w elcome - Rexdale Alliance Church

OCTOBER 2014
• Building relationships
• Strengthening community at RAC
EMAIL: [email protected]
contents
Eyes of Men
By Dan Buggie
Are those at Jane and Finch more afraid of outsiders, than those outsiders
are of Jane & Finch? Or, put differently: can one group fear what has been
done to it, while the other perhaps, what could be done to it?
The two are quite them off with giddy eagerness to see who this
different. In ministry “strange fellow” was.
here, I live and see
From this brief encounter, ever so gradually,
this reality every day, one by one their parents came to see me, and
functioning almost as they in turn were very open to having many
a dual-passport citizen of their Gospel questions answered. Obed’s
caught in-between two best friend D, confessed to being hungry all
realms and kingdoms, the time after school because he “can’t reach
which at certain times the buttons.” When I asked what “buttons” he
intersect, though rarely was talking about he said, “the ones on top of
to seek true understanding. I
the stove.” Familiar sight:
say this at the outset because
empty house until very
As you pray for
when I share testimonies of
late at night. D, due to
Jane & Finch, please take
wrecked, ruined and wasted
Obed’s influence, will run
lives transformed by God’s
to heart this verse from the up to the complex fence
Grace, folks accustomed to
and holler over it for me
Apostle Paul:
general decorum, decency
to “pray for his brother”,
For we are taking
and good order, often
or other family member.
(wrongly) confine the
You see, at one time
great pains to do
wreckage of sin I’m speaking
this
whole group of kids
what is right, not only in the
of, as existing mainly in our
used to steal, smash
eyes of the Lord but also in glass bottles all around,
neighbourhood here. The
result is an amputated form
terrorize the girls, and
the eyes of men.
of “rejoicing”, which often
hide from the cops. While
-2 Corinthians 8:21
cuts off the one so radically
they are not all angels
saved, from the (Biblically
outwardly, many have all
and blood-bought) joint community, of which developed a spiritual sense of their own sin
both need each other for true spiritual health. and of the “friendliness” of God in Christ. This
Obed used to scratch on my window like a happened not through private reading of a
wayward cat. He’d talk about his grandfather book, but the public reading of another book
dying and all the bullies and what not. His - - a life lived.
eyes had not yet become shifty and suspicious,
As you pray for Jane & Finch, please
but still held out the spark of wonder and a take to heart this verse from the Apostle
somewhat dim longing for “that day” ie. when Paul: For we are taking great pains to
his mom would stop crying at night and the do what is right, not only in the eyes
neighbors no longer screaming and swearing of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.
at each other. His heart wanted something [2 Corinthians 8:21]
more and was open to finding out where, but
Often the watchfulness of God, is done
unsure of Who. One day he showed up with through the eyes of His little ones. Can your
a small posses of ISIS-looking kiddies from book be read?
the hood. Instead of their usual menacing Dan Buggie is a licensed worker with the
demeanor, they were almost smiling…well Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada.
sort of, nervously wondering if I’d “shoe them He leads the LightPoints missional community
away”. Obed blurts out, “This is the guy who’s located at Jane and Finch in Toronto and is
been telling me God’s friendly and has a fancy committed to bringing the light of Jesus to
Marvel Comics Bible like no one else!” That set that neighborhood.
•EYES OF MEN -Dan buggie
•PRAYING FOR MISSIONS? -judy vandekemp
•helping students -susanna muntz
•SPIRIT’S PROMPTING -linda samulewicz
•NEW WELCOME CENTRE
•NEWCOMERS LUNCHEON
Praying for missions? Not my thing.
By Judy Vandekemp
A Mini Solemn Assembly is planned with the focus on praying for missions.
Sounds great! And I’m being totally sarcastic. My heart is not in missions even
though I totally believe in it and support it - at least verbally.
#2 - Getting involved with something that’s
“not your thing” does not mean we have to dive
right in. That’s too overwhelming. One small
step is all God wants from us. Decide to do
God’s will and allow Him to lead you.
I soon realized that my “one small step” was
to choose a missionary family to pray for. But
who? A big light did not go on showing me
who. I just knew that I should choose anyone I
wanted. So I picked a family that tugged ever so
slightly at my heart strings. No huge draw but
enough to help me make a decision. I picked up
a picture of them from the
committed to this church,
wall at church a few weeks
One small step is all
I need to seriously think
later so I can envision them
God wants from us.
about the call they put out
better. I am going to look
Decide to do God’s will and into getting their prayer
there to pray.
So I make a conscience
letter but haven’t yet. So far
allow Him to lead you.
decision to go - all three
all I do for them right now
nights. I’m just going to do
is bring their names before
it and stop letting Satan convince me that it’s, God, unleashing the power of the Holy Spirit
“not my thing”. My goal? To go in with an open on their lives. And if that’s all I ever do, it’s more
mind and allow God to work in me as He sees than I did before and will probably mean more
fit. So I went. And now you’re waiting for me than I will ever know.
to say that I had some huge revelation from
Just as the words from one of the songs we
God telling me to send all my money, pray for sang during this Mini Solemn Assembly read
them 24/7, send gifts at Christmas, skype them - I could just sit. I could just stay. I could just
at 3am my time and best of all, sell all I have hold on to who I am and never let You Change
and go to the ends of the earth as a missionary me from the inside. But you have called me
myself. Well, not so much. But this is what I Higher. You have called me deeper. And I’ll go
did get out of it.
where you will lead me Lord.
#1 - Prayer is so much more powerful than
Change, even a little, requires Action. Make
Satan wants us to believe it is.
it “your thing”.
But pray for them
for three nights in
a row? Oh man.
This is “not my
thing”. I really don’t
want to go. But
before long I feel a
conviction in my
heart and I know
that my attitude is
not right or Godly.
If I am going to be
WELCOME
New to Rexdale? Welcome!
The Welcome Centre, located next to the sanctuary, opened its doors the weekend of Sept. 27/28.
Its purpose is to connect personally with guests and newcomers in a relaxed and friendly
environment to answer any questions they may have and to let them know we truly
appreciate they chose to worship with us.
In the few weeks the Welcome Centre has been open, we’ve been able to connect with
newcomers and guests and we look forward to them returning to worship with us.
The Welcome Centre is open immediately following all three services.
Please bring your guests to the Welcome Centre which is open immediately following all
three services. As well, if you happen to see someone you don’t recognize, we encourage
you to engage our guest in a conversation and extend an invitatio to join you to the
Welcome Centre for coffee, some treats and an opportunity to meet Pastor Krishnan and
others from our pastoral staff and congregation.
• B u i l d i n g r el a t i o n s h i p s
• S t r e ngthening community at R AC
• Email us at: [email protected]
Newcomers Luncheon
In Sunday October 26th our pastoral staff, elders and others welcomed newcomers to Rexdale Alliance
Church. The lunch was organized and hosted by the Board of Deacons who served approximately 90
meals of roasted chicken. These welcoming events only take place once or twice a year so use every
weekly service to welcome our guests by introducing yourself and inviting them to our new Welcome
Centre for refreshments and to meet pastoral staff and board members.
THANK YOU
RACreporter Sponsors!
Through the generous sponsorship of local businesses
in our RAC community, RACreporter is able to function
as a self-sustaining communications tool.
If you are interested in sponsoring RACreporter, email us at
[email protected].
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[email protected]
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• Commercial and Home Improvement
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• Home Inspections & Consulting
Ph. 905-893-9000
Helping students find and follow Jesus
in their High School By Susanna Muntz
• Additions and Renovations
Rexdale Branch
2184 Kipling Ave.
416.747.1791
Etobicoke Branch
1451 Royal York Rd.
416.245.2413
Open your account today at www.DUCA.com
What’s up with pancakes at
Lent? What if I’ve broken the 10
commandments? These were
some of the questions asked by
students at Etobicoke Collegiate
Institute (ECI) as they gather
over lunch with
Inter-Varsity ministers.
Inter-Varsity is an inter-denominational
organization that seeks the transformation
of students, in all their ethnic diversity,
into fully committed followers of
Jesus. Rexdale has been a long term
partner of Inter-Varsity, generously and
prayerfully supporting the mission
to undergraduate and international
students in local universities and at camp.
This past September, seven Inter-Varsity
missionaries moved to West Toronto to
re-establish Christian communities of
mission in high schools.
“Is there an unforgivable sin?” asked
Jenny, a spiritually curious student who
joined her Christian friend Kayla for the
lunch-time conversation. Ruth met up
with them at a local library to talk about
forgiveness, recognizing God’s Spirit
and what the gospel means. She then
invited them to study stories from the
life of Jesus to discover more. “Thankyou, this really helped me with my
questions” Jenny said as they finished
their conversation.
Our mission is to help Christian
students like Kayla grow in their faith
Follow the Spirit’s Prompting
as well as reach out to their friends
who don’t yet know God. We do this by
volunteering in the schools and offering
discipleship and support to Christian
students as they wrestle with questions
of faith, serve their schools and
communities and invite their friends to
know the love and forgiveness of Jesus.
We are currently connecting with
students and teachers in Richview, ECI,
Harbord, Western Tech and Central
Tech, Etobicoke School for the Arts and
Humberside Collegiate Institute. If you
know of Christian high school teachers
or students in western Toronto who
want to participate in communities of
mission in their schools please contact
Susanna at [email protected].
Having a party?
Golden Crisp Fish & Chips is available
for private family parties (up to 50 people) after 7pm.
50%
of your pre-taxed meal total will be donated to
Neighbourhood Connections ministries. Tell us you attend RAC.
By Linda Samulewicz
I thought I’d share a story of following that
“still, small voice in your head”.
All the books that I gave
to Pastor Sam would
In April of this year I had a small sewage back up in the furnace
room due to tree roots. It was contained to the one room and I have been soaked had I
cleaned it up.
left them on the shelves.
This stirred me to lift things off the floor of all the rooms in
This is just a small
the basement just in case I ever had a flood of water in the
future. I decided to remove all the books from the bottom
example of heeding the
shelves of all my book cases.
promptings we get along
This led to a thorough weeding of my Christian books. Pastor Sam was collecting books
to send to the Philippines at this time. I brought many books to him to send to the pastors. life’s way. What perfect
Then, in June I had a cold water copper pipe leak and the basement ceiling and carpeting warnings and timing of
got soaked with water. I had to have an insurance claim.
events are given to us.
In the midst of this mess, I had to smile to myself as I thought about the prompting
that I got to empty the lower shelves. All the books that I gave to Pastor Sam would have We just need to listen to
been soaked had I left them on the shelves. This is just a small example of heeding the
that “still, small voice”
promptings we get along life’s way. What perfect warnings and timing of events are given
and heed it.
to us. We just need to listen to that “still, small voice” and heed it.
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of all business generated by this sponsorship will be donated to
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Jane & Finch Mall
1911 Finch Ave West
North York ON M3N 2V2
Tel: 416-630-7100
Rexdale Plaza
2267 Islington Ave.
Etobicoke ON M9W 3W7
Tel: 416-901-6369