Be A Hero!

Elders' Corner
Our Thursday night small group is going through Focus on the Family's "Truth Project."  I have been challenged by one of the opening statements made by teacher, Dr. Del Tackett.  Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?  I often believe things in my mind without letting them translate completely into the way I live.  Without question, one of the life changing things I believe revolves around the name of God: El Qanna.  In Exodus 34:14, God states that we are not to worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.  God loves us so much that He will not allow the attacks against our relationship with Him to go unanswered.  Even our sin cannot get in the way of our eternal relationship with God. 

This is demonstrated so clearly through the birth of Christ.  John 1:14 proclaims: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."  God is jealous of us, not in a bad, demanding way, but in a protective, redemptive way.  He loves us and will not permit us to be left without hope and a way to maintain a personal, intimate relationship with Him.

This year, the birth of Christ has provided a new perspective for me.  He is jealous of our relationship.  As a husband fights to protect his marriage with the wife he loves, so God fights for us by providing the constant, the consistent, the only remedy for our sin which threatened God's relationship with His people.  Father, thank you for the incarnation, Christ became flesh, which demonstrates your jealousy for us.

Celebrating Christmas with you all,
Don Johnson

The Message

We have each received that one Christmas gift that was just plain awful...the socks with reindeer on them, the ugly tie, the sweater we can wear for about a week in Yuma (but don't want to because of the "great" picture of snowmen and elves on the front dancing around a Christmas tree with real blinking lights). It's these gifts that cause us to wonder if they say more about who we are, or about the person giving the gift-we hope it's the latter!  These gifts usually are coupled with a mother (or other family member) telling us that we should be thankful because the person thought enough to give it to us.  All the while we wish they hadn't...because let's face it, sometimes ugly is just ugly.
   
For a lot of us, the holidays are filled with ugliness. We remember loved ones lost, struggle with health issues and wonder if this may be our last Christmas, fight through family disputes and wonder why our families can't be as perfect as the ones on TV.  Others of us hurt because we want to get something for everyone, and yet this year the finances just won't stretch that far-as it is, we know that we will be paying off this Christmas until next Christmas.  It can all get overwhelming.  It can quickly feel like the world is closing in around us, threatening to crush us any minute.  It is during these times we get that unsolicited advice and begin to believe that all of "this" is happening for a reason. That God is doing "this" to us to teach us something or to grow us somehow. So now, on top of everything else, we get to pile on some good old-fashioned guilt, because if we were just better Christians, then we wouldn't have to go through these times of struggle. But sometimes, ugly is just ugly.
   
The season of Advent and the Christmas story don't teach us that everything bad is really a gift from God if we just wait long enough, or look through a different lens.  We don't need to be thankful because God thought enough to give a bad gift to us.  What they teach us is that this world has times of hardship, evil, ugliness, and darkness, but also into this world the peace,
perfection, beauty, and light of Christ have come. What Christmas teaches us is that we are not alone...that even when we feel overwhelmed, God, the reator of the universe, is by our side.  The Kingdom of God has come into this world and the days of evil have been numbered since then.  So this season, no matter what it is that hangs over our heads and threatens to overcome us, we can rest in the fact that God will never leave or forsake us.  His gift for us this season is His presence and because of it, nothing can defeat us.  Merry Christmas and Happy Advent!  May the life and light of Christ fill us this season.
  

Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master.  All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you.  It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.  If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness.  We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives.  That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us.  As it is, there's not much chance of that.  You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at.  We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken.  What they did to Jesus, they do to us-trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, He does in us-He lives! 
 -2 Corinthians 4:5-11 (The Message)

-Alan Dyson, Small Groups/Involvement Minister

International Initiatives
Because of the excitement the trips to Arizona Reservation Ministries has caused, many of you have been asking for details of trips for 2011.  By the first of the year, we hope to have the dates for Spring and Summer trips to Kenya with Tumaini, to Sierra Leone with the Courtney family, and to Chile with IberoAmerican Ministries.  At the same time, we will publish dates for fall trips to ARM.  Stay tuned.  In the meantime, please remember our International Partners during this precious season with your prayers and greetings.
   
Because He Lives,
Laretta K. Shrader, Missions Minister

BILL & MARGY HOFF
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Att. William Hoff (mailing address)
2139 NW 79th Ave
Box #P2025
Miami, FL 33122-1615 
billandmargyhoff@gmail.com

KULPAHAR KIDS HOME
Linda Stanton, Leah Moshier, Sharon Cunningham
Kulpahar, Mahoba Dist.
Uttar Pradesh, India 210-426
kulpkids2004@yahoo.com

DOUG & SHELLY KALLESTAD
IberoAmerican Ministries
Casilla 84
Maipu, CHILE
dkallestad@gmail.com

DALE & DIANA LAWRENCE
Arizona Reservation Ministries
111 Blazer Dr.
Globe, Arizona  85501
azrezministry@hotmail.com

JOHN  & JULI  LILES & FAMILY
BTN Tabaria, Blok A 1, No. 1
J1. D9, Tata I
Makassar, 90224, Sulawesi Sulatan
INDONESIA-rmoliles@cox.net

 
EUGENE & HELEN MORSE
North Burma Christian Mission
P.O. Box 65
Chiangmai, 50,000
THAILAND-hmorse@chmai.loxinfo.co.th

STEVE & DEBBIE PALICH & FAMILY
CMF International
P.O. Box 501020
Indianapolis, IN  
46250-6020-debbiepalich@cmf.org

WALT & JEANNETTE RIDGLEY & FAMILY
P.O. Box 158
Chiangmai, 50,000
THAILAND-wjridgley@gmail.com

JESSE & SUE ROBERTSON & FAMILY
P.O. Box 132
Salatiga 50711 Jateng
INDONESIA-princessofone@gmail.com

For the first time, we have workers in countries where the mail service is

not reliable.  We suggest you send e-cards to those people, or at least an

e-mail greeting.  We have also included e-mail addresses for all of the above.

CHAD & ROBIN COURTNEY & FAMILY- Sierra Leone, Africa
courtfam@gmail.com

DEEDEE BAUMGARNER-Middle East
bayanitbash@gmail.com

BETSY BROWN-Middle East
newbreeze70@gmail.com

Yuma's Education Scholarship Fund for Kids, Inc.
Arizona taxpayers can meet their AZ tax obligation while helping a child receive a Christian education.  Donations made to the YES! Fund for Kids are eligible for a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on 2010 Arizona tax forms.

Please consider making your donation to the YES! Fund and recommending Southwestern Christian School, FCC's school, as the recipient.  Your donations will help students who are in financial need.  YES! Funds are often the only way some of these students can afford to attend SWCS. 

For more information and donation forms on the YES! program, please

visit us on the web at www.azyesfund.org or contact Angela Hunt at

(928) 314-0033.

Join us for our Singles' Sunday School Class in the Green Room (Room 107) at 11 am.  Meet new friends, reconnect with old friends, and dig into God's Word.  For more information, call Dana at 276-9456.