Oh, the joy of child-hood! Do you ever

miss the life of being a child? A time when you were endlessly in play without much of a care in the world. As years start to add up, we’ve become more and more burdened by the responsibilities of life. While growing up is part of life, some want to deny nature. We live in a world where it is too common to see adults act like their maturity level is stuck in neutral with little chance of them acting their age.

Paul wrote, “when I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” (I Corinthians 13:11). The Christian life is about putting into perspec-tive what is truly important. Christ came to show us the truth, the way and the life, and it is the essence of our journey to follow His way. When Paul was writing to “put the ways of childhood behind me”, he is basically saying that the closer he

comes to God the more he realizes that his ways are childish. He needed to let them go so he could fully grow to be the person God had called him to be.

What was interesting about Paul’s admission for himself to grow up was the context when he wrote that verse. 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter in the Bible. The chapter starts with, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resound-

continued on page 2

Growing Up by Cary Fisher

Preparation for Worship

If we are spiri-tually blind, Lord, open our spiritual eyes. If we are deaf to your voice, keep speaking until we hear you. If our hearts and mouths do not properly praise you, be patient with us until we get it right. Amen.

INSIDE

Agape Feast Pics page 3

Why I Love this Church page 4

Taste & Inspiration on page 5

What’s happening? see pages 6 & 9

Our Church Family page 7

Kid’s Page on page 9

For the members, family and friends of the Downey Adventist Church

Agape Small Groups

Our new six weeks small group series is titled

Agape. During this time, we will be studying cer-tain Bible chapters in order to gain the deep-est understanding pos-sible of God’s love. Our goal will be for us to have a greater compre-hension of how much God loves us, why He loves us, and what are we to do with

His love. If you are interested in hosting a group or joining a group, please talk to Pastor or Bill.

The small groups start on Feb. 6th and run through Mar. 12th. Celebration Sabbath will be on Mar. 19th.

The small group’s outreach will be Feb.

27th. =

THE LATEST WORD

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ing gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1). He makes the point that everything without love is meaningless. He later talks about how prophecy and knowl-edge will pass but love will never fail. His point is that put-ting childish things behind is defined by the ability to com-prehend and allow our lives to be moti-vated by the power that comes from love.

We as Christians often have it backwards. We believe that the meat of Scripture is based on top-ics such as prophecy, wisdom, etc. We think that when we fully comprehend these parts of the Bible then we become grown-

ups in the Christian faith. However, if we are learn-ing these things and lack-ing in love for God and His children, Paul would

say it is time to put child-like ways behind us and it is time to grow up. Paul was one of the greatest minds of all of our faith. He understood all aspects of Christianity in such a way that his letters helped defined Christian theology as we know it. With all his knowledge, he realized

that growing up in Christ is simply done by learn-ing the deepest meanings of God’s words which are centered around God’s

character of love. He allowed it to transform his life to where he desired to love as Christ loved him.

Sermon Schedule

February 6th - Nothing is Greater - This Sabbath, we are starting a new small group series called Agape. For our first message, we will follow 1 Corinthians 13. The theme of the chapter is that with-out love everything that we do for God is meaning-less.

February 12th - Know God, Know Love - This message basically answers the question why noth-ing is greater than love as I John 3:7 says “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” The core of God’s charac-ter is love and as we seek to understand God, we will ultimately understand the deepest meanings of love.

February 19th - Undeserving - One of the harshest realities in life is to come to grips with our sinful nature. During those times, we realize how little

we deserve the mercy and love that God gives us, but Paul writes, “Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6) This message will reveal God’s love for us even when we have done nothing that makes us wor-thy for it.

February 26th - With All Your Heart - Jesus was once asked what were the most important com-mandments, and he said to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. This Sabbath, we will attempt to figure out how to make that even possible

See you when the church gathers. =

WE

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ID

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The Latest Word V 28 N 02

BILL AUMACKresponsible for this

LINDA AUMACKcopy editor

ALEX AUMACKpaper distribution

CARY FISHERpastor

address mail to: Downey Seventh-day Adventist Church9820 Lakewood Blvd.Downey, CA 90240office: 562.869.6013fax: 562.622.1691 downeychurch@gmail.comwww.downeychurch.com

distributed monthlyissue date: Feb. 2016 copyright 1992-2015

We as Christians often have it backwards.

“

”

Growing Up (cont. from page 1)

February 2016

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Feb. 6Cary Fisher

Nothing is Greater

Feb. 12

Cary FisherKnow God, Know Love

Feb. 19Cary Fisher

Undeserving

Feb. 26Cary Fisher

With All Your Heart

Worship Schedule

Agape Feast Communion

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February is a time when we think about love,

so I thought I would con-template on the reasons I love our church. I suppose many of us love the church for different reasons. Maybe next year I’ll have a different list. But here are the reasons I love our church, in no particular order.

1. I love our continued focus on following God’s leading. God comes before the building, the budget, the programs, etc.

2. I love our friend-ship evangelism. Our church encourages us to make friends for God and provides programs that we can invite our friends to attend. That’s so awe-some.

3. I love the simplicity of our worship. No huge productions. Just honest worship.

4. I love that we care about each other. You can’t just slip out the backdoor and not be missed.

5. I love the safety net of being part of a church family. I know that if some tragedy struck my family, my church family would be there.

6. I love that we focus

on prayer. Before the service. During the service. After the ser-vice. God’s house is a house of prayer.

7. I love the way we focus on God’s word. We learn the scrip-tures. Our pastor presents the scriptures each week for us.

8. I love the way we sing during worship. It’s encouraging to be around people who aren’t afraid to wor-ship God and give their all during wor-ship.

9. I love that we have good songs that direct our thoughts toward God.

10. I love the way our church is based on spiritual gifts. When we are serving the way God has gifted us, service is pure joy.

11. I love the Youth of this church.

12. I love our Pathfinders and the leaders who work so tirelessly with them. It’s quite a ministry.

13. I love the way the children stay in the main worship dur-ing the service. Sometimes they get restless, that’s ok. They are learning

along with the rest of us.

14. I love that we don’t have a bunch of pro-grams going on that distract us from our main goal. We have time to be with our families and share our faith with our friends.

15. I love our Downey Praise Band. The amount of effort and work they put in each week to help lead the service is inspiring.

16. I love that our little church continues to be financially viable. We are faithful in our giving and we have enough.

17. I love that we are a friendly group. We welcome guests and invite them back.

18. I love that when people are gone for a trip they come back and tell us “there’s no place like home.”

19. I love that we come from many varied backgrounds, coun-tries and customs, but we all come together to encourage each other and worship. That’s so cool!

20. I love that the women in our church are so involved. Without the ladies of this church,

Why I Love Our Churchby Bill Aumack

“All, everything that I under-stand, I only understand because I love.” — Leo Tolstoy

“I have decided to stick to love; hate is too great a burden to bear.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

continued on page 5

February 2016

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Ingredients1 cup red onions finely chopped

1 cup tomato puree

1/2 lb mushrooms sliced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cloves

1 cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon chili powder heat to taste

1 teaspoon ground cori-ander

1 table-

spoon garlic minced

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

to taste cilantro as optional garnish

DirectionsHeat the oil in a pan

and add the cloves and cinnamon stick. Fry for a few seconds, add the onions and sauté for a few more minutes.

Add the chili powder, coriander, garlic and tur-meric along with just a lit-tle bit of water and sauté until the onions soften.

Add the tomato puree,

mushrooms and salt and simmer for 5-8 minutes on low heat.

Serve hot. Great with rice!

Enjoy! =

Mushroom Masala

Taste & Inspiration

Pilar & Phillip

I don’t know where we’d be.

21. I love that we under-stand how God has led in the past and that we anxiously await to see how he will lead in the future.

There are more reasons that I love this church, but I guess that’s enough for now. Why do you love this church? =

Love Church (continued) February 27 at 5:30 pm will

be our Small Group Out-reach event. We will have a dinner and a talent show. Watch for more details on getting tickets to this event.

If you’d like to showcase your talents, let us know!

Bring a friend or two.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 9 11 12 13

15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29

5:32 pm sunset

5:39 pm sunset

5:45 pm sunset

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Pastor CarySG #3

2 pm Pathfinders

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Pastor CarySG #4

5:30pm Talent Show

Visit www.downeychurch.orgS.S. – Sabbath School

10

10:50 am Worship Pastor CarySG #1

2 pm Pathfinders

10:50 am Worship Pastor CarySG #2

1 pm Outreach Team

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7 pm Band Practice

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Downey Adventist Church

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

7 pm Band Practice

5:26 pm sunset

9 am Pathfinders

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

February 2016

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February Birthdays David Martinez – 2Issac Diaz – 5 Akeem Meade – 7Jasmine Huinquez – 9 Irene Garcia – 11 Victoria Zamora – 11Sheila Bathgate – 13 Maggie Zamora – 15 Ellis Perry – 19 Graciela Elva Lopez - 21Teresa Miranda – 22 Donna Morgan – 24 Armando Cabrera – 26 Letty Duran – 29 Susie Duran – 29

If your birthday is left out in the monthly newsletter, please contact the church office so we can put it in.

Upcoming EventsWednesday - 7 p.m. Wed. FellowshipFriday - 7:00 p.m. Band Practice

Feb. 6 - Pathfinders @ 2pmFeb. 7 - Pathfinders @ 9amFeb. 14 - Valentine’s DayFeb. 15 - Presidents DayFeb. 20 - Pathfinders @ 2pmFeb. 27 - Dinner and Talent Show 5:30pm

The Latest Word deadline is the 5th of the month.

Coming Soon

March 19 - Celebration SabbathMarch 26 - EasterApril 16 - SGA Chorale

Be sure to keep up with the latest news by signing up for the Wednesday email. You can sign up here www.downey-church.org/Signups.html or send us an email at DowneyChurch at gmail dot com and we’ll add you.

THE LATEST WORD

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The Latest About

Our Church FamilyWe sorrowfully report

the passing of Raymond Fernandez on Dec. 18th after a battle with cancer. While cancer won this battle, we know that Ray is on the winning team and we will see him again!

Congratulations to Victor Acuna and Ale Hoyos Marquez. They

were recently married. Remember them in prayer as they enter the next phase of their lives.

If you have any Church Family news, please contact the church office so we can get it into the newsletter. =

What Defines Us

Thank you to everyone who has been saving Box Tops for Education. That is greatly appreciated.

For the Box Tops for Education, please save the Box Tops coupon.

Please give your labels to Linda Aumack. Thank you for your support! =

When their minivan was hit by a drunk

driver, Gerald Sittser lost his mother, wife and daughter all at one time. Sittser, a religion pro-fessor, escaped without physical injury but was then forced to navigate his extreme loss. Eventually he concluded that “the experience of loss does not need to be the defin-ing moment of our story” (quoted in AHA, by Kyle Idleman). Instead, “the defining moment can be our response to the loss,” Sittser says.

“In this world you will have trouble,” Jesus warns in John 16:33 (NIV) — no sugar-coating or pretend-ing there. But then he says, “Take heart!” Jesus doesn’t want our troubles to define us; he wants to define us! The defin-ing truth of our story is that Jesus has “overcome the world” — even at its worst. He’s stronger than our struggles and sorrows. And in him, so are we.

—Heidi Mann

=

In the early Christian church, there were three

priests named Valentine or Valentinus. Though they didn’t live at the same time, each was said to be holy and each had been martyred for his faith. All three priests were desig-nated as saints. Around the year A.D. 498, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day came to be associated with love,

romance and marriage. The day is now so popular that only during the Christmas season do people mail more greeting cards.

No matter how many cards, flowers or sweets you receive this Valentine’s Day, be assured that God loves you with an “everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3, NRSV).

=

Valentine’s Day

February 2016

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February 2016

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Downey-Florence Seventh-day Adventist Church9820 Lakewood Blvd., Downey CA 90240

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Ponder This...

= “They lose nothing who gain Christ.” —Samuel Rutherford

= “Christians are not men and women who are hoping for salvation, but those who have experienced it.” —Martyn Lloyd-Jones

= “They who love are but one step from heaven.” —James Russell Lowell