OCC on January 22nd 2022

Please see the blog post just before this one for the latest update on Dolores Bland written by Olen Netteberg her son in law who is a Dr at Bere.  Just added it this morning. 

Driving to church was interesting as it was very foggy up there.  The trees were coated in a nice thin layer of frost. 

A visiting Pastor was at OCC this weekend and brought his son along with him. 

It was Pastor Petar Djakov. 

He used to live in Kelowna for 5 years serving at Kelowna church Pastor, but now he is the ministerial secretary for the BC Conference of SDA church. 

Pastor Petar came from Serbia and he has a wife and a two legged son and a four legged son or dog.  He thanks us for faithful giving during these last couple of difficult years.  

Before the church service time there was the lesson time. 

There was a lot of participation and conversation of Jesus, Our Faithful Brother. 

Prayer requests were mentioned and we want to keep those things in our prayers. 

1.  Jerrie Lou's sister in law and her daughter.  Pray for better health situation. 

2.  Pastor Josue's 2 sisters and 2 brothers had Covid but 3 are feeling better now for which he is very thankful for.  Please keep his family in your prayers along with Hudson their precious dog.  Hudson is sick and needs medical help. 

3.  Many of us keep our children in prayer and you can join us in that. 

4.  Dolores Bland who is missionary Danae Netteberg's mother.  There is a blog post on that and I will update it.  For now Dolores is in Berlin Germany in ICU. 

Reflections Team led out in the Praise Service. 

Tammy was the platform person of the day and had a smile for all. 

It was good to see a kitty in church telling us children were there too. 

Children's Story was told by GQ and was about a lady who was 100 years old and her Pastor asked her to put one little item in each ShoeBox that would be given to a little girl in some place where life was difficult.  The lady thought and thought and decided to sew ( she had learned to sew as a child having been taught by her seamstress mother) a little dress for each little girl.  There were 180 boxes so that meant 180 dresses needed to be made. 

Everyone wants to have a purpose and a reason to live.  Everyone wants to be needed. 

Not the actual dress but a little dress all the same.  

Thank you for Beverly and Pastor Josue for sharing photos. 

Special Music by the Reflections Team. 

Another prayer request was asked for by Pastor Petar and that was to keep Pastor Wesley Torres and his family in our prayers as he takes a light chemo now and continues to work in the afternoons. 

Helpful watch... shared by Doug. 

Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Lost Son

What new thing can we possibly learn from this parable in the Bible?

The shepherd, the woman and the father are all seeking. Why is this in the Bible and what do we learn from it. What is God's message for me in this story?

Luke 15:1-2.  

Mark 2:16 and 17. 

If you are a sinner and we all are, this is such good news. 

Jesus is a Friend of sinners.   He encourages us not to continue in sin. 

There is something about repeating a very important point 3 times to have people remember it. 

In each story something of great value is missing and needs to be found. There is an all out search for the missing item as it is so important.  Great rejoicing happens when the items is found. 

Pastor Petar and his wife both come from very secular backgrounds.  His dad is a politician and his wife's mum is a judge.   (sorry, I can not remember the reason that was said at that point)

What is the matter with the shepherd to leave 99 sheep and go find one?

If you know the history and the culture of the story it helps understand.  The community would hire 2 or 3 or 4 shepherds to watch all the communities sheep. Poorer people might have 1 to 4 sheep while others might have 5 to 10 and the richer might have up to 16 sheep. 

If a poorer person only had one sheep it made that one sheep very very important. Imagine it being the one lost.  It was of great value to the owner. Therefor the shepherd was responsible to make sure it was safe. 

2 Samuel 12:3

David was the highest standard for a good shepherd. 

If the shepherd can not find the lamb he must bring evidence of what happened to the lamb so the owner would not think the shepherd sold it to make profit for himself.  Just like Joseph's brothers brought proof to their father of what happened to Joseph. 

Don't miss out on the blessings of the Spirit of Prophecy telling about these stories. 

The lost sheep represents those people who are lost outside of church. 1- out of 100. 

The coin represents people lost inside church which is difficult as they do not know they are lost. That is one in ten. 

Be aware of the problem.  Realize you have a problem - we might think we are ok but be like the 10 virgins who were lost like the coin.  Lukewarm.  Faithful or unfaithful servants like in the story. 

We need to the fruit of the spirit to tell us who we really are.  It tells about our character.  It is important. We need to compliment each other and work together to have all the gifts of the spirit. 

Some people are so worried about the  beast they talk about it and think about it and by beholding we become changed so lets think of the Lamb and talk about the Lamb and share about the Lamb and become like the Lamb. 

Be informed but don't be obsessed with the wrong one. 

Tell each other what Jesus has done for you.  How He is changing your life. 

What is our mission? 

To reach the whole world. 

We can support each other even if we have differing opinions. 

The parable of the Loving Father. 

Someone can be lost in my own family.   That is 1 out of 2 who are lost in the family. 

Each one of us has some family member who is lost for now but Jesus asks them back. When the time comes will they be back?

Lost people in our community.  Lost people in our church and lost people in our families all matter to God  - to Jesus - to the Loving Shepherd. 

Who are you?

The lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son.  

What is God trying to communicate to you in this story?

Romans 5:8

That loves brings us to repentance. 

He gave His life for you/me.

Romans 2:4

Matthew 11:28 Come to Me... keep on coming to Me. 

Love, true love respects choice.  

There is a risk with that. 

God is not Mad at you He is Mad about you.

Jeremiah 13:17 is a jewel in the Bible.

It does not make Him mad it makes Him sad, very very sad.

There is a place in God's heart for you... just for you. 

We can not stop loving the one that is missing.