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Preparing For Sunday
Knowing that Jesus speaks true words is not as easy as it may at first
appear. For those of us who follow Him,
we have seen his teachings lived out in our lives. But if we do not now, nor are we willing to
do as Jesus teaches, then we hamper our own ability to understand. This is the way one scholar discusses this
truth and relates it to the larger truths teaching the eternal life we have in
Christ:
"The ethical aspect of knowledge appeared again in John 7:14-24. Debate was
centering in the source of Jesus' teaching. "My teaching is not
mine," Jesus said, "but his who sent me; if any man's will is to do
his will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am
speaking on my own authority." (John 7:16, 17). By this language Jesus
made man's willingness to do God's will the condition for knowing. In a
different setting. but with the same turn in meaning. Jesus said later,
"If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know
the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:31, 32). Here,
knowing the truth is promised to those who continue in His Word; and inability
to understand (know) follows when one cannot bear to hear His Word. The
formula, then, for gaining knowledge of the Holy One of God lies in the areas
of belief in Jesus as the Christ, of willingness to do God's will, of
continuing in His Word, and of hearing the words of God. How marvelously
gaining a knowledge of the Holy One of God shows the way to conformity to the
likeness of this Holy One!
Jesus placed the capsheaf to knowledge as a condition to eternal life when
He said, "This is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). More accurately, this
knowledge is eternal life.
John's witness to the ethical conditions of eternal life came to a climax in
the love relationship of disciple and Lord. "A new commandment I give to
you," Jesus said, "that you love one another; even as I have loved
you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my
disciples" (John 13:34, 35). The bearing of this new commandment on ethics
thrusts itself upon us when we read Jesus' later words, "If you love me,
you will keep my commandments" (John 14:13). Love to Christ is love to the
Holy One of God. This means a love of holiness. Keeping His commandments is
love's response to the Holy One of God.
By way of summary we conclude that John gives a most potent witness to the
ethical and spiritual conditions of receiving eternal life. He accomplishes
this through the use of great ethical words, such as life, belief, light,
truth, knowledge, and love. Each is a gateway, as it were, to eternal life.
Here, again, is evident the vital connection of the Holy Spirit with the
achievement of conformity to the likeness of the Holy One of God."
May we each one come to know the truth and allow that truth to not only set
us free and fill us with His love, but give us life abundantly and eternally!
Denny
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Verdugo Day
Verdugo Community Church is an inner-city congregation in our Southern California region. It is an historic church with a small
congregation that has been unable to keep up their facilities. On August 15th our church along with 20 other
churches in our region are gathering together to help
upgrade their facilities. We will be painting, removing a block wall and
cement, replacing electrical, removing an old piano, and the like.
We need volunteers to make this happen!! We will leave the
church parking lot at 7:30 am on Saturday August 15Th and carpool down to Verdugo Community Church. We will be doing some painting and some electrical work as
well as just good old clean up work. Lunch will be provided and we should be
back in Santa Barbara by 5:00. It will be a day of working together as well as
fellowship and blessing a church that needs some help.
For more information, please contact the church office at 965-1338 x221.
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Peer Counseling Training Classes
Our fall series of Peer Counseling Training Classes will meet from 9:00-11:00am on Saturday mornings beginning September in the Counseling Center. These classes are required training for all staff and volunteers participating in parish health ministry, small group and Bible study leaders, and are recommended for those who teach classes of all ages, work with people and serve in leadership positions in the church. This 8-week session will include the topics of: crisis intervention and counseling, communication, conflict resolution, setting appropriate boundaries and avoiding burn-out, substance abuse and codependency, grief counseling, healthy development of children, adolescents and adults, as well as spiritual preparation for ministering to hurting people. Call Cheryl Wayman (568-3838x229) for more information and to schedule a requiredinterview in August or this summer before classes begin to be eligible to join this popular class. Spaces are limited!
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Men@Nacimiento 2009
Free Methodist Men's Retreat
September 18-20th
Come To The Water!
If you would like to join in a preparatory prayer time for this retreat, join us in the Counseling Center at 10:35am on Sunday mornings. For more information contact Don Farnsworth at 455-8880 or don.farnsworth@cox.net
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Church Reformation Trip Deadline is September 1st
With the difficult times we have decided to only do the European
part of the church trip with the sights of Luther, Calvin and Oberammergau's
Passion Play. We have a small group of 14 going at this time and have a
few openings if you would like to join us. The cost has changed to $4747
for the 12 days, which includes all travel, meals, lodging, the play ($800 is
for the play). Here is our trip:
Jun 20 LAX/Frankfurt
Jun 21 Frankfurt/Worms - Rhine cruise together with the London
extension people.
Jun 22 Worms/Eisenach/Erfurt
Jun 23 Erfurt/Eisleben/Leipzig
Jun 24 Tour Wittenberg & Torgau from Leipzig
Jun 25 Leipzig/Rothenburg Overnight inside the walled city
Jun 26 Rothenburg/Augsburg/ Visit one of the Castles / Oberammergau
- Check in at the Passion Play desk by 6:00PM (Overnight in Pensions &
Guest Houses)
Jun 27 Oberammergau Full day performance
Jun 28 Oberammergau/Lucerne
Jun 29 Lucerne/Geneva
Jun 30 Geneva sightseeing
Jul 01 Geneva/LAX
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FM FlashPoints
>> Conference Combos: Four Become Two
· At this year's Maryland-Virginia and New York annual conferences,
delegates voted to combine. The new entity will initially be called the
Maryland-Virginia and New York Conference; the superintendent will be David Harvey.
· At this year's Rocky Mountain and Texas annual conferences, delegates voted
to combine and selected the The River Conference as its new name. Dennis
Jeffery will serve as superintendent of the new entity.
>> President Selected
In July, the Central Christian College board of trustees announced that
Colonel Hal V. Hoxie has been chosen as the college's 14th president. Hoxie has
been serving as division chief of programs and legislation in the Office of
Legislative Liaison at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
>> Fox Retires
Sylvia Fox, coordinator of ministerial credentialing for the
denomination, will retire in Jan. 2010, after 40 years of service - as a
missionary in Burundi, Africa (16 years), and then at the World Ministries
Center (24 years). In Ministerial Credentialing Services many FM pastors have
been encouraged and assisted by Fox at Starting Strong (new pastors'
orientation), J-Term and throughout the ordination process. She previously
served as director of International Child Care Ministries.
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Church Finances
In this time of financial struggle, Thank you for remembering
your church family!
Offerings Needed YTD: $363,819.35
Offerings Receive YTD: $355,727.25 (97.78%)
Still Needed
YTD: $8,092.10
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FMCSB
Our Mission is to win
people to Christ, establish them in the faith, and equip them for ministry.
Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara
1435 Cliff Drive
Santa Barbara, California 93109
805-965-1338
www.fmcsb.org
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Important Dates
Sat. Aug. 15th:
Verdugo Day
Mon. Aug. 17th: CDCC Board Meeting
Mon. Aug. 24th: Property Finance Board Meeting
Tues. Sept. 1st: Last day to register for the Church Reformation Trip in 2010
Thurs. Sept. 3rd: LBOA Meeting
Fri-Sun. Sept. 18-20: Men@Nacimiento 2009
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Aaron Perdue Coming to Free Methodist Church
Sunday August 2nd, Aaron
Perdue will be performing during the 9:30am worship service. This is a great
opportunity to invite friends and family to come see an award winning,
accomplished musician! Aaron will likely bring along a pianist to play with
him. The pianist is Min Young Kang who is from South Korea and also
attending the MAW this summer. Min Young is a student at the Eastman
School of Music in Rochester NY.
Aaron Perdue just finished
his undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellen University in
Pittsburgh and will begin graduate studies this fall at the Shepherd
School of Music at Rice University in Houston. He recently was a winner of the
concerto competition held at the Music Academy of the West. He will
perform his winning piece with full orchestra at the Lobero this Saturday
night, the 25th. Four other winners will do the same, a pianist, a
violinist , a cellist and a trombonist. Eighty musicians entered the
competition. A terrrific evening!
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Glimmer of Hope
Glimmer of Hope luncheon for the vision-impaired meets on the 4th Saturday of each month at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. August 22nd is our month to host this lunch. Volunteers are needed.
Please call Joy Robledo: 963-1259 or Lela Schaffner: 963-5991
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Santa Barbara Meals on Wheels Needs Volunteer Drivers
Can you spare 2 hours one day a week to deliver hot, nutritious
meals to the elderly and homebound of Santa Barbara? The hours are from
approximately 10:15 am - 12:15 pm, and Meals on Wheels (MOW) currently has both
weekday and weekend routes available. They are also in need of "on
call" drivers that can fill in if the regular driver is unavailable. You
will use your own car - and MOW will reimburse you for mileage!
The rewards for delivering Meals on Wheels are
so great. They deliver 7 days a week 365 days of the year. They are a
non-profit all volunteer organization except for one hired staff person
and the contracting of food preparation from Valle Verde. If you can
spare a couple of hours one day per week or can volunteer occasionally please
call the MOW office at 683-4565 Monday through Friday and ask for Leanna. You
can also call or email Mark Huston for more information. His contact
information is: markhuston1311@gmail.com
or cell # 895-1262.
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Memory Verse
John 3:16 & 17
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
through him."
John 1:1-18
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that
life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness
has not understood it.
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a
witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might
believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did
not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not
receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God- 13children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the One and Only,[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth.
15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of
whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'
" 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing
after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,who
is at the Father's side, has made him known.
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