In his last message of the year Major Clay uses the story of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus' flight from Judea to Egypt as his springboard. Apart from the obvious and immediate safety aspect were there any symbolic reasons for going to Egypt? Listen again to Major Clay's sermon here.

We are blessed with much musical talent in our church. Our Songster Leader (Choir Director) Susan Pierce has written a new melody and arrangement of the words "A light came out of darkness". Listen as Susan is joined by her sister and brother-in-law - Kathy and Mark Wallace as well as husband Mike in this quartette arrangement.

Our band was somewhat depleted this week, but still brought a blessing with this arrangement of the hymn-tune "Stella", associated with the words "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness".

We finish out the year with our congregation singing "Christians Awake! salute the happy dawn."

This week Major Clay Gardner "wraps up" his sermon series entitled "Love Comes..." with the adverb "...generously!"

You won't want to miss this powerful teaching in a sermon entitled "The Gift".

Also listen to our congregation sing "The First Nowell", and our band accompany Daniel Prince in the Cornet Solo "Love Came Down at Christmas".

Merry Christmas to all indeed!

Why was it that the angel choir over Bethlehem made their glorious announcement to shepherds? According to Major Clay it was because of professional courtesy!

You won't want to miss this intriguing third sermon in our advent series "Love comes...".

This week the adverb is "gloriously!" Listen to Major Clay's sermon here.

Our bonus tracks this week include our congregation singing "O come all ye faithful", the band playing "Christmas Praise" (whoever thought you could play "Away in a Manger" as a March?!), and our songsters singing "Rise up shepherd and follow".

On this first Sunday of Advent Major Clay starts a new sermon series entitled "Loves comes...". This week he speaks about how love comes graciously to us. The title of his sermon is "Unfaithfully Yours" and you can hear it here.

Also you might want to listen to our Songsters sing "Lo how a rose e'er blooming" and the Band play "By the light of that star".

An added bonus is to hear the band and congregation singing "Away in a manger". Every year at this time Bandmaster Jim Black plays his mother's favorite christmas carol, Once in Royal David's City, as an offertory. You can hear this short piano interlude here.

It's the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day (held on Thursday this week) here in the USA, and people everywhere wish each other a "Happy Thanksgiving". We do too!

Major Clay opines that he is always happiest when he is happy (it really makes sense!) and looks at the last and eleventh doctrine of The Salvation Army which speaks of the "eternal happiness of the righteous" in his sermon. You can hear his thoughts by clicking here.

Listen to the band playing "I know Thou Art Mine" and our Songsters singing "Benedictis Laudis".

We wish you a safe and blessed (synonym for "happy") Thanksgiving!

That immortal philosopher Snoopy once remarked, "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you place the blame!"

We've been off the air for a few weeks, we hope you noticed, and we're blaming it on technical difficulties and medical emergencies!
However we're back, and we hope you hold us blameless! Major Clay explores how it is we are able to believe that we can be held blameless by God in his sermon this week. You can listen to it here.

You can also listen to our Songsters (Choir) sing "Adoration" and "Power" and the band playing "I surrender all".

Do you remember the parable of the prodigal son?

The younger son decides that he knows all about life, and takes his inheritance from his dad. He strikes out on his own, throwing away all his money on parties, flat screen t.v.s, drugs, expensive cars, and women. Well, maybe not flat screen t.v.s.



He ends up destitute, and is forced to take a job minding pigs. Remember - he's Jewish. Not many jobs could be worse.



As he sits watching the pigs eat garbage, and considers doing the same himself, he thinks, 'Why am I sitting here wishing I was eating garbage? My dad has lots of employees who are treated better than this. Maybe he will forgive me enough to hire me as the toilet cleaner at his office building...I should go back and apply for a menial job in his company. It would beat sitting here starving in the mud.'



He goes back to his dad's estate, and trudges up the long path. As he approaches the house, he sees a man standing, waiting, on the veranda. The man sees the son, and starts to run towards him, arms open, smile on his face. It is his dad.



The son is not hired back as a menial worker. Instead, he is welcomed back with a big celebration, new clothes, and full restoration to his place as son. Wow.



'Hah!', you say. 'Sounds pretty unrealistic to me! What father would react that way to a son who stole his money and ran off?'



Major Clay reminded us of our seventh doctrine on Sunday:


We believe that repentance towards God,
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,
and regneration by the Holy Spirit, are necessary to salvation.



When the prodigal son realized what a mess he had made of his life, he was sorry. Really sorry. (This is the repentance part). In the back of his mind, all along, was a small thought that his father wouldn't turn him away. ( Faith...you see where this is going?) When the son got home, the father helped erase the memory of those past actions, giving him fresh clothing, a warm welcome, and...(regeneration, right?).



The truth is that the story of the prodigal son really happens. Our heavenly Father is waiting on the veranda, hoping to see us walk down the path towards the house. He's even holding a new set of clothes just for us.



If you were at the meeting on Sunday, you would have heard the Band playing a beautiful arrangement of Stracathro, the Songsters singing a choral benediction, and best of all, our own Major Clay back in the pulpit teaching after a well-deserved vacation.



If you weren't there, you missed seeing pictures of the Majors' vacation! We hope to see you next week.

It is possible to be at one with God!

This week Major Clay continues his series of sermons based on the doctrines of The Salvation Army with a discussion of The Atonement. Is it really such a mystery, secret or conundrum? You can listen to Major Clay's answers here.

You can also listen to our band and congregation singing "How Great Thou Art", the songsters singing "Beautiful Savior", and the band playing "I surrender all".

Don't forget that although you can listen here we'd love to fellowship with you in person! Come and join us!

Tough Problems - Powerful Solution!

In his sermon this week, Major Clay has arrived at the 5th of the doctrines of The Salvation Army. This is the one which deals with Sin and our helplessness to avoid it. You'll want to listen to it here.
You can also listen to our songsters singing "All that I am" and the band playing "Jesus is all I need".

Webmaster's note: We are still trying new recording techniques. You may hear a difference in the recording of the sermon as we switch microphones. Write and tell us which sound you prefer!

The Salvation Army's Doctrine #4 teaches us that Jesus was "...truly and properly God and truly and properly man...". For centuries mankind has tried to pigeon-hole Him as one or the other, but the revealed mystery is that He is both at the same time!

Major Clay tackles this subject in this week's sermon about God Incarnate which you can hear here.

Our audio bonuses this week include our songsters singing "A New Song" and our praise team leading the congregation in "There is a Redeemer".

Some of you may have noticed that we have used a different recording technique this week. This allows you to hear much more of the congregation's interaction during our worship. If you prefer this technique or the previous one, drop the webmaster an email note and express your opinion!

Trinity => Tri (three) + Unity(one)

This week Major Clay nearly caused an allergic reaction in the congregation by referring to "New Math"! But all turned out well. He was just illustrating how we get to our 3rd Doctrine which says that there are "...three persons in the Godhead...". Check out the sermon for yourself by clicking here.

We have some audio bonuses this week beginning with our Songsters singing a piece by Majors Ian and Isabel Robinson titled "You Are...". Our Band resurrected an oldie-but-goodie march "Duke Street" reminiscent of the first tune many a brass band member ever learned to play! The Band finishes with a postlude we've been using for several weeks - the lovely hymn tune "Repton" (named after a school in England).

We hope you enjoy our worship offerings this week.

What does The Salvation Army believe about God?

Our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th doctrines encapsulate our thinking:

2. We believe that there is only on God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship.


3. We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead - the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.


4. We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that he is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.


Since Majors Clay and Pam were vacationing with their family this week, our sermon was brought to us by Craig Arnold.
Craig points out the biblical basis for all that we believe about God as laid out in the 2nd doctrine. You can listen to his sermon here.

[Webmaster's note: Much of Craig's sermon was visual.
To get the punchline of his opening story, extend your arms with the fists having one thumb pointing up and the other down!
"Satan's sweet spot" represents all those who say they believe, but never put that belief into practice by praying, reading the scriptures or worshipping with others.]


Our audio bonus this week is our band playing an arrangement of "St. Peter". Click here to listen.

"We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice."
(The 1st doctrine of The Salvation Army)


In looking at our fundamental Christian beliefs Major Clay Gardner starts at the beginning! He looks at the very foundations of all our beliefs in this sermon entitled "The Gospel of God". You'll hear the Major ask you to follow along with his passage of scripture which is found in 2 Timothy 3:10-17. You can listen to the sermon here.

Our audio bonus this week is our band playing a very old selection - My Soul's Longing - by Kenneth Ketteringham. Click here to hear the band.

Starting August 30th 2009, Major Clay began a new series of sermons which examine what it is we believe. As he points out in this introductory sermon, what's important is not so much what believe about, as what we believe in! Click here to listen to the sermon.

We have two audio bonuses this week - our band plays the hymn tune arrangement "Troyte" and the songsters present "Because we believe."

The Second Touch

The Salvation Army belongs to a tradition of evangelical christianity known as the "Holiness Movement". In the UK and Americas this movement was spread by the radical (for its time) preaching of John and Charles Wesley and their "methodist" forms of worship.

In this sermon entitled "The Second Touch", Major Clay Gardner gives as clear an exposition of this teaching as you will hear, based on Mark 8 where Jesus touches a blind man not once, but twice to restore complete sight. You can hear Major Clay's sermon here.

As an audio bonus, here is our (much depleted) band playing an arrangement of the hymn tune "Stella" and the postlude "Repton".

What's your excuse?

Do you feel inadequate? Un- eloquent? Inelegant? Not experienced enough? Not measuring up to your full potential?

Well don't beat yourself up too badly! As Major Clay points out in this week's sermon, you are in good company with some famous characters in Scripture! What you will be by the Grace of God may be inconceivable, but is not impossible and may be inevitable!

Check out the sermon here.

[Webmaster's note: We had a bit of an audio glitch this week, so if Clay's transition from Paul's advice to Timothy to Moses' word skills seems a little abrupt, that's because of how we had to edit things! We apologize for any inconvenience this caused! (and that's our excuse!)]

Diligent Initiative

Majors Clay and Pam are having some well-deserved vacation. We were privileged to have Captain Moy Hernandez be our guest preacher this last Sunday. You can listen to his sermon titled "Diligent Initiative" here.

Is God Enough for You?

Major Clay tackled this subject in this sermon on Sunday July 19th.
If you were traveling or just want to hear it again, just click here.

Don't forget, you can hear the full Christian Discipline Sermon Series here.

Come! Celebrate!

We had much to celebrate this week. We held a very successful Vacation Bible School. Major Clay concludes the Christian Disciplines Sermon Series this week with a sermon entitled "Come! Celebrate!".

The kids from VBS treated us to a song, so no Songster recording this week, but we've included the band playing "God's Children" and the postlude hymn tune "Rachie".

Exalted!

Our service today was a little unusual in that we started with the sermon and left all the music until after Major had finished preaching.
Sort of like watching fireworks - always better to have the "oohs" and "ahhs" follow the "boom"!

Major Clay continued the Christian Disciplines series with the discipline of Worship and a sermon entitled "Exalted".

We did have music, and so here is our band playing the exuberant march "Alderney" and our songsters singing "Praise His Holy Name".

---

We were delighted to share in the joy of Dean and Imogene Grey who were just recently married. They thought we should also share in cake, as seen below!

My God Story

Several people in our congregation today were asked to share their "God Story" with us. This was a great time of testimony.
Major Clay continued the "Christian Discipline" series with a sermon entitled "My God Story". It's filled with practical advice from the scripture about about our confession and profession of christianity. At the end he tells us (quoting Peter) to "prepare your minds for action"!

So here's the challenge - if you had only one minute to make an impression on someone about Christ (imagine they just got in an elevator with you, and you'll never see them again), what would you tell them?
Prepare your mind for action and rehearse that God Story now!

For bonus audio this week we have our band playing "I have decided to follow Jesus" and the songsters singing "How Excellent is Thy Name".

What a fellowship!

Koinonia (fellowship) was Paul’s favourite word to describe a believer’s relationship with the risen Lord and the benefits of salvation which come through Him. On the basis of faith, believers have fellowship with the Son (I Corinthians 1:9). We share fellowship in the Gospel (I Corinthians 9:23; Philippians 1:5). Believers also share together a fellowship with the Holy Spirit (II Corinthians 13:14), which the apostle understood as the most important bond for unity in the life of the church (Philippians 2:1-4).

Major Clay Gardner continues his series on the christian disciplines with this sermon on the discipline of Fellowship.

Our bonus audio this week features our songsters with the biblical question "What can separate us from the love of God?" with the believers' affirmation - "Nothing Can"!

Bill & Libby Johnstone

Service with a smile

We had a busy Sunday today! Much serving and celebrating to do!

Major Clay continued his sermon series on The Christian Disciplines by reminding us that "service" and "worship" are not merely synonyms in Hebrew and Greek (the languages of the Bible), they are exactly the same word! You can listen to Major Clay's sermon here - or you can get the whole series to date here. Our bonus audio this week is our songsters singing "For Thy Service".

Our good friends Bill and Libby Johnstone celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary with us, and they provided they cake for our mix-and-mingle food-and-fellowship time after the morning service. It is this editor's opinion that they must barely have been teenagers when they married to look so young after 55 years! We all wish them many more blessed and happy years together!


Frode Frafjord is our pet Norwegian!

The celebrations continued into the evening with the "Second Annual Aussie Barbeque and Generally Good Time". This event is sponsored by Sacred Grounds, our women's fellowship group, led by the inimitable Anne Arnold. Since it is well known that our current most favorite Norwegian person is Frode Frafjord who is on loan to us from Oslo, and since it was Frode's birthday, we decided to make a fuss of him, make him wear a silly hat, and eat more cake! It appears that Frode enjoyed only one of those activities!

The BBQ was a huge success this year with over 80 folks showing up to eat hamburgers with cheese, fried eggs, canadian bacon, onions and pineapple! In spite of the strange culinary combinations a generally good time was had by all!

Anne is leaving us for a few weeks to give her family an immersion course in Australian customs, language and manners. Please pray for journeying mercies for the Arnold family.

The photographs below show just a small sampling of folks at the BBQ.


Yup - that's hamburger with fried egg!


This is how a fearless Aussie attacks her food!


Can you believe she's doing that?


Totally amazing!


Now that's what I'm talkin' about!


Can't wait for the 3rd annual BBQ!

Great question! Major Clay has some answers in the next installment of the "Christian Disciplines" sermon series.

If you didn't get all the answers on Sunday and would like to try again, or you just want to listen in for the first time, then clicking here will let you listen to the whole sermon.

Other audio bonuses this week include our Youth Band playing "Jesus Bids Us Shine", the ladies of the Songsters singing "Be Still", and the band playing "Jesus Loves Me".

Don't forget you can listen to the whole sermon series, back-to-back, as they are recorded by clicking over to the Sermon Audio page here.

Collect 'em all!

...sermons that is!

We've made it easy for you to listen to all the sermons in the "Christian Disciplines" series by creating a special webpage for them.

Hear Major Clay Gardner (and some guest speakers) on this exciting learning journey in holy living and the learning experiences the Holy Spirit has for us.

To go to the sermon series page just click here

Major Clay in fine form!

Stubbornness!

No, we're not talking about Major Clay - although he was bound and determined to preach today!

The title refers to Peter the Fisherman, who would never actually say the words! What words? If you heard Major Clay's sermon today you already know, if not listen again here.

We've included the band playing "I will follow thee" as a bonus this week.

We were praising God that Major Clay was with us - no more guest speakers for a while! He started off sitting on a stool, but as the Holy Spirit energized him, he could stand it and stood! (How's that for a little irony?)

This week's sermon is part of our "Christian Disciplines" series and covers the discipline of Surrender

Intercession

in·ter·ces·sion
(noun) Middle English, from Latin "intercedere"
prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another

Major Clay continues to heal and improve and thanks all who are interceding on his behalf! (You might want to check out his comments on "Pastor's Pitch" here!)[link removed...]

For our meeting on Memorial Sunday we were greatly privileged to have Major Patrick Granat and his wife Major Kitty Granat visiting us. Major Patrick brought us a challenging sermon which continues our study of the christian disciplines - learning experiences - this time on intercession. You can listen again (or for the first time) to this stimulating sermon by clicking here. We also are pleased to present our band playing "Sweet Hour of Prayer" and our songsters singing "Somebody prayed for Me".

"Challenge" seems to be the word-of-the-month for our corps, and we were delighted to discover at the end of our "let's-see-if-the-musicians-can-out-give-the-congregation" food pantry appeal, that over 1300lbs of food was donated in total. Major Pam said that at least 50 families would benefit this month from that effort. Look for the group totals and some photos in a future report. Praise be to God for the blessings we have experienced through this giving effort. We'll certainly do it again! A huge "thanks" goes to all who participated so joyfully!

Give in, give out, give up!

Christian Discipline series continues with Giving

Major Clay continues to improve and expects to be released from hospital on Monday, May 18th. He was not able to be (physically) with us this Sunday, but the sermon series on the Christian Disciplines continued with the discipline of giving. You can listen to B/M Jim Black share his thoughts on this subject by clicking here to hear a slightly shortened recording of his sermon entitled "Give in, give out, give up!".

Our audio bonuses this week consist of the band playing the mediation "I bring thee all", and the songsters singing "Christ's Part".

In Major Clay's recuperation we are pleased to let you know that next week's sermon will be about the discipline of Intercession and will be brought to us by Major Patrick Granat.

Time Out

Major Clay is recovering from surgery this week (please check the Prayer List for updates), so we had the pleasure of hearing from Major Pam Gardner on Mothers' Day.

Major Pam continues the Christian Disciplines sermon series with thoughts on meditation. Not the "transcendental" kind which only seems to be designed to separate the unwary weary mind from hard-earned cash, but the biblical kind which fully engages all our attention. You can listen to Major Pam's thoughtful and stimulating sermon by clicking here.

We have several audio bonuses for you this week. You can hear our band and congregation singing "The Wonder of His Grace" here, our Songsters singing "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I", here.

Our band meditates on the hymn tune "St. Agnes" here, and plays G.F. Handel's wonderful melody from "Maccabeus" as a postlude here.

The musicians versus the congregation challenge to raise food for our food pantry is going exceedingly well. Our barrels are overflowing and one group may be slightly ahead, but it changes on a minute-by-minute basis! This challenge extends throughout the month of May.

Don't forget the E100 challenge. We are now on week 3. Stop by the foyer if you need to pick up materials to participate in this challenge to read through the Bible in a year. You can also check out the readings here.

Whistler, B.C.

Climb The Steeps!

On Sunday 3rd May, Major Clay continued his sermon series on the christian disciplines. This week's discipline is prayer. Find out why Major thinks we've all been robbed, by listening to his sermon here!

As an audio bonus this week we've included our songsters singing "In the secret of Thy presence" and the band playing "Teach Me".

Please pray for Major Clay as he will be out of commission for the next couple of weeks due to his scheduled surgery on Thursday May 7th.!Chr

Keep your head down!

One of the great "disciplines" in golf.

This past Sunday Major Clay started with a good golf story, but the sermon wasn't about golf, it was about discipline - Christian discipline.

If you missed it, or just want to hear it again, then click here.

Our bonus audio this week is our songsters singing "This Day"