“He came to that which was his own, but his own

did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12). As we read the first chapter of John he identifies that the coming of Jesus was the incarnation of God being with us, and for those that believed in this incarnation, he gives them the right to call themselves the “children of God.”

When you are describ-ing a person, you could describe them by a per-son’s appearance such as their height, their weight, or the color of their hair and skin. You could also describe a person based on their culture, interests, occupation or personality. There are so many ways to define an individual, but hopefully, our identity as a child of God supersedes any other characteristic that may define us. Certainly, our walk with the Lord will

affect the way we live and treat others to where the people around us can truly see where we came from.

For the Month of May, I am starting a sermon series that will help us understand who we really are. It’s important to know that our identity is not only based upon our belief in God, but also, our understand-ing of God’s character and His will for His people. I believe that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is

continued on page 1

Children of God by Cary Fisher

Mr Rogers on Parenting

One of the most important gifts a par-ent can give a child is the gift of that child’s uniqueness. Children’s parents are the very best people to let them know that they are different, that there are no others in the whole world who are exactly like them, and that their differ-ences are part of what makes them special and lovable. When par-ents value their child’s uniqueness, that child can learn self-worth and the worth of others as well.- Presbyterian minister, Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood

INSIDE

Good and Faithful page 3

Food for Thought 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

Victorian Tea Party

You are invited to a Victorian Tea Party for

the benefit of the Downey Pathfinder Club trip to the International Camporee.

As you know the Pathfinders are raising funds to travel to Oshkosh Wisconsin this summer for the Pathfinder Camporee. This is an opportunity to help and have a nice after-

noon tea. The tickets are $10 per person. The Pathfinders are also accepting donations.

There will be a special speaker and then the tea party.

Come out and support the Pathfinders on May 4th at 1pm.

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built on beliefs founded in scripture to give us clarity of what exactly is God’s character and His will for us. Therefore, we will spend some time understanding these belief and hopefully, it will challenge us to develop a deeper commitment to them to where our identity is shaped more to reflect that we are truly God’s children.

May’s Sermon Calendar

May 3rd - Who Are We #1: “God” - We will start our sermon series on the fundamental belief that there is a God that is all powerful with a character

that is centered around love. There is no greater understanding that shapes us more than knowing that

we truly have a God that is intimately active in our lives.

May 10th - Who Are We #2: “Creation” - My message for this Sabbath will be a reminder of where we come from. After all, the very first words of scripture writes,

“in the beginning God cre-ated the heavens and the earth.” Believing that we weren’t randomly placed

here shapes the way we view ourselves and the way we see the world around us.

For this Sabbath, we will also honor our other creator that being our moth-ers with a pancake breakfast @ 8:30

am. Since it’s Mother’s Day weekend, moms can leave the cooking to us.

May 17th - Who Are We #3: “Word” - We believe that all things about God are understood through the Bible, and if we are applying the wis-dom from it, we will live in a way that is congruent to God’s will for us. After all the psalmist writes, ”Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalms 119:105)

May 24th - Who Are We #4: “Humanity” - The fourth installment of this sermon series will expound on the belief that our origin came from God and how we were formed in His image. This will also lead us to how sin has affected the nature of our existence and the relation-ship with the One that cre-ated us.

May 31st - The San Gabriel Academy Choir - For this worship service, we will have a special musical concert by the talented youth from SGA. This Sabbath will sure to be a spiritual blessing for all of us.

See you when the church gathers. =

WE

D

ID

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The Latest Word V 26 N 05

BILL AUMACKresponsible for this

LINDA AUMACKcopy editor

LAURA LUNApaper 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 2014 copyright 1992-2014

hopefully, our identity as a child of God

supersedes any other characteristic

“

”

Children of God (cont. from page 1)

May 2014

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faithful friend she is!”

One of the best and sweetest blessings is that of a true friend. What are the qualities of a good friend? Is it that the per-son is kind and patient? A good listener? Some friends may cause us to break out of our shell and experience adventurous activities and make us laugh. Another friend may share a hobby or interest. Friendships are unique, to say the least. Perhaps one of the very best qualities a friend can possess is that of faithfulness. He or she cares about what you care about.

When the words “good and faithful” came to my thoughts, it reminded me of one of the parables. So I read the story of the three servants in Matthew 25. You remember the

story, don’t you? A man was going on a journey and entrusted three of his servants with varying amounts of gold. When the man returned, he found that two of them had been wise and trustworthy. They

had taken the gold, put it to good use and multiplied it for their master. Even though they were servants of the master and not his friends, they revealed their devotion to him by caring for the gold left in their care. They knew that would make their master happy and chose to work for him. And they were rewarded when the master returned. The third ser-vant was not so wise, but I guess that’s a subject for another time.

In a sense, serving God is the same to me. Do we serve God because he is the Creator of the universe and entitled to our devotion? Yes. Do we serve God because He is

King of kings and Lord of lords? Yes again. But serving God is like being a good, faithful friend. We care about what He cares about. And, simply put, God cares about people. Whatever the job, service

or function available at church, it all boils down to one thing--working hard so that other people may know about the salvation found in Christ. It’s easy to forget that sometimes. Juggling life’s responsi-bilities, it’s possible to view our service at church as just another obligation. But if some day we’re to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” it will be because we’ve shared a deep rela-tionship and friendship with God which enabled us to work on His behalf for the salvation of others and multiplied people for His kingdom. What do you think? =

May 3Cary FisherWho We Are #1

God

May 10

Cary FisherWho We Are #2

Creation

May 17Cary FisherWho We Are #3

Word

May 24Cary FisherWho We Are #4

Humanity

May 31San Gabriel

Academy Chorale

Worship Schedule

The Word & You

by Linda Bewley Good and Faithful

God’s word says, “I no longer call

you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for every-thing that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15.)

About a month ago, I shared an issue with a friend of mine. She lis-tened and, since I needed an extra pair of eyes and ears, she promised to keep hers open. Every few days since then, I’ve gotten an email from her revealing that she is keeping her promise. When I checked my email this morning and found two more emails from her, my first thought was, “what a good and

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Someone once wrote a letter to the local news-

paper that said, “Ministers seem to feel their sermons are very important, so they spend a great deal of time preparing them. I’ve been attending church regularly for over 30 years, and I’ve probably heard about 1,500 sermons. The awful truth is that I can’t remem-ber a single one! I wonder if a minister’s time might be better spent on some-thing else.”

That week, a minister read the letter to his con-gregation and said he’d be interested in any replies the congregation might wish to send to him.

The following week, the minister reported that he’d received many responses, most of them expressions of indignation aimed at the anonymous letter writer. He thanked the church members for the responses but said he was most thankful for one in particular, which he then read to the gathering.

“I have been married for 30 years. During that time, I have eaten well over 32,000 meals — mostly my wife’s cooking — but I can’t remember the menu of a single meal. Of course I can recall some of my favorite dishes, but not the menus. And yet, I received the nourishment from every

single one of them. I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death long ago.”

Oh, how true that is. We often expect much more from church and our church family than we do anything else. Have you ever heard anyone say, “I’m not going to go to the game. There are people there who aren’t really true fans”? Me neither. But I’ve heard people complain about the hypo-crites in church. I’ve heard people complain about the pastor’s sermon, the music, the temperature, nearly every aspect of the church experience. I remember one individual who complained about the carpet.

We live in a society of choices. Here in America there are nearly an unlim-ited number of choices for everything; TV channels, music styles, cars, clothes, food and on and on it goes. This has undoubted-ly affected our experience at church during worship. We compare the experience to some ideal we have in our head, or something we’ve seen on TV or the internet, and sometimes the little local church can’t compare. The bud-gets aren’t as big, the number of staff

isn’t as high, the volun-teers don’t do everything perfectly. We can make lots of excuses.

But it is not really about blame, or excuses, or even taste (things we do and don’t like). I think the core issue is really our own hearts. We don’t really understand love. No that’s not quite right, we don’t really under-stand unconditional love. The kind of love a good mother has for a child. The kind of love a true friend has for friend. The kind of love an awesome God has for one of children. When we don’t understand that and when we don’t have that kind of love in our lives, it’s a whole lot easi-er to be critical, mean, and unforgiving. When you have that unconditional love, it’s much easier to be supportive and understand-ing.

Do you have a working understanding of uncondi-tional love?

That’s worth pondering about... =

by Bill Aumack Food For Thought

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resound-ing gong or a clanging cym-bal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move moun-tains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I pos-sess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

1 Cor. 13:1-3May 1, 2014

May 2014

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As we conclude in 1 Samuel 17, David has

made his way to the front lines of the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines to deliver nour-ishment in the way of food to his brothers and hope-ful to hear good news of his 3 brothers’ well being to take back to his father. He hears Goliath taunting the Israelites, the armies of the living God. Upon learning that the king will give great wealth, a family tax exemption AND his daughter in marriage to the man who kills Goliath and removes this disgrace from Israel, David was overheard to have vol-unteered. When his own brother heard him speak, he got very angry with David because he assumed David’s only purpose for being there was just to watch the battle. Burning with anger, his brother Eliab asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” “Now what have I done?, David asked. “Can’t I even speak?”

King Saul sent for David after hearing he’d volunteer to kill Goliath. When he saw David, like Eliab and David’s two

other brothers, King Saul said, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him. You are only a young man. He has been a war-rior from his youth.” After hearing this, David shares his experiences with Saul of staving off lions and bears with the help of the Lord, while tending to his flock. King Saul was either convinced of this by David or maybe he just thought, what the heck, no one else is willing. So Saul says, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

After trying on a coat of armor, a bronze helmet and a sword for battle, David wasn’t comfortable wearing all that metal. Too heavy. So he grabbed his staff, and put 5 smooth stones along with his sling into his shepherds purse or pouch and approached Goliath.

Upon seeing David, Goliath started taunting him. He felt it was an unfair fight. David said to him, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord with deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very

day I will give the carcass-es of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild ani-mals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

So David reaches into his pouch, pulls out one of his stones, puts it into the sling and sank it right into the forehead of Goliath. BULLSEYE!!!

Today’s recipe is mush-room, corn and poblano tacos.

Ingredients:2 TBLS Extra virgin olive oil1/2 lb. sliced mushroom1 cup diced onion1 poblano chili (seeded & stemmed) dice into 1/2 inch pieces1 tsp oregano1 tsp minced garlic3/4 tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp cumin1 1/2 cup corn kernels1 1/2 cup black beans1/4 cup salsa verde1 TBLS lime juice1 tsp salt6-7 good shakes of hot sauce. preferably Tapatio or CholulaRough chop 1 bunch fresh cilantroCrumbled cotija cheese

Procedure:Add oil to hot non-stick

skillet. Sautee onions & mushrooms until tender and translucent. Add pob-lano chili, oregano, garlic, chili powder & cumin. Sauté on high for 2-3 min-utes constantly stirring. Next add corn, beans and sauté about 4 minutes. Then add salsa, lime juice salt and hot sauce. Sauté another minute. Heat up taco size corn or flour tor-tillas and stuff with mix. Garnish with cilantro and cotija cheese.

Enjoy! =

Mushroom, Corn & Poblano Tacos

Taste & Inspiration

Pilar & Phillip

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

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4 6 8 9 10

12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

7:44 pm sunset

7:49 pm sunset

7:54 pm sunset

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

3 pm Pathfinders

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

3 pm Youth Outing Griffith Park

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

C.S. – Community Service

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10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

3 pm Pathfinders/Adventures

10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

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7 pm Band Practice

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Downey Adventist Church

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Band Practice

7:39 pm sunset

1pm Victorian Tea Party

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7:59 pm sunset 9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship SGA Chorale

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

8:30 am Breakfast

May 2014

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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 Vanity Duarte – 12 Justine Amezaga – 13 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 EventsThursdays - 7 p.m. Women’s Prayer GroupFridays - 7:00 p.m. Band Practice

May 3 - Pathfinders / Adventurers @ 3pmMay 4 - Women’s Tea @ 1pmMay 10 - Mother’s Day BreakfastMay 11 - Mother’s DayMay 17 - Pathfinders @ 3pmMay 18 - Pathfinders @ 9amMay 24 - Youth to Griffith ParkMay 26 - Memorial Day - Office ClosedMay 31 - SGA Chorale

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

Coming Soon

July 21-25 - Vacation Bible SchoolBe 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 FamilyGraduates Needed.

If you know someone who is graduating from Kindergarten, 8th grade, High School, or College - please let us know. We’d love to recognize them and celebrate with them.

Be sure to ask Victoria Zamora and Ethan Morales about their recent mission trip. They helped build a church.

Be sure to welcome Sebastian and Matthew Ramirez to the church

family. They were baptized on April 19th.

If you have any Church Family news, please contact the

church office so we can get it into the newsletter. =

The Kiss of Love

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! =

Before the gifted Polish pianist, Ignace Jan

Paderewski, died in 1941, he often played concerts in the United States. Once, when he was here, he was invited by a friend to attend a piano recital where the friend’s young daughter was to play. It was a disaster. The child had not gotten far into playing her piece when her mind went blank and in embarrassment she broke down in tears. Paderewski

quickly went up to the piano bench, leaned down and kissed the child on the forehead. Of course, she would never forget the occasion, yet if she had not made a mistake, she would not have received a kiss of love and encouragement.

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Don’t ride in automo-biles; they cause 20

percent of all fatal acci-dents. Don’t stay at home; 17 percent of all accidents occur in the home. Don’t walk on the street or the sidewalk; 14 percent of all accidents happen to pedes-trians. Don’t travel by air, rail or water; 16 percent of all accidents happen on these.

However, only 0.001 percent of all deaths reported occur in worship services. Therefore, the safest place for you to be is in church. Sabbath School is also relatively safe.

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A Safe Haven

Help us find everyone who is graduating this

year!

May 2014

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May 2014

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

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DATED MATERIAL

Ponder This...

= “It is not enough to be busy … The question is: ‘What are we busy about?’” —Henry David Thoreau

= “A child needs your love most when he deserves it least.” —Erma Bombeck

= “[A mother] never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn’t take them along.” —Margaret Culkin Banning