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| Pastor Mathias | | Ms. Brunell - Executive Director | | Mr. Gaffney - Managing Director | | Ms. Helmers - Managing Director | | | |
| Mr. Flynn - Senior Director | | Mr. Bolton - Director | | Ms. Irwin - Director | | Mr. James - Director | | Mr. Levine - Director | | Ms. Radewicz - Director | | Mr. Rodgers - Director | | Mr. Shea - Director | | Mr. Widmyer - Director | | | |
| Ms. Avery | | Ms. Baird | | Ms. Baker | | Ms. Bray | | Ms. Burns | | Ms. Coffey | | Ms. Crane | | Mr. David | | Ms. Drew | | | |
| Mr. Dunlap | | Mr. Ewing | | Mr. Farley | | Ms. Finley | | Mr. Friedman | | Ms. Gay | | Ms. Hahn | | Ms. Hobbs | | Ms. Holder | | | |
| Mr. Horton | | Ms. Lee | | Mr. Maddox | | Ms. Perez | | Ms. Rollins | | Ms. Smith | | Ms. Smith | | Ms. Weslin | | Mr. Wilkerson | | | | | | M.R. Mathias - Ambassador |
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| | | | | USMissions | Assemblies of God | U.S. Missions is the stateside missions organization for the Assemblies of God. The U.S. Missions team consists of missionaries, chaplains, and project volunteers who are in strategic locations across our nation. These men and women reach people who may never walk into a church.
According to the Joshua Project, a research initiative of unreached ethnic groups, the United States has an unreached population of almost 10.5 million. We are clearly not finished reaching our country with the gospel! U.S. Missions partners with churches and districts to extend their reach and connect with people outside their circles of influence. Through rock climbing chaplains to campus ministries to ministry to immigrants and beyond, U.S. Missions is dedicated to reaching the lost here in the United States. [More] | |  |
| |  | | | Grace Church | Waco, TX | Core Values
These five beliefs are foundational to the makeup of Grace Church but are not exhaustive or comprehensive by any means. For an extensive doctrinal list, visit our "beliefs/doctrine" page.
Gospel centrality in all life
The gospel of Jesus Christ both saves sinners and continues to sanctify believers through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
The sovereignty of God in saving sinners
Before the foundation of the world, God lovingly chose to save sinners by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for His glory.
The work of the Holy Spirit in building a biblical community
Since we have been reconciled to one another, Christians hold each other accountable to kill sin, walk in righteousness, study the inspired Word of God, pray, and be an active member in a church body.
Being on mission with the gospel of Jesus Christ
Just as Christ was sent into the world, we are sent in the world to lovingly bring His good news to all people through both word and deed.
Elder-led church
We are an elder-led church that affirms the equality of male and female and the principle of male servant leadership for our elders.
Leadership
We are an elder-led church that affirms the equality of male and female and the principle of male servant leadership for our elders. Staff members and deacons oversee particular ministries with the help of our interns. We have 3 pastors/elders, 4 staff members, 7 deacons, and 8 interns.
MEET OUR STAFF
Partnerships
We are affiliated with The Acts 29 Networks, The Gospel Coalition, and The Southern Baptist Convention (in Texas and nationally). These partnerships help others identify with and understand more about our church, while also giving us resources and support from other churches.
LEARN MORE
Beliefs
Everything we do at Grace Church is rooted in and revolves around the good news that Jesus Christ came and lived the perfect life, died for sinners, rose from the grave three days later, and now sits at the right hand of the Father. Therefore, our mission as Christians is to help people discover (through missions) and re-discover (for sanctification) the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here are more specific beliefs on particular core doctrines.
LEARN MORE
About Us
Meet Our Staff
Partnerships
Beliefs
For the Church. For the City. For the World. [More] | | |
| |  | | | Bruce Malone | Search For The Truth | Bruce Malone gave his life to Christ over 25 years ago, as the Lord miraculously preserved him through a close call with death. Since that time Bruce has looked for a deeper purpose in life and realized that rejection of Biblical truth, justified by belief in evolution, is the acid which is eating away at the moral foundation of our culture.
Bruce spent 30 years working as a research leader for the Dow Chemical Corporation, has a degree chemical engineering, and is responsible for key innovations which have resulted in 18 patents. But his passion is sharing the relevance and evidence for creation, so he retired early to become full time Director of Search for the Truth Ministries. Bruce has spoken extensively, from secular universities to Christian groups, in 12 countries. Since 2008 Bruce given almost 800 lectures to more than 50,000 people. More than 60,000 books on the scientific credibility of creation have been donated to students and prisoners.
Bruce brings science alive through stories and demonstrations, showing that Biblical creation is the most rational explanation for the world around us. The purpose of both his books and lectures is to help the non-scientific layman understand the importance of creation while motivating and equipping them to share these truths.
Bruce resides in Midland, MI with his wife Robin, and they have four children who are all actively serving the Lord. Click here to contact Bruce to arrange a speaking engagement at your church or organization. [More] | | |
| |  | | | Luke's Letter to Theophilus | Luke's Letter to Theophilus
Sep 21, 2013
Having finished my commentary on Deuteronomy, which ends with the death of Moses and the commissioning of Joshua, I have been led to begin a study of the Gospel of Luke.
Luke, being the 42nd book of the Bible, suggests a numeric connection to Joshua crossing the Jordan and setting up camp in the plains of Jericho. Israel established 41 camps in the wilderness under Moses prior to crossing the Jordan. The 42nd camp was in the plains of Jericho under Joshua, a type of Christ. [More] | | |
| | | | | Matthias | Theophilus | clue for the writing of Luke and Acts | Luke wrote his account of Yeshua and Acts of the believers to a man named Theophilus (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1). It happens that there was a high priest of that name from 37-41 A.D. whose father and grandfather were involved in Yeshua?s crucifixion. If Luke was writing to that high priest, might that change the way we read the Book of Acts?
The question is, who is the man to whom Luke gives the honor of calling ?most excellent Theophilus? (Luke 1:3)? One would think from his name, Theophilus, that he would be a Roman. Speculations as to who he may have been led to the expectation the audience for Luke?s writings were Romans or at any rate, Gentiles. This led to seeing the Gospel account and in particular, Acts, as carrying an erroneous anti-Hebrew or anti-Jewish bias. The emphasis on Paul?s mission to the Gentiles is seen as the major message of the story.
So who was this ?excellent Theophilus? and what made him so excellent? To begin with, most of what we know about him comes from the noted Jewish historian Josephus Flavius who wrote extensively of Jewsih history. In digging around for some back up history, I came upon some facts that indicate Josephus himself was of priestly lineage of the Hasmoneans who are related to the priests of the Hanukkah story. Having won an incredible victory over the Syrians and reclaiming the Temple and their sovereignty, the victorious priests stepped across the tribal lines to assume joint offices of both priests and king. Torah provided for priests to come from the tribe of Levi while kings were to be of the tribe of Judah. We could say this is a kind of God-imposed separation of church and state. Note, however, that the intention of God, and subsequently Jefferson, was that government not impede or limit religion in any way, contrary to the inverted (mis)interpretation we are dealing with today.
With amalgamation of the priesthood and kingship all kinds of trouble arose resulting in the Romans being invited to help settle some in-house conflicts. Once there, they stayed and the rest, as they say, is history. So when noted historian Josephus writes about what took place in Israel?s history related to high priests and kings in the first century B.C. and A.D., he is writing from inside his own family history. He writes: ?I am of the chief family of that first course also; nay, further, by my mother I am of the royal blood; for the children of Asamoneus (Hasmoneans), from whom that family was derived, had both the office of the high priesthood, and the dignity of king.? These then are Josephus? credentials to be recording all that history.
Now back to Theophilus. According to Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews, Theophilus (which means God-lover in Greek, a good name for a priest even if it is Greek) was a member of one of the wealthiest and most influential Jewish families in Judea during the 1st century. This wealth enabled them to buy political favor with the Romans, whose Hellenistic ways they embraced, so it was not unusual for priests to have Greek (Hellenistic) names. This openness to Hellenism and infiltration of other cultures into Israel are the very things their ancestors, whom we know as the Maccabees, fought against. (See my article, ?The Other Hanukkah Story? for more on this.)
Since the church from early on had little or no interest in Jewish history, they were unaware of the references to Theophilus in Josephus? writings. As he had to be identified in some way, it has been taken for granted by Bible commentators for centuries that Theophilus was a Roman official of some kind, with a plethora of speculations being made about his status. For one, he is seen as a Roman Procurator (governor) of Judea, based on the fact that Luke addresses him as "most excellent" in Luke 1:3, which was used for Festus (Acts 26:25) and Felix (24:2), both Roman officials. Because later in Acts Luke addresses Theophilus only as, ?O Theophilus,? with no ?most excellent? attached, it is assumed that this indicated that Theophilus was demoted or removed from his Roman position as a result of his interest in Christianity.
It is also assumed Theophilus is asking for information because he is considering ?converting to Christianity.? (There was no ?Christianity? at that time.) Others may say, ?converting to the faith.? It is also assumed that he couldn?t have been very high in the Roman government because no historical evidence exists about him. I?d like to suggest that?s because they were looking in the wrong place. He wasn?t a Roman or Gentile, he was a Jew, the high priest. The church since Constantine was anti-Jewish, so if they were to take the Book of Acts as relevant for the church, which they did, it was assumed to be anti-Jewish, as they were. It was construed as being the document that lifted faith in Yeshua out of Judaism, with nothing for any Jew to gain from it. It certainly would never have occurred to the ?church fathers? that it was [More] | | |
| |  | | | Is Luke’s ‘Theophilus’ Really Matthias? | Smoodock's Blog | Is Luke’s ‘Theophilus’ Really Matthias?
03 Feb
According to the opinion of some that I have read, Luke may not have been addressing Theophilus, (Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1) the high priest, but his son Matthias, the high priest. This claim is supported by showing Luke calls Joseph, son of Caiaphas, by the name of Caiaphas, thereby allowing Luke’s intended addressee to be Matthias, son of Theophilus. I admit this is intriguing, but Paul implies in his second epistle to the Corinthians that Luke’s Gospel was written sometime before Paul’s 3rd missionary journey (54-58 CE), or possibly even before Paul’s second missionary journey (51-54 CE). This would have been about a decade before the tenure of Matthias, son of Theophilus, as high priest. If so, there would be no reason to address Matthias as “most excellent” etc. Paul’s implication is made in 2Corinthians which he wrote from Macedonia near the end of his 3rd missionary journey and on his way to Corinth to take the offering from the gentile churches to the poor at Jerusalem. Notice:
2 Corinthians 8:16-19 NET. (16) But thanks be to God who put in the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you, (17) because he not only accepted our request, but since he was very eager, he is coming to you of his own accord. (18) And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his work in spreading the gospel. (19) In addition, this brother has also been chosen by the churches as our traveling companion as we administer this generous gift to the glory of the Lord himself and to show our readiness to help. [emphasis mine]
It seems odd that Paul would single out a person in this manner, if all he meant was that the brother preached the Gospel to the gentiles. Titus was doing that but Paul doesn’t mention him this way. Paul often writes of Timothy’s talent and sincerity, but neither does he describe him in this manner. Notice that this brother is “praised by all the churches for his work in spreading the Gospel.” We know that the author of Luke and Acts is with Paul as he leaves Corinth on his way to Jerusalem (Acts 20:5), so he could be the very unnamed brother mentioned in 2Corinthians 8:18. If the author of Luke and Acts is the brother referred to in 2Corinthians 8:18, it is perfectly understandable why “all the churches” would praise him for his work in spreading the Gospel. Having a copy of his work which he addressed to “Theophilus” would be a treasure for any church at that time, both for its own study and encouragement and for “spreading the Gospel!”
I am inclined to believe this reference to a well known brother does refer to Luke and his first thesis to Theophilus. The book of Acts has the internal early date limit, showing it could not have been completed before 62 or 63 CE (Acts 28:30-31). After two years in Rome, Paul was likely to have been heard by Nero and condemned. Luke, as was his manner throughout both his works, went out of his way not to say anything that is overtly condemning of the high priesthood in Jerusalem. Leaving Paul still waiting to be heard by Nero falls within Luke’s desire to present the truth to the priesthood at Jerusalem without seeking to embarrass them or publically blame them for wrongdoing, for his Gospel would be read in all the churches. He simply states the truth and permits them to draw their own conclusions, as they consider their deeds in light of what has occurred.
So, as an aside, who is Theophilus to whom Luke addressed his works? I am inclined to believe it is Theophilus the high priest of 37-41 CE, son of Annas and probably Josephus’ grandfather. I believe the Gospel of Luke was written during the tenure of Theophilus as ruler of his people. However, many scholars believe a two decade separation between Luke and Acts is unwarranted. My position is: such a separation is not only possible, but demanded by the context of both works. Luke was writing to Theophilus, the leader of his people, to repent and accept Jesus as the Messiah of his people, before it became too late. This theory would demand the book of Acts to have been completed and in the hands of Theophilus before the Jewish war and probably while Matthias, Theophilus’ son was the high priest governing Judea. Theophilus, as the probable head of the family by this time would have great influence over the high priesthood of his son. As long as the Temple stood, there was still time to repent, and Theophilus would have been considered the most influential leader available in which Luke could place this hope.
It does seem certain that Josephus knew of the Gospel of Luke, and he follows it in some points (an example of which can be found HERE), but most modern scholarship believes it to be the other way around, namely that Luke follows Josephus, but this point cannot be proved. Nevertheless, if Josephus is indeed the grandson of Theophilus, as I concluded in another post, Luke offers a reaso [More] | | |
| |  | | | What is the difference between mercy and grace? | mercy and grace?"
Answer: Mercy and grace are often confused. While the terms have similar meanings, grace and mercy are not the same. To summarize the difference: mercy is God not punishing us as our sins deserve, and grace is God blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve it. Mercy is deliverance from judgment. Grace is extending kindness to the unworthy.
According to the Bible, we have all sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). As a result of that sin, we all deserve death (Romans 6:23) and eternal judgment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-15). With that in mind, every day we live is an act of God's mercy. If God gave us all what we deserve, we would all be, right now, condemned for eternity. In Psalm 51:1-2, David cries out, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." A plea to God for mercy is asking Him to withhold the judgment we deserve and instead grant to us the forgiveness we in no way have earned.
We deserve nothing from God. God does not owe us anything. Anything good that we experience is a result of the grace of God (Ephesians 2:5). Grace is simply defined as unmerited favor. God favors, or gives us good things that we do not deserve and could never earn. Rescued from judgment by God's mercy, grace is anything and everything we receive beyond that mercy (Romans 3:24). Common grace refers to the sovereign grace which God bestows on all of mankind regardless of their spiritual standing before Him, while saving grace is that special dispensation of grace whereby God sovereignly bestows unmerited divine assistance upon His elect for their regeneration and sanctification.
Mercy and grace are best illustrated in the salvation that is available through Jesus Christ. We deserve judgment, but if we receive Jesus Christ as Savior, we receive mercy from God and we are delivered from judgment. Instead of judgment, we receive by grace salvation, forgiveness of sins, abundant life (John 10:10), and an eternity in Heaven, the most wonderful place imaginable (Revelation 21-22). Because of the mercy and grace of God, our response should be to fall on our knees in worship and thanksgiving. Hebrews 4:16 declares, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Recommended Resource: So Great Salvation by Charles Ryrie [More] | | |
| |  | | | Ashli Morgan by Joanne Coval | Ashli began her employment with First American in the summer of 2011 as a curative associate and was later promoted to curative team lead followed by curative manager. A graduate of the First American Emerging Leaders Program, in the summer of 2015, she moved into Final Document Review and Post Closing where she was partnering across divisions, spearheading our document integrity and recording initiatives.
Ashli was extremely dedicated to her team and all associates. She will be greatly missed by all.
All proceeds from this campaign will go directly to Ashli and Lorelei's family for funeral expenses and support during this difficult time.
Thank you for your donation [More] | | |
| |  | | | Baby Kelly's Leukemia Fund by Betsy Vergara Strawn | | My best friend and husband are going through the unimaginable. Baby Kelly was diagnosed with Leukemia at just 5 months old. It started with what seemed to be a normal rash that didn't go away. Mommy knew something wasn't right and scheduled an appointment. Never in a million years did they expect to hear that their angel, their princess, their world would have to fight for her life. This is going to be a long battle and at this time they would like as many prayers as possible. They are not even thinking about finiances and how this is going to impact their lives but I am hoping that this fund will help them, even if it's just a little. [More] | | |
| |  | | | Reward raised to $200,000 for Dallas-area woman missing in West Texas | Crime | Dallas News | The reward was raised Monday to $200,000 for information on the whereabouts of Zuzu Renee Verk, a 22-year-old North Texas woman who disappeared nearly three weeks ago.
On Friday, Alpine Police Chief Russell Scown told KOSA-TV a grand jury could be called into session this week to question witnesses in the disappearance of Verk — including her boyfriend, Robert Fabian, who was named a suspect last week.
Verk, a student and employee at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, was last heard from on Oct. 12. [More] | | |
| |  | | | Mother of 5 in coma by Beck Sny | On November 1st ,2016, at 11 pm Donna who is only 41 and a mother of 5 bumped her husband in bed and when he looked at her, he saw that her eyes had rolled back into her head and she let out a loud breath.
He immediately called 911 and started cpr compressions and praying. When the ambulance arrived they shocked her with the paddles to start her heart since she didn't have a pulse. Her pulse started and they transported her to the hospital.
Upon arrival at the hospital they put her into hypothermia and a medically induced coma to preserve her brain from any damage. They said that lethal low levels of potassium is what caused her heart to stop. We have no idea what caused such low levels in such a young woman.
We have seen many miracles of her continued healing. Her kidneys are fully functioning, her vitals are good.
They took her out of hyperthermia and took her out of the medically induced coma and she started to have seizures, so they have kept her on the breathing machine and today they have started her feeding tube.
We are asking for prayers for her and for any assistance you are able to give financially. Her husband was recently laid off prior to this happening and had been working through a temporary service for work and he hasn't been able to work at all since this happened since he has been at the hospital with her ,and they were also a two income family so, with her being in the hospital they have been without either income.
The medical bills are very high along with all the other bills, mortgage, utilities and food.
We believe that she will wake up and continue to be a wonderful mommy to their sweet children and a best friend to her husband.
Please know that any help that you can give would be such a blessing.
God bless and we will continue to update with every new miracle!!
Contact number is 817-501-7996 [More] | | |
| |  | | | Fight for Sawyer Davidson | We are starting this fund to help the Davidson Family with significant expenses they will incur while fighting Sawyer's recurring brain cancer Medulloblastoma.
On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, after experiencing symptoms for three weeks, Sawyer was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He had surgery to remove it on Monday, April 27. On Thursday, April 30, we learned that the tumor is a medulloblastoma, the most aggressive form. The tumor had likely been growing for some time, but had just gotten large enough to start producing symptoms. Sawyer and his family endured weeks of radiation at MD Anderson in Houston, chemotherapy treatment, extensive therapy to combat the deficits from the surgery, and hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy. Last week, Sawyer's MRI showed recurrence of medulloblastoma with a secondary tumor. So thus begins another battle with this awful cancer. Please give what you can. Every dollar counts. Below is the latest journal of Sawyer's fight:
At this point, here is the plan: Kim, Sawyer and I will be flying into Jacksonville on Tuesday for a 1015 appointment on Wednesday with a neurosurgeon at Univ of FL (Dr Pincus). At 11am we have an appointment with the neuro-oncology team to discuss the trial and the treatment schedule. I will be leaving on Monday in my truck and driving to Gainesville/Jacksonville, FL and will pick them up at the airport. The Social worker at UF was great and already set us up with a hotel room. Here is the schedule of events as I know them (I will know more exact information following our appointment next Wednesday).
Wednesday: 1015 neurosurgery. In order to be a part of this study (immunotherapy), they need a tissue sample, a biopsy, at least - another gross total resection if it can be done safely. His local recurrence is very near his brain stem, sothis makes a total resection a bit of a challenge to say the least as the complications can be very severe if the brain stem is compromised. They will use the tissue that they collect later in treatment - I will discuss the details later.
1115 Wednesday is the appointment with neurooncology. We will have a better idea of schedule, travel, and timeline following this appointment.
Thursday of next week, Sawyer will have another craniotomy (this is major brain surgery...again). However, given that he has a pseudomeningocele,this was the next step if HBOT didn't help. Furthermore, his brain should not be as traumatized this time as there is already a path to the local recurrence to at least grab a biopsy of that tissue. Obviously, best case scenario is if the surgeon is capable of safely resecting both tumors that were evident in his last MRI, however, that will remain in question until next week as his metastasis is located in his fine visual portion of his brain and it may not be worth getting. We are hopeful that the most appropriate decision will be made!
He will obviously spend a night in the PICU and then hopefully discharged within a few days. However, we will stay in Gainesville for another week recovering in a hotel room somewhere in Gainesville. Appx. One week following surgery, Sawyer will return to the hospital to have a couple large catheters placed in his neck by interventional radiology that will be used to harvest stem cells that will be used to create the (immunotherapy) vaccine.
The way this treatment is supposed to work (in very general terms) is they break the RNA from the tumor tissue (the cellular fingerprint of his tumor) and grow more (amplify) RNA, ultimately, this RNA will be mixed with his stem cells/T-cells to teach them who they need to attack. (Boot camp for the immune system). This approach is very novel, somewhat new, and certainly unproven.
So, back to the schedule. We return to Fort Worth after the stem cells collection where he will resume chemotherapy in order to keep the cancer from spreading and growing (hopefully). The vaccine takes appx 10-12 weeks to create and that is the time we hope the chemo will hold this disease in check. Sawyer will need to endure another round of stem cell collection during his time in Fort Worth that will be used to kick-start his immune system during the final stages of treatment. We are very happy and thankful that Dr Murray (Cooks Children's oncologist) was able to get approval from the hospital to treat Sawyer during our time in Fort Worth.
When the vaccine is complete, we will allow sawyer to recover from the induction chemo given in Fort Worth, then we will return to Gainesville for a huge dose of chemo meant to completely knock out his bone marrow...this is a critical step to inspire his immune system to attack the tumor with the re-introduced t-cells. We will likely be in Gainesville for 30-45 days for this part of treatment as he will be hospitalized until his blood counts recover and they will administer two doses of the vaccine.
This treatment plan is certain [More] | | |
| |  | | | Funeral for Tucker Wayne Von Allman by Abby Holschuh - GoFundMe | On November 25, 2016, Tucker was found deceased in his home where he was loved by so many at the age of 2.
Many name is Abby Holschuh and I live in Lewisville, Texas. I am the girlfriend to Russell Von Allman. Tucker was his nephew. I am really close to this family and we are raising this money together for Tucker's funeral expenses. I will make sure every penny gets directly to Greg and Felicia Von Allman. The family appreciates any and all donations. Thank you all so much!
Help spread the word! [More] | | |
| | | | | | Deeper Christian Life Ministry | Lagos, Nigeria | 75,000 | Pastor W.F. Kumuyi | Dearly beloved,
I am delighted to warmly welcome you to our homepage. You have come to the right place at the right time. Here, we are very passionate about your eternal destiny and committed to your spiritual welfare. This is a website that has a lot to offer you – with unlimited access to life-transforming, systematic and expository teaching of the word of God and resources specifically tailored to meet your own spiritual needs; deepen your walk with God and add value to your entire life.
Our numerous resources are carefully prepared with you in mind- to satisfy your spiritual hunger; enhance your spiritual growth and; equip you for divine service, all round success and victory over the challenges of life.
You can now plunge into the great riches of the Kingdom that have been preserved for you via the hyperlinks to pages on downloadable sermons, Bible studies, target-group resources, gospel literature and magazines, leadership and church growth materials and faith-building testimonies etc. You can equally link up with us via this site for live streaming/broadcast of our regular refreshing worship and study sessions as well as soul-stirring, power-packed special revival services.
It is now my greatest delight to invite you to commit the rest of your life to the Great Saviour, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins- to accept Him as your personal Lord and Saviour; to enjoy the warmth of our fellowship, and then travel along with us on this highway of holiness to our eternal home in heaven.
Once again, I welcome you to a lifetime of unforgettable and eternally-beneficial experience of walking with God.
As you continue to explore and enjoy the riches of grace uncovered through our numerous materials and online resources, may the LORD continue to richly bless you (Amen).
– Pastor W. F. Kumuyi. [More] | | |
| |  | | | View 2016 Top 100 Church - OutreachMagazine.com OutreachMagazine.com | "The No. 1 reason for our growth is our passion for discipleship," says Gateway's senior pastor, John Van Pay. "We follow a simple process of discipleship, in which friends are encouraged to belong to a small group so they can grow and be sent to start new small groups so disciples are made." Gateway Fellowship doesn't have many programs, ministries or events that compete with discipleship in small groups and large worship gatherings. <br>
"Our goal," Van Pay says, "is for 101 percent of those in our church family to be part of a small group, where friendship, spiritual growth and mission happen. One of our maxims is, "Love finds a need and meets it.'" Needs are being met in countless ways: Single moms, widows and the elderly are visited for prayer; meals are brought to local fire departments; food pantries are stocked and cleaned at local inner-city ministries; and an orphan care ministry allows adults to be trained to foster and adopt children. [More] | | |
| |  | | | About Us | Hope Chapel of Oceanside | A Foursquare Church | Hope Chapel was founded in 1948 in Oceanside, CA as the Oceanside Foursquare Church. Over the years it has been known as the Oceanside Foursquare Church, Seaside Bible Chapel, and North Coast Community Foursquare Church and for over fifteen years as Hope Chapel. No matter what banner it has been under, it has always been a dedicated lighthouse for the Word of God. We are a part of the ever growing Foursquare family of churches. Angelus Temple in Los Angeles California, the headquarters church, was opened and dedicated by its founder, Aimee Semple McPherson, January 1, 1923. The “ Temple” , as it has been known, held 5,300 people and was filled to capacity three services a day, seven days a week. During the “ great depression” the Foursquare church in Los Angeles fed more than 1.5 million people. While over the years the organization has gone through many changes, it is still fundamentally committed to God’ s Word and to be a lighthouse of evangelism as it has and always will.
We at Hope Chapel feel proud of our great heritage and have committed ourselves to be that same beacon of Christ’ s love to the world. At Hope we believe in practical Christian living through the study and teaching of God’ s Word. It is our heartfelt desire to equip every believer with all that is necessary to become a capable representative for Christ in their community and we encourage them to go out into the world and fulfill the great commission of Christ and reach the lost in this world. We are, by the world’ s standard, a small church but we worship a mighty God and through His power we have always been active in missions internationally as well as locally. We enjoin the mindset of, “Think Globally, Act Locally.”
Pastor Ed & Judy Brown
Pastor Ed & Judy Brown have been in ministry since 1970. They have a rich history in the service of the Kingdom of God. Pastor Ed’s parents were evangelists, as well as former pastors of many churches, in the Mid-West and California.
Ed & Judy came to Oceanside in 1984 and have ministered together for almost 40 years as youth pastors, camp directors, school administrators and Senior Pastors. They have 5 children, 2 daughter-in-laws, 4 grandchildren, 1 Dog and 4 grand-dogs. [More] | | |
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M.R. Mathias 
