friday Service
April 22nd at 10:30 a.m.
Osoyoos Baptist Church
6210 97th St
Phone for more info:  250-495-8011

Mariposa Christian Ministry
Mariposa Gardens
8816 97th Street, Osoyoos
Sundays at 2 pm

We welcome you to join us if you are able to assist with your musical talent or to help with fellowship! Email us for more info:  occwomenonline@gmail.com









New Message from Pastor Joseph - both written and audio & FREE Scripture Wallpaper - Job 5:10

Welcome to Osoyoos Christian Centre ... online!  Now that spring break is over our posts will resume each week.  It was nice to take a break and get away even.  Have you ever noticed that as much as going away is refreshing that when you return you appreciate where you live in an entire new way - look at it with new eyes and value what you have right here? 

Be sure to check out the encouragement under the "From the Heart" tab at the top of this blog and also our newest FREE scripture wallpaper for your computer under "The Gallery"  Here's a preview

And now, we will jump right in with this week's post, a message from Pastor Joseph.

*****

with Pastor Joseph Fernandes



I was away a couple of weeks ago and had an opportunity to go rock climbing.  It was the first time for this year so I was eager to get back to it. I will say this - one of the many things that I love about climbing is that it provides so many meaningful connections to Christianity. Allow me to share this with you:

 There are times when climbing a route that things start off really uncomplicated;  right where your standing it is easy to see where the first hold is and even the following one.

photo: Na Padra @ sxc



But as you continue up that route it can be a bit more challenging. Your arms become a bit tired and your feet tend to feel the pain of being crammed into very tight shoes. As you hang there under so much stress and strain, seeing the next move isn't as easy as it was when you were just standing on the ground. It's funny how life can be like this at times!

We can find ourselves in a very comfortable place where things are pretty good and seeing the next move or hold is fairly easy - sometimes it can be right in front of us. There are times however when the stress and strain of life makes it very difficult to see where our next hold should be.

Maybe there's something painful that is an incredible distraction and the focus is on the pain. Maybe you just feel tired and exhausted because you've been going at it so long and it seems as if the end is far away, much like the top of that route.

I've found my self in this place many times both in life and in climbing. There I am at the middle of the route and trying to focus, in spite of the tiredness and pain.  I'm just looking at the end of my climb and thinking - "what's my next move?"

photo: sxc

Here's the thing, and this is just awesome, I look for chalk. Chalk you may say? Yes chalk!

The reason for this is because the lead climber, the person who has went ahead of me, has already been to the top, and on his way there he used chalk to make sure his fingers did not slip when they found a good hold. My experience has been that if I put my fingers where that chalk is, that there's a good hold, and that will help me to make my upward and forward progress.

All of the sudden something happens when I find a good hold - I can move my feet and feel immediate relief because I get to move on now that I have a different hold. My hands don't feel as tired because I've been able to changes positions.  In that moment you truly feel as if you can go all the way to the top -sure enough, if you stick with it, you will be able to go on and reach the top, and there's nothing more satisfying than reaching that point!

photo: sxc

Think about this - in our Christian experience Jesus Christ is our lead climber - He has led the route for us and we just need to look for the chalk from his lead climb!!!

When life comes at you will all its pressure, pain, and disappointment and can't find the next hold - look for the chalk. When individuals abuse you, mistreat you and do their best to hurt you and you don't know what your next move will be, look for the chalk. Look for the chalk that Christ as left behind - it's His way of saying "I've led the way for you, you can hold on here."  We can all be assured of this - if we continue to follow his lead - we will make it to the top!

Blessings,
Joseph

And just in case you were not able to join us this past Sunday Service, you can still listen to the message in audio using the player below.  Just click on the triangle to start the player. 



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PRAYER:

Osoyoos Christian Centre this week, asking you all to please pray for:

• our church and church members that we may be of impact to our community. 
• other churches in our area. 
• needs within our town. 
• our government, both provincial and federal
• world disasters
• missionaries afield
• Israel, Egypt and marginalized countries

These are just a few prayer requests we bring to you - and a reminder that in our "Events" listed below we have set aside an entire evening devoted to prayer.  Please come, bring a friend and enter in together for:

Matthew 18:20

"For where two or three have gathered together in My name,

I am there in their midst."

*****

Prayer at Kaye's
Every Tuesday - 10:00 a.m.
7806 Gravenstein

Thursday Night Open Worship
Every Thursday - 7:00
Osoyoos Christian Centre
42 Finch, Osoyoos
For more info: 250-495-2550

Mariposa Christian Ministry
Mariposa Gardens
8816 97th Street, Osoyoos
Sundays at 2 pm

We welcome you to join us if you are able to assist with your musical talent or to help with fellowship! Email us for more info:  occwomenonline@gmail.com