Assembly of God
King’s Christian Centre
Church Newsletter
June 2015
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Editorial
Finish with Joy !!
“But that matters little. What matters most to me is to finish what God started:
the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this
incredibly extravagant generosity of God” Acts 20:24 Message
The marathon was the final event on the program. The Olympic stadium in
Mexico, in 1968 was packed and there was excitement as the first athlete, an
Ethiopian runner, enters the stadium. The crowd erupts as he crosses the finish
line. Way back in the field is another runner, John Stephen Akwhari of Tanzania. He has been eclipsed by the other runners. After 30 kilometers his head is
throbbing, his muscles are aching and he falls to the ground. He has serious leg
injuries and officials want him to retire, but he refuses. With his knee bandaged
Akwhari picks himself up and hobbles the remaining 12 kilometers to the finish
line. An hour after the winner has finished Akwhari enters the stadium. All but a
few thousand of the crowd have gone home. Akwhari moves around the track at
a painstakingly slow pace, until finally he collapses over the finish line. It is
one of the most heroic efforts of Olympic history. Afterward, asked by a report-
er why he had not dropped out, Akwhari says, “My country did not send me
to start the race. They sent me to finish.” As the Apostle Paul spoke his
farewell words to the elders from the Church at Ephesus, he too expressed a determination to finish the race that Jesus Christ had called him to run. Let us ex-
amine a few characteristics that he possessed.
1. He was Decisive. v 22 “I feel compelled to go to Jerusalem…”
His decisiveness sprang from the reality of who had called him and the glory
that he was going to experience once he finished his race. Remember, Paul had
been caught up into Paradise, II Corinthians 12:4 and saw and heard things saw
things, which made him declare, “ For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us” Romans 8:18. Like the Lord Jesus Himself, his decisiveness sprang from
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the reality of what was awaiting him at the end of the race .
2. He was Discerning. v23 “for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly…”
The Holy Ghost played such a vital role in Paul’s life in leading, guiding, enlightening and empowering him to fulfil his God given calling. In each of those
occasions he was obedient. But in this case, even when the prophet Agabus came
to Caesarea, took Paul's belt and in a dramatic gesture, tied himself up, hands
and feet and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: The Jews in Jerusalem are
going to tie up the man who owns this belt just like this and hand him over to
godless unbelievers. When we heard that, we and everyone there that day begged
Paul not to be stubborn and persist in going to Jerusalem. But Paul wouldn't
budge:” Acts 21:11-13 Message. Self preservation wasn’t an option to avoid the
possibility of death, doing the will of the Lord was his purpose and goal. Charles
Spurgeon once said, "Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference
between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and
almost right."
3. He was disciplined. V24 “What matters most to me is to finish…”
George Washington, the first president of the United States observed, “ Nothing
is more harmful to the service, than the neglect of discipline; for that discipline,
more than numbers, gives one army superiority over another.” Discipline is
learned the hard way. The Lord Jesus learned obedience by the things which he
suffered, Hebrews 5:8. We are not born with it, we acquire it at a cost. Paul observed the lives of athletes. He said, “All good athletes train hard. They do it for
a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. I
don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! ...” I Cor. 9: 25-27. Soldiers, like serious athletes, must be disciplined. It is worth reminding ourselves today that we
must “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” II Tim.2:3 Many
“things” came across Paul’s path to move him off course, but none did, because
of the qualities of character he developed in his life as a child of God.
The Ultimate Goal is to Finish the Race, with Joy !!
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LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE
Listed below are some things I’ve learnt in 45 years of ministry:
Religion squeezes the life out of Church!
Many people have never experienced Church as God intended. The Book of
Acts paints a glorious picture of a thriving, Christ-centred community soaked in
the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Since then history shows the tendency for spiritual life to become formalised and constricted by religious traditions which according to Jesus can “nullify the Word of God”! (Mt 15:6) No one ever intends
for this to happen, it occurs slowly, invisible and is only revealed when the Holy
Spirit wakes someone up to bring a prophetic voice into the Church.
Religion is like a wet blanket that snuffs out fire, a net that captures the Holy
Dove, an umbrella that protects from Heaven’s rain and reduces God to a supporting role rather than a starring role!
Religion ritualises the sacred, locks up heaven, sterilises faith, robs the Holy
Spirit of Personality and turns Him into a safe theological doctrine. When this
happens Churches become judgemental, legalistic, performance-orientated, joyless, and impotent. The more religion thrives, the more Grace is smothered.
The “Why” Question is never a good idea!
There are times in our lives when terrible things happen, hopes are dashed and
dreams are shattered. The youngest person I have taken a funeral of had a brass
plaque on the coffin “Aged 30 Minutes”. When hearts are broken and tears
burst forth with indescribable pain it’s so hard to hold back the “Why” question.
So many books have been written to try to answer this question, but with the result of so little solace.
In times like this I have learnt that it’s more important to know what you CAN
know than try to know what you CAN’T know. We should never allow what we
don’t know to rob us of what we do know and “WE KNOW that ALL things
(even bad things) work together for good to them that love God and are called
according to His purpose”
It’s worth reminding ourselves that Christians are called BELIEVERS not
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philosophers. When we get to heaven, no one will say “Why”, but all will say
“Wow”!
Long lives are not always the most fruitful!
Our society is obsessed with longevity and living longer, looking younger seems
to be the goal for many and when the telegram from the Queen arrives the Press
ask the question “What is the secret of your success” as if whoever lives longest
wins. Often a short life is referred to as tragic and a long life as successful yet
some accomplish more in 40 years than some do in 90! Having taken a few hundred funerals I am convinced that the life of your days is more important that the
days of your life. Every Christian owes so much to those who over the centuries
didn’t see safety as their goal, but service and who were more concerned about
living well than living long. Paul commends Epaphroditus in Phil 2:20 “who almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life…”
Speaking as only he can, Tony Campolo says “Some people tiptoe through life
so as to arrive safely at the point of death”. How different the words of Martin
Luther King Jnr: “I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place, but
I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will”.
We ALREADY have eternal life. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to
us. Failing to fulfil our destiny is. Abel died young, yet “By faith, he STILL
speaks even though he is dead”.
Alan L Hewitt
AOG National Leadership Team
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Testimonies
From Rebecca …... All her own words...
When I got to the hospital I was very nervous. first we went in and saw a
doctor who put one of those wrist bands on which
had my name on my mum’s number on and the
hospital number on. Next we saw another doctor
which just looked in my mouth and made sure that
they were going to take the right amount of teeth
out. Lastly, but not least, we saw another doctor
who put the magic cream on my arm. I was waiting
in the waiting room for 3 hours, I was even bored of
playing on my I pad which is very unusual. I was
very, very, very, very hungry because I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything from 12:00pm.
When the doctor finally called us in I was realllllllllllly nervous but I knew that God was protecting me and my mum was praying as well. When
they put the anaesthetic in me I felt really dizzy, really tired and I also felt like crying. When I woke up I
couldn't even remember going to sleep and I could
barely even sit up so the doctors said to wait a
while. My mum was nervously sitting there holding
my hand thinking that I was going to be disabled because I was struggling to
speak properly.
After we waited for a bit they asked me to try and walk. I tried but the doctors
and my mum wouldn't let go because I couldn't even stand up so they sat me
on a chair gave me a drink and they tried again. I was struggling to get off the
chair so the gave me some Calpol. I still couldn't walk so in the end I went
down to the car in a wheelchair.
The reason my mum wanted me to write my testimony is because last time I
turned blue in recovery. but this time I didn't cos God kept me safe
Many thanks Rebecca for your wonderful testimony of how you trusted in the
Lord, while you were in hospital !!
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From Sandra
Thank you for praying for me. I did have the head surgeon to do my operation
so I thank the Lord for all your prayers and kind thoughts. It all went well so
now I am trusting the Lord for good results and that I will be soon be back
walking the dogs daily.
Thanks also to those who have been doing the cleaning and to folk who have
been making the tea and coffee.
I did appreciate all the cards, get well wishes and gifts I have received. May the
Lord bless you all.
I read some thoughts by Selwyn Hughes recently… which included some verses
from Matthew 6…
‘Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its
own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’
‘Think of your life as an hourglass, there are
thousands of grains of sand in the top of
the glass and they all pass slowly through
the narrow neck without impairing the
glass In any way.’
‘Take life a ‘grain’ at a time and let the
grains pass throughout the day slowly and
evenly. If you do not take them one at a
time then you will impair your own physical
and mental structure.’
So trust the Lord today even if….and when…. Just TRUST.
Sandra Clarke.
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Who Said That ??
It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not
care who gets the credit. Harry S Truman
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude. Zig Ziglar
You don't stop laughing because you grow older. You grow
older because you stop laughing. -Maurice Chevalier
Harry Truman
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what
[people] say. I just watch what they do.
Andrew Carnegie
The purpose of learning is growth, & our minds,
unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live. Mortimer Adler
Andrew Carnegie
The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive
forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not
forget.
Thomas Szasz
Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's
growth without destroying his roots. Frank A. Clark
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The spiritual lessons in training
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Discipline - rain, shine, hail, snow, dark, light, grey - it is
time to train
Discipline - nutrition; putting the right food into the
body
Helper - we need help; leadership, fellowship, wisdom
Endurance - we don't give up; we press on, no matter
how we feel
Consistency - we must maintain our level of fitness
Focus - on the task; don't get distracted
And so to the Christian life: the Lord God sets our marathon course; we
must run the course without counting the cost of following Him. 'What
good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?' We
must have the endurance and courage to run to the finishing line. We
will get knocked down; injured; our training will go off course but we still
'show up'.
In Hebrews 12:1-3 we are told of the great cloud of witnesses, As we run
the Christian life, we remember the great heroes of faith from the Bible
and from the pages of history. As they finished the race, so shall we
endure to the end.
Andrea Minichiello Williams - Co-Founder, Chief Executive Office
Christian Concern [email protected] 23rd April 2015
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Buying and Selling
As I write this update at the beginning of June, the plans are that all the legal
paperwork relating to the selling of
the manse in Bowleymead and the
purchasing of the house adjoining the
church in King William Street will
soon be completed. The plans are that
Marion and I will move into No 27 at
the end of June. Before the move
takes place some necessary upgrading has got to be done to the bathroom and to the kitchen areas.
Asbestos panelling in the cellar has
also got to be removed.
The main reason that the church
council made the decision to purchase
the house was in order that the church
would be in a position to draw up
plans to extend the church by incorporating the ground floor area of the
house to increase the seating capacity
of the church hall by at least 50
chairs. A large extension would also
be built at the back of the house
which would be linked into the back
of the church, creating additional
rooms and facilities for Sunday
School classes and other church functions. An upstairs flat would be
incorporated into the layout for the Pastor and his family.
An architect and structural steel engineer will shortly be employed to draw up
plans which will outline all the ideas which we have in mind. Once the
drawings have been considered and input and ideas shared, final drawings will
be produced and the project cost determined. We do thank the Lord Jesus for
the way in which He has led and guided us as a congregation up until now. We
recognise that we are needing additional space and we do thank the Lord for the
timing of how this house has come on the market, the first time in 60 years !!
Please may EVERYONE pray that we will move unitedly and sensitively
forward together in faith in this exciting development in the life of our church.
Malcolm
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Power of Vision
By Bishop T D Jakes
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink ,
saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” Proverbs 233:7 KJV
We need to continually purge our thoughts because we become what we
think. It is not just the lust that we must clean out, but also low self-esteem,
pride, arrogance, hidden jealousy, and much more. To use a medical metaphor,
the mind is the “placenta” of the spirit man. It holds and nurtures the seeds it
has been impregnated with until their of delivery. If you have the seed of a
thought in your mind and you
don’t want the child that the seed
will produce, your only resource
is to abort it before it is carried to
full term.
If you don’t want depression, why
do you continue to rehearse those
same sickening thoughts that led
you there in the first place? You
don’t need a famous minister to
lay hands on you to win the battle
over your mind! What you need is
the inner discipline required all disciple to resist evil thoughts before they become evidenced in your life. Abort those seeds that are causing you to miss the
mark and press on! If your mind is continually being reconstructed by the Holy Spirit. He wants to put new thoughts within you that will enable you to soar
above your past and fill you with a great sense of destiny.
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Most of us come to the Lord damage-dead spiritually, damaged emotionally, and
decaying physically. When He saved you, He made your dead spirit alive. He also promised you a new body. Then He began the massive renovation necessary
repair your damaged thoughts about life, about others and about yourself.
While we dress and smell nice outwardly, people do not hear the constant hammering and sawing going on inwardly, as the Lord works within us trying desperately to present us a newly construction masterpiece fit for his use. Beneath
our pasted-on smiles and pleasant greetings, we alone hear the rumblings of the
midnight shift. God is constantly excommunication lethal thoughts that hinder
us from grasping the many faceted calling and gifting burial beneath the rubble
of our minds. We all need the Lord to help us with ourselves. We came to Him
as condemned buildings and he reopened the place that Satan thought would
never inhabited. The Holy Spirit moved in. and He brought His hammers and
saws with Him.
https://christonline.wordpress.com
Letter from Pastor P T Samson. Mundgod India
Dear Pastor Malcolm,
Greetings to you, your family & Church members in the Name of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. We all as a Church are doing well here too by God's
grace. I have received the amount into my account.
As I had informed you in the earlier mails, our Church had a blessing blissful
21 days of fasting prayer conducted in the last month. The anointing of HolySpirit was powerful. Around 16 of the new believers have accepted Jesus Christ
as personal Saviour and undertaken water baptism too. All glory to God alone.
Hoping that your new house where you are going to shift, will be comfortable to
you both. We do continue to pray for you & your Ministry in the Lord.
With lots of love and prayers
Rev. P.T. Samson & family.
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Current Assembly Happenings
Back from South Africa. Marion and Malcolm got back from holiday on 21st
May having spent time visiting family who they hadn’t seen for 4 years. It was
also wonderful to meet their new grandson, Joel Ewen, who was born on 20 th
April, just 8 days before they arrived !! Marta and Ian also moved into a new
house, to begin a new life together as parents. Everything for them is new !!
Back from Spain. Steve, Sheena and the girls spent a week in the sunshine,
visiting Steve’s parents in Spain. Hope you all had a lovely time and have allcome back with a suntan, that includes Sheena, who usually likes to stay in the
shade of an umbrella !!
Off to Nigeria. Bola and her sister Jola are going to visit family in Nigeria for
a week. They’re leaving on the 18th June. Hope that Niyi has been practicing
his cooking skills for the week that Bola is away !!
Off to Berlin. Daniel O. is going on a school trip to Berlin from 8 th-10th June.
Hope you have a great time Daniel and look forward to hearing all about what
you say and learnt about the history of that great capital in the heart of Europe.
Wedding Bells !! Julia and Benjamin are getting married in Tychy, Poland on
the 27th June. Recently we said goodbye to Julia as she left to prepare for the
wedding, but look forward to seeing them when they visit Mum & Dad here.
Sunday School in June
BUBBLES for children 3-5yrs. SPLASH for children 5 1/2 –8yrs.
Sunday 7th
Joyce O.
Sunday 7 th
Marion M.
Sunday 14th
Lorraine T.
Sunday 14 th
Marion M.
Sunday 21st
Lorraine T.
Sunday 21st
Daisy M.
Sunday 28th
Josephine O.K.
Sunday 28 th
Daisy M.
Sun. 5th July
Family Service
Sun. 5th July. Family Service
XTREME for children 9-12 yrs.
Sunday 7th
Gavin B.
Sunday 14th
Alain T.
Sunday 21st
Alain T.
Sunday 28th
Ben S.
Sun. 5th July.
Family Service
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Invited Ministry and Meetings in June
Friday 5th
11:00am
Kingsmead Care Home
Friday 5th
11:00am
Kingsmead Care Home
Sunday 28th
10.30am
Bro. Umera Anachebe
Friday 4th July
11:00am
Kingsmead Care Home
Chorus Leading in June / July
Thursday 4th
Prayer / Bible Study
Biruta B.
Sunday 7th
Morning Service
David I.
Thursday 11th
Prayer & Bible Study
David I.
Sunday 14th
Morning Service
Andrzej S.
Thursday 18th
Prayer / Bible Study
Bob B.
Sunday 21st
Morning Service
David I.
Thursday 25th
Prayer / Fellowship
David I.
Sunday 28th
Morning Service
Andrzej S.
Thurs. July 2nd
Prayer / Bible Study
Biruta B.
Sunday July 5th
Special Family Service
TBC
Thurs. July 9th
Prayer / Bible Study
Biruta B.
Sunday July 12th
Morning Service
David I.
Birthdays in June
Tuesday 2nd
Niyi O.
Saturday 13th
Dayo S.
Wednesday 3rd
Delvin O.
Saturday 13th
Franco F.
Sunday 7th
Gosia S.
Monday 22nd
Patrick C.
Monday 8th
Marion M.
Wednesday 24th
Alfred B.
Friday 12th
Elkan R.
Sunday 5th July
Nelly W.
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Lift up your eyes
Psalm 121. A Psalm of Assent
1. I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from?
2. My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3. He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not
slumber;
4. indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5. The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right
hand;
6. the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7. The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life;
8. the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and
forevermore.
Weekly Meetings
Sunday
10:30 Communion Service & Sunday School.
Tuesday
10:30 Baby & Toddler Music Group.
Thursday 19:30 Prayer & Bible Study.
(Fellowship Meeting on last Thursday of each month.)
Friday
19.30 YOUTH@KINGS.
Contact Details:
Malcolm & Marion Macqueen Tel. 01793 695048
Malcolm. Mobile: 07743 322781
E-Mail: [email protected] / [email protected]
Website: www.aogswindon.org.uk
Visit us at: 26a King William Street
Old Town , Swindon
SN1 3LB
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