Have you noticed that we often compare

the attributes of God by our own human character-istics? For example, we tell inspirational stories on how people were able to forgive others under impos-sible circumstances and use it as an illustration on God’s forgiveness towards us. We might hear a story of a solder in war sacrific-ing his life for his friends, and discuss how it relates to Jesus dying on the cross for us. Now as we reflect

on God’s love, the greatest human example that we can find must be the love that a mother has for her child.

Like God’s love for us, a mother’s love begins as she brings life into this world. We also understand God by the way a mother nurtures a child, and pro-vides and protects for him or her all throughout the child’s life. However, the most powerful attribute of a mother’s love is that no matter what a child does, a mother will always loves

that person. A mother’s love is the closest form of an unconditional love that God has for us.

The Bible says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (I Corinthians 13:7). God’s unconditional love allows me to believe that no mat-ter how far away that we may have left God, God is always near us. God will never give up on us and we know that He has sac-

continued on page 2

A Mother’s Love by Cary Fisher

Remember Your Mother

Whoever you are, wherever you are, on Mother’s Day, remember your mother. Without her and your father, you would only have been a dream and a hope, never a real-ity. No wonder God gave us the com-mandment: “Honor your father and your mother ...” (Exodus 20:12, nrsv). God gave us life through them. —Charles Ferrell

INSIDE

Stewardship and Prayer page 3

Taste & Inspiration on page 5

What’s happening? see pages 6 & 9

Our Church Family page 7

At the Starting Gate page 8

Kid’s Page on page 9

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

Small Group Outreach Event

The Outreach Event for our Small

Groups will be May 2nd. We will be show-ing the movie “God’s Not Dead.” This would be a wonderful opportunity to invite your “adopt a friend” that you have been praying for as well as other friends and fam-ily members. There will be some door

prizes for the guests only.

Doors open at 6pm. We will have a time of worship at 6:30pm. Then there will be some snacks as we get ready for the movie.

Invite a friend or two and join us! =

THE LATEST WORD

2

rificed everything for us. As Mother’s day is com-ing up, we can thank our moms for many things, but the most wonderful gift that a mother can give us is by teach-ing us the character of God by the love she has for us.

May’s Sermon Calendar

May 2nd - Mystery of God - As we continue on our Alive in Christ small groups series, today’s mes-sage should remind us that God is always teaching us. God was teaching Paul a mystery that the Gospel is also for the Gentiles in Ephesians 3, and in a

world that wants to divide and separate people from each other, God reminds us that the Gospel is for

everyone and as Christians we need to be inclusive to the people around us.

May 9th - Living in Unity - Paul writes to the people of Ephesus to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”

(Ephesians 4:4). We will spend this time talking about how the Holy Spirit can humble our hearts so

unity can even be possible, and how important unity is to fulfill the pur-pose of the body of Christ.

May 16th - Walking in Love - In Ephesians 5:2, Paul calls us to walk in the way of

love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Do you walk with love for people, or is it a struggle? Hopefully, we can see through this study how to understand God’s immense love for us, and that love propels us to treat others as God has treated us.

May 21st- Armor of God - In the final sermon in our Alive in Christ series, we are reminded that we live in a spiritual warfare, and we desper-ately need God’s protec-tion. We are urged by Paul to seek God’s protec-tion daily as he writes in Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.”

May 30th- Celebration Sabbath - This special Sabbath celebrates the completion of our Alive in Christ small group series. At this time, each group shares their God stories that came from their six weeks of studying the book of Ephesians.

See you when the church gathers. =

WE

D

ID

IT

The Latest Word V 27 N 05

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: May 2015 copyright 1992-2015

A mother’s love begins as she brings life into this

world.

“

”

A Mother’s Love ... (cont. from page 1)

May 2015

3

“Do you even pray?”

That question shocked me as a pastor, especially since my head elder was asking it very indignantly. The context was right after a board dis-cussion regarding finances and the implication was clear: I was not relying enough on prayer to solve the financial problems of the church. At that time, we had just learned that the church finances were $230,000 over what we thought they were. No one had stolen any money and the church treasurer was not inept. It was a compli-cated scenario where we had just missed something. The result was an inaccu-rate accounting picture that accumulated over time.

Part of the problem was the belief on the part of the members that God

was going to “bail out” the church every time the people prayed. The elder told me that in the past they prayed and God answered. The problem was that God had not actu-ally answered in the way that they thought, and now they’re in trouble. They had prayed and kept on spending without paying close attention to how much money was really in the bank. Thankfully, with God’s help and the faithfulness of church members, we were back on track in just eight months. And, in case you’re won-dering, that head elder and I remain good friends to this day.

So how do prayer and stewardship intersect? How does faith play its role in church finance and stewardship? And how

should stewardship impact our prayer life?

Stewardship and Prayer

So what is the role of prayer in stewardship?

Begin with prayer. The essence of steward-ship is caring for someone else’s property. In the par-able of the talents, or the parable of the good stew-ard, Jesus illustrates the principle that we are sim-ply caring for that which really belongs to God. So why should we not begin by asking God what He would have us do with His gifts? Prayer is our means to communicate with God and discover who He is and His will for us.

Plan. While prayer is foundational in all we do, it is not all we do! Prayer is never a substitute for good stewardship and good planning. While we should pray before we plan, we should plan.

“This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to be car-ried out or given up as His providence shall indicate.” Steps to Christ, p. 70.

But this does not mean we can pray and then abdicate to God the results of our lack of planning. Jesus himself counsels us

to count the cost before beginning to build (see Luke 14:28-30).

Planning should include calculating the cost of future repairs on a church building. Over time, the roof and carpet will wear out, the parking lot will need resurfacing, and the paint will fade and peel. Plan on it and begin set-ting aside money. It is not a lack of faith to plan, but it is lack of faith to plan without praying.

Ministry takes money. As Jesus counseled, don’t plan events without figur-ing out the cost. Have a budget and reserve raising money for the unexpected.

Study. God gave us brains. Good stewardship requires us to use them. We should do our research, study His word, learn good financial principles, and get good advice. The goal is to learn what God wants us to do with His gifts. We should bathe our study in prayer so we can hear Him clearly.

Act. Once we have prayed, planned, and stud-ied, then we must apply what we have learned. Even this requires prayer because we must always move forward while listen-ing. “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in

May 2Cary FisherMystery of God

May 9

Cary FisherLiving in Unity

May 16Cary FisherWalking in Love

May 21Cary FisherArmor of God

May 30Cary Fisher

Celebration Sabbath

Worship Schedule

The Stewpotby Edward W. Fargusson, M.Div. Stewardship and Prayer

continued on page 4

THE LATEST WORD

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it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21, NKJV. Notice that God says we hear Him “whenever you turn,” and not while we are standing still; however, we must listen.

Fail. I collect sayings and here are a few about failing:

“Failure is failure only if we fail to try again.” “Success is getting up one more time than you fall down.” “Walking is a series of interrupted falls.”

The programs and projects of the church are God’s and not ours. Setbacks can and will occur, but don’t give up. Prayerfully learn from them and move forward. Even if the failure was the result of human error, God does not stop working. If He did, there would be no redemption for fallen men.

Expect Miracles. You might be tempted to think, as did my elder, that I don’t believe in miracles, but I do! I just don’t believe God’s providence is an excuse for me not to do what He asks.

Once our church need-ed a new carpet. We could not afford to re-carpet the entire building at once so we broke it into three parts. We raised enough to complete phase one. Just

as we completed fundrais-ing for phase two, God blessed a church member financially and he donated enough money to com-plete the entire project at once. I’ve observed that when God provides for the church, He does not do direct deposit. Instead, He blesses people who are then able to share that blessing with His church.

Another time we were planning for evangelism and an opportunity arose to put ads on primetime television on major chan-nels in our town. However, it was going to cost $1,000 over our budget. Our committee prayed. We believed we should move forward. After our com-mitment to act, I received a call from one elderly church member who told me that she had been put-ting aside money to donate to another ministry, but that God had impressed her to give it all to our evangelism plan. She handed me $1,000 in cash.

Stewardship of Prayer

Do we need to exercise stewardship in our prayer life? Prayer is a part of the stewardship of my relationship to God. Just as I need to nurture my relationship with my wife, I must nurture my relation-ship to God. To nurture

my relationship with my wife, communication is one key element. When we spend time together, we communicate. If we are on a date and I do not pay attention to her, it will not help our relationship. The way I nurture my relationship with God is similar. Prayer is the chan-nel of communication with God. If I don’t pray, my relationship to God will suffer in the same way that my relationship with my spouse will suffer if I don’t communicate with her. So not only is prayer a part of stewardship, I must be a good steward of my prayer life to strengthen my spiritual life.

Conclusion Prayer and planning

are not incompatible, but rather integrated. Prayer is integral to my being a faithful steward. Prayer is communicating with God and that is what equips us to build our relationship with Him and to be faith-ful to Him. =

Stewardship and Prayer (cont.)

“God does nothing but by prayer, and everything with it.”

–John Wesley

“Prayer requires more of the heart than the tongue.”

–Adam Clarke

May 2015

5

Ingredients 4.0 medium potatoes peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

salt to taste

fresh ground pepper to taste

3.0 table-spoons flour

4.0 table-spoons but-ter

1.5 cups milk

Directions1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).

2. Butter a 1 1/2 quart cas-serole.

3. Cover the bottom of the casserole with a single

layer of potatoes.

4. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, flour and a few dots of butter.

5. Repeat until all of the potato slices are used.

6. Pour milk over the potato slices until the top

is almost covered.

7. Dot with the remaining butter.

8. Bake for 1 hour or until the potatoes are soft.

Enjoy! =

Fannie Farmer’s Scalloped Potatoes

Taste & Inspiration

Pilar & Phillip

Sign up for the Wednesday email newlet-ter on our webpage at http://www.downey-church.org/Signups.html. If you are having problems, just email us at downeychurch@gmail.com and we will add you to the list.

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7:42 pm sunset

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9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Pastor CaryAlive in Christ #5

2 pm Pathfinders4 pm Bible Study

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

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10:50 am Worship Pastor CaryAlive in Christ #32 pm Pathfinders6:30 pm God’s Not Dead

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Downey Adventist Church

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

7 pm Band Practice

7:37 pm sunset

9 am Pathfinders

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

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7 pm Church Board

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

4 pm Bible Study

7:57 pm sunset

7 pm Band Practice

May 2015

7

May Birthdays Chris Martin – 1 Dudley Meade – 1 Victor Zamora – 4 Linda Aumack – 6 Michael Fernandez – 6 Kaye Navarro – 10 Grace Huinquez – 10 Byron Molina Jr. – 11 Bill Aumack – 17 Ray Munguia – 18 Frank Duran – 23 Mimi Gonzalez – 26 Michael Parras – 27 Alex Aumack – 28 Phillip Mondragon - 28

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 PracticeSaturday - 4:00 p.m. Bible Study

May 2 - Pathfinders @ 2pmMay 3 - Pathfinders @ 9amMay 9 - Mother’s Day SabbathMay 12 - Fellowship Luncheon @ 12:30pmMay 16 - Pathfinders @ 2pmMay 25 - Memorial Day - Office ClosedMay 30 - Celebration Sabbath

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

Coming Soon

July 20-24 - VBSBe 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.

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The Latest About

Our Church Family Congratulations to

Anita Dominqu and Grasiela Elva Lopez. They were bap-tized on April 11th. Be sure to welcome them to the family.

Graduates Needed. If you know some-one who is graduating from Kindergarten, 8th grade, High School,

or College - please let us know. We’d love to rec-ognize them and celebrate

with them.

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

newsletter. =

Memorial Day

Thank you to every-one 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! =

Is it enough to think today

Of all our brave, then put away The thought until a year has sped? Is this full honor for our dead? Is it enough to sing a song And deck a grave; and all year long Forget the brave who died that we Might keep our great land proud and free? Full service needs a greater toll, That we who live give heart and soul To keep the land they died

to save, And be ourselves, in turn, the brave!

—Annette Wynne =

“There’s a good reason they call these cer-

emonies ‘commencement exercises,’” Utah Senator Orrin Hatch once said. “Graduation is not the end; it’s the beginning.” The same is true of bap-tism. Both events are often approached as an end point reached with relief: “Well, at least that’s done!” With the degree — or salvation — in hand, some people feel no further need for education — or spiritual growth.

Just remember: You’re at the starting gate, not the finish line. Well-wishers encourage new grads,

“Don’t stop now; you’re on a roll. Even greater things are ahead!” And Hebrews 12:1 (NRSV) urges the baptized, “Run with perseverance the race that is set before [you].” While a diploma bears the seal of the graduate’s school, Christians them-selves are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30) and the cross of Christ. To take full advantage of each, we must continue learning and growing. =

At the Starting Gate

Help us find everyone who is graduating this

year!

May 2015

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May 2015

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

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DATED MATERIAL

Ponder This...

= “For happiness one needs security, but joy can spring like a flower even from the cliffs of despair.” —Anne Morrow Lindbergh

= “Why shall I wait for someone else? Why don’t I raise my voice?” —Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, age 17

= “If at first you don’t succeed, do it like your mother told you.” —Author unknown