"Good Word" for March 13th, Recap Women's Sweet Night, New Music and Free Scripture Wallpaper

Welcome all!  Thank you for visiting our Women's blog, our online place where we can meet even if we have not had a chance to gather at church this week.  For those of you who do not live here in beautiful Osoyoos BC we hope what we've recapped here for you is of value.  There is lots of new ground to cover this week so please, draw up a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy! 

New entries for this week include:  (look under the various tabs, top of your screen!)

•  Pastor Joseph's "Good Word"  on this current page
• Julie shares her thoughts on "Praising the Lord" which she shared on our Women's Sweet Night in the "From the Heart" tab
• new FREE scripture wallpaper for your computer desktop in "The Gallery" tab
• 3 audio editions under the "Music" tab - the song "Believe" sung by Pheonix, Guest Speaker Bart from Park Drive church delivers his message, a few words of encouragement from Pastor Joseph
• a few photos from our Women's Sweet Night

Preview of this week's FREE scripture wallpaper:



Just a note - this coming week is Spring Break from school and so we are going to observe the break by skipping one week of posting to the blog here.  We look forward to returning to our normal update on March the 30th!

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As always, we welcome your thougths and feedback on this content - you can "comment" at the bottom of this post or you may email us at occwomenonline@gmail.com

God Can Transform Your Life - Pastor Joseph Fernandes

There are times in our lives when we look in the mirror and aren’t too impressed by what is staring back at us. Have you ever had this experience – it seems as if maybe you’ve exhausted God’s grace or simply can’t ask for forgiveness yet again. In that moment helplessness it is so easy to think that nothing good will come of your life. As we continue to look at our series in the first Book of Samuel – I believe what we see is hope – hope for a better day; we also see that God can bring about a transformation.

Now I want to identify two things before we proceed here,

1.  I recognize that I’ve stepped out our series order as we will be looking in chapter two at this time and last week we were in chapter three;
2.  as we look at this chapter I’ll just be providing you with my take on things based on a cursory look.

I am hoping however that you will be blessed by these simple observations.

In I Samuel 2:12-17 we read the story of Eli’s wicked sons – if you haven’t read it you should. One of the things that we see in this passage is that both of these individuals were very self-serving when it came to Lord’s offering. In so doing they engaged in practices that ought not to have occurred. One of the things that we see in verse 16 is that their servant would actually employ violent means to take what did not belong to them – see further in the Book of Leviticus.  What’s interesting is that in chapter 2:14 is says there, “So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.”

Here’s the thing that I would like to bring to your attention, it is simply that, because of the sinful practices of Eli’s sons–God’s priests–Shiloh had a bad reputation. It was a reputation that was not flattering at all. It had an unflattering reputation because of wicked and self-serving priests. It had a reputation where individuals were mistreated and exploited. It had a reputation where simply anything went. Having this reputation was incredibly unfortunate given that this was meant to be a sacred place before God, as sacred place where individuals brought their offerings to be presented to him.

This is my take on the situation, but I believe that the actions of these two priests did not represent anything positive and may well have further contributed to the already practiced norm of “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” I wonder if there were those who prayed that it would return to a place of true worship—a true place of sacrifice as it once had been.  I wonder if there were those who cried out to God, praying that his place of sacrifice would be all that it was meant to be. Maybe however, there were those who were very critical of Shiloh because of its bad reputation. These

individuals likely would have snickered or sneered at it with contempt. They may have even pointed to the hypocrisy of the priests whose lives were in complete contradiction given the office that they held. These individuals would likely have concluded that no good would every come from Shiloh, and for all intents and purposes they may have been right, however, it does not end there.

The story of Shiloh does end in chapter two but it continues and we see a completely different picture in chapter three – I Samuel 3:21 “Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh.  For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” Did you see that!!! God comes on to the scene and Shiloh’s reputation is changed!!  Where it was once known as a place where wicked and self-serving men who did as they pleased, it is now know as a place where God reveals himself. I think that this is absolutely amazing and it serves as a reminder to me that when we let God into our situation that his presence can bring about a significant change. Allow God into your place today, whatever this place may be: discouragement, disappointment, failure, helplessness, etc… let him in and allow him to bring about a reversal in your situation. You only need to invite him in because God can transform your life!

Today your life may represent a Shiloh of sorts. You’ve made mistakes and felt that your life was in a complete mess.  Maybe you have created a negative reputation for yourself and feel that it will never leave you. You may have even called out to God to change your situation, change your reputation because you truly want a change. Of course there are those who criticize you because of your mistakes. Their cruel hurtful words try to reinforce the concept that your life is never going to change. What do you do? Allow the words of God’s love, grace and mercy to enter into your life – your Shiloh – and begin to experience the transformation that only he can bring.

Blessings,
Joseph



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

Thursday Night Open WorshipEvery Thursday - 6:00
Osoyoos Christian Centre
42 Finch, Osoyoos
For more info: 250-495-2550

Mariposa Christian MinistryMariposa 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





"Something New" from Pastor Joseph, Recap of March Luncheon/AGM, a Beautiful Song, New Wallpaper, Addition of our Photos Section!

There is a saying that "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb" though I am certain this was intended to refer to the weather.  It certainly has been lion-like here at Osoyoos Christian Centre - busy!   Nobody is lamenting the busyness because we have all been enjoying fellowship together and working hard to build new ministries.  Because of our flurry of activity I'm going to add two more pages onto our blog - these will be one for music, because our church is gifted in music ministry and it will be a great place to share some of that music with you.  The next page I am going to add is one for a few photos of our latest get-togethers.  I won't share ALL the photos I take, just one or two, though if anyone from our church family would like I can provide a private link to photo albums for you to view, download and print. 

To visit the other "pages" of this blog, simply look above this writing and click on the tabs that say "Home" "From the Heart" "The Gallery" "Music" "OCC Photo Album" and you can see what's new. 

Here's a preview of our latest desktop wallpaper for you which will be available for download in "The Gallery" today - available in almost every size to custom fit YOUR computer desktop!  Please, send your friends here to grab their own graphics to give your computer a "spiritual face-lift"  (hmmm is that a correct thing to say?)   

And you will not want to miss listening to  Pheonix singing "You Lift Me Up" over in our "Music"  tab... be prepared as this young man has a true annointing upon him in the area of musical talent. 

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And we especially thank our Pastor - Joseph, for providing us with weekly content, a recap of each week's sermon so that for those of you who were not able to attend you are still able to know where we are going in the Bible at this time.  We welcome your feedback here - we would like to think the Sunday message is an opening for conversation, not something just reserved for that short hour during the service.  Give us your thoughts, lets start a dialogue!  

If you missed this message and would like to hear it, let us know, we can provide an MP3 to you via email. 

Pastor Joseph Fernandes

Sunday,  March 6th 2011

Something New

I believe that there are times in our lives when we get so sick of and tired of things that we call out to God for something new – anything is better than the disappointments or the negative set backs in our present situation. I wonder though, are we truly ready for something new, especially when it may mean abandoning our suppositions or predefined categories? In our sermon series of I Samuel we recently looked at chapter 3:1-21 within this context of God doing something new.

What I find interesting here is that God does something that is unprecedented – he speaks to a boy within the period of the Judges. Let’s stop here for a moment and explore this further. When you go through the book of Judges you will observe time and time again that God used men and women as judges. If we wanted to take this a step further, we could, justifiably so, describe these individuals as warrior judges—look for example at Othniel or Ehud. Now admittedly Gideon wasn’t much of a warrior at first, but he definitely grew into the role. Finally we take a look at Samson who most would concede is a warrior judge. My point is this, that God uses individuals to judge Israel who, in our human perspective, just makes a lot of sense. However, God in his typical does something that does not make any sense.

Now, before I go any further it’s important that we try to remove our own biases from the text. What I mean by this is, if you grew up in Sunday school you heard wonderful and inspirational stories about the little boy Samuel. I remember listening to a song about Samuel and I remember one of the verses went like this: “if you want to do quite well be a Samuel.” Despite all of the wonderful stories, when you look at the context of the period of the judges—it just didn’t make sense that God looks to use a child. Although Eli is a judge over Israel this could be a de facto position because of his role as priest, the last real warrior judge that we see in the Book of Judges is Samson – the superman of sorts and then the book of Samuel opens up with the story of Samuel’s miraculous birth and then in chapter 3 where God speaks to this little boy and ultimately uses him and “not one of his (Samuel’s) words fell to the ground.” Imagine that!!!

I wonder if there were skeptics who questioned or even criticized Samuel for daring to speak as a Judge to them? Maybe given that Eli was a judge himself there were some who would have felt that it was out of line or disrespectful for Samuel to operate in this capacity. But the fact is – God was doing something new, he chose a little boy to lead his people. Yes, someone who was untested in battle; someone who had never seen war; someone who in many ways could not relate with the average Israelite because of his protected upbringing in the temple. All the these things could have defaulted him from being seen or accepted as a credible judge – but yet we that God was in fact doing something new and he was faithful as he did not let one of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

Today, you may be in that place where you want God to do something new in your life and if you are that’s a good thing. Here’s the thing though, sometimes God does something new in our lives we just don’t realize it because it doesn’t look the way that we expect it to. We think that it will look a certain way or conform to our expected norms but this isn’t always the case. All the more reason why we need to abandon our suppositions or predefined categories and just accept that God will do something new and it may not fit these parameters as we think. In the end, he we can take confidence in the fact that he will be faithful to see it accomplished. 



Blessings,

Joseph

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EVENTS

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

7806 Gravenstein

Thursday Night Open WorshipEvery Thursday - 6:00

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

Mariposa Christian MinistryMariposa 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



A Guest Pastor, Upcoming Events and new FREE Scripture Wallpaper!

Welcome Visitors! 

Osoyoos Christian Centre is a "happening" place these days.  The first thing one would notice if they were to visit after having been away a while will probably find their senses piqued with some new scenery and inhale the smells of paint and varnish etc.  As the Lord favours our church to move forward into the future with some exciting changes our family is drawing together to build strong core ministries.  Won't you drop in one day soon to see what all the buzz is about.

Be sure to check out new updates on the "From the Heart" tab, up top for an encouragement and then "The Gallery" where we also have two new FREE wallpapers for your computer.  I've been compiling some of my own photography and also joined it with professional photography from my friend JanMary http://www.janmary.com/ from Ireland, who has generously agreed to donate pictures for our "wallpaper ministry" Be sure to send your friends here to visit us and grab something attractive and uplifting to decorate their own desktop!  Here previews of these wallpapers:

Sweet Friendship - Romans 12:15

(recognise these faces?)

photo: Barb Derksen

1 Corinthians 13:7 - Love

Photo: JanMary

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GOOD WORD

Pastor Joseph will return here with a word in the following weeks but today we will take a moment instead to thank Pastor Peter Neave  who ministered to us, coming from our sister church, Park Drive Church located in Oliver, BC.  Pastor Peter brought us a word based on the topics of Hope, Love and Contentment - all in all very uplifting.  I have listened to his sermon once more (every bit as encouraging the second round) and have extracted the following scripture references. I have linked each so which you can click on each if you would like to read them for a review of what we learned, or to listen to them at the Bible Gateway site.  When you are at the site, look to the top and you should see a little "speaker" icon, if you press this it will read the scriptures to you.

1 Peter 1-3 

Proverbs 28

Joshua 1:8

Psalm 18-19

Joshua 1:5

His message can be summed up by what he said - your manner, demeanor should reflect the Love of Christ no matter where you are and who you are communicating with.  I believe that Pastor Peter's willingness to come and minister to us, and the generosity of Park Drive to provide Pastor Peter's presence (this is in danger of sounding like a tongue twister!)  We truly appreciate you.  

I will end this section with scripture which Pastor Peter ended his word with - about being contented.  He pointed out that negative behaviour can be attributed to discontent, always wanting more, better, new.  If we trust in the Lord that He has us where we are supposed to be right here, right now then we can know the essence of being content.   Read: (Philippians 4:4-7) 

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Lots of GOOD stuff happening this coming week! 

EVENTS:

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

Thursday Night Open Worship
Every Thursday - 6:30
Osoyoos Christian Centre
42 Finch, Osoyoos
For more info: 250-495-2550

Fellowship Luncheon & OCC Annual General Meeting

Sunday, March 6th

Osoyoos Christian Centre

42 Finch, Osoyoos

For more info: 250-495-2550

- bring a dish, 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

Praise Report - Last Sunday saw 17 people in attendance, very positive turnout.  Thanks to Ralph, Krista and Moira for your faithful tending to this ministry.

March Women's Sweet Night

Tuesday, March 8th - 6:30 pm

Kaye's Place

7806 Gravenstein

- baking and beverage provided.  We will be doing a fun "gift exchange" - bring something wrapped, a hand made gift, home-baked or purchased for under $10.   Please email if you need more information:  occwomenonline@gmail.com  Bring a friend - RSVP appreciated but not necessary. 



Look what's New, Words from Pastor Joseph and Current Events!

Welcome to our Osoyoos Christian Centre women's blog - there's a lot of  NEW ground to cover so let's jump right in. 

Hopefully - if I've done everything correctly here today - you will see some big changes here to our (YOUR) blog today.  The first thing will be that we have two extra "pages".  These pages are separate tabs you can click on to find more content.  I'm going to reserve this first page for the messages - or message summaries that Joseph will provide.  The text he will provide will give you an idea of content we are covering on our Sunday Sermons with a personal slant on it so that it gets you thinking and he may supply scripture, passages for you to refer to so that hopefully we can have you studying and we encourage you to email us or leave comments here with your input too!  Lets get a conversation happening! 

I will also leave the Events section on this front page so its easy for you to refer here for what's coming up at OCC. 

The second page will be called "From My Heart" - (Look UP - there is a tab up top) these are my own writings which I think are relevant to us, especially they might have a  feminine perspective.  I certainly welcome all of our women to provide content here - poems, photos, scripture etc are all very welcome.  Email:  occwomenonline@gmail.com

The third page is going to be called "The Gallery" (Look UP - there is a tab up top) and every so often (if I get very ambitious then every week) you will be able to visit here to download FREE inspiring wallpapers for your computer, iPhone or iPad!  If you have a favorite scripture - let me know and I will try to incorporate it into a wallpaper. 
Please bring your friends here to download some encouraging graphics. 

And you may even notice the addition of the Bible Gateway on the side panel of our blog - you can type into the search window to look up bible passages etc - which should be very helpful!  Do you know that you can listen to audio there?  When you find a scripture to read, look at the controls at the top and you will see a little speaker "icon" - click this and your passage will be read to you.

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GOOD WORD from Joseph

At Osoyoos Christian Centre,  we're going through a sermon series from I Samuel.

One of the things that I find fascinating about this book is found in the historical narratives of Old Testament and that is the author's strong grasp of literary devices. This is just an observation,  and time doesn't permit me to go into much detail -  but as you go through this book be alert to how the author (who according to biblical tradition is Samuel himself for the most part) has woven this story. 

At this time I just want to bring on thing to your attention and that is in 1 Sam 3:3-4b

"And before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, the at the Lord called Samuel"

... Do you see the imagery that the author uses?

The light was about the go out.  I don't want to stretch this passage beyond it's reasonable application, but let's look at this within its social historical context.

We learn from Judges that everyone did what was right in their own eyes.   I believe that in social milieu there could only have one outcome - a chaotic state where might makes right.  Read through Judges and I believe you will see evidence of this.

In I Samuel 3:1 we read that

"the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was not wide spread revelation."

Take a look at this, the social historical context was one in which everyone did their own thing and the word of God was rare - what would you imagine that they were left with? Yep - pretty dark times! When I think about this context I can't help but get excited when I read 1 Sam 3:3:4 -- before the light goes out - God speaks.

This is just my opinion, but I believe the author is trying to say something to the reader by including this otherwise irrelevant detail, really it's just a lamp! I believe the author is trying to tell the reader that God does not abandon us no matter what.  The Israelite congregation was in a state of spiritual darkness and before all hope was gone God speaks and he used his servant Samuel.

I don't know where you are in life right now - maybe the enemy has you believing that it is too late for you, that your hopelessness is a far gone conclusion. If that's the case you need to hear this, before the small light of hope goes out, God can and will speak to you. No matter how difficult is may be, God will not abandon you, listen because he will speak.

Blessings,
Joseph

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

Worship Music Practice
Saturday nights - 7:30 p.m.

Mariposa Gardens 
Ministry to Seniors
3:00 Sundays

Fellowship Luncheon (pot-luck)
Sunday, March 6th - following service
Bring a dish, bring a friend!

Women's Sweet Night
Tuesday, March 8th
Hosted by Amanda and Betty
Speaker: Julie
more details to follow
RSVP appreciated: occwomenonline@gmail.com

Wearing The Badge

We hope you had a good week!

At Osoyoos Christian Centre we pride ourselves on being a close knit community - and like any community or family, our members can ebb and flow from week to week.  Some of us work and then there are times we may be called away for ministry or visiting friends and family or even vacationing.  Our blog seems to play a vital role in drawing everyone together - a central hub of sorts where anyone who has access to a computer can still come and 'catch up' with your church family here.  Our blog is a work in progress and our goal is to bring a continuity to you, that even if you are not able to join us every Sunday (though we love it when you do, there's no place like home!)  then our blog is available for you. 

With this in mind we are trying to bring new content and features online which will help to learn, connect and inspire each and every one.  This week, we are bringing a new section in and we would love your feedback to know if it is of value to you.  Pastor Joseph is going to provide a post which will be in line with the message he delivered Sunday, February 13th.  Here is his first installment:

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photo: sxc.hu



Any reference that I've heard mentioned about the pharisees has always been in a negative context. Quite frankly, this people group are often vilified. However, I believe that there isn't a pastor in North America that wouldn't want a church full of pharisees.

Allow me to explain, the pharisees were the best at what they did. They could be found at the synagogue or temple. When it came to giving they would tithe mint and rue - in other words they tithed from even the smallest part of their possession. They knew how to pray, it may not have been the right way, but they could pray. Consequently, a church full of pharisees would be a church without an attendance problem. The prayer meeting would always be full on a Friday or Saturday night - even in the summer! There would not be any financial problems because they would be 100% tithers.  This is really impressive when you sit down and think about it.

Here's the thing though, despite their religious perfection, Christ still says: "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Imagine the best christian or person you have every met in your life and then being told that to enter God's Kingdom your goodness or righteousness must be much better!

Now you have a point reference and I believe that this was Christ's point. Those who heard this message in the first century would likely been shocked and astounded by this word because if the Pharisees couldn't get in how would they?

Thank God we do not stand in our own righteousness but in Christ. As such, when you feel that some how you're not worthy to approach God because you haven't prayed enough, read your Bible enough, or preformed enough goods works, the fact is you stand in Christ's righteousness and can boldly enter into God's presence.

Blessings,
Joseph

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Please, let us know what you think about Joseph's post here - was this helpful to you?

And now, I'll share some observations from the congregation side of things.

This past Sunday's message was centered on encouragement and about how we sometimes (OK, often) allow situations to control us instead of walking in confidence - when we have brought it before the Lord and know  He has control.  And it got me thinking (which is what a good message is supposed to do, right?) 

My mind began to think about authority and my mind came up with words like authority, power, rule, master, sureness, lordship, obedience, etc.  And my mind combs over scripture and it also draws illustrations - this is normal, correct? Do you do this too?



And don't we all sometimes find  ourselves  quailing, and worrying, even mourning and weeping for what we SEE - when what we really need to do is to immediately  give it over to the One Who Controls over All,  and then we need to be walking in that, and it should show visibly.  If we are confident and secure that our Lord is Savior then we should be able to experience joy knowing He has taken care of it.  This does not mean things will be handled in the way we would choose to orchestrate the details.  For our Lord has knowledge and wisdom beyond our human limitations. 

Time for one of these little illustrations I was talking about:

When I was a kid and watched westerns - OK, I'm not saying I liked all the westerns but my Dad had control of the TV (and yes, this was even before there were remote controls) I used to notice the Sheriff.  There was always a Sheriff who was fair and good and kept outlying little dust bowl villages from falling into anarchy.  If a difficult situation came up which required even more authority then the Sheriff would even take a regular cowboy and deputize him and give him a ... badge.  Funny thing about that badge.  Everyone would take that badge very seriously.  When it was worn it signified that the person wearing it stood for good and they were bound to uphold the good name of the law. 

Did you notice too that the badge was always a nice polished gold or silver?  And it was always visible.  The Sheriff would have still been a Sheriff even if he wore the badge on the inside of his coat or something - but the point is, he always wore it with great pride - and people always treated him with the due respect when they saw that badge.  Even the evil outlaws, though they would fight with the Sheriff, you always had knew they still respected him - they just had chosen to work the other side of the law. 

Where am I going with this?   Well, what that badge represents is authority and when we pray to God and we are submissive to Him and walk in His ways then we too should wear the authority  of the Lord visibly upon us.  Though we don't receive or are even expected to wear a physical metal "gold star" badge - when we walk in CONFIDENCE, in JOY, and radiate HOPE when to all the world we might be going through some trial - then that is our badge and others can plainly see this. 



How would anyone know we trust in God when they see us pray - see us petition our Father upon our knees, shed tears of repentance and lay our troubles at the altar of the One who is Author of our Lives - and then turn around and not be changed?  WEAR the confidence of the Lord upon you.  LEAVE your tears and weariness behind - it is dealt with.  His mercies are new every morning - wear the badge! 

By the way - the badge?  Its REAL - I've created it at 300 dpi and saved as  a .png format image which means you can right click on it, choose SAVE.   It is on a transparent  background, perfect for all your presentations or cards or whatever you choose to use it for, personal or commercial.

~ Barbara

*****

Please pray for Dale and Florence Archibald as they minister in Arizona. 

*****

EVENTS:

Board Meeting

Thursday, February 17th - 7:00 p.m.

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

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

Worship Music Practice
Saturday night - 7:30 p.m.

Mariposa Gardens 

Ministry to Seniors

3:00 Sundays

It was our OCC "Women's Sweet Night" last night, hosted at Sheryl's home and it was indeed a precious time of fellowship.  We were about a dozen ladies and the evening passed sweetly and quickly!  Sheryl really took a great deal of effort with making her own meringue cookies and serving cheesecake and a variety of other treats. 

We had a gift exchange/game and everyone went home with something very nice.  I must say it was rather funny because the game involved one guest choosing a present, unwrapping it and then the next person could either take a new gift or "steal" the gift of someone who had opened one already.   Unfortunately, being a group of Christian women we were all hesitant to "steal" from each other :)  However, Julie soon changed the definition to exchanging gifts and we were alright with that. 



I brought my new point and shoot camera and unfortunately am still getting used to how it runs so I only have a few nice photos of our time together, forgive me Ladies! 

Thank you to Sheryl for all the effort you put into this event and we are looking forward to another next month, to be announced in the future.

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I was asked to share a word  at our event and so I am going to share it with you here today:

MEEKNESS  is not WEAKNESS!

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Meekness is certainly not something which is upheld in today's society and it’s no wonder because it is one of the "fruits of the spirit" and therefore essential for us to model as followers of Christ.  The enemy knows his kingdom cannot prevail against God's people as long as we are led by the Spirit of God, so the enemy is going to do his best to keep us distracted from developing the very traits we need, in order to mentor as true women of Faith. What we hear through today's media is very SELF-centered and self-serving.  We are told "I'm worth it" and we are invited to keep focus on ME and what I am entitled to and how the world should relate to MYSELF. But the bible tells us that we are to live our lives through how we relate to OTHERS. In Philippians 2:7 we are shown that Jesus himself was meek - that He made Himself of no reputation. In other words He didn't put emphasis on Himself or what He could do, but on God.

The worlds take on meekness IS weakness. The Biblical take on meekness is strength in the Lord.  "Meek", in the Koine Greek, (which is one of the primary languages of the New Testament), means, "To be under the master's control". So, no matter what we do as Christians we are to be controlled by God. We are not to BE CONTROLLERS - of ourselves, nor others.  We are encouraged to be weak, but only in God - not to man. A meek Christian is one who is totally dependent on the Holy Spirit in all he or she does. We should live our lives according to the will of God and through this we become towers of strength in and through HIM. We are instructed to be humble minded, possessing a gentle, and of quiet disposition. We shouldn't think we are higher than, or more important than others. Having the character of meekness means we should show a tendency to consider the needs of others irrespectively of what our own needs may be. The meek work to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger, being blameless, harmless and without reproach in the middle of a crooked and perverted nation. We are to shine as lights in the darkened, arrogant, self-seeking, selfish world of the spiritually blinded.

There are biblical women who modeled meekness which served them to garner great power and strength, for example we see Esther 2:8 "The girl pleased him & won his favor."  Yes, she had 12 months of beauty treatments as did all the other virgins brought before the king, but she had to get the king to LIKE her too, to win his favor.  Ruth also was meek and trusted in the council of Naomi who she knew to be a Godly woman.  

I believe that many of us might confuse meekness with weakness, but consider that Jesus, though he was meek could also get good and angry when need be - for example when He went into the house of prayer and knocked the tables over. He being wasn't a rude there, and was still meek in heart even though He was pushed to take measures to get his point across that what people were doing was WRONG! 

And how does this relate to our lives today?  It means we should normally handle people and situations with dignity, patience, submissive spirits, being compliant, gentle and kind.  In a society which is loud, demanding and in-your-face, our meekness will shine our light for Jesus in a way that is like a beacon in the darkness. It means we will invest in others to build trust and respect.  Respect and trust encourages others to desire to surrender authority to us because we are genuine and they value our counsel. Then when we do occasionally use forcefulness, whether it is through our actions or words, others LISTEN and take heed because it’s not a standard of our behavior.  They know that something REALLY must be wrong.  We don't abuse our meekness.  


I've seen this in my own marriage countless times.  A prime example is something my husband told me a long time ago.  He said "Honey, if you would like something from me, if instead of getting angry and yelling -- (yes, being REAL here I confess that I used to resorted to yelling at times) -- if you put your arms around me and gently ASK, there's not much I could ever deny you!"  I also admire a dear friend who joins me to pray about our marriages - we do it in meekness, sometimes never mentioning specific needs, and coming from a standpoint of the Lord changing US and how we handle these situations rather than changing our spouses.  I'm fortunate to have a friend who is a mom to several kids and has a really busy life who 0rchestrates their schedule and situations with grace, patience and gentleness - giving time and engaging each family member with genuine interest before choosing how to handle it.  The way she sorts it all out and allots everyone their orders in such a caring way is a true ministry to me. And I see meekness modeled  through the senior women in my life, who have had MUCH more life experience in  than I have for they offer wise counsel in meekness when they might by authority of seniority TELL me how to handle situations. 

Meekness says "I need others - Lord, I need YOU. I CAN'T do it myself"  Weakness, on the other hand causes us to look pretty silly sometimes because when we are weak we give into the self-centered "Me" way of thinking.  For example, we might give in to being pushy, loud and demanding on a regular basis because we've heard "The squeaky wheel gets the grease!"  Which is true sometimes, only that's a temporary fix because it creates the sort of person who gets served only because we do anything just to get rid of them. 

One thing I've personally observed about being meek is when we model it, it IS visible.  Whenever I've been meek my husband recognizes it and I in turn recognize and admire it in the Godly women in my life.  Now is the time for us women to be meek but not weak.  We need to claim authority on every level of our families and in the world.  We need to set the high standard of honor wherever we have influence - in our homes, at work and in Church.  We need to be strong and stand firm and at the same time to be meek in our dealings with others that we should show the presence of God in us. 

I'll leave you with a quote from a very dear friend of mine, Eileen Bowden, who at 90 years old shared this bit of wisdom and I think it models meekness in relationships:  "Don't be too bossy.  Look into the other person's point of view as well as your own. and see if you can mingle the two with the best of your ability."

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EVENTS:

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

Friday Night Open Worship

Every Friday - 7:00
Osoyoos Christian Centre
42 Finch, Osoyoos
For more info: 250-495-2550





Keeping Fit - Inside!

I've covered the idea of keeping our bodies fit over the past two weeks I think its a good idea for us to start taking a look on the inside with the thought of a good Spring Cleaning.  We can look as good and polished on the outside as we want but God is not impressed with that at all.  TRUE beauty really comes from within and physical beauty eventually fades away. 

If you don't do constant upkeep on your reputation you do a disservice to our Lord who we represent as believers:

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable,

so that when they speak against you as evildoers,

they may see your good deeds

and glorify God on the day of visitation.

1 Peter 2:12

So now is a good time for you to do a good self examination inside and take stock, for its not all about YOU - its all about Jesus in you. 



Do not let your adorning be external -

the braiding of hair and putting on of gold jewellery,

or the clothing you wear -

but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart

with the imperishable beauty

of a gentle and quiet spirit

which in God's sight is very precious.

1 Peter 3:3-4

I think a really good way to take stock is to ask yourself "What do others see in me?"  Really try to step into someone else's shoes and get to know the you that they see.  And if you are brave enough you might even ask for a "report" from someone you love and trust enough to give you honest answers.  Be prepared to lay down your little perfect vision of yourself.  You may be surprised what a wonderful exercise this is in renewing your relationships with others. 

Think of it this way - you walk into your own home each and every day, sometimes several times a day but you sometimes never think what it must look like to a visitor.  Try looking at your own doorstep the next time you enter. 

I give you a challenge today - be accountable for whatever trait you might have at the moment that might be hindering your walk with God.  Choose someone close to you and invite them to pray for this area.  You needn't even confess what this might be, but allow your trusted friend to pray with you and check back in a while to see how you're working in this area.  God built us to be accountable to one another.  Sometimes our flaws draw us together in a way nothing else can. 

Want to add to this topic?  Why not leave a comment here and start a conversation?

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There are some beautiful desktop calendars for February available at Crosscards.com!  And while you are there you may be inspired send someone an encouraging free e-card too.

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EVENTS:

Sheryl Parolin is hosting a "Women's Sweet Night" in her home.  This is by invite and you are welcome to bring a friend as well.  We would love an RSVP to get a number on the desserts.  I will be guest speaking as well :) Come out for a night of food, fellowship and fun!

Thursday, Feb 10

7:00 p.m.

7804 Gravenstein

email barbaraderksen@gmail.com for more info

Prayer at Kaye's

Every Tuesday - 10:00 a.m.
7806 Gravenstein

Friday Night Open Worship

Every Friday - 7:00
Osoyoos Christian Centre
42 Finch, Osoyoos
For more info: 250-495-2550