There was a man that would walk around his

neighborhood and every time he went by a certain house, a dog chained in the backyard would exces-sively bark at him as all dogs seem to do at strang-ers. After walking the same route day after day and hav-ing the same dog barking at him, the man started to pay some attention to dog. As he would come close to the fence, he realized some things. The dog’s name was Rusty and was actu-

ally pretty friendly even though Rusty seemed to be neglected for attention, was extremely dirty and in very poor health. Later, the man found out that the dog had been chained in that backyard for over ten years without ever being released from it. The man was so pained by the dog’s living conditions that he approached Rusty’s owner and demanded that he let Rusty go home with him. The owner finally agreed and for the first time since

being a puppy, Rusty was set free from his chains. The man cleaned Rusty up and nursed him back to health, and he witnessed a beautiful, friendly dog that was happy to be alive.

This story perfectly illustrates what Jesus had done for us. Since birth, we have been chained to our sinful nature. We are like Rusty and need someone to come and unleash us. Our circumstances, choices and personality flaws have con-

continued on page 2

Chained Up by Cary Fisher

Easter Possibilities

The message of Easter is not only that Christ is risen, not only that suffering is not the last word, not only that God gives new life, but this: Nothing is impossible with God.

—The Rev. James Martin

INSIDE

Taste of Health Seminar Pictures page 3

Looking for Love 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

Easter Worship Service

Our Easter Worship

Service will be March 26. As we wrap up our series on Agape, we will celebrate the greatest example of love possible, Easter. With Jesus’ sacrifice, we were set free from the bondage of sin.

Join us for this very special service. Be sure to invite a few friends and fam-ily members. This message of free-dom is life chang-ing! =

THE LATEST WORD

2

fined us to an imprisoned life that eventually leads us to our demise. Paul once asked, “wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of death?” (Romans 7:24). He answered his own question in the very next chapter. “Therefore there is now no condemna-tion for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

As Easter comes, let us never take for granted what it meant for Jesus to die on the cross and to resurrect on the third day. When Jesus rose from the

grave, he set us all free which assured us an eter-nal life with an owner that truly loves us.

March Newsletter

March 5 - Nothing Can Separate Us - On this Sabbath, we study God’s limitless love for us. Paul asks the question that with God interceding, who can separate us from the love

of Christ (Romans 8:35). We understand that no matter how much we fall, God will never stop lov-

ing us.

March 12 - If You Love Him - For our final small group sermon, we will follow the vers-es of John 21:15-25. During the time that Peter was asked by Jesus if he loved

him, Jesus revealed to Peter that the proof of his love for Jesus was shown by Peter’s willingness to feed Christ’s sheep. God’s love for us was always meant to be shared.

March 19 - Celebration Sabbath - This worship service will be an uplifting testimonial time. Each of our small groups will share how the study of God’s unconditional love has impacted them. Our church always looks forward to these Sabbaths which also includes a fellowship lun-cheon afterwards.

March 26 - Set Free - As this weekend cel-ebrates Easter, our church will provide a special ser-vice that commemorates

the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Jesus has risen from the grave, we also can be set free from the chains that have been cre-ated by the sins of this world.

See you when the church gathers. =

WE

D

ID

IT

The Latest Word V 28 N 03

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: Mar. 2016 copyright 1992-2016

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in

Christ Jesus

“

”

Chained Up ... (cont. from page 1)

March 2016

3

March 5Cary Fisher

Nothing Can Separate Us

March 12

Cary FisherIf You Love Him

March 19Cary Fisher

Celebration Sabbath

March 26Cary FisherEaster Sabbath

Set Free

Worship Schedule

Taste of Health Seminar Pictures

THE LATEST WORD

4

We are in the middle of our series, Agape.

We are studying the con-cept of pure, true love. The kind of love that isn’t looking for anything in

return. It’s the kind of love that is offered because we have value and should be loved. Of course, if you’ve been a part of the series, you know all that already. But lately a song popped into my head that at first seemed weird. It’s “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places”

which was a 1980’s Country hit song sung by Johnny Lee for the movie Urban Cowboy. The song is about a man who has been looking for love, but can’t find it until he con-nects with this particular person. There’s nothing earth shattering about the song or the story it tells. Lots of people have looked for love. Lots of people have looked for love in the wrong places and either not found love or found something that they thought was love but later realized was not love. Then we find Mr. or Ms. Right and boom... happy ending.

But as I reflected on that song, I wondered why

it popped into my head now. When we are talking about pure love, why is an old song about not finding love stuck in my head? That was an intriguing question.

Clearly there are many people looking for love in the wrong places. People who desperately want to find love, a good kind of love. They want to be loved and find a loving spouse and have their version of ‘happily ever after.’ There’s noth-ing wrong with that. But sometimes I wonder about their methods of finding that person. They look in bars, night clubs, or what-ever is hot at the moment. Many of the people in those places aren’t looking for love, they are look-ing for a hook up. There is a big difference. Some people try online dating. I guess it works for some people, but that seems like a weird and awkward way to find true love. And on and on it goes as they look for love everywhere. Some times we even look for love in non-human forms. We see people who get 85 cats because they couldn’t find love. Or they get over involved in some hobby or interest, because they can’t find a human to return their love. They compen-sate by being completely engulfed in this hobby or interest. Sometimes to the

point of shunning friends because they have to do some task for their hobby (also known as an addic-tion).

But still what does the song have to do with the Agape series? While the sad truth is that some people will struggle to find someone to love them. Maybe if they knew that Someone already loved them, that would be help-ful. What if they thought they were already lovable? What if they had the earth-shattering thought they were desired? Or that they were sought after. Or that they did indeed have value. I think that could be a game changer.

Like Pastor Cary said in his sermon on week 2, if we ‘know God, then we can know love. But if we don’t know God, we can’t know love.’ I don’t know about you, but this gives me energy and renews my strength and desire to tell others about God. If we could just help every-one know about a God who loves them so much, what a difference it would make. Everyone should know about this kind of amazing love.

So who are you going to tell? =

Looking for Loveby Bill Aumack

If we could just help everyone know about a God who loves them so much, what a differ-ence it would make.

March 2016

5

Ingredients• 2 cans corn

• 2 cans black beans, drained

• 2 cups salsa, chunkier is better

• 1/2 cup firm tofu cut or ground into very small pieces

• 1 teaspoons salt

• 16 corn tortillas heated 6-inch

• 2 cans enchilada sauce

• 4 cups cheese Mexican

blend or cheddar

• 1 to taste sour cream for garnishing

Directions1. Grease two 9x13 baking dishes.

2. Combine beans, corn, salsa, tofu, and salt, mix-ing thoroughly.

3. Add 1/3 to 1/2 of the cheese, and mix it in with the rest.

4. Spoon some of the mix-

ture into a warm tortilla and roll it up.

5. Place the seam side in the baking dish.

6. Pour enchilada sauce over enchiladas (I only used 1 1/2 cans).

7. Sprinkle remaining

cheese over top.

8. Bake at 350°F. for 20 to 30 minutes.

9. If desired, garnish each enchilada with a dollop of sour cream.

Enjoy! =

Baked Vegetarian Enchiladas

Taste & Inspiration

Pilar & Phillip

Daylight Savings Time starts on Sunday, March 13 at 2am. Remember to ‘spring forward’ so you will be on the cor-rect time Sunday, March 13th.

Yay, for more sunlight in the evening!Boo, for losing an hour of sleep that night!

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5

6 8 10 11 12

14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

5:57 pm sunset

7:02 pm sunset

7:08 pm sunset

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Celebration Sabbath12:30 pm Luncheon2 pm Pathfinders

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Pastor CaryEaster Sabbath

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

9

10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

2 pm Pathfinders

10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

7

7 pm Band Practice

13

Downey Adventist Church

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

7 pm Band Practice

5:51 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

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

7 pm Church Board

March 2016

7

March Birthdays Tomas Aispuro – 6 Hatzuko Aispuro – 6 Johanna Luna – 12 Erlinda Garcia – 13 Doris Ramirez - 15Linda Bewley – 20 Natalia Ramirez - 20Darrell Stephens – 25 Humberto Michel – 25 Joel Huinquez, Jr – 26

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

Mar. 5 - Pathfinders @ 2pmMar. 6 - Pathfinders @ 9amMar. 13 - Daylight Savings BeginsMar. 19 - Celebration SabbathMar. 19 - Fellowship Luncheon @ 12:30pmMar. 20 - First Day of SpringMar. 26 - Easter SabbathMar. 26 - Pathfinders @ 2pmMar. 27 - Easter

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

Coming Soon

April 16 - SGA ChoraleMay 7 - Mother’s Day SabbathBe 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

8

The Latest About

Our Church FamilyWe sorrowfully report

the passing of Clarice Murray. She passed away early morn-ing Feb. 14, 2016. She was 94 years old. Clarice and her husband John, were charter members of the Downey Adventist Church. Clarice will be buried next to John at the National Cemetery in

Chattanooga, TN. If you would like to send a card or flowers, please email

us and we will give you her son’s address.

We sor-rowfully report the passing of

former church member, Ingrid Schulz. She passed away after a long illness.

Please keep the family in your prayers.

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

The King

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! =

Sometimes we speak or shout the truth without

realizing just how right we are. That happened dur-ing Holy Week, first when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The palm-waving crowd hailed Jesus as their king — though he wasn’t the earthly king they wanted.

Days later, during Jesus’ trial, Pilate taunted the Pharisees, saying, “Here is your king.” Furious, they protested, “We have no king but Caesar.” Pilate turned Jesus over to them. But still wanting to needle the insistent persecutors, he

wrote a sign reading “The King of the Jews” and had it fastened above Jesus’ cross (John 19:19).

Was Jesus a king? Witnesses of the Resurrection thought so. The first Christians were accused of “saying there is another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:7). The writer of Revelation envisions the day when the whole world will understand that the risen Christ isn’t only Lord and Savior but also “Lord of lords and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14).

=

One spring day, a father and son were

driving when a bee flew in the window and buzzed around. Because the boy was deathly allergic to bee stings, he panicked. But the calm father reached out and caught the bee in his hand, holding it tight.

After a few moments, the dad reached over, opened his hand and showed his son the stinger,

stuck in his palm. “It’s okay,” the father said. “I took the sting, so the bee can’t hurt you.”

Likewise, people who know Jesus as their victori-ous Savior no longer need to fear the sting of death. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55, ESV).

=

No More Sting

March 2016

9

March 2016

10

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

Return Service Requested

DATED MATERIAL

Ponder This...

= “God proved his love on the cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.’” —Billy Graham

= “Those hands that keep a million worlds from spinning into oblivion were nailed motionless to a cross — for us. … Can you trust him?” —Elisabeth Elliot

= “Paradox simply means a certain defiant joy which belongs to belief.” —G.K. Chesterton