oct 2009 latest word

This month the small groups gath-er for a 7 week study calledFootprints in Spirituality. The pur-pose of our study is to go deeper intoa personal relationship with Jesus.There is still time to join in the fun bycalling Letty in the church office at562.869.6013 or sign-up at table inthe foyer.

The story of the four friends whowent up on the roof of a house andlowered their paralyzed friend into thepresence of Jesus (Luke 5:19) is oneof my favorites. Jesus healed theirfriend and said to the man “get up”and he did. The story immediately fol-lowing found in Luke 5:27 is the onewhere Jesus says to Matthew, “followme.” The Bible records that Matthew

“got up” and followed the Lord.

In the message on October 3, we’llfind the Lord is offering us a way tobegin our lives again with him. Themessage is called How to Start Over.The Lord said I have not come to callthe righteous but sinners. The Lord isinviting us to “get up” and followhim. We’ll share how to “get up” andbegin a new walk with the Lord.

How would you answer this ques-tion: Is it easier to give than toreceive? Whether the gift comes in anicely wrapped box or offered as ahelping hand, what’s your response?There are some gifts that cannot berepaid. Such as the help a cancer

continued on page 2

Going Deeper with Jesusby Pastor Mitch

Autumn is here and that means onething - the Downey Adventist Church3rd Annual Fall Party. The Fall Partyis October 24th at 5:30 p.m.

Each small group will plantwo games to lead out at the FallParty. We need games for all agesgroups, from 3 to 100.

We will also be havingMexican Food! So bring yourgames and bring some good foodto share and we will have a greattime.

If you are interested what kindof fun we can have at the Fall Party,check out the pictures from last year’sparty at www.downeychurch.org/photo_albums.html. =

A Mighty Tree

For some years now Ihave read through theBible twice every year.If you picture the Bibleto be a mighty treeand every word a littlebranch, I have shakenevery one of thesebranches because Iwanted to know whatit was and what itmeant.—Martin Luther

IINNSSIIDDEE

The Sound of Silenceis on page 3

Amazing Grace onpage 4

Ginny’s Kitchen onpage 5

What’s happening?see pages 6 & 9

Surviving a Job Loss?on page 7

Kid’s Page on page 8

Our Church Familypage 10

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

patient might receive from a friendwho runs errands, grocery shops orplants flowers in the garden seenthrough the patient’s window. Theperson who giveslike that isthought of askind and loving.

When Godgives gifts to hischildren theycannot repay, itis called grace.On October 10we explore how to receive God’sgrace in our lives through a messagecalled Welcome God’s Grace. We’llexplore the story of a woman caughtin the act of adultery. The grace ofGod is clearly seen in Jesus throughhis dialogue with the woman.

On October 17 the message is

called Condition Your life for LIFE.Like us, Peter’s life is filled withtwists and turns and ups and downs.He begins His faith walk with the

decision to fol-low Jesus. InMatthew14:28 we findPeter asking toleave the safe-ty of the boatin a storm towalk on thewater to Jesus.Next thing we

know Peter is sinking, taking hiseyes off the Lord to focus on thestormy conditions around him. Wemay not have walked on water, butmost of us know the sinking feelingwe experience when we take oureyes off the Savior to focus on allthe problems of life. Life maybefilled with potholes, wrong turns and

THE LATEST WORDTHE LATEST WORD

2

dead end streets but as long as wetrust in the Lord he will guide us tovictory. Mark your calendar andbring a friend to this message ofhope.

In the message on October 24,we’ll trace the life of Solomon anddiscover how his priorities shapedthose around him. Have youthought about your life’s prioritiesand how they touch others? Areyour priorities something you wantothers to follow? In one or two orfive years, are your life’s prioritiesleading you to a closer, deeper rela-tionship with Jesus? At the end ofyour life, how do you want to beremembered? I conducted a funeralsome years ago that included a briefslide presentation of the deceasedperson’s life. Slide after slidedepicted her lifting an adult bever-

WEDIDIT

The Latest WordV 21 N 10

BILL AUMACKeditor

BILL AUMACKlayout

LINDA AUMACKproof reading

LETTY DURANdistribution

MITCH WILLIAMSpastor

address mail to: (we like letters!)Downey-Florence Seventh-dayAdventist Church9820 Lakewood Blvd.Downey, CA 90240office: 562.869.6013fax: [email protected]

distributed monthlyissue date: October 2009copyright 1992-2009

When God givesgifts to his childrenthey cannot repay, it

is called grace.

continued on page 5

““

””

Going Deeper... (cont. from page 1)

October 2009October 2009

3

WWebster says “still” means “toput an end to : SETTLE . . . to

arrest the motion of . . . SILENCE . .. to become motionless or silent :QUIET” (Webster’s Ninth NewCollegiate Dictionary).

GGod says, “Be still before theLord and wait patiently for

him. . . .” (Psalm 37:7 NIV).

Last week my mom’s televisionquit working, and I took her shop-ping to buy a new one. Knowingthat the world of television haschanged due to the recent switch todigital, I was both excited and ner-vous about buying something new.Excited to see what advances havebeen made in the world of technolo-gy; nervous because it seems I knownothing about how things work any-more. We made a purchase and tookit home. I was amazed that it wasvery easy to carry and set up. Butthen the issues arose. One littleissue was that some channels werenot clear. The bigger issue was that

some channels had no sound.However, if we turned the televisionoff while it was on the channel withthe problem and then turned it backon, voila! the sound returned.

I was convinced that the problemwas not with the television but that ithad to do with my mom’s satelliteservice. So I started makinginquiries.First with theGeek Squadat Best Buy(I love thatname!). Yes,they said Imust beright. If itwere a prob-lem with thetelevision, I wouldn’t be gettingsound at all. Next, I contacted thesatellite company. Well, the wiringcould be old and if you want us tocome out and fix it, they said, it willcost $95 per hour. I even madeinquiries of my friends who are a lotmore technologically savvy than I. I

was at my wit’s end for a wholeweek, until yesterday morning thatis.

When I sat down to pray, oneclear thought came to mind. Takethe television back to Best Buy. Solast night I picked up my mom andthe television and went back to thestore. I have to commend that place,

because they areall about cus-tomer service. Iexchanged thetelevision, tookthe new onehome and every-thing worked per-fectly. My onlyregret is that Ispent a whole

week banging my head against thewall, so to speak, when the solutionwas so simple!

I think I am like that with myfaith sometimes. Given a stressfulsituation, my first impulse is towrestle, struggle and worry. I’m not

Oct. 3Mitch WilliamsHow to Start Over

Oct . 10Mitch Williams

Welcome God’s Grace


Condition Your life for LIFE


Priorities that Count


The Most Excellent Way

Worship Schedule

sure what happens but eventuallysomething clicks, and I sense Goddirecting me to do something sim-ple. And even though I’m not surethe simplistic thing will fix the situa-tion, I comply. Then I am amazedwhen I find out it was the best solu-tion after all. I find myself in thosetimes saying to God, “Why didn’t Ithink of that before?” Or “Is thatwhat you were trying to tell me?Why did it take so long for me tohear you?” And truth be known, I’dlike to kick myself in the you-know-what for having wasted so muchtime and energy. Can you relate?

Perhaps that is why God counselsus, “To be still and know that [He] isGod” (Psalm 46:10) =

God, Webster & You

by Linda BewleyThe Sound of Silence


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“Let this be our prayer, when welose our way. Lead us to a place.Guide us with your grace… To aplace where we’ll be safe.”

Lyrics from “The Prayer”

As I was going through my emailrecently, I paused to listen to a beau-tiful rendition of the song, ThePrayer. As I read the words thatflashed across the screen, thepicture of that clearing Icreated last month came tomind. I thought I wouldshare the chorus withyou here as we continueour journey throughsome of God’s promis-es.

On Sabbath after-noons, my husbandand I have beenwatching a lectureseries on the life ofMartin Luther. Lutherwas very big on grace and wrote agreat deal about the subject. One ofthe things he wrote was ‘Grace caus-es me to delight in God.’ I havebeen giving that some thought. Do Itruly delight in God? Do I honestly

look forward to spending time withHim. I thought back on this pastweek alone. I had a lot on my‘plate’, many meetings to attend,errands to run, family visit commit-ments; all that on top of the usualhousecleaning, laundry, etc, etc.

Now when I sit to write this arti-cle, study my Bible or go over thelesson for Sabbath School, I like to

have a nice quiet,peaceful place with-out distraction or

interruption. I havedifficulty blockingother things out, soI try to make sure

everything else isdone before I begin.The problem with that

of course is thateverything else isNEVER done.

Luther alsowrote about‘fleeing to

grace’ which again reminded me oflast month’s article of running fromwhat has hurt us or what we fear tothat peaceful place in God’s pres-ence. In my anxious, hurried state ofmind, many times I will stop and ask

God to slow me down, help me pri-oritize and seek Him first. In thechorus above, the last line says: “Toa place where we’ll be safe.” Atfirst, I may think of safety from fearof danger or harm. In my case, how-ever, it is also being safe from me.Being safe from my tendency to sab-otage my own plans or efforts.Safety from making excuses whenproper planning would have madeexcuses unnecessary. Safety fromover-commitment. During all thesemoments, and many others, I ‘flee tograce.’ It is only in that quiet, peace-ful place near the heart of God that Ican take a deep breath and gain thecourage to step out into life again.Grace is my companion and myguide to that precious place.

Of course, no mention of gracewould be complete without refer-ence to that wonderful scripture:“…My grace is sufficient for you,for My strength is made perfect inweakness….” 2 Corinth. 12:9

Father, thank you for your gracewhich gives us the strength to carryon even in our weakness. =

Before the Father

by Linda FernandezAmazing Grace

Small groups are forming againthis fall. The series begins Saturday,October 1 and will end onNovember 21 with CelebrationSabbath.

Our small groups will be meetingin various church member’s homes.Watch for information at churchabout where the small groups will be

meeting. There should be a smallgroup close to you.

If you are interested in leading orjoining a small group, please seePastor Mitch or Bill Aumack. Theywill help you meet some friendlyfolks who have a small group nearyou. =

Small Groups this Fall

Scalloped Eggplant Casserole


5

With Love From the Kitchenof Ginny Williams

1 medium eggplant, chopped intopieces1 cup saltine crackers (crushed)¼ onions finely chopped 2 eggs, beaten¼ cup melted butter (Earthy BalanceOrganic, Original whipped)SaltPepper

Peel, slice and chop medium sizeeggplant. Sprinkle with salt and setaside for l0 minutes. (This removesany bitterness in the eggplant).

Rinse salt off eggplant with coldwater and drain in colander and dryoff carefully with paper towels.

In large bowl add: eggplant,saltine crackers, finely choppedonions, 2 eggs beaten, butter and saltand pepper. Mix all together andplace into greased casserole dish.Dot with just a small amount butter.

Bake at 350 degrees for ½ hourto 45 minutes or until golden brown.=

age with a group of friends and fam-ily until it seemed her life was anendless round of parties. I wonderedif the final portrayal of her life washer goal or whether she allowed herlife to unfold with little thought toher ultimate legacy. The morning’smessage is called Priorities thatCount.

The Most Excellent Way is thetitle of the message on October 31.The message is based on 1Corinthians 13 which is the lovechapter of the Bible. Love is essen-tial. Without love the greatestachievements are meaningless. Withlove the smallest kindness meanseverything. We hear the word“love” used everyday but what’s itsdefinition? The Bible definition issimple and straight forward. Wealso learn what it is not. Most of allwe experience how to put it into

practice. Bring a friend to this uplift-ing message on love.

See you when the church gathers. =

Going Deeper... (cont. from page 2)

October is Pastor Appreciation Month.Be sure to send a note, card or just tellPastor Mitch and Ginny how much youappreciate their ministry.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

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4 6 7 9 10

12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

6:28 pm sunset

6:19 pm sunset

6:10 pm sunset

9:30 AM S.S.

9:30 AM S.S.

9:30 AM S.S.10:50 AM Worship Mitch Williams

9:30 AM S.S.10:50 AM Worship Mitch Williams

Visit www.downeychurch.orgC.S. - Community Service

S.S. - Sabbath School

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10:50 AM WorshipMitch Williams

10:50 AM Worship Mitch Williams

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10 AM C.S.

6:30 pm BandPractice


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Downey Adventist ChurDowney Adventist Chur ch ch

7 pm Women’sPrayer Group


6:37 pm sunset





6:02 pm sunset 9:30 AM S.S.10:50 AM Worship Mitch Williams



5:30 Fall Party

1:00 PM Adventurers

Like five million plus Americans,you or someone you know may havefound yourselves singing the pinkslip blues. But it does not need to beall doom and gloom, because out ofseemingly discouraging circum-stances often a better opportunitywill present itself. You may feel avariety of emotions, from beingdownright angry to being terrifiedand simply afraid for your financialfuture and job prospects. Before you

panic and begin throwing ashes overyourself like the Patriarchs of old,take a step back and consider thesetwo important questions-what areyou going to do while you pursue anew job, and how do you plan to getthat new job?

What Now?

1. Current Benefits

From the job you are leaving,you may have a variety of unem-ployment benefits, such as a lumpsum payout or a severance packagewith a number of options, such ashealth insurance. Talk to your humanresources department about yourbenefits and what you must do toactivate them. Immediately acquirethe documents you need to receiveyour government or state unemploy-ment remuneration.

2. Develop A Budget

According to current statistics, it

could take a minimum of ninemonths to acquire another job, so itcertainly is fitting to get on a house-hold budget, especially if you havenot had one in the days and find outjust what it has been costing you andyour family to live per week ormonth. With this information, beginto work out what areas (i.e., foodbill, utilities, telephone, transporta-tion, etc.) you can minimize to makeyour dollars stretch out. And with

the assistance ofevery familymember, identifywhich line itemsin your budget are

essential and which are optional.

3. Plan Debt

If you received a severance paypackage, you may be tempted to payoff any charge and credit cards youmay have, but during this uncertaintime pay only the minimumrequired. If you are in the habit ofpaying additional money towards theprincipal of your mortgage,pull back to the bareamount required by yourloan company. Do notadd new debt, such as ahome equity line of creditor bank loans, to your situ-ation to assist in your finan-cial short fall. Above everythingelse, try to keep your head above thedebt waterline. Remember, debt is aproblem, never a solution.

4. Suspend Spending

Put the brakes on your spendinghabits by cultivating new mantrassuch as: “Make it Do,” “Use it Up,”“Wear it Out,” and “Make it Last.”

In fact, have your children designthese new family slogans and placethem in prominent places in yourhome. The bottom line is: “If it isnot critical or crucial to your neweconomic lifestyle, forget it.”1

What Next?

With thousands of unemployedindividuals looking for vocationalopenings in newspaper want ads orplacing resumes on Internet careerwebsites, consider some new career-seeking approaches. Listed beloware four such strategies:

1. Volunteer

Donate your time to a local non-profit charity. By involving yourselfin the day-to-day operations andsigning yourself up for all theirevents, you not only get to knowmany of the paid staff, but yourwork shows your enthusiasm andreliability. You just might end upbeing one of their new employees.

Even if you don’t end upwith a job, one of theside benefits is thatvolunteering will con-

tinue to make you feeluseful and productive.

2. Network

This may be the time to writedown the name of every person youhave come in contact with in the lastten to fifteen years who has hadsomething to do with, or is in someway related to, your previous career.Call, write or e-mail them, lettingthem know opportunity. Ask them to


7

Surviving a Job Loss?Stewpot

by Gordon Botting, DrPH, CHES

continued on page 11

“It is not sufficiently realized that work is agreat, if not the greatest, factor in keepingus well.” — Paul Dudley White


8

Oct. BirthdaysMario Rodriguez - 3 Lee Ann Harry - 6 Denise Macias - 7 Jay P. Weaver - 9 Evan Aumack - 10 Martha Guerrero Patino - 12Virginia Duarte - 12 Natalie Michel - 12 Evelyn Garcia - 17 Annie Mendez - 23 Kahlil Meade - 24 Victor Acuna, Jr. - 31

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


9

UpcUpcomingomingEEvvenentsts

2nd Sunday - 10 a.m. Community Service3rd Saturday - Adventurer ClubThursdays - 7 p.m. Women’s Prayer GroupFridays - 6:30 p.m. Band Practice

Oct 24 - Fall Party @ 5:30 p.m.Oct - Pastor Appreciation Month

The Latest Worddeadline is the 5thof the month.

Coming Soon

November 21 - Celebration SabbathDecember 5 - Kids SabbathDecember 19 - Community ChristmasJanuary - Bible Marking Series

this month

Small Groups are startingagain in October. If

you are looking for a smallgroup, let us know!


10

The Latest About

Our Church Family

Linda Bewley and LucilleMartinez just gotback from an out-of-state vacation. Be sureto ask them about it.

If you have a stu-dent who does wellthis year, makes honorroll, wins an award orotherwise performs ina stellar manner,please let us know so we can all cel-ebrate with you.

Be sure to join a small group thisfall. You will not want tomiss the huge blessing ofbeing in a small group.There should be a groupclose to you. It’s not toolate to sign up. Talk toPastor Mitch or Bill.

October is PastorAppreciation Month.Let’s make sure that

throughout the month Pastor Mitchand Ginny are made aware of ourgratitude. Maybe you could buythem a meal, or send a card or note,

or maybe send them a small gift.Wouldn’t it be great if they got werereminded of our appreciation eachday of the month?

If you have any Church Familynews, please contact the churchoffice so we can get it into thenewsletter. =

Thank you to everyone who hasbeen saving Campbell Soup Labelsfor education and Box Tops forEducation. That is greatly appreci-ated.

On the Campbell Soup labels, allthat is really need is the UPC (thebar code). You don’t have to savethe entire label, just the UPC barcode.

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

Please give your labels to LindaAumack. Thank you for your sup-port! =

The Tell-Tale LieScientists are getting closer to

being able to tell when someone islying. Currently, lie detectors aren’tinfallible. They can tell if liars areanxious because of measurablechanges in skin and blood. Somepeople, however, may simply be sonervous that it appears they’re lyingwhen they aren’t.

Scientists have discovered thatpeople can’t mask the mentalprocesses responsible for lying. Aneural network engages when some-one prevaricates. At the Universityof Pennsylvania, volunteers eachreceived a playing card and werethen hooked up to an MRI machine.A computer screen showed variouscards. When a volunteer’s cardappeared on the screen, he or she

was told to lie and say it was a dif-ferent card. The brain then becamevery active in ways it hadn’t whenother cards were shown. The mostincreased activity was in the anteriorcingulate cortex, which is ordinarilyinvolved in making judgments.When the volunteers lied, the neuralnetwork judged the liar as guilty.

Modern technology may make itharder to get away with a lie, but wehave an even better reason to tell thetruth. Centuries ago, the psalmistasked, “O Lord, who may abide inyour tent? Who may dwell on yourholy hill?” And then came theanswer: “Those who walk blame-lessly, and do what is right, andspeak the truth from their heart”(Psalm 15:1-2, NRSV). =


11

forward your resume, along with thebest way to contact you, to organiza-tions they know of that are on thelookout for a person with your quali-fications.

Althoughnetworking canbe a great jobsearching strat-egy, you do notwant them tothink of you as just another unem-ployed individual, desperate forwork- better to contact them with acompelling new business conceptthat is either related to your profes-sion or would enhance their industry.

3. Dream

Sometimes you are willing tostay with your current occupationbecause it provides you financial andjob security. However, when you arelet go, perhaps this is the time to cul-tivate your ultimate dream job.Maybe you have always wanted to

write a best seller or start your owncatering company, or somethingelse- take advantage of this downtime to open the door to your dream

career. Past history has often demon-strated that just such a situation hasplaced individuals on the bestsellingbook list or launched them into suc-cessful start-up businesses.

4. Move

If possible, reposition yourself toan area of low unemployment whereyou would not be competing with somany other job seekers. On itsregional website, the United StatesDepartment of Labor providesunemployment rates each month.This may be a dramatic step forsome individuals, but look at it as an

opportunity to live in another part ofthe country. Rent out your currenthome while you discover a newworld and opportunities beyond yourcurrent confines.2

Always remember, as you takethe What Now? step with disciplineand the What Next? step with bold-ness, to rely on our Lord, Who iswith you always, even in loss of ajob and in finding and beginning anew one. =

References:1. Some concepts from “How toSurvive a Job Loss,” Debt-ProofLiving Magazine, April 2008,pages 1 & 13.2. Some ideas from “Yes, You CanFind a Job in Tough Times,” BottomLine Personal Magazine, November15, 2008, page 5-6

Surviving a Job Loss? (cont. from page 7)

“God gave man work, not to burden him, butto bless him, and useful work, willingly,cheerfully, effectively done, has always beenthe finest expression of the human spirit.” — Walter R. Courtenay

Austrian psychologist AlfredAdler (1870-1937) believedmankind would evolve to the pointwhere everyone would love others.“There is a law that man should lovehis neighbor as himself,” he wrote.“In a few hundred years it should beas natural to mankind as breathingor the upright gait; but if he does notlearn it, he must perish.”

Wars, hate, prejudice and evildeeds make Adler’s hope seemimpossible. Surely anyone heedingthe daily news can’t trust the old

saying, “Day by day, in every way,humankind is getting better and bet-ter.”

Christians look for God’s ulti-mate triumph over all evil. We prayfor Christ’s return, for God’s king-dom to come and for his will to bedone on earth. We await the shout:“The kingdom of the world hasbecome the kingdom of our Lordand of his Messiah, and he will reignforever and ever” (Revelation 11:15,NRSV).

What are you doing to buildGod’s kingdom? Have you sharedthe awesome story of redemptionwith someone? Let’s be braveenough to tell people that it’s God’sidea to love one another - not some-thing that we should evolve into.

Who are you going to tell? =

Build God’s Kingdom

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

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= “‘Faith working by love’ is the length and breadth anddepth and height of Christian perfection.”—John Wesley

= “I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universecan exist without a clockmaker.”—Voltaire

= “Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is thegreatest treasure in the world.”—Martin Luther

oct 2009 latest word

Documents

onewhere jesus

lord isinviting

thepresence of jesus

follow jesus

kids page

jesus throughhis dialogue

grace ofgod

amazing grace onpage