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[Music] [Music] [Music] hey there welcome to OAC in Vancouver
now let me show you what O's experience looks like here we value diversity we are a blend
of cultures and ethnicities and people come to worship together from all corners of the globe
where all you United every Sabbath in worshiping our creator by 11:00 a.m. the sanc
tuary comes
alive and the sounds of our worship Band fill the air inviting everyone to sing in praise and
our spiritual journey doesn't stop there we dive deep into teachings share personal testimonies
and grow in faith and understanding together and if you like coffee like I do then our Cafe is
the place to be every Saturday morning they are serving up goodness in a cup paired with delicious
treats it really is the perfect place to mingle chat and enjoy each other's company after the
serv
ice we invite you to join us for food and fun and fellowship CU here at OAC breaking bread
together is more than just a tradition it is a celebration of our shared Journey so regardless
of what you're looking for if it's spiritual growth making new connections or just enjoying
a good cup of coffee with some great music we invite you to come experience our community and
discover the transformative love of Jesus see you soon hello I'm Stan hubor from Oakridge Adventist
Church here we are more
than a church We Are Family we're United in faith and in
Fellowship last year uh thanks to your generous um donations and contribution we we
enhanced our lobby we created a nice space we uh have comfortable seating there now and
it's very welcoming very warm and I'm very grateful that we were able to uh pull off
this project we know our lower hols they fall a little short now they have really
old chairs they're falling apart the paint is not as great anymore and uh you know it's
also very
echoey there we have a lot of uh reverberance in the room and it sometimes is
hard to do some great presentations there or even to have nice conversations now we envision
to update this uh area we'd like to put a fresh code of paint there we like to improve the
Acoustics to actually help having those uh community events to have presentations there
or maybe even uh host some music our goal is to raise it between $ 35,000 to $40,000 every
contribution matters no matter the size please help u
s with this it will help to create more
opportunities to increase those friendships with each other and to let the faith grow
contributing is simple just visit our site at o vancouver.com there's a nice box there you can drop an envelope in there and
you Market as hll with your contribution at Oakridge our doors
are open to everyone let's build a community that can Thrive and grow
in faith and in Fellowship thank you what is love it isn't a noun love is not
a thing you don't possess love y
ou don't keep loving a jar on your shelf so when people come
over you can pull it down and say look this is my love isn't it pretty no love is a verb
a verb expresses action you don't have love you do love love is dynamic it disrupts and
dissolves our preconceptions and prejudgments of others when we do love we bind ourselves to
each other love is sticky it's messy once you get a little on you it's hard to shake love
is the superglue of the human race John 3:16 because God Loved a dynamic a
ction the world
every human being whether you are black brown white male female Christian Catholic atheist
Muslim straight gay a transgender it doesn't matter because God loves you how do we know
remember that Dynamic action God let us murder his perfect son as the payment for our lack of
doing love First Corinthians 13 God is patient God is kind God is not jealous God does not
brag God is Not prideful God is not rude God is not selfish God is not easily angered God
does not keep a list of
mistakes God does not enjoy evil God protects God trusts God hopes
God perseveres because God is love and God never fails see morning um we thank you for coming
here today this morning um happy Lunar New Year to all those that celebrate um we
ask that you please stand with us as we [Music] sing have you ever seen the
Wonder in the glimmer of her sight as the eyes begin to open and the blindness meet the light if it h
so say I see the world in light I see the world in wonder I see the world
in life bursting Living
Color I see the world your way I'm walking in the light have you ever seen the Wonder let's clap our [Music] [Applause] [Music]
hands have you come out of the water the old one left behind if you have so
say I see the world in light I see the world in wonder I see the world in life bursting a Living
Color I see the world your way I'm working in [Music] the I see the world
in Grace I see the world in gospel I see the world your way I'm walking in the light walking in
the is the Wonder in the World Wilderness to [Music] wonder
have so say I see the world in love I see the world in Freedom I see
the Jesus way you're the Wonder in [Music] the I see the world your way I see the
world your way I'm not afraid to follow I see the world your way I'm not ashamed to say so I
see the Jesus way and I'm walking in the light I see the world in light I see the world
in light I see the world in wonder I see the world in life singing Liv color I see the
world walking
in the light I see the world in Grace I see the world in Grace I see the world in gospel I see the world your
way and I'm walking in the light I'm in the wonder you're the Wonder in the wild to Wilderness to wonder come
on Church how say I see the world in love I see the world in Freedom I see the
Jesus way you're the Wonder in the world you're the Wonder in the world you're the Wonder in the
world let's give God a hand amen um we ask that you please turn
to the person next to you greet the
m a happy Sabbath good morning
ask them how their week has been [Music] I'll this next song is um it was actually
a song that is um my husband really likes this song actually and it was a bit of a throwback
um it's something that brings me back to high school and um when I was Rel listening this song I
don't know if you've ever had um something similar moment but um when you listen to a song again
and it kind of hits you different when I was meditating on the words I realized the song is
k
ind of like a love song um it talks about how you know we we recognize that every time that
we fail God is there his Everlasting Light will always shine even when everything seems like you
know there's there's no hope it's all dark but the song The it says you know we want to love you from
the inside out just like what the um video earlier was saying that love is a verb it's not something
that's on the surface you don't tell your your spouse your partner your son your daughter you
don't jus
t say I love you just on the surface it comes from the inside and um I ask that that
may be our prayer this morning that the love that we the way that we worship comes from the inside
no matter if that's you know meditating on these words if that means singing you know however you
feel most comfortable worshiping um may he fill us on the inside side um let's just pray for one
dear God thank you for this sabbath morning that we're here together to worship you I pray Lord
that you may fill th
is place fill our hearts May our love for you extend outwards from the inside
may it be a blessing may we we lift our praise to you in whatever way is most comfortable
we thank you Lord for all that you've done [Music] amen thousand times I failed your
Mery remains should I Stumble again still I'm CAU in your grace Everlasting your light will shine when all else Fades never
ending Your Glory goes beyond all [Music] Fame will Above All Else my purpose Remains the
art of losing myself in brin
ging you praise Everlasting your light will shine when
all else face never ending Your Glory goes beyond all things hey my heart and my
soul I give you control consume Me From the Inside Out Lord let Justice and praise
become My Embrace to love you from the inside out Everlasting your life will shine
when all never ending Your Glory goes beyond all Fame and the Cry of my heart is to bring
you praise from the out of my soul CRI out [Music] lift it up to you God all our burdens
all our worri
es Lord we ask that you may fill our [Music] [Applause] [Music] hearts my heart and
my soul I give you control consum Me From the Inside Out Lord let Justice and praise become
My Embrace to love you from the inside out Everlasting your light will shine when all hell
face never ending Your Glory goes beyond all and the Cry of my heart is to bring you praise
coming in out Lord my soul [Music] Christ [Music] our scripture for today is Ephesians 1 3-6
blessed be the God and father of our Lord J
esus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every
spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places even as he chose us in him before the the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love he destined us for adoption
as Sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will in the praise of his glorious
Grace which with which he has blessed us in the Beloved um this um this week's um sermon is about
family love um the love of marriage and the love of um a
parent and yesterday as we were practicing
we had a quick devotion that I just want to share a few lines um that were specific to this song so
it's so easy to forget that we are not only saved but we are also kept by the saving work of Jesus
Christ even through all the sin we can't sin our way out of this relationship with him we are loved
by him it's who we are do not be deceived by your failure or your Circ current circumstance into
thinking that you are anything but fully loved today it
is who you are so we ask that you join
us or meditate on those words as we [Music] sing I've heard a thousand stories of what they think
you're like but I've heard the tender Whisper Of Love in the dead of night you tell me that
you're pleased and that I'm never belone you're a good good father it's who
you are it's who you are it's who you are and I'm loved by you it's
who I am it's who I am it's who I [Music] am I seen many searching for anwers
for and why but I know we're all searching
for an only you provide because you know just
what we need before we say your word you're a good good father it's who you are it's who you
are it's who you are and I'm loved by you it's who I am it's who I am it's who I am you're a
good good father it's who you are it's who you are it's who you are and I'm Lov by you it's who
I am it's who I am it's who I am you are perfect in all of your ways you are perfect in all of
your ways you are perfect in all of your ways to us you are perfect in a
ll of your
ways you are perfect in all of your ways you are perfect in all of your ways to us so undeniable lie can hardly speak Peace So
unexplainable I can't hardly think as you call me deeper still as you call be deeper still as
you you call be deeper still into love love love you're a good good father to you are it's who you
are it's who you are and I'm loved by you it's who I am it's who I am it's who I am you're
a good good father who you are it's who you are it's who you are and I'm
Lov by you it's
who I am it's who I am it's who I [Music] am [Music] let's pray father you truly are a good
good father as we come together in worship this
0:29:57.320,1193:02:47.295
[Music] morning our hearts are full thank you Father for
all that you give to each of us each day what a blessing we take so much for granted father in
our daily lives about where you are at work but we pray this morning as we come together as your
children that your presence will be felt by each one of us fa
ther you are a good father there
is no one else like you you are perfect and sometimes we feel so inadequate As We Gather and
we sing these Praises Lord we just ask that you will forgive us the silliness and the Brokenness
of Our Lives we bring that to you this morning and we offer it up because you are a good father
your hands are reaching out and we just need to be ready to accept your goodness and your mercy
and your grace we accept it this morning God because we want to serve you we wan
t to be like
you we want to be your representatives in our workplaces in our families we want to serve our
communities father we want to be like you fill us with your grace with your mercy with your
kindness may we manifest EST you in the way we live each moment each day we serve you with
our words this morning Father with our music with our praise especially bless our speakers
today Emily and Ryan as they share with you in their Journey what it's like what love is like
through a family an
d father may we come apart from today just feeling refreshed may we feel
we have more purpose we feel that we can come through another week because we've gathered as
your people we've read your word we've sung your praises and we have left this place knowing
that we can make it because you are a good god Your Grace will be poured out on us when we
open our hearts and just receive and so we give this service ourselves our words Our Lives our
actions our intentions to you in jesus' name amen
please be seated today is a really special day for Ryan and I
because February 10 is the anniversary of the day that we met and so how appropriate for us
to be talking today about love when today was the start of ours so of course at the time we
didn't know that we would end up married and with a child but on a snowy day in Baran Springs
Michigan as I guess is probably rather fitting for a school principal and a doctoral student uh we
were introduced on the third floor of the James White li
brary and I was teaching undergrads at
the University Ryan was in his last semester um in a in a master's program and he was headed back
to Canada in four months and so over the course of those four months we had to decide if this
friendship and growing attraction uh was worth investing in or if it was something we should
give up on and it's an investment that I have never regretted and today we are talking about
familial love and how our experience of marriage and Parenthood has really rev
ealed God's love
to each of us and if you're married or you don't have children um don't turn tune out just yet uh
so this familial love that we're talking about um uh they using the context of marriage and the
family does not mean just that so the Greek word for familiar love sto um is not used all that
often in the Bible um but it's foundational to the The overarching Narrative of scripture so
in the helenistic world um that Jesus and the disciples grew up in story was understood to mean
the love of affection between members of a family or group with close connections these ties went
beyond just family though included geography or culture as well a story described belonging to
another person family or group and the affection between them so the Bible is all about God showing
us his familial love he wants us to be a part of his family and creating the ultimate family so we
have God creating a family with Adam and Eve and then the next big family that the Bible discusses
is
Abraham as the father of the family of Israel and though Israel was named after Jacob Abraham's
grandson um then later we have Christ bring into the family those who are outside this Israelite
family and this is this family of spiritual Israel and we are a part of that family God wants us to
join his family and considers anyone who believes in him to be a child of Abraham the New Testament
is full of passages referencing bring people into this family this familial love is not just for
marri
ed people or families but for anyone Desiring to be a part of God's family with all this in
mind am and I would like to share a few ways being married and having and starting a family
has broughten our understanding of God and his love for us so God has used the past six years of
marriage to teach me a lot about his love and the way he works in the world for instance marriage
shs light on a lot of things in me it shows a lot of good but it also shows a lot of bad as much
as is fun um is not
fun to see the the not so good things I think this is a good thing our
relationships whether marriage friendship or in church Community act as a mirror to thing to
see things in ourselves both good and bad when the person does this or that we get frustrated
or angry or happy or sad or selfish or selfless we against people when we're not in relationship
it can be hard harder to see these rough edges there's friction in relationships friction can
seem bad but is actually can be a good thing
friction can create heat to keep us warm or energy
to power things the same is true in relationships I think God designed relationships between people
to have friction friction is a catalyst for growth and change and thinking about this friction your
relationships my mind goes to Proverbs 27:17 it says as iron sharpens iron so one person Chens
another as two people work together to make a life worth living whether that is in a marriage
a friendship or a church Community friction is created
when I was little I remember watching my
grandma Play Sharp rough rocks into the container of her rock polisher let them tumble together
to remove the hard Edge es I was an awe of how smooth and beautiful the Rocks became when the
polisher was done the container of relationships does the same for people like the Rocks we tumble
around knocking the sharp and rough edges off our natures and personalities this friction is not
always easy to take and this is where love comes in I love Emily and
so this love motivates me to
work on those rough edges it pushes me to lean into that friction that sharpening to chip away at
those pointy bits relationships are rock polishers for people as Emily and I go through life we
along with the with the polishing grit of life experience tumble together to form smooth stones
that can bless God's world my relationship with God is a foundation to this process and in a way
is the ultimate rock polisher the love that I have for Emily and the desire fo
r reciprocal sharpening
stems from the outpouring of God's love for me God wants us to be more like him relationships
relational rock polishers or Rock tumblers are the means that God uses to smooth out our hard edges
he uses our relationships to refine us and as a result we can be more effective in the our love
for each other for our son and for those around us more than once I found myself in some kind of
Workshop or conference some group gathering with people that I don't really know and
uh it seems
like the Icebreaker of choice that is kind of forced upon us is uh the game two truths and a lie
are you familiar with with that game um spoiler alert it you play it exactly how it sounds uh so
each person says two things that are true about them and one thing that is a lie and so hopefully
this is not the planned Icebreaker at our next AGM because I'm about to to lose to you all by telling
you uh one of my truths which is that I was not your typical University student in Unive
rsity I
never pulled an all nighter not not one single time I think the closest I got was maybe going
to bed at like 2:00 a.m. and getting up at 5: uh which was more of a nap than night sleep but I
never purposely stayed up all night um there was a trip one time to the UK for my sister's wedding
where I think I was up for like 28 hours straight or something you know trying to beat the jet lag
but other than that if if there was a choice this girl was going to sleep um I would choose sleep
over studying sleep over riding carts through the Walmart parking lot which was a thing that we
did in college um sleep over curling my hair um I just operated better if I could get at least a few
hours of sleep and then I had a baby uh nothing prepares you not even pregnancy insomnia uh for
the sleeplessness that new Parenthood brings and I can see some parents in the audience with a
little a little smirk on their face um my my friends that had babies they told me but nothing
could prepare
me I remember that first night uh after being awake for well over 24 hours like
laboring through the previous night and uh birthing an almost 10B baby that morning um and I
laid our precious son jack into the bassinet next to our bed and proceeded to hear every Sniff and
gurgle and wiggle and and and movement and sigh and anytime there wasn't one of those those things
I I heard that too um for the entire night I swear I didn't sleep the whole night um motherhood
has done a number on me in
that regard and the things that I'm able to do in a day considering
the amount of sleep that I had the night before sometimes is truly miraculous this um I remember
Ryan early on in in Jack's life um pondering aloud if there was some sort of hormone that only moms
had that allowed us to um you know stay awake or operate on less sleep uh because I seem to be able
to you know cheerfully respond to Jack's needs no matter how little sleep I was getting and I
remember that my response to that th
eory was probably a little less cheerful than my response
um to Jack but even when I'm absolutely exhausted there does seem to be this well of energy um
that I can access so I have just a little bit more patience or um can stay up just a little bit
longer just by simply looking into the face of our sweet little boy and this storay love is natural
in me it's instinctual stoate is the type of love that keeps us caring for one another and we see
this playing out in the story in First Kings 17
it's of Elijah um coming across the Widow of zarap
paath in the middle of a drought the whole land is in a drought there's been no rain and this woman
is starving and thirsty and she's Gathering sticks so that she could build a fire and make one last
meal for her and her son she's expending her last bit of physical energy to care for her child and
instead of throwing up her hands and waiting for the inevitable she relies on that caring instinct
to really dig deep and keep on caring and then
she even extends that caring to Elijah even despite
her lack so in the face of scarcity my mother's instinct to care for my child is the same and I
see God's posture towards his children in these demonstrations of storay love it's his instinct
to turn towards us um to meet his children's needs because he created us he's linked to us and just
like my exhausted brain can sense Jack stirring and my body like instinctively reaches for him
almost before my eyes even open God is in tune with our
needs and he is near to us and he is
ready to hear our cries and provide comfort in our distress and satisfy our needs becoming
a dad um has given me a great greater sense of this instinctual love that Emily mentioned and
how God views me as a person and how much he loves me I knew God loved me no matter what before
becoming a dad when I had the experience of having another person to love and care for it deepened
my relationship with God as I look at my son I can picture how God looks at m
e there's nothing my son
can do that would keep me from loving him he grow up and do something terrible but though I might be
sad or disappointed in his actions I don't think that I would stop from loving him I'm not perfect
by any means my love for my son is not perfect either um but at a deeper level I can understand
what motivated God to do what he did in coming to save me he did everything and though I cannot love
perfectly like God does having a son has made me understand God's love mo
re and given me a greater
desire to emulate that love to those around me over the last while I have appreciated
the hip-hop artist Connor price not sure if any of you heard of him if you haven't you
should look him up one of my favorite songs of his is called Jude's song it was written
to his son somms up the way I feel toward my son jack and the way that God feels toward
me towards me I'm not going to rap it for you I'm a terrible rapper but you should
look up the song and listen to it it
is a good one so the chorus goes Call My Name
I'll be there any night and any day take my hand I got to you that that'll always stay the
same I can imagine God singing those lines to us it has become somewhat of a
cliche at this point it seems um but I think in some ways John 3:16
also sums up the sentiment of this chorus the text reads for God loved the world that
he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life
it is amazing to me and having
kid has helped to drive this point home that God's love for me
pushed him to do whatever he could in order that I could be with him he looks at me and each each
of you and all he sees is someone that he wants to spend eternity with the good or bad that we do
does not change his desire this is amazing to me and having a kid has given me a glimpse into how
God feels towards me in this regard when I look at Jack sometimes I can't believe that he's
ours I mean look at this kid he is just this i
nfectious ball of Joy uh we love being with him
and honestly I think that he knows that in my work as a teacher and a principal a philosophy that's
really informed my practice and and now that I'm a parent too um comes from a name a man named
Dr Jim Fay he's the author of the book love and logic and he says children are far more likely
to develop good character and responsibility when they know that we adore them beyond words
children become the best of themselves when they understand how m
uch we adore them so then doesn't
it make sense that we become the best of ourselves when we understand I mean as much as our human
Minds can how much God Ador us this is straight out of Paul's letter to the Ephesians may you
experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully then you will be made
complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes comes from God we become our fullest
and best selves healthy trees that bear good fruit when we allow that underst
anding to take root
in our hearts I look at Jack and the way that he lives in confidence knowing that he is loved and
if that isn't a lesson for my own life he loves hugs and snuggles and he isn't afraid to to ask
for more um when I walk into the room or when I go to leave for work he will tilt his little face
up for a kiss and sometimes a second or a third for good measure and he bravely runs and climbs
and jumps knowing that I'm in reach and trusting that I'm going to catch him he goes ab
out his days
certain about his parents love and adoration and I think you can see it in him it makes me
ask myself if I'm living the same way with the confidence of a child that is adored by her
father whose love is the strong base that makes me Brave we're only six years uh into our marriage
and a year and a half into parenting but there's been so much to learn about ourselves
each other and especially about God's love for us this love is a relational rock
polisher that Smooths out all th
e rough edges of our natures and personalities is a love
that has an unig ously deep well of energy to draw from God's love is sacrificial and
has no end and finally is a love that gives us the confidence to be the best versions of
ourselves our hope for you today is that you experience the fullness of life that comes
from knowing this love and being changed by it [Music] swe [Music] [Music] again thank you for that message um we ask that you
may please join us and stand as we sing Our them
e song [Music] willward you are singing over me you have been so so good to me pour I took a breath you bre your life in me you have been so so kind to me oh The overwheling
NeverEnding Reckless Love of God chases down till 9 I couldn't earn it I don't
deserve it you give yourself away ho overwheling nevering breakless love of God [Music] oh was your
pH when I was your phone still your love B for me you have been so so good to [Music] [Applause]
me when I felt no wor you paid it all for me y
ou have been so so kind to me oh the
overwhelming The overwheling NeverEnding Reckless Love of God oh it chases me down fights
till un please T night night I couldn't H it I don't deserve it till you give yourself
away the overwhelming NeverEnding great [Music] [Applause] [Music] love there's no Shadow you won't light up
Mountain you won't climb up you're coming after me yes Church no wall you won't kick down
lie you won't tear down you're coming after me no Shadow you won't light up
Mount
ain you won't climb up coming after me persevere God there no W
you won't kick down you won't tear down coming after me now one more time
you won up you won't CL coming after me there's no W you won be down Li you all
tear down coming after me oh overwheling nevering Reckless Love of God oh it chases Me
Down fight till I'm Liv 9 I couldn't earn it I don't deserve it still you give yourself away all
the overwheling never ending bre love of [Music] [Music]
God amen please be seated just a few
announcements
before we dismiss today and the main one is if you are smelling the air you might notice a
delicious scent wafting from the lower Hall and I went down there and our kitchen crew is
amazing they are also dressed in red dressed to the nines and they're preparing lunch uh to share
with all of you so please stick around after the service dismisses head down the stairs and into
the lower Hall we have a fellowship lunch in celebration of Lunar New Year today I also want
to let you
know that um we've begun sort of a five week uh Wednesday evening together around
art for peace and our opening night this week we had um several of the artists present all of
the contributing artists whose works are being uh right now displayed in our Chapel are not
from our church they're Community artists of various Faith so it it's wonderful to unite with
neighbors and community and talk and focus about peacemaking together this coming Wednesday is
Valentine's and if you still haven't
made plans and are looking for an affordable and meaningful
night out with someone special um a friend of our church Angelica Solomon will be leading a collage
making Workshop around your your prayers for peace so um we do ask though that you don't just drop
in it's limited seating you will have to go to Eventbrite and get your tickets there but they're
two for one so at $10 and two for one like what a lovely evening so we encourage you to sign up
and invite a friend um and tell your neighb
ors that they should come as well um also just a
reminder that while our worship starts at 11:00 and it's wonderful to see this space fill up at
11: we do have several groups that meet at 10: not only our United Start program for kids and
teens but we also have a quarterly lesson study in the library our young adults are studying the
Bible project content downstairs and next week we're adding one more group um around a course
called emotionally healthy spirituality this is a seven-part cour
se so we do hope if you come and
get invested you'll come for seven weeks to get the most out of it the course content is entirely
provided for you and it's really going to be um a a great course for kind of personal spiritual
growth and it's the if it goes well where there's a second part to it that we'll be um doing as
a follow up so just encourage you that you know while the church is good feels it it's great to be
together under this roof the deeper relationships the connections that yo
u'll make the friendships
the bonds the encouragement in your faith Journey comes from being part of a Ministry team or a
small group that is studying the word and putting it in practice and holding each other accountable
uh lastly we hope you got a bulletin or subscribe to our e newsletter to stay uh up to speed with
all the activities and events that are happening here and a major one to let all of you know about
is our annual general meeting it's where we kind of recap the previous year
and also put to you our
members um budget and changes for your affirmation and to also collect your questions your feedback
your input that's happening on February 24th and we do appreciate you to RSVP so we can provide
a meal and also child care if needed uh lastly worship is also not just singing and reflecting
um but also we see returning our TI and offering as part of our worship practice uh and you can do
so online through an app through our website or if you have physically brought um
a check or cash
you can deposit it in either of the giving boxes in the library and for those who of you who do so
um last year's tax deductible receipts are ready for pickup so if you gave last year and you're
expecting receipt and still don't have it please see a Debbie at the askme desk that's just the
information counter in the lobby and if you're not here to pick it up some of you who are online will
will be mailing them out on Monday uh lastly for our benediction today uh we are bidd
ing farewell
to a really um important family in our community so I'm going to invite uh Eugene and memory and
their kids Lucas and nwe to join me up front we're going to send them off with a special blessing and
I would like to invite um our spiritual leaders and our board members and Galen if you wouldn't
mind bringing up um we have a special gift for you as well so Eugene and family are relocating
to Saudi Arabia and if you um haven't met Eugene before he was leading our community outreac
h
and actually that's the first time that you and I really met and had a conversation was
volunteering at the Vancouver food bank and I was just impressed I like this guy is new and he
has a heart to already serve this city and this community and his wife memory who can forget her
name uh has served in our greeting team has served chairing our HR committee and has just poured
a lot of hours as Emily and Ryan commented it's hard when you have little ones and they still um
served this church
so fully with their with joy and compassion and one of my favorite pictures uh
of this church is was taken from the back doors of the sanctuary looking down the aisle and there
was Lucas standing in the middle of the aisle dancing to the music and I remember thinking this
is the image of church that I want to be part of this is the image of church that is precious
and so important to me and he was just about Nas's age at that time we've been through child
dedications we've been through Bib
le studies me leadership meetings and um your contributions to
this church will not be quickly forgotten so we have a little sendoff gift um for each of you for
the kids for nase there's one with red of course because you told me you like red and for Lucas
so there's a little um puzzle when you travel and some reading materials and some art that will
remind you of the Pacific Northwest so that you can put it on your home and remember all of us
so we just want to send you off with a prayer o
f blessing um an affirmation as God has led in your
life you to a new place a place where we trust that you will bring your Christian faith and you
will find a way to let your light shine in a very challenging environment so let's pray together
if elders and board members want to huddle up Heavenly Father we pause and first and foremost
we give you thanks for this amazing family that has really been so special to our church over the
past few years contributing in many ways building friendsh
ips and serving and inspiring others to
do so Lord um we know that they came to us by your guidance and we know that they are leaving
us by your guidance so we just pray that the Holy Spirit and the guardian angels would envelop
them on this journey on this new chapter of their life that the spark of joy in Jesus would
be transmitted across cultural boundaries and religious boundaries we thank you that they're
closer to family in Africa and we're thankful that they'll have an opportunity to
engage and
invest in in those relationships again and we're thankful that um we expect to see them on regular
visits so Lord bless and keep them until we meet again and the church said amen thank you so much
we love you we'll miss you and for everyone else yes give them a hand [Applause] yeah um make
sure to say your goodbyes to Jean who leaves next week and the family we might get to see them
one or more or two more times before they join him thank you for being here have a wonderful rest
of
your day and again lunch is waiting for all of you [Music] downstairs [Music] [Applause] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]
[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music] hello I'm Stan hler from oakd Adventist
Church here we are more than a church We Are Family we're United in faith and in Fellowship
last year uh thanks to your generous um donations and contribution we enhanced our lobby we created
a nice space we uh have comfortable seating there now and
it's very welcoming very warm and I'm
very grateful that we were able to uh pull off this project we know our lower holes they fall
a little short now they have really old chairs they're falling apart the paint is not as great
anymore and uh you know it's also very echoe there we have a lot of uh reverance in the room and it
sometimes is hard to do some great presentations there or even to have nice conversations now
we envision to update this uh area we'd like to put a fresh cat of paint
there we like to
improve the Acoustics to actually help having those uh community events to have presentations
there or maybe even uh host some music our goal is to raise between 35,000 to $40,000 every
contribution matters no matter the size please help us with this it will help to create more
opportunities to increase those friendships with each other and to let the faith grow
contributing is simple just visit our site at o vancouver.com there's a nice box there you can drop an envelope i
n there and
you mark it as HL with your contribution at Oakridge our doors
are open to everyone let's build a community that can Thrive and grow
in faith and in Fellowship thank you for
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