The Church of Jesus Christ The Message of Hope

Revelation 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved

shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

Volume 121 Autumn 2010

The Church of Jesus Christ

Headquarters: 2797 Bryant St. Portage, IN 46368

Phone 219-763-1049

WWW.JESUSCHRISTISGOD.ORG

Message of Hope

Editors: Bro. John & Sis. Sandi Garza

Official Organ, owned by: The Church of Jesus Christ

Please send all articles to:

Message of Hope

2797 Bryant St. Portage, IN 46368

Articles and Pictures Due: September 3rd

What Does The Church of Jesus Christ Believe?

We believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God

and is the SOLE authority on every subject. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Almighty God. Rev. 1:8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” God put on the robe of flesh and walked here on earth for 33 years to fulfill prophecy for the New Testament Church, which is The Church of Jesus Christ. According to the Word, John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us….” The Church of Jesus Christ believes that everyone must take His word seriously, John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I Am He ye shall die in your sins.”

We follow God’s Plan of salvation. Acts 2:38, “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Baptism is by immersion in water only. The evidence of the infilling of the Holy Ghost is according to Acts 2:4, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” John 3:5 states, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” We must then live a clean, holy, and dedicated life to Jesus Christ thereafter taking diligent heed to the Word.

The Church of Jesus Christ must be found faithful to His Word. We must be partakers of Communion service. This service consists of the Lord’s Supper and Foot Washing. 1 Cor. 11:24, 25, “And when he had given thanks, he brake it and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. (25) After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, “This cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.” John 13:14, 15, “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. (15) For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you.”

Watch, pray, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, give your tithes and offerings, so that YOU can be counted among the faithful when our one and only Savior, Jesus Christ, comes back in a “cloud with power and great glory!”

Bishop Board and Pastors

Bishop Jarret R. Spence, Presiding Bishop 2298 Fern Street Portage, IN 46368 Phone 219-762-7492

Bishop Paul Rose, Secretary/Treasurer P.O. Box 344 Cabin Creek, West Virginia 45035 Phone 304-595-5640

Bishop Danny Walls P. O. Box 216 Ingalls, IN 46048 Phone 317-485-4105 Bishop Robert O’Dell 5235 East Van Ness Road Pierceton, IN 46562 Phone 574-594-2337 Bishop Calvin Blaine Pennington P.O. Box 413 (Mailing Address) 12237 State Highway 576 Montpelier, OH 43543 Phone 419-485-4464 Bishop Harold Goodrich 36288 Valley Drive Paw Paw. MI 49079 269-655-9093 Elder Humberto Loera Iglesia De Jesucristo (The Church of Jesus Christ) 138 Alejandrina Col. San Isidro Matamoros, Tamps, Mexico Phone 956-564-0911

Bishop of Jamaica

Bishop Orville Rodney 199 Catherene Mount Albion P.A. Montego Bay, St. James, Jamaica, W.I. Phone 879-952-6676

Bishop of Canada

Bishop Mathias Gooden 75 Dunlop St., Apt. 406 Richmond Hills, ON L4C 2M7 CANADA Phone 905-883-8543

National Youth Leaders

Bro. Jarret & Sis. Caryn Spence 804 Pennsylvania Avenue Laporte, IN 46350 Phone 219-325-3904 Bro. Travis & Sis. Nora Hensley, Assistants 437 Tecumseh Street Warsaw, IN 46582 Phone 574-551-4487

Count Blessings, not Sheep

If you’re a poor sleeper, you’re probably grateful

for any night with seven or eight hours of

uninterrupted rest. But maybe you should consider

what else you’re thankful for. It turns out that

enhanced gratitude in all aspects of life may be a

way to improve your sleep. When researchers at the

University of Manchester, England, had 401 adults

fill our questionnaires that rated their gratitude, they

found that those who scored highest slept longer

and better than less appreciative participants. It has

to do with your bedtime mindset, say researchers.

The grateful people had more positive- and fewer

sleep delaying negative- thoughts between turning

in and drifting off. So take a few minutes each day,

not just at Thanksgiving, to mentally savor things,

large or small, you’re thankful for. Sleeping

soundly may soon be one of them.

Excerpt from good health

Praise the Lord everyone in the name of Jesus

Christ. As I read this article, I thought of so many

people who are letting the burdens of this life hide

the blessing of the Lord.

I may not be rich with the material things in life, but

I have the blessed hope of life eternal. People are

so worried about gaining worldly things that it over

shadows the blessings of everyday life.

As Thanksgiving approaches, people begin to count

their blessings. If they would only take time each

day to count their blessings they would realize that

God is good all the time.

We as members of the body of Christ have so much

to thank him for. His birth, his life, his death, his

resurrection, and with his death and resurrection,

the hope of eternal life through his name in baptism

and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I praise him for all

these things.

If I have all the worldly possessions of this life and

not the truth, I have nothing. Serving God brings

great rewards not only spiritual wealth but he

supplies our needs for this life. If we serve him he

promises to meet our every need, not our wants, but

our needs. In Matthew 6:8 it says your Father

knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask

him.

So when you lay down tonight to sleep, start

counting your blessings, knowing you are blessed.

Sis. Marilyn

Pastor: Bishop Jarret R. Spence

Portage, IN

He is great and greatly to be Praised. I often think of

the amazing things that have happened in the bible.

The three Hebrew children, God didn’t take them

out of the problem, but met them there in the fire.

That’s just one story in the Old Testament. And in

the New Testament Matt. 14:22-32 there was Peter

and the disciples in a ship being tossed about. Then

here comes Jesus Christ walking on the sea. “Lord,

if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

And he said come: Peter went. There he was doing

what we think is the impossible. But the wind was

boisterous and be began to sink, “Lord save me.”

Haven’t we all been there? And Jesus stretched

forth his hand and caught him. “Oh thou of little

faith, wherefore didst thou doubt.” You know the

story doesn’t stop there if we read on. We read that

the winds did not cease till they were already inside

the ship. God walked with Peter on the wind tossed

sea. I may have trials down here but I can rest

assure that God will walk with me thru them. He

will hold my hand just like he did with Peter.

Submitted by: Sis. Patsy Miller

The Church of Jesus Christ

Pierceton, IN

Pastor: Bishop Robert O’Dell

Pierceton Report Praise the Lord, Everyone. God is great and

greatly to be praised. So thankful for the Lord’s grace

and mercy to each one of us. He has kept us and

protected us through all life’s storms. To God be all the

Praise and glory given.

Enjoyed convocation and the fellowship of like

precious faith. It is encouraging to know that God is still

with us and moving. There is nothing like the presence

of the Lord coming down and blessing his people, and

everyone worshipping him together as one. So awesome!

Love to see God move and work in people’s lives. The

lifting up and encouraging work that went forth about

putting the landmark’s back in their place and not

moving them anymore was so great and so needed!

Loved every bit of it! So thankful for this year’s

convocation.

We also enjoyed our time at the tent revival in

Decatur, MI. The word went forth and the people of that

town heard it. They definitely won’t be able to stand

before God and say they did not hear. No matter what, I

am thankful for the stand that Bishop Harold Goodrich

and their congregation have taken. They might not be

big in number but they are grounded in the truth of

God’s word and no one can take that from them. We are

so thankful for having been part of their tent revival.

May God bless them.

We are so grateful for and appreciate our Pastor Bishop

Robert O’Dell. He stands strong in the word and is not

swayed by what comes or goes. To him it is “What thus

saith the word of God”, Nothing added or taken away.

And that, As a congregation is what we love. Preach it

straight, preach it true, and preach it hard. It helps each

of us keep ourselves in check with the word of God and

not with what others think or believe. In the end, when

we stand before God, our lives have to be lined up

according to the standard that God set, NOT the one man

has set. It all goes back to not moving those landmarks

that God has set, but abiding in the boundaries. Don’t

change the word to fit your life, change your life to fit

the word of God! That is where to many people today go

wrong. They try to justify their life style and ways

instead of wanting to change. We are so glad for a good

pastor who will teach us right things, not things that just

sound good. So thankful for the love of the truth.

May we all be ready and waiting for the return

of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We need to be ever watchful

and praying, keeping our souls in check with the work of

God. Each one of us will stand in judgment for the

things we have done. Nevertheless, above all else, WE

HAVE GOT TO MAKE IT!

Church Reporter, Sis. Nora

The Church of Jesus Christ

Pastor, Bishop Robert O’Dell

Pierceton, IN

Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh

In looking at each of these gifts that were given to the

Baby Jesus, you will find that each one has a meaning.

Gold: Gold is a highly sought after precious metal. It is

something valued as the finest of its kind.

1st Corinthians 3: 12-13 Now if any man build upon

this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,

stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for

the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by

fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort

it is.

Frankincense: This is an aromatic resin obtained from

the genus tree named Boswellia. It is obtained from

scraping the bark and allowing the resins to bleed out

and harden. These hardened resins are called “tears.”

This type of tree is considered unusual for its ability to

grow in environments so unforgiving that the trees seem

to grow directly out of solid rock. The deep roots keep

the tree from being torn away in violent storms. The

Bible says in Ephesians 5:2 that Jesus Christ was a sweet

smelling savor…. an aroma. So, we too, must be a

sweet smelling fragrance unto him. As the trees seem to

grow out of solid rock, we too should be like the trees

that when the violent storms of life come at us, we are

grounded and rooted upon the rock, Jesus Christ. As the

hardened resins are called “tears,” this goes along with

Hebrews 5:7.

Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had

offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying

and tears unto him that was able to save him from death,

and was heard in that he feared.

Myrrh: A yellowish-brown to reddish-brown aromatic

gum resin with a bitter, slightly pungent taste is obtained

from a tree called Commiphora Abyssincia. Myrrh was

taken from a tree which points to Jesus Christ. He drank

of the bitter cup for us. He was hung upon a tree for us.

And as myrrh comes from a tree….Abyssincia, Jesus

Christ descended to the abyss for us.

Each and everything in God’s word has a meaning and

with a better understanding, we can apply these to our

daily walk with Jesus Christ.

Bro. John Brandenberger

Pastor: Bishop Calvin B. Pennington

Montpelier, OH

From Left to Right: Bro. Blake, Bro. Allen, Bro. Omar Smith

and Bro Keville.

Evangelist Sis. Rodney in the black hat, Miss Subaxon in the

white hat, Sis. Kerisa Doeman, and Sis. Mclean.

Inside The Church of Jesus Christ, Montego Bay West Indies

Pastor: Bishop Orville Rodney

Bro. Keville Rodney

The Science Contest

One day a group of scientists got together and decided

that man had come a long way and no longer needed

God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell Him that

they were done with Him.

The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've

decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point

that we can clone people and do many miraculous

things, so why don't you just go on and get lost."

God listened very patiently and kindly to the man and

after the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very

well, how about this, let's say we have a man making

contest."

To which the scientist replied, "OK, great!" But God

added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back

in the old days with Adam."

The scientist said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down

and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.

God just looked at him and said, "No, no, no... You have

to go get your own dirt!"

Roy Lee Burkeen, 83, resident of Cordell, Oklahoma,

was born on March 13, 1927 in Henderson, Tennessee to

Gilbert and Fleetie (McCormick) Burkeen, and passed

away on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 in Weatherford,

Oklahoma.

Roy was raised in Tennessee and later, moved to

Hayti, Missouri with his family. He served his country in

the Korean War, receiving an honorable discharge in

1948. Roy worked for several years for the Chrysler

Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, in car assembly. He

later worked in St. Louis, Missouri as a machinist and

also as a salesman for Whites Bakery. Roy later worked

as a salesman in the home improvement industry, for

many years. He built his first church, The Church of

Jesus Christ, in 1952, in Hayti, Missouri. Roy married

Shirley Smith on October 18, 1963 in Ironton, Missouri.

He has lived in southwest Oklahoma for the past

25 years. Roy was faithful to his Lord and recently

started The Church of Jesus Christ, in Cordell, He was

an avid gardener, and enjoyed spending time with his

animals. Roy also loved spending time with his family

and friends, especially his grandchildren. He kept up

with current events, enjoyed telling stories and reading

his Bible.

Roy was preceded in death by his parents, 1 son,

Steve Burkeen, in 1995, 2 brothers and 3 sisters.

Survivors include his wife: Shirley Burkeen of

the home; 5 daughters: Karen White and husband, Al of

Cordell, OK, Debbie Frank and husband, Gary of

Yukon, OK, Gail Chester of Burns Flat, OK, Christy

Hiebert and husband, Jon, of Cordell, OK, Robyn

Burkeen of Cordell, OK; 2 sons: Dale Burkeen of Hayti,

MO, Kenneth Gregory and wife, Nanette of Union, OR;

7 sisters: Loyce Holland and husband, Bill of Waverly,

TN, Connie Mulliniks of Kennet, Mo, Jewel Walker and

husband, Creed, of Caruthersville, MO, Avis Nuetzmann

and husband, Kermit, of Owensville, MO, Pauline

Cunningham of Rockford, IL, Irene Riley of Millington,

TN, Mary Jo Underwood and husband, James, of Hayti,

MO; 3 brothers: Jerry Burkeen of St. Louis, MO,

Freeman Burkeen and wife, Bonnie, of Memphis, TN,

Bob Burkeen and wife, Joann, of Broken Arrow, OK; 23

grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and 1 more

expected any day.

This was on the building. Short lived but in the TRUTH.

Taken September 12, 2010, all of Bro. Burkeen’s family in

attendance at church.

Searching For A Vessel

The Master was searching for a vessel to use;

On the shelf there were many - which one would He

choose?

Take me, cried the gold one, I'm shiny and bright,

I'm of great value and I do things just right.

My beauty and lustre will outshine the rest

And for someone like You, Master, gold would be the

best!

The Master passed on with no word at all;

He looked at a silver urn, narrow and tall;

I'll serve You, dear Master, I'll pour out Your wine

And I'll be at Your table whenever You dine,

My lines are so graceful, my carvings so true,

And my silver will always compliment You.

Unheeding the Master passed on to the brass,

It was widemouthed and shallow, and polished like

glass.

Here! Here! cried the vessel, I know I will do,

Place me on Your table for all men to view.

Look at me, called the goblet of crystal so clear,

My transparency shows my contents so dear,

Though fragile am I, I will serve You with pride,

And I'm sure I'll be happy in Your house to abide.

The Master came next to a vessel of wood,

Polished and carved, it solidly stood.

You may use me, dear Master, the wooden bowl said,

But I'd rather You used me for fruit, not for bread!

Then the Master looked down and saw a vessel of clay.

Empty and broken it helplessly lay.

No hope had the vessel that the Master might choose,

To cleanse and make whole, to fill and to use.

Ah! This is the vessel I've been hoping to find,

I will mend and use it and make it all Mine.

I need not the vessel with pride of its self;

Nor the one who is narrow to sit on the shelf;

Nor the one who is bigmouthed and shallow and loud;

Nor one who displays his contents so proud;

Not the one who thinks he can do all things just right;

But this plain earthy vessel filled with My power and

might.

Then gently He lifted the vessel of clay.

Mended and cleansed it and filled it that day.

Spoke to it kindly. There's work you must do,

Just pour out to others as I pour into you.

-- Author Unknown

Submitted by Sis Judy Spence

The Church of Jesus Christ

Portage, IN

Kids Corner

I’m thankful for everything I have.

Also for two brothers. I had lots

of fun at church camp. I’m

thankful that I have a mom and

dad. I’m thankful for going to

church.

-Zach Traxler

I’m thankful for my mom giving a

baby sister. I’m thankful for going

to Indiana beach. I’m thankful for

going to camp. I’m thankful for

having a babysitter. I’m thankful

for all of my presents from my

birthday. I’m thankful for going to

church.

-Corbyn Baldrich

I am thankful for God giving me

the Holy Ghost and I am thankful

for the great youth camp we had.

- Micah Hensley

I had a great time at church

camp that the Lord protected me

that I did not get hurt anymore

on my bike.

-Hannah Hensley

The Church of Jesus Christ 2797 Bryant Street Portage, Indiana 46368

(219) 762-7492 www.JESUSCHRISTISGOD.org

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