Heartland News & Prayer

Bonjour!

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel - which means, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:23)

We are getting excited with the progress in the cafe room in our home where our church meets each Sunday morning. The painting of the ceiling is 95% complete. The beams and ceiling boards took several coats of white paint. The two support beams that were cut from 175 year old logs in June have also been added. Wall painting comes next and slate for the floor will arrive some time in December. We can now seat up to 40 with this expansion.

We are looking forward to Saturday, December 12 at 7:00 p.m. as we are holding a Christmas Open House for all our personal neighbours, friends and relatives. There will be carol singing, performed music, hot chocolate and apple cider. Several have made submissions to our Christmas book we are compiling to hand out. We need everyone’s contribution in by the end of this week plus a picture as Gary will begin formatting it the following week for publication. New Testaments have also arrived that will be distributed. Pray that this event will see newcomers added to our church.

Please pray for Gary as he is heading off to Calgary on Tuesday until Friday for a Church Planting Congress. Please pray for me as well. The house is very quiet when Gary is not around. I will be hosting our Credit Valley Pastors’ Association luncheon this Thursday. Thank you for your prayers for our son, Rob, who arrived back home safe and sound in Moosonee this past Wednesday. His music trip to Turkey was very successful.

Saturday, November 28 from 9:00 - 4:00 is a Muslim Awareness Conference being held at Stoney Creek Baptist Church in London. It would be great if someone could attend and report back as we have lots of Muslim neighbours in our community and we need to learn how to interact with them. (www.stoneycreekbaptist.com). Cost is $10/person which includes lunch.

Please remember to pray for Debbie’s dad as the Macdonalds learned this past week that he has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer in the lymph nodes of his lungs. Chris Burton’s sister in Texas is also suffering with this dreaded disease as well as our neighbour Don.

We will continue our study on the Gospel of Mark Thursday at 7:00 at the Burtons’ home. We were reminded once again by Heather Macdonald who is reviewing the book, Touch the World through Prayer, that our relationship with Jesus Christ is a sacred partnership. We can speak with Him at any time and we are to pray as He prayed - Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; and John 17:1.

A new copy of St. John in Exile, an excellent video dramatization, is now available in our library.

May you continue to enjoy this great weather!

Wendy

wendy.carter@kainos.org
garyvcarter@kainos.org
905-230-8116
www.heartlandfellowship.ca; www.the-music-project.com; http://heartlandfellowship.blogspot.com; www.fellowshipnetworksradio.org; www.myanmar.kainos.org; www.cafeontheway.org; www.ttcbiblereading.org; www.dtfbmusic.com; www.gvc.name; www.compasscoachinginternational.com. This newsletter is always located at www.blog.heartlandfellowship.ca. It is a summary of our Sunday morning church service which takes place at 9:00 a.m. at 7777 Churchville Rd., Brampton, ON.

Santa Claus Has Come To Town by Gary Carter: Everyone loves a parade. How often have you stood out in the cold with your family watching a Santa Claus parade? This is the weekend he arrives in Toronto, London, Barrie and who knows where. What a busy man! Lots of preparation goes into this yearly event which probably happens earlier these days for its commercial benefit than years ago. Are you remembering to prepare your thoughts so that you will be able to explain to someone in terms that they can understand what Christmas really means to you? It can’t sound canned and may require a sequence of conversations. Out of the four Gospels in the New Testament only two describe Jesus’ birth. All the Gospels focuses more so on the last week of Christ’s life. Christmas is about the cross. We must get people beyond relying on their ethnicity and religious heritage and help them take a fresh look at the Cross this Christmas.

The First North American Carol by Chris Burton: Jesus Ahatonhia was a Huron carol written by St. John de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary linguist who had worked among the Huronian Indians from 1626. He was tortured and burned at the stake by Iroquois Indians in 1649. This carol written in the Huron language and put to a 16th century folk song was preserved by those Huronians who were able to escape and settle in Loretto, Quebec. In 1749 the song was rediscovered, translated into English and in 1926 reworded by Edgar Middleton. You might be familiar with the music.

Twas in the moon of wintertime
When all the birds had fled,
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim,
And wond’ring hunters heard the hymn:
Jesus, your King is born, Jesus is born, In excelsis gloria.

Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found,
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapp’d His beauty ’round;
But as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel song rang loud and high:
Jesus, your King is born, Jesus is born, In excelsis gloria.

O children of the forest free,
O sons of Manitou,
The Holy Child of earth and heav’n
Is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant boy;
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy.
Jesus, your King is born, Jesus is born, In excelsis gloria.

To Jesus from the ends of earth,
Three wise men came this day,
To him they brought their precious gifts
Before him they did pray.
Like them we come to thee O Son,
Like them with joy we kneel before thee.
Jesus, your King is born, Jesus is born, In excelsis gloria.

All praise to thee O Son of God,
All glory to thy name,
For all this world thy people sing,
Thy blessed birth acclaimed.
With them we come to thee O Son,
Like them with joy we kneel before thee.
Jesus, your King is born, (Repeat twice)
Jesus is born, In excelsis gloria

Weakened Faith by Gary Carter: God always uses imperfect people which is a good thing; however Satan, as an accuser, will always remind us that we are not good enough or holy enough (Revelations 12:9-11; Zechariah 3:1-7). Satan reminds us of our past life; whereas God gives us rich garments in place of our filthy clothes - new life and ability. Satan harasses God about our sin as well as heaps feelings of guilt on us even after we have been forgiven. Guilt does need to be dealt with but there is no room for false guilt. You don’t need to run and hide. Satan wants to see you back on the shelf by paralyzing your positive actions by inducing you to recall your past sin, now forgiven.

Defeat Satan, first of all, by understanding forgiveness as found in I John 1:8-10. Do you pass the tests of belief, love of brothers and behaviour John emphasizes throughout 1 John? Don’t medicate your conscience. Confess your sins; agree with God. We continually sin whether we are aware of it or not. Sin, when forgiven, is dealt with for eternity. We don’t lose the memory of the sin but the impact of bad choices need not stop us. Secondly, rest on God’s Word - all of it! Gary’s favourite hymn is No Other Plea written in the 19th century by a lady troubled with bad health.

My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device nor creed;
I trust the Everliving One,
His wounds for me shall plead.

Refrain:
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea;
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.

Enough for me that Jesus saves,
This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul, I come to Him,
He’ll never cast me out.

My heart is leaning on the Word,
The written Word of God,
Salvation by my Savior’s name,
Salvation through His blood.

My great Physician heals the sick,
The lost He came to save;
For me His precious blood He shed,
For me His life He gave.

Communion: This observance is an opportunity to convey our obedience and dedication to Christ’s power working in our lives. There is no interval suggested or recommended in Scripture. We choose to have it as part of our worship, generally, on the third Sunday of the month.

Ten Things God Won’t Ask You On That Day - from Howie Johnson:
1. God won’t ask what kind of car you drove. He’ll ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation.
2. God won’t ask the square footage of your house. He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
3. God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet. He’ll ask how many you helped to clothe.
4. God won’t ask what your highest salary was. He’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.
5. God won’t ask what your job title was. He’ll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
6. God won’t ask how many friends you had. He’ll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
7. God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived. He’ll ask how you treated your neighbors.
8. God won’t ask about the color of your skin. He’ll ask about the content of your character.
9. God won’t ask what kind of car you drove. He’ll ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation.
10. God won’t need to ask if you love Him. He already knows.

This entry was posted on November 15, 2009 at 8:48 pm and is filed under Weekly News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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