WHITE ROCK COMMUNITY CHURCH

– our LPD Church of the Week

Thanks to Anna (Ben) Crumback at Sointula Community Church for producing the Church of the Week!

Last weekend, it was special for Karen and me to join with White Rock Community Church, as they celebrated their 75th anniversary. Lots of special memories from my days there as a child, and lots to thank God for through the years.
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From White Rock, we headed to North Delta EFC, (where I pastored from 1985-2002, and still attend when I’m home), to join their 60th anniversary celebration. It was great to be there, to share special memories, and to preach on Sunday AM.

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Each month, in most of our churches, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. While some churches may tend to be “self-serve,” many will celebrate both the vertical fellowship (me/you and God) through Christ and horizontal fellowship (me and you) in Christ, by celebrating the Lord’s Supper together.
As the elements of the Lord’s Supper are received, it is often with the words of Christ, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ( 1 Cor. 11:23-25). We celebrate this in the anticipation of Christ’s return, as Paul reminds us, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Cor. 11:26).

It is good to remember what Christ has done on our behalf – and to live in anticipation of his return.

Perhaps in a similar way, this Monday, I, like many of you, will gather at the local cenotaph to remember and honour those who have given their youth, health and even lives in serving our country to protect the freedom we enjoy and can easily take for granted.

I proudly wear a poppy in honour of my father who served in WWII, first in the Canadian Artillery and later in the Canadian Intelligence Corp. I miss attending Remembrance Day services with him and my mother. I wear a poppy in honour of my grandfather who, as a fisherman on the North Sea, joined Royal Navy Reserve in WWI, and several of my great uncles served in the Royal Army. My grandfather survived the sinking of his minesweeper, and my Uncle Tom survived years in a prisoner of war camp. I wear a poppy in honour of those who have served and those who continue to serve today.
We in the LPD can be thankful that three EFCC pastors are serving as chaplains in the Canadian Armed Forces at CFB Esquimalt. Shiya Janzen (Padre Shiya Janzen, Lt(N) / Ltv) has been recently appointed to be Faith Community Coordinator. Captain Chris Willis has recently been posted to Esquimalt, after serving with the Air Force in Cold Lake, Alberta, and Peter Han is completing his military training before assuming his posting in Esquimalt. Let’s pray for them as they serve our country and point those with whom they serve towards Christ. Thanks Shiya, Chris and Peter. May God bless you and others through you.
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Pastor or Plant a Church in Your Community – Not in Your Head.

While we welcome creativity and new ideas, as leaders we need to first listen to the Lord and to those we serve. “Vision” is not something a leader pushes, but is birthed as we and those we lead prayerfully seek and yield to the Lord. Ed Stetzer describes this as pastoring a church in our community, not in our head.

Here is a brief article that provides a good reminder to all of us who lead.
do-not-plant-or-pastor-a-church-in-your-head/

Please pray for:

• Pray for Ben and Anna Crumback, as they ministry to the family of Bruce Watson in Sointula. Bruce has faithfully served as chair of Sointula Community Church, and he recently passed away, after a battle with cancer. Please pray for wife Donna, their children and grandchildren, and also the church family, as they minister to them. Pray for the memorial service tomorrow, November 9 at Sointula Community Church.
• Pray for Josh and Clara Lok, as they prepare to undergo a church planter assessment, as a step towards church planting. The assessment is to be on November 16.
• Town + Field Church, in their time of pastoral transition. Pray for Matt (Val) Myers and team, as they provide interim leadership.
• Joshua and Nicole Fast, new Children’s Ministry Intern at Parkdale EFC, who is also now a LPD Missionary, as he begins “Priceless Youth Ministries,“ a ministry to families of special needs children/youth.
• The Steveston Project Team – Allen and Hannah Chang and Daniel and Joyce Wong. Pray for them, as they lead this developing work of God, and give thanks for the lives being touched through the Gospel. Pray for them and their leadership, as they seek the Lord for the next steps in this work. Pray for our LPD Advisory Committee that meets with them on November 6.
• New Westminster EFC. Pray for Transitional Pastor Ralph (Karen) Hardy and Church Planters Jorge (Emily) Lin this church family, as they seek the Lord for the “new” work. Please pray for their important congregational meeting on Sunday, November 10, as they confirm the call of Jorge and Emily to become the church planting pastor of the church, effective, January 1, 2020.
• Tom and Sandy Ford and family, as he awaits transplants, made necessary through the impact of his diabetes.
• Quadra Island Bible Church. We are pleased that God has confirmed the call of Brent and Lynn Austring to come and serve as pastor.  They began their part-time ministry on November 1, as they will also continue to serve with North American Indigenous Mission.
• Christ Community Church is considering options for pastoral ministry for the future.
• LPD Board. Board members are Randy Lemke (Allana) – Chair, Patrick Chan (Sarah) – Property and Finance, Ben Crumback (Anna) – Island Liaison, Charles Labun (Carolyn) – Church Board Liaison, Rob Stewart (Karen) – D.S., Tim Stewart (Emily) – Innovative Ministries, Paul Yang (Jin) – Korean Church Liaison; Phil Yung (Grace) – Church Planting and Josephine Papp, LPD Office Administrator – Recording Secretary. Please pray for provision of a Chinese Church Liaison.

Upcoming Events:

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Jesus Evangelistic Mission (JEM)

From December 1 – 15, 2019, Johnston Heights Church will be running a short-term mission’s event to the Philippines.

The goal is to partner with local churches to participate in the same missional approach that Jesus used and that He sent His disciples out on in Luke 9,10 and Matthew 10. It’s about experiencing the presence, power and authority of the Holy Spirit through preaching the gospel, healing the sick and bringing new believers into disciple making communities.

You are welcome to join Pastor Phil Harris and team for this mission to the Philippines. Please contact Pastor Phil at (604) 308 2160 or email him at philwharris1@gmail.com

Here is the link for information:
JEM_Mission.pdf

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LPD Conference

March 6,7 – 2020
at
Grace Hanin Community Church

“The Heart of Discipleship”
with Dr. Randy Wollf of ACTS Seminaries.

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