The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy." -- Robert Burns, Scots Poet.

For non-Scots speakers out there, "Gang aft a-gley" is reasonably translated as "Often end up in a mess". And that's just the way things looked to be heading last weekend. A hallelujah mess! Our Majors are still away on their anniversary-celebration-vacation-cruise and they had tied up all the loose ends to ensure that their congregation would be properly shepherded in their absence. Jim was assigned to preach on the doctrine of justification by grace through faith, a subject he loves to talk about. And he was ready to go - except for the small detail that he ended up the emergency room for most of Saturday with a very inconvenient pain, and could not physically fulfill his assignment on Sunday.

In the non-Christian worship world this might be a drama of the first order, but to quote Charles Wesley: "Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, And looks to God alone; Laughs at impossibilities, And cries it shall be done!" God still had plans to bless us on Sunday morning, He just had to change His mouthpiece!

Craig Arnold is a young man who is enthusiastic and articulate about the God-inspiration of our doctrines and is not afraid to let God use him on a moment's notice!

Those who were in attendance were abundantly blessed - in spite of our plans!

The doctrine speaks of "justification by grace", which is not something our "I-am-powerful-and-can-do-it-all-by-myself" generation likes to explore. Our court systems are set up so that you will launch a vigorous defence of your actions even although the facts tell a different story! Hmmm, let's just try and have those inconvenient facts labeled as "inadmissable"! Were you read your rights by God before this trial? Flimsy, but it's about the best hope we have! This kind of defense is called "justification by law", and the Scripture goes to great lengths to point out that it will always be a losing battle. After all, The Judge in this case already has all the facts at His disposal! Sorry folks! Legal Justification is going to lead to a death sentence, and you know it!

The Scripture says the only way to be declared "justified" (note - it doesn't say "not guilty" because you already know you are!) is to use the alternative path of grace. Throw yourself on the mercy of the court! A great portion of the New Testament is devoted to providing evidence that this technique works, every time! Enter the star witness for the accused - The Holy Spirit! This is the great "Justification by Grace through Faith" which leads to a full and complete pardon, the assumption of all the rights, privileges and appurtenances due to a child of God! It just gets better and better! And it's simple and easy to understand!

But wait, there's more!

We've laid plans and dreamt up schemes to have a great time worshipping God next week. Why not join us. Be assured that God will be glorified even if our plans end up in a mess!

Webmaster

PS. Our sound engineers were also indisposed so we don't have any recordings from this weekend. Make sure you don't miss a word! Show up in person!

If you were at church on Sunday, you would have enjoyed hearing the welcome and announcements from Mike, the Band selection ably led by Bram, the Songsters singing on their own accompanied by Susan, and the message skillfully taught by Craig.

Did you know that all of these leaders got a call on Saturday to fill in for Jim Black, our own CSM and Bandmaster, who was suffering at the emergency room? (By the way, keep praying for Jim. It looks like all that pain was caused by gall stones, which have to come out by surgery).

To top it off, our Pastors, Clay and Pam, are on vacation.

Houston, we had a problem!

It's a good thing we worship a God who has all the details under control. He was directing the service on Sunday, and his Spirit was there assuring us of the truth of our Doctrine: We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.

Thank goodness God is control!

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!

Nice Surprises!

You can probably tell from the eyes that the newest member of our church family is Liam David McKaigg who was born at 10:03pm September 30th.

Liam weighed in at 6.5 pounds and 19 inches long.  Dad Mike says he is a "big, strong, healthy boy".  

Mom and baby are doing fantastic! No mention of how dad Mike and sister Emily are faring!

Congratulations from all of us to Mike and Debbie!




Unless you check the Pastoral Team page on our website regularly, you may not have noticed that we have some new formal portraits of our pastors - Majors Clay and Pam Gardner.

These portraits were taken by Jennifer Fink who is the daughter of our Advisory Board Chairman Chuck Graham. If you are in the market for some family photograph work you might check out Jennifer's website here.

As seen on TV! (Our thanks to ABC7 News) - Our food pantry is running out of food! Demand is exceeding supply!
How can you help?

Our typical food box includes....

Canned Fruits, Canned Veggies, Tuna, Peanut Butter, Tomato/Spaghetti Sauce, Soup, Canned beans (pork & Beans, Refried, etc), Canned meals (ravioli, chili, beef stew, etc), Mac & Cheese, Cereal, Snacks, Baking items (cake mixes, pancake mixes, sugar, etc), Extras (condiments, spices, sauces/gravies), Dry soup (top ramen, Lipton onion soup), Packaged Sides (noodle roni, rice a roni, stuffing, etc), Dry pasta, Dry beans, rice, as well as meat, bread and fresh produce.

As you can see, we can take almost anything and make it part of our boxes. Donation of any of the items above would make a huge difference to us.

Things that are needed outside of those food items are diapers (size 3 and up...everyone donates the little sizes as their babies grow out of them), baby formula, baby food, laundry soap, dish soap, toilet paper, feminine products, shampoo, toothpaste & body soap.

Just drive by and drop off items during any of the hours we're open!

Click here to see our Social Services link.

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!

Angela and Mateo Martinez

Everyone loves a wedding and our own Angela Vargas married her longtime sweetheart today in our sanctuary.
Click here to see more photos.

Congratualtions Angela and Mateo!

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.