"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."

Surprise!!

It was like a dream… There I was on the 18th green, getting ready to putt.  I’ve seen it on TV hundreds of times.  A crowd had gathered around to watch—complete with photographers (one from a local paper). I lined up my putt—it was a long one.  My daughter Joy (one of the photographers) says, “Hold on Dad.”  I paused for a couple more seconds and then I putted.  What a lousy putt. 

But I’m the only one who groaned, and then as I look up from my putt, there in full uniform was my son.

I tell people I’ve felt like crying on the golf course many times—but this time I actually did.  It took a bit to compose myself.  Jason and the crowd were all pleased that I was taken by surprise.  Turns out Pam had had her turn an hour or so earlier.

It was hard to believe—Jason had tried to arrange leave a couple of times earlier in the summer without success—but he is here.  Seeing is believing!!


Jesus once told Thomas, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." John 20:29


“Whosoever believes…” two of the prominent words in the most prominent verse of the Bible.  But a slight pause here might make us wonder “believe what?”

Yeah, we believe, most people do.  But what do we believe?  Starting Sunday we’re beginning a sermon series designed to answer that very question.  The Series is entitled simply, “We Believe”.  Hope you’ll join us.

See you Sunday,   Major Clay

Social Services

For many people the face of The Salvation Army is not our excellent church activities, but our Social Services. For many years one of the mottos of the "Army" was, "with heart to God, and hand to man". Our Founder, William Booth, famously remarked, "you can't preach to a man on an empty stomach!" We seek to serve our community in Jesus' name too and that's where our Social Services Department comes in. Lauri Vint and Karen Shreve are assisted by volunteers who donate time and resources to help those in our community who find themselves in need. You can find the following summary of our services here.

FOOD PANTRY

Our Food Pantry is open for walk-in clients on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. Thursday hours are from 2:00 pm until 7:00 pm. It is open for residents of Central Contra Costa County. We offer non-perishable food, along with fresh items, like meat, milk and produce when available.

Eligible clients can come every 30 days.

All you need is an ID for you and your family members, a piece of mail with your name and address, and verification of any income you receive.




We have many other programs for those seeking help such as:-


* Assistance with Past Due PG&E Bills

* Back to School Clothing & Backpacks

* Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Food Baskets & Toys

* Reasonably Priced Summer and After-School Programs

* Dog & Cat Food and Cat Litter

* Baby Items (clothing, furnishings, diapers, etc. when available)

…..and lots more!


If we don’t do it, we might be able to help you find a place that does!

For more information
Call us at 925-676-6180 ext 10 or 11

Golf Tournament is Huge Success!

Due to the sustained efforts of members of our Advisory Board - especially David Cantando and Scott Singley, aided by Susan Pierce - our first annual Pro-Am golf tournament turned out to be a resounding success! The Contra Costa Country Club hosted the event in spectacular fashion. With the help of sponsors and professional golfers from around the area we were almost at capacity for this first of its kind event in our county. Members of the Corps including young people from our basketball teams showed up to help with the myriad of logistical chores which go on behind the main golfing scene. Many individuals and corporate sponsors donated items for the silent auction. Advisory Board Chair Chuck Graham took photographs of every group which were presented at the awards dinner at the end of the day (You can view Chuck's handiwork here).

Big Surprise!

Those in the know were having a hard time containing the secret of the day. Major Clay and Pam's son Jason - currently serving with the U.S. Army in S. Korea - was arriving home without their knowledge for a month's leave! Since Major Clay was participating in the golf tournament he did not find out until Jason walked out to greet him on the 18th green. The pictures tell the story better than any words!

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Overall it was a marvelous day which will help us reach our goal of building a gymnasium for the young people of our neighborhood!

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!)]

This is a guest article by Capt. Wendy Parkhill who is the Corps Officer (Pastor) at the Ayr Citadel Corps in Scotland. [Webmaster]

Summer Fun!

Summer Fun – Jesus

A few years ago now we bought a tent on impulse. It was a bargain and we decided that we would give camping a go. Some folk thought we were mad to try camping with a young family but nothing could curb our enthusiasm!!! We went away that first summer and it rained the whole week! Everything was damp, but we loved it! The kids enjoyed the novelty of the tent, and it was just a great experience.

These days we still try to get away in the tent, and even if we’re not going away somewhere we will still put the tent up in the back garden and sleep out a few nights.
The tent has been up in the garden for about a week now and we’ve had two nights out in the tent. BBQ, campfire, the lot! I just love sitting round the campfire, for one when you’re near the fire the midges [gnats] don’t come near you, and secondly it’s nice and warm. We never got as far as singing round the camp fire, but we did toast a bag or two of marshmallows.

It was wonderful…11 o’clock at night, darkness had fallen, but we sat there, toasting marshmallows, still able to see because of the light from the fire, enjoying the warmth that it was giving. I could see everyone round the fire was smiling, as the light reflected of their faces.

As I sat, I was reminded that Jesus is the light of the world, but also that we should be the light of the world too, reflecting His light into this dark world. Jesus said: ‘my light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so that the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.’ (John 12:35-36)

I remember listening to a sermon some time ago where the preacher was talking about a bonfire and all the people gathered round. He said that he imagined that it was Jesus in the centre of the circle of people. He observed that those who were closest to the fire, had a light shining from their face, the faces that were a bit further from the fire were not illuminated so brightly. He concluded that if we want to be reflectors of the light of Christ then we need to be close to him.

Stay close to the light of Christ and feel the warmth of his love, repel the midges or the attacks of the devil, and reflect his light to this world. Live as children of light!

Shine, Jesus shine. Fill this land with the Fathers Glory
Blaze, Spirit blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river flow, flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your word, Lord and let there be light!

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.

Weee!
by Major Clay Gardner

When Pam was pregnant with our daughter Joy, we flew from San Francisco to Orlando, to visit her parents. Pam was still in the morning sickness phase of her pregnancy. We were concerned with the flight and for good reason. We flew all the way across country in a Boeing 737,  one of the smaller airliners. On the way home we had a layover in Dallas.

Approaching Dallas it got real bumpy. I began to get concerned for Pam. I would have been more concerned except that I was afraid if I concentrated too hard on any one thing, I might get sick. Pam on the other hand (who gets carsick driving across town) was fine.

I read a story recently by a man who was on a really bumpy flight. The plane was getting tossed about pretty good. Next to him was a young boy who was obviously terrified of the whole ordeal.

The man gripped his armrests, looked over at the young traveler and said "Weeeee!!!" Then he said to the boy, "Are you scared?" the boy nodded. "But this is fun!" Suddenly the boy's expression changed and the man and the boy spent the rest of the flight enjoying the ride.

I daresay that you won't find too many people enjoying the ride on an airplane being tossed about by a windy day. Overall it really isn't a pleasant experience!” and most of us have a hard time enjoying unpleasant experiences. It takes a person of deep, inner joy to find a reason to be happy when life isn't.

Now the Apostle Paul and his disciple, Silas had plenty of reason to be happy. When they visited Philippi they had started a small Bible Study and more and more people were coming to know God through it. People were being delivered from idol worship, from sickness, from all sorts of problems; they even cast a demon out of a slave girl.

Of course the slave girl's owner had used her and her demon to tell the future for a price and he wasn't too happy about the loss of income. Likewise the idol makers were losing business. So these businessmen gave Paul and Silas the business by concocting some lies that got Paul and Silas beaten and thrown in jail.

Personally, right about here I would have gotten a bit perplexed, perhaps even discouraged. To think, the reward for all the good they were doing was a back ripped raw with a whip and being thrown in jail. I think that most of us believe that good deeds are rewarded with goodness. But what happens when it's rewarded with evil? That's when we get grumpy!

Except Paul and Silas didn't get grumpy, they got happy! The inner joy - the joy that lived deep within them - surfaced in that jail. They realized that they were being punished for doing the work of God and that if they weren't doing it very well, no one - including Satan would have cared. So they rejoiced!

1 Thessalonians 5:16, "Rejoice always," and John 11:35, "Jesus wept." are the two shortest verses in the Bible. Jesus wept has fewer letters and so technically it is the shorter verse. Except, in the original Greek, the verse Jesus wept consisted of three words while rejoice always only had two - making it the shortest verse in the Bible.

As short as these verses are, they speak to a huge truth. You see, it is when we realize that it was His great love for us that caused Jesus to weep, that we really have something to rejoice about.

Now, perhaps you're thinking, "Boy, I wish I had that kind of inner joy." Well my friend, I have good news for you: Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. We don't need to work on being more joyful or happier people - we just need to work on being more like Christ - and the joy will come.

Because "...the fruit of the Spirit is...joy!" (Gal 5:22)  So enjoy the ride!