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Pentecost celebration in Switzerland

GCI’s Swiss church hosted a festival on Pentecost weekend in the picturesque village of Hegne by the shores of the majestic Lake Constance, famous for being where Austria, Germany and Switzerland connect. People from all three countries attended and, afterwards, an Austrian delegate was baptized by Toni Püentener, an elder serving our Swiss members and contacts.

View toward Lake Constance

Guest speaker at the festival was European Mission Developer James Henderson, who spoke about how the Spirit includes us in Christ’s church and about how each of us is special to God, our Father. Social activities included an informal get-together with laughter and appreciation for how God has blessed his church with talented people.

Joy in Big Sandy

GCI’s Big Sandy, TX, congregation is experiencing the lingering joy of three celebrations involving several of its members. The first occurred on Pentecost when, in addition to celebrating the birth of the church, the congregation celebrated the 70th wedding anniversary of members Clifford and Deloris Hix. Following church, there was a reception for the couple, followed by a gathering of 80 friends and family, many who had come from Minnesota and Canada. A proclamation from the City of Big Sandy declaring June 7 (the couple’s wedding date) “Hix Day in Big Sandy” was read by Mayor Sonny Parsons.

Deloris, with Clifford, holding the proclamation

The second celebration occurred when Big Sandy member Anna Peterson married Andrew McIver, the son of Helen Ellard who is the wife of Big Sandy’s pastor Jerome Ellard. Anna is the daughter of Big Sandy members Rick and Lois Peterson.

Andrew and Anna

The third celebration occurred earlier on the day of Andrew and Anna’s wedding, when the Big Sandy congregation celebrated the 56th wedding anniversary of Big Sandy Elder Kelly Barfield (a retired GCI pastor) and his wife Vinita. In the sermon that morning, Kelly delivered a sermon titled Journey of Faith.

Pastor Jerome (at right) presents a card from the congregation to Vinita and Kelly

A communion of joy

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Over the last couple of years, I’ve experienced great joy on several occasions. I’ve shared the joy of close friends becoming first-time grandparents, and others celebrating the marriage of adult children (I participated in a few of those weddings—what a joy!). Recently I learned that a dear friend in France was hospitalized with a life-threatening infection in one of his feet. I shared his deep concern, which, thank God, turned to joy for us all when it was announced that he was improving and his foot would not need to be amputated.

Joseph, Stephanie, Tammy and May

A few weeks ago my wife Tammy, her mother May and I experienced great joy attending our daughter Stephanie’s graduation. The joy was heightened when one of her favorite professors said to us that “Stephanie is a creative genius.” What parent or grandparent wouldn’t be filled with joy hearing that? Perhaps you can see our joy in the picture at right. Though it’s hard to tell, I think the one feeling the most joy was grandma!

Obtaining a master’s degree from Cal State University required a lot of effort on Stephanie’s part—seemingly endless reading and writing of papers, while working part-time jobs. But the reward of graduation is great, and it was wonderful to share her big moment as we experienced together a communion of joy!

Forgive me if my musing seems like bragging—I’m experiencing lingering joy mixed with nostalgia—like that experienced by the father (played by Steve Martin) in the movie Father of the Bride, who looked with joy on his mature daughter but saw a toddler in her booster chair. I relate!

As I thought about the topic of joy, I was reminded of the many times joy is mentioned in the Gospels. Upon learning that she would give birth to the Savior, Mary said this: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). At Jesus’ birth, an angel appeared to the shepherds proclaiming this: “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). And who can forget Jesus’ statement: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). These are examples of overflowing spiritual joy, and we magnify God when, in joy, we give thanks for his many gifts including creation and especially his salvation.

Sadly, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche reflected the thinking of many in claiming that Christians are joyless, anti-human and anti-life. But the truth is just the opposite. Note this from the apostle Paul:

Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. (2 Cor. 8:1-2)

Paul was admonishing believers in Corinth to follow the example of believers in the Macedonian churches who, despite severe trials, experienced a joy that led them to be generous in helping others despite their poverty. The source of their joy was not their possessions, but their salvation—their communion with the triune God. The word communion means sharing in common, and these believers, in communion with others in the body of Christ, joyfully shared what they had, meager though it was. The joy they experienced was a sharing in Jesus’ own joy and generosity—loving as he loves (John 13:34).

Jesus, the Bread of Life, shared his life with us. Jesus, the Redeemer, shared his love for us by laying down his life for us. Indeed, this is the greatest love. When we receive the bread and wine of Communion we are sharing in the life and love of Jesus that reaches all the way back to before the foundation of the world when we, along with all humanity, were chosen to be in Christ (Eph. 1)—chosen to share in the love and life that is shared by the Father, Son and Spirit. Communion, then, is about God’s desire to share himself with us by determining to adopt us as his sons and daughters. As we learn in John 17:1-26, it’s about being one with each other and with the Father as Jesus is one with the Father and with us.

It Is Finished by Liz Lemon Swindle
(used with permission)

This communion is made possible by the ministry of the Holy Spirit who unites us to Jesus and so to each other. By the Spirit, Jesus lives in us and we live in him. Knowledge of this union and communion brings us great joy even in the midst of suffering as we recall that “for the joy set before him [Jesus] endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2). Jesus experienced joy knowing his sufferings were leading to our salvation. And when we suffer, we too experience joy knowing God takes our suffering and redeems it, making it serve his redemptive purposes.

On the cross, Jesus also experienced joy anticipating the great blessing of returning (via the ascension) to the Father. Peter noted this in his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:28) by quoting Psalm 16:11, which gives prophetic voice to Jesus’ declaration: “You will fill me with joy in your presence.” We too experience great joy when God blesses us with wonderful things like the birth of a child, their baptism, graduation, marriage and birth of their own children. I’m rejoicing knowing that at least 40 congregations have joined GCI so far this year—what a blessing!

With these thoughts in mind about communion and the joy it brings, let me share a closing benediction:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13)

Thanking God for our communion of joy,
Joseph Tkach

Thoughts about Father’s Day and love

Western Union telegram header (circa 1941)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Over the years, I have been given many enjoyable and unique Father’s Day gifts—special breakfasts, Belgian beer, beard trimmers and always one of Tammy’s homemade craft cards. I confess though, that what has brought me the greatest joy were the times my children gave me a big hug and told me they love me (I get misty-eyed just thinking about it!).

We humans are the most sociable species on earth—we want to love and be loved. But what accounts for love? Science, in accordance with its nature, looks for strictly physical explanations. A current explanation is that love evolved as a vehicle related to the human drive to reproduce. But if that is the case, why then do parents continue to love their children after they are born? Science points to reward processing systems in the brain (pictured below) that, through biochemical reactions, fire the pleasure centers of the brain. The pleasurable feelings that result are then interpreted as “love.” Conversely, the painful feelings we experience when love is lost are the result of events that lead to the firing of the brain’s pain centers. No wonder we hold fast to the objects of love and seek to avoid the loss of love through rejection, divorce, death, etc.

The brain’s reward processing system.

The physical reactions in the brain related to our feelings of love are real. But is the physiology of love all there is to it? The answer is no. By God’s design, humans are physical-spiritual beings—the union of body and spirit. [1] Though science generally does a good job dealing with the physical (with more being learned all the time), it does not (and with its tools, cannot) enter the realm of the spirit where understanding comes not through observation or experimentation, but by revelation that comes through the words and acts of Jesus, the ministry and personal agency of the Spirit, and Holy Scripture.

In Scripture, God has revealed to us that we humans were created in the image of God (imago dei). As discussed last week, Scripture also tells us that God (who is one in Being and three in Person) is love (1 John 4:16). Thus the love we experience as humans is not merely a biochemical phenomenon—it is a reflection, through the Spirit, of God’s own spiritual-relational nature. It is God who gives us the ability to give and to receive love.

When I think about my beloved family members—my grandfathers, my dad, my father-in-law, my wife and children—I experience very pleasurable feelings! I’m aware that these feelings involve the firing of the pleasure centers within certain regions of my brain—that is what is happening physically, and I’m thankful to God, my Creator, for that! But what produces those reactions in my brain is not the need to reproduce, but the spiritually-grounded desire for good and right relationships. For that desire (and ability) I also thank my Creator, who designed us for relationship—ones that, in amazing ways, can reflect, if only dimly, God’s own kind of love for us.

I know that some of you reading this have not had a good relationship with your human father. I also know that the painful feelings of that bad relationship sometimes are projected onto God our Father. If that’s the case for you, I’ve got good news: those bad perceptions can be overcome by extending forgiveness to the human father who failed to be the kind of dad God designed him to be. Rather than remaining trapped in the past, please remember that God is in the business of healing and changing individual people and even whole families.

Here’s good news for those of you who are fathers: no matter what kind of dad you have been, God wants to make you a better one. He is a perfect Father who is faithful and can help us all become better versions of ourselves, as he works to transform us into the person he created us to be. Indeed, he who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion (see Philippians 1:6).

Just as I relish my children hugging me and telling me they love me, I know God relishes when we trust and receive his love as we hug him back in response. But it doesn’t stop there—we can be conduits of God’s love to others. When we extend love to one of God’s children, they might sense they are being hugged by God himself. Our heavenly Father is perfect love and has moved heaven and earth to have a loving relationship with all his children—those he is bringing to share in the glory of his own Son!

Happy Father’s Day to you all,
Joseph Tkach


[1] Click here for a GCI article that addresses the biblical teaching that humans are the union of body and spirit (soul).

Note: the images used in this letter are from Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Thanking our volunteers

Our congregations, their ministries and our denominational ministries are largely dependent on the work of members who generously and consistently volunteer their services. On behalf of the denomination, we send our sincere thanks to these volunteers, and encourage pastors and ministry leaders to do so personally—perhaps with a thank-you letter (for a good example, click here).

News from Canada

Here from National Director Gary Moore is news from GCI-Canada.

Bibles distributed in Kenya

GCI-Canada has numerous international mission projects, some funded from GCI-Canada’s International Missions Fund and the rest funded by local churches. Recently, Eric Vautour and the Moncton and Saint John New Brunswick congregations he pastors funded the purchase of Bibles for distribution in our GCI refugee congregations in Kenya. At right is a picture of those Bibles being distributed. Numerous members attending our Canadian churches formerly attended these congregations in Kenya.

Canadian national office moving

The GCI-Canada national office will be moved to Saskatoon in the first half of 2018. The move is due to several factors including National Director Gary Moore’s retirement in 2018 and the overheated housing market in the lower mainland of British Columbia where the office is currently located making housing too expensive for national office staff. A mid-sized city like Saskatoon offers all the benefits required for GCI-Canada’s national office, without many of the costs. In addition, Saskatoon is centrally located with a modern airport, which means travel costs will be reduced.

Ordinations

We are pleased to announce the following recent elder ordinations:

  1. Sharon Bell (Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada)
  2. Tracy Crouch (Mt. Sterling, KY, United States)
  3. Winston Gyimah (Camberwell, England)
  4. Gerrit Kemna (Zwolle, Netherlands)
  5. Kevin McCready (Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada)

Here is a picture of Gerrit Kemna’s ordination on Pentecost Sunday:

Gerrit (with his wife Marga) being ordained by National Pastor Frans Danenberg (on right) joined by Elders Hans de Moei and Jesse Korver.

Neighborhood Fun Day

GCI’s Woodbine, GA, fellowship group recently hosted a Neighborhood Fun Day. The small congregation (17 members, including kids) held a scaled-down version of the Outside the Walls community outreach event conducted this year and last by its sister congregation in Jacksonville, FL. The purpose of the event was to help the community become more aware of GCI’s presence in the neighborhood where it meets, and to bring joy to the children who live there.

Fun Day activities included a prayer/chat booth, free raffles and Bible give-aways, two bounce houses, face painting, pony rides, a small petting zoo, four carnival game booths, and free food. Although the event lasted only three hours, the congregation hosted over 40 guests from the neighborhood. Now that the event is over, the congregation is making follow-up calls and sending cards to those who visited. The contact information was gathered through sign-ups for the Fun Day raffle.

Here is a short video of the event (on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBJ9tcC-8Uo&sns=em):