If you grew up in the church, you probably

sang the song “Jesus Loves Me.” We’ve been taught this our entire lives. But sometimes we kind of for-get what that means for us. God loves us so much, that he delights in performing miracles, fulfilling dreams and answering prayers. It’s what he loves to do for his children.

It’s crucial that we understand this simple yet life-changing truth, God

is for us. If we don’t com-pletely comprehend this truth, we tend to pray small and timid prayers. If we embrace this truth and live our lives understanding that God is for us, then we tend to pray big, audacious prayers.

In February we are going to be doing a four-week small group series based on the book The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. We see how to draw prayer circles around

our families, our jobs, our church, our problems, our goals and our dreams.

February 2 we will start the series with the message The Legend of the Circle Maker. Honi was an eccen-tric sage who lives outside the walls of Jerusalem in the first century BC. He was known for being able to pray for rain and having God answer his prayers. Honi uses his staff to draw a big circle in the dirt, then with the authority of the

continued on page 1

The Circle Maker by Bill Aumack

Risking Love

To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. Love comes to those who still hope even though they’ve been disappointed, to those who still believe even though they’ve been betrayed, to those who still love even though they’ve been hurt before.

—Author unknown

INSIDEAgendas, Plans and Attitudes page 3

Passing the Mantle page 4

From the Kitchen on page 5

What’s happening? see pages 6 & 9

Committed to Generosity on page 7

Our Church Family page 10

Kid’s Page on page 11

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

Small Group: The Circle Maker

Our small groups are starting up again. We will begin on February 4 for our

new series called The Circle Maker. This 4 week series is based on the book The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.

If you are not currently in a small group, please sign up in the foyer at church. This series, with its book, will help us all learn how to pray circles

around our biggest dreams and greatest fears. We will learn how to claim God-given promises, pursue God-sized dreams,

and seize God-ordained opportunities. You won’t want to miss out on this.

If you’d like to host a small group, please talk to Bill or Hatzuko and let them know. Thanks.

=

THE LATEST WORD

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prophet Elijah who called down fire from heaven, Honi called down the rain. However, it took three different prayers before Honi got the results he requested. Honi isn’t the only one to draw prayer circles. Remember the Israelites many years before drawing a circle around the city of Jericho? They had to march around the city for a week. There’s a big difference in praying for and praying through. When we draw our prayer circles, we need to be consistent and follow through. We need to inter-cede until God intervenes.

Have you ever prayed a prayer so big you felt a bit foolish? It’s not that God

can’t answer big prayers. We know he can. But sometimes the question is, ‘will he?’ I wonder if the wisemen felt foolish

for leaving the comfort of their home and following a star. I wonder if Peter felt foolish for getting out of the boat to walk on water. I wonder if a young boy named David felt foolish rushing a giant warrior with a slingshot. Sometimes you have to

go big, or just go home. God answered all those big prayers with miracles. Join us on February 9 for the message Dream Big.

The message on February 16 is Pray Hard. Desperate times call for des-perate measures and there is no more desperate act than praying hard. Luke 18 tells the parable of the desperate

widow. We don’t know what she was desperate about, but she kept after it, until she got the results she desired. Elijah gives a real world example of sticking with it too. For three years it didn’t rain in Israel. Then God told Elijah it would rain, but still Elijah needed to circle that promise in prayer. So he went to the top of Mount Carmel and fell on his face in prayer. Six times he told his servant to go look and see if rain was coming. Six times the answer was no. But Elijah didn’t give up. He was desperate and he was persistent. Finally on the seventh time, there was a tiny cloud. What if Elijah had given up after 6 times? Have you given up on your requests too soon? It would be good for all of us to remember to pray hard.

The last message in the series is about expand-ing our viewpoint. The more we can expand our view and begin to look

at the big picture, the easier it will be to be on the same page as God. If you want to accomplish big things, it’s going to take some time. It took years to build a pyramid in the Egyptian desert. It took quite a while to build the Golden Gate Bridge. Sometimes we forget that in our prayers. We want everything now. The Bible gives us a great example in Daniel when he is pray-ing and the answer to his prayer is delayed 21 days. Join us on February 23 for the sermon Think Long.

See you when the church gathers. =

WE

D

ID

IT

The Latest Word V 25 N 14

BILL AUMACKresponsible for this

LINDA AUMACKcopy editor

HATZUKO AISPUROpaper distribution

TBDpastor

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: Feb. 2013 copyright 1992-2013

There’s a big difference in praying for and praying through

“

”

The Circle Maker (cont. from page 1)

February 2013

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for calendaring, but I do not know how to advance to a specific date, so I simply held down the for-ward arrow. As I did so, I was speeding through the months and years. They were disappearing before my very eyes. I recall thinking to myself that that is how life feels sometimes—the days and months pass so quickly, I often feel like someone is holding down the fast-forward button on life! I was reminded of that this morning during my quiet time. I was also reminded that, no matter the day, there is one thing I find to be true. Each day I wake up with an agenda. I have lots to do, and, mostly at work, lots of deadlines to meet. Yet, things rarely go as planned, and I find myself frustrated over interruptions and changes

to my plans.

As I considered those frustrations, I realized something else to be true. I constantly need an atti-tude adjustment. When I feel frustrated over inter-ruptions and obstacles, the only real solution is to change my attitude. I can’t change anything or

anyone else. With all that in mind, I thought of and read Chapter 2 in the Book of Philippians, written by the Apostle Paul. He said, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not con-sider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself noth-ing, taking the very nature of a servant ...” (vv. 5-7 NIV). Imagine that. If anyone ever had the abil-ity to change things, he could have. Yet instead of changing the situation, he submitted himself to the will and plan of his Father. Instead of freeing and sav-

ing himself, he “humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross” (v. 9 NLT). Why? The answer of course is love. Paul put it this way, “God demon-strates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

So, the only real solu-tion to an attitude change is to have a servant’s heart that is motivated by love. Not just when things are easy or convenient. Always. Because, love is “[always] patient, love is [always] kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always per-severes” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV). =

February 2

Bill AumackThe Legend of the

Circle Maker

February 9

Bill AumackDream Big

February 16Bill Aumack

Pray Hard

February 23Bill Aumack

Think Long

Worship Schedule

The Word & You

by Linda Bewley Agendas, Plans and Attitudes

God’s word says, “If I speak in the

tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mys-teries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV.)

Recently at work I found myself needing to calendar a deadline ten years in the future, if you can image that. I use Microsoft Outlook

THE LATEST WORD

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In studying the life of Elijah, we come to the

end of his days when God has informed him that his ministry here on earth is done and that he will soon be leaving. Pondering this revelation, Elijah decides to visit two cities, Bethel and Jericho. He invites his servant, Elisha, to go along.

The first city they vis-ited was Bethel, whose name means ‘house of God”. Bethel truly had a great spiritual heritage, but something had hap-pened there over the years. Jeroboam had set up a golden calf and as a result of hav-ing given themselves over to idolatry, the new generation had become scoffers and mockers of anything related to their spiritual background. Now Elijah had faced mockers at one time on Mount Carmel, but these young people may have been even more hardened and godless than the priests he once battled.

Elijah suggested that Elisha remain at Bethel, but perhaps remembering the unnamed prophet God once sent to Bethel (see 1 Kings 13), Elisha declines and proclaims that he will stay with his master. Perhaps seeing the condi-tion of the city, he realized

he wasn’t ready to stand up against the wickedness there.

Elijah and Elisha continue on to Jericho, which means ‘a place is pleasant.” But what they find is not pleasant, but dry and barren because of the poisonous water sup-ply. Some

young prophets came up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away today?” So even though there were apparently some in the city who were knowledge-able about scripture and even had prophetic gifts, something may have been clearly missing; perhaps the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Again, Elijah suggests Elisha remain in the city, but he declines. Perhaps this time, he knows that

if he remained with these ‘pastors’, he would be continually asked about his master’s ministry and they would never have acknowledged his own. Perhaps that dry, parched city is an example of churches today which may seem to have all the right ingredients, but are actu-ally dry and barren spiritu-ally.

During this time wait-ing for God’s choice for our new pastor, perhaps we can take a look within and see if we are the type

of church a pastor would want to lead. We certainly want to be considered ‘a house of God’ and ‘a

place that is pleasant’. A serious consid-eration for many churches is have we

allowed too much of the world into the church? Or have we let some of our old standards fall by the wayside?

Let us be as the Bereans so we will know if what we are being taught is according to scripture. May we be determined to allow our new pastor his own way and resist comparing him to Pastor Mitch who taught us so much. Let’s pray:

Father, Prepare us to receive our new pastor as he takes up the mantle you have set upon him. =

Before the Father

by Linda FernandezPassing the Mantle

He also took up the mantle...

2 Kings 2:14

perhaps we can take a look within and see if we are the type of church a pastor would want to lead...

February 2013

5

Corn Tortillas about 2 dozen

Grated Mexican blend cheese about 3 cups

1 16oz tub of sour cream

3 cans of cream of mush-room soup

2 small cans of diced chile ortega

1 can of Chile de las Palmas green enchilada sauce

1 large Casserole dish

In a bowl mix the sour cream, soup and chile ortegas together. While mixing the mixture you need to warm the tortillas about 12-18 at a time in the microwave wrapped in a plastic bag for about 2-3 minutes not too much because they will get mushy. Once tortillas are warmed. Start to layer the tortillas covering the bot-

tom of the dish then spread the mixture on top of the tortillas, then add cheese and repeat until casserole dish is 3/4 filled. Pour the Green chile sauce on top of the dish and poke so that the sauce will seep through the layers. Top with cheese. Cover with foil and bake approximate-ly 30 minutes at 350OF. After 30 minutes remove the foil and bake an addi-

tional 10 - 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Let it set about 15 minutes before serving.

Optional: You can also add olives, and onions as well. If you don’t like sour cream you can leave it out and just use the cream of mushroom soup. =

Denise’s Green Enchilada Casserole

From the Kitchen

Be 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.

No stick cooking spray

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspons salt

1 tablespoon baking pow-der

1 cup milk

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup vegatable oil

1/2 cup jam or preserves

Heat oven to 375OF. Spray muffin pan with no stick spray. Stir together flour, salt and baking pow-der in a large bowl. Add milk, eggs, sugar, peanut

butter and oil to bowl; combine ingredients on the low speed of an electric mixer, just until moist-ened. Do not over beat.

Fill prepared muffin cups even with half of the batter. Place 2 level tea-spoons of jam or preserves in each muffin. Evenly

divide remaining batter between muffin cups. bake for 18-20 minutes. remove from the oven; cool in pan 5 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins. =

Esther’s PB & J Muffins

Denise and Esther graciously submitted recipes for this month’s newsletter. Thanks so much! Next month we will debut a regular feature here. You can look forward to more great recipes in this space. - Ed.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

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11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 1 2

5:28 pm sunset

5:35 pm sunset

5:41 pm sunset

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Bill Aumack

3 pm Pathfinders

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Bill Aumack

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

C.S. – Community Service

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10:50 am Worship Bill Aumack

3 pm Pathfinders/Adventurers

10:50 am Worship Bill Aumack

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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

5:21 pm sunset

7 pm Band Practice

9 am Pathfinders/Adventurers

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

10:50 am Worship Celebration Sabbath

February 2013

7

In the TV sitcom, The Jeffersons, George

Jefferson was bigoted, arrogant, rude, and loud-mouthed, yet he was one of the most beloved and celebrated characters in television history. By the time The Jeffersons ended in the mid 1980s after eleven seasons, Sherman Hemsley, the actor who played George, was the most vis-ible and success-ful Black TV actor after Bill Cosby. George Jefferson was the owner of a suc-cessful dry-cleaning busi-ness, but he was also an obsessed and money driv-en businessman. Even the gospel-style theme song of the show was on the fixa-tion of “Movin’ On Up” in wealth and prosper-ity. However, when actor Sherman Hemsley passed away in July 2012, a very different picture of the real person immerged. His longtime friend, Jackée Harry, described him as “a very private person . . . very kind and very sweet, and generous to a fault.”1

Interestingly, a new list has emerged in the United States entitled Slate 60. It is a list of the 60 larg-est givers in our country. Its goal is to create a new

hierarchy, a new social order of big givers. On this list are Samuel and Aline Skaggs, the supermarket and drugstore magnates who bequeathed $100 mil-lion, and Charles Feeney, who over the last 15 years has given away over $580 million.2 There probably is little chance that you and I will get on the Slate 60 list, but even with our

meager funds of time, tal-ent and resources, we can help oth-ers and we can know

that our living certainly has not been in vain. Here are some ways we can discover life’s true gener-osity as we begin this New Year.

Joyous Generosity

When the Christians in Macedonia heard of the famine in Jerusalem, the Apostle Paul wrote of their joy in contributing ‘above and beyond’ their appar-ent ability to give. He expounded these words, “While they were being tested by many problems, their extra amount of hap-piness and their extreme poverty resulted in a sur-plus of rich generosity” (2 Corinthians 8:2 CEB).

Several years ago Chip Ingram wrote, “When people are generous, it produces happiness. That is why people (unless they are stressed) are in a much better mood dur-ing Christmas. They are focused on giving to oth-ers.”3

Eternal Generosity

Eternal joy can be placed in perspective by a fictitious Saint Peter par-able. It is simply a tale of a wealthy man and his servant who both died and arrived in heaven at the same time. As Saint Peter showed each their pro-spective heavenly homes both were surprised, the wealthy gentleman because his home for eter-nity was barely a small one room hut while his unassuming servant had a magnificent mansion. Quite the opposite of what they both expected. The wealthy aristocrat exclaimed, “How come my eternal home is so meager compared to my humble servant.” “That’s easy,” stated Saint Peter, “because that’s all you sent up!”

A few individuals have come to the conclusion that their net worth is defi-nitely not the sum total of

Committed to GenerosityStewpot

by Gordon Bottling, DrPH, CHES

continued on page 8

He give noth-ing who does not give him-self.

- French Proverb

There is no happiness in having and giving, but only in giving.

- Frank Wakely Gunsaulus

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what may appear on their bank or investment state-ments but what they have chosen to give away for the benefit of humanity and to the advancement of Christ’s kingdom. They believe that after their basic family needs are met they should give the rest away because they see giving as an eternal rather than a temporal invest-ment. This perspective is sustained in the book, The Acts of the Apostles: “Spiritual prosperity is closely bound up with Christian liberality. The followers of Christ should rejoice in the privilege of revealing in their lives the beneficence of their Redeemer. As they give to the Lord they have assur-ance that their treasure is going before them to the heavenly courts.”4

Kidlike Generosity

Joshua Neidorf is just one example of how chil-dren have led the way in generos-ity. When this Los Angeles Jewish teenager celebrated his Bar Mitzvah, he decided to give most of his gifts to injured veter-ans and Operation Mend, an orga-nization dedicated since 2007 to healing United States military personnel wounded and disfigured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This organization received a generous sum of $13,000 from Joshua.5 We never cease to be pleasantly sur-prised and amazed by our children and grandchildren when out of the blue they decide to be generous with their time and resources. I believe that is what Jesus was talking about when He reminded his disciples and all adults that the kingdom theology is made up of childlike faith and gener-osity.

Graceful Generosity

In his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey writes that one of the original reasons he wrote the book was a prostitute’s comment when he interviewed her on the street: “Church! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling ter-rible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse!” When the religious right stigmatizes homosexuals,

shames unwed mothers, harasses the homeless, etc., this does nothing to uplift Christ and make the church a welcome place for sinners. Yes, I believe that Christians should

be the first to uphold the moral and religious laws of the land, but we should also be the first to balance that with God’s abounding

grace. Let’s ask ourselves in this New Year, “If grace is so amazing, why don’t we show more of it on a daily basis.”6

Does Generosity Pay?

Ask a counselor and they will tell you that gen-erosity does pay. When an individual comes into their office feeling help-less, miserable and blue, one suggestion from the coun-selor might be that they lend a hand to someone less fortunate. When they fol-low through with this sug-gestion, in the majority of cases, they return feeling much better because they helped someone in need. Even millionaires often do not feel fulfilled, though blessed with massive for-tunes, until they give of their time and money and see the resulting joy on the faces of the beneficiaries.

Sometimes benevo-lence comes back to us in ways we do not dream of or expect. Forty years ago a nurse in a doctor’s office kindly assisted in the health care of some American Indian families, not anticipating anything in return from them. Four decades later, the Indian tribe had amassed many thousands of dollars in a foundation and when the

nurse retired and became the Adventist Community Services leader, she was amazed when they repaid her kindness many times over by contributing $150,000 to that local ACS center.

The truth is that we all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts that we are endeavoring to fill and that can only be filled with the generosity of our Heavenly Father’s everlasting salva-

tion. Socially and spiritual-ly let’s make one of our New Year’s resolutions to be Jesus’ ambassa-

dors of generosity for His Kingdom. =

References & Resources:

1. “The actor who gave heart to George Jefferson,” This Week, July 2012: p 35 and Internet Sherman Hemsley, who played George Jefferson on TV.

2. Hans Kunnen, “Generosity,” Signs of the Times, (issue date unknown): p 5.

3. Chip Ingram, “The Opportunity of Generosity,” Money Matters Magazine, December 2003: p 3.

4. Ellen White, The Acts of the Apostles, pp 344-345 as quoted in the Review & Herald, February 11, 1993: p 5.

5. Joshua Neidorf, This Week, November 23, 2012: p 2.

6. Philip Yancy, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Zondervan Publishing, 1997: pp 229, 230, 232.

Committed to Generosity (cont. from page 7)

February 2013

9

February Birthdays David Martinez – 2Issac Diaz – 5 Mark Jackson – 7Akeem Meade – 7Jasmine Huinquez – 9 Irene Garcia – 11 Victoria Zamora – 11Maggie Zamora – 15 Ellis Perry – 19 Teresa Miranda – 22 Donna Morgan – 24 Linda Fernandez – 26 Armando Cabrera – 26 Kevin Williams - 28Letty Duran – 29 Susie Duran – 29

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

Feb. 2 - Pathfinders / Adventurers @ 3pmFeb. 3 - Pathfinders / Adventurers @ 9amFeb. 14 - Valentine’s DayFeb. 16 - Pathfinders @ 3pmFeb. 18 - President’s Day

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

Coming Soon

Mar 2 - Celebration SabbathMar 23 - Communion Mar 30 - Easter Sabbath

THIS MONTH

THE LATEST WORD

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The Latest About

Our Church FamilyCongratulations to Gabriela and Jefferson Poleon. They were mar-ried on Dec. 21st.

Congrat-ulations to Celene Aispuro and Alberto Melenciano. They were recently

engaged!

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

Mealtime as a Family

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! =

Amid busy and varied schedules, many fami-

lies find a way to sit down together for dinner regu-larly. Family-health advo-cates describe the benefits: an increased sense of unity, children sharing news and feeling listened to, and the physical perks of a planned, seated meal.

In Scripture, many great encounters between people and God happen around meals. Abraham and Sarah prepare a meal for three guests who turn out to be angels (Genesis 18). God instructs the Hebrew slaves to eat a special meal together before their delivery from

Egypt (Exodus 12); every year since, Jews have cel-ebrated the Passover feast. Elijah is strengthened with food served by an angel (1 Kings 19). Jesus shares meals not only with religious leaders but with “sinners” (e.g., Matthew 9). Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples before his death has become one of the church’s sacraments and a “foretaste” of the heavenly banquet to come.

When Christian fami-lies eat together, it’s a holy time in God’s presence, just as when the church shares Holy Communion — a true fellowship din-ner! =

O God, perfect us in love,

That we may conquer all selfishness and hatred of others;

Fill our hearts with thy joy,

And shed abroad in them thy peace which passeth understanding;

That so those murmurings and disputings

To which we are too prone may be overcome.

Make us long-suffering and gentle,

And thus subdue our hastiness and angry tempers,

And grant that we may bring forth the blessed fruits of the Spirit,

To thy praise and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

—Rev. Henry Alford (1810-1871)

Teach Us to Love

February 2013

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February 2013

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

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DATED MATERIAL

Ponder This...

= “There is no remedy for love but to love more.” —Henry David Thoreau

= “He has a right to criticize who has a heart to help.” —Abraham Lincoln

= “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” —Charles M. Schulz

= “Real true faith is [human] weakness leaning on God’s strength.” —D.L. Moody