Pastor’s Garage- June 8/2023

I just want to begin by thanking you for being brave enough to open an email coming from me! It has come to my attention that in recent weeks several people have received emails with my name attached that I definitely did not send! I had one person tell me that my email had been hacked and suggested that I should change my email address. When I got them to forward me the email they received in my name, I quickly realized that while my name was at the top, it did not come from my email address. My email, I don’t believe, is the issue. It’s just that someone has borrowed my name! My email I would change if it was the issue, I’m a little hesitant to change my name! If you receive a email from me with a strange email address offering to show you some pictures DO NOT OPEN IT! IT DID NOT COME FROM ME!!!!! An equally frustrating factor is that it would seem that these fraudulent emails are targeting those I have sent pastor garages too!

While thinking about this whole scenario the passage in 2 Corinthians 11 came to mind where Paul talks about how the devil comes posing as an angel of light trying to deceive us. It can be pretty confusing when thoughts come into our mind, or people share something with us, that kinda sounds like the voice of God but something just doesn’t seem right. I am reminded of a story how bank tellers are taught how to detect if a bill is counterfeit or not. There are millions of variations in counterfeits out there. It would be impossible to learn all of the tell-tail signs of why any bill would be a counterfeit. They learn how to tell them apart by intensively studying the real thing. I wholeheartedly believe the same principle can be applied in detecting if it is indeed the voice of the Lord speaking to us or some other imposter! Read your bible, daily! Spend time talking to God. Spend time listening for His voice! There was a very profound song most of us learned as a child that if we applied its principles to our lives a Christians, I believe, it would still bear much fruit. “Read your bible, pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow!”

Just a couple reminders of what’s coming up. This Sunday Greg Paulson will be joining us to share. The following weekend, June 16-18, is our church camping weekend. There is a sign-up list at the church if you are able to bring some of the extra food items. Please let me know asap if you plan to attend so we can plan our food. There will be no service here in Grenfell on the 18th. The following Sunday, June 25th, there will be someone from the travelling ministry team out of the Regina Apostolic Church joining us to share the word. On July 2nd we are planning on doing an outdoor community outreach service at the museum grounds followed by a bbq. Please invite anyone you might think would come to such a thing!

Keep your stick on the ice, your feet in the pool, and head out of the clouds, or whatever works for you! “Let us not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:7-10

Pastor Mike

Pastor’s Garage- June 1/2023

So, it’s been a couple weeks since I pumped one of these bad boys out, sorry. It’s been a bit crazy round here! Two weeks ago, I just plain forgot! Last week I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get some farming done. I am happy to report that I finished getting the seed in the ground last night!

For this PG I thought I would just go over some of the things coming up in the body life of our church. This Sunday I will be sharing in church and Kelly will be leading worship. It will also be the last Sunday with an organized kid’s time for the summer. A special thank-you to Rachel and Waylon, and all of those that helped out in organizing this over the last year. It comes at a cost, with all the planning, and then they have to miss out on the service giving us a chance to enjoy.

The following Sunday, June 11 Greg Paulson(Leona Osiowy’s son-in-law) will be joining us to bring the word. He is the pastor at the church in Prince George, BC and offered to take a Sunday while they are down visiting Leona. I have known Greg for many years, he has a passionate heart for the Lord and for His Church. I am truly excited to have him with us!

The following weekend will be our church camping weekend at camp Monahan. It is located on Katepawa lake, take the highway north of Indian Head, turn off at the Lebret Grid. Go north and about 3/4’s of the way to Lebret (before you go down into the valley), there is a sign for the camp, and you turn right(east). This road will lead to the campentrance, turn left into the camp when you see the sign. There is plenty of room for campers in the ball field, which is pretty sweet cause it is surrounded by trees, but there are no serviced sites so bring a generator if you need power. There are also plenty of cabins available. You will have to bring your own bedding and toiletries. Danny Delong(who currently works with the Regina Apostolic Church, former missionary to Turkey, and long-time worker with Apostolic Youth Ministries International) and his family will be joining us to be our guest speaker. Shauna has been working on planning the meals(there will be a sign-up sheet at church the next couple Sundays to fill in some of the smaller needs), and Kelley has been planning the activities. The cost for the entire weekend is $50 per adult, $20 per child 12 and under. Could you let us know if you’re coming and what you will need for accommodation asap so we can plan accordingly. There will be no Sunday service here in Grenfell, and we will call the service down there our annual church picnic, so if you can’t make it for the weekend, please consider joining us for Sunday. Any other questions, just talk to Mike, Kelley, or Shauna.

The last Sunday of the Month there will be someone from the Regina Apostolic Church coming to speak. Danny Delong, who is in charge with ministry outreach for the church phoned me to ask of we were interested in having someone as they were already sending a team to Jacob Bear Community church that Sunday and driving right by.

A few weeks ago, Tatum asked me what my thoughts were about doing an outdoor community service or two this summer as an outreach. I think it’s a good idea and my initial thought would be to invite the ministerial to do a community service on the Canada Day weekend(June 2). We thought a service on the museum lawn followed by a BBQ would be a nice idea. We reached out to the ministerial, asked the town if there was anything else going on that morning(there isn’t), and got permission from the museum. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work for any of the other churches, but I still think it a good idea, so I think we’re gonna “send it”! It might be a way for those who have been interested in church for a while, but walking through those doors for the first time is a barrier, to come check it out!

Well, I think that’s enough info to get ur brain percolating for a few days! I will leave this verse with you. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the mane of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:3-11

Pastor Mike

Pastors Garage May 11, 2023

There is a lot going on this weekend so I thought I would just send a note covering some of the details surrounding those things.

Tonight will be the board meeting for our church, please uphold our board during this season as they navigate some of the changes that are upcoming for our church. That God would give them a common vision and passion for where we need to go as a body. Jordan Gadsby(our district representative for ACOP) and his wife Chantelle will be joining us for the meeting and also staying for the farewell for the Wicks family on Friday. I have really grown to appreciate and respect Jordan over the last couple years as he has taken over that role from Dave Wicks Sr. I thought it a good idea to invite him to address our board in this season of transition, and so that they could meet him face to face should they have any needs or concerns in the days ahead which he could possibly help out with.

On Friday evening at 7:30pm we will be having our farewell for the Wicks family at the church in the sanctuary. If I could get the ladies who have volunteered to provide desserts for the evening to have them at the church by 7 and help cut them up and put them on plates, that would be greatly appreciated. We will meet up in the Oakshela room to do that. There will be an open mic for anyone who wishes to share that evening, and there will be a love offering taken for them should you wish to prepare something for that. If you wish to make out a cheque, please make it out to David or Liz Wicks.

On Saturday there a couple couples from our church that will be attending a Together for Good Marriage Workshop at the Prairie Harvest Christian Center in Yorkton. While I realize this is very last minute, if there are any couples out there who should like to join us, I would definitely see what I could swing to have you join us!

On Sunday we will be having a very special Mother’s Day themed service. There will be an all-guys ensemble leading us in worship. Those in charge of this service have asked to give you some things to ponder and possibly share for that morning. Please take time to think ahead and possibly even write a bit down to share.

-A small story or memory you want to share about your Mother, Aunt, or Grandmother?

-What is/was your mom’s favourite food?

-What did your grandmother’s house smell like?

-Where was your mother or grandmother born?

-What was a difficult situation you saw your mom, aunt, or grandmother experience?

-Did you mother or grandmother have a faith in Jesus? If so, how did it influence you?

Next Sunday May 21st Lorne Bonk will be coming to share with us and we will also plan on doing a potluck that Sunday!

Keep your stick on the ice, go Leafs and Oilers!

Pastor Mike

Pastor’s Garage-May 4/2023

Well, I won’t lie to you, as I sit down to write this PG, it was a bit weird to think that there was no point in titling it Pastor Mike’s Garage as I may be the only one writing them for a bit! We are going into a season of transition as a local church body, that is for sure. While I am a bit nervous, I am also encouraged at the number of people that have contacted me as of late offering to take care of different aspects of our church functions, or with new ideas that they themselves would like to work on or implement!

Even though I did do a bit of a “State of the Union” address this past Sunday on how we are navigating the coming months ahead, and there have been some posts to that effect on our Facebook site, I thought it might be a good idea just to go over some of that here as well. As most of you know, with the Wick’s family leaving, and with Judy Jolly stepping down as our beloved long-time church secretary, there are definitely some large shoes to fill! While I will still be as involved as ever, I in no way intend ,nor feel capable or called, to be all things to all men, and try and do everything that they were doing plus my role. As mentioned, there have been several people who have volunteered to take on some new roles, and some of you will be asked in the days ahead if you would be willing to help out in various areas. For the coming months ahead, while we are in this season of transition, we will be going into a bit of a “summer mode”, making sure the most important things still carry on, and the bills get paid, while some of the less urgent or important areas may slow down for a bit.

As far as Sunday morning services we will be going into a bit of four week rhythm. One Sunday a month I will be speaking, another we will have a guest speaker, another will be a more interactive service with the possibility of more time for testimonies or prayer, and one other Sunday I will be looking for someone from within our local church to give the sermon. In the month ahead I will be sharing this Sunday, the following week will be our interactive service and it will be tailored around mother’s day. I will be talking a bit more about that in next week’s PG. The following Sunday Lorne Bonk will be coming to share with us, and the final Sunday this month Neil Theisen has agreed to share.

There are a few upcoming events I want to highlight. This Friday evening Springside Apostolic Bible Camp will be doing a fundraising banquet and auction at the Legacy Inn here in Grenfell, doors open at 6. The following Friday evening we will be having the farewell dessert night here at the church for the Wicks family at 7:30. If you have something special you would like to share that night, please let me know. I am excited to announce that we will be having our Church Family camping weekend once again this year and it will be at Camp Monahan on Katepawa Lake June 16-18. There is a beautiful area to bring and park your RV or there are a number of cabins available. Danny Delong, who was a missionary to Turkey, worked with Apostolic Youth Ministries(now called United Youth Outreach) for many years and is currently on staff with the AP in Regina, will be our guest speaker! Please try to make attending this weekend a priority, it is usually really good for our church family!

Finally, as I think about what I believe God has asked me to challenge you with for this season as a church body, and have been preparing for this Sunday’s message, would you be willing to read a couple passages and ponder them. I’d like you to read Romans 12:1-8, and Philippians 2:1-11 at least once a day and to spend a few moments asking God what their implications are for us as a church. How do we view ourselves? How do we view those outside our body? What is our role in this geographical area? How are we called to act, look, and function?

Pastor Mike

So this will likely be my last Pastor’s Garage email. I preach once more
this Sunday and then the last Sunday of the month Pastor Mike will be
preaching. During the month of May, I am going to use up my holidays and
continue the packing, planning, garbage run, garage sale, clean up the
house before you move and all that jazz process. ..all the while looking
for a house in Ontario. We are planning on and hoping for a move sometime
in June. We are still on the house hunt!

I will miss sharing my thoughts and dreams and ideas with you in this
format. It has been a nice way to keep you in the loop of some things and
to bounce new ideas around and process some thoughts. Honestly, I never
intended it to continue this long, so for those who have read it, thank
you. As far as I understand, the Pastor’s Garage will continue on after we
leave.

I am going to be finishing my series on the gospel this Sunday with “I Must
Decide.” While the decision part of the gospel is primarily a stage in our
journey as a new believer, it is also a regular if not daily part of our
journey as disciples – even for those of us who have been following Christ
for a long time!

We must constantly make the choice to follow Jesus, to call him Lord and to
allow him to lead us. We must choose to lay down our agendas, plans and
wants in favor of what He wants for our lives – on a very regular basis
because we get off track so easy! So in light of that I’m planning on
having an altar call and a time to respond after I finish preaching this
Sunday. I know I need to respond to God in some way. I am in need of
renewal. I am in need of a refreshing touch from the Lord. As I finish out
this season in Grenfell and look to our next season I can feel my need for
a touch from God. As we leave Grenfell and as the board and leadership
begin mapping out the future… this church and its leaders need to have
their eyes on Jesus. I think God is perhaps calling all of us to a time of
response, a time of rededicating our lives to Christ. Perhaps this Sunday
is a part of that process for you. Would you come with the intention to
respond to Christ? Would you come with faith that God is going to meet you?
Would you come knowing that your response to God and that the softness of
your heart matters to Him?

“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy
set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such
opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
~Hebrews 12:1-3

I am hoping I will see all of you at some point before we leave, but in the
chance that I am unable to, know that Liz and I love you all very much. You
have literally been like family to us for these past 9 years. It will be a
hard day when we say goodbye and finally drive off through the snowbank
(which will probably still be here when June comes!). Also, please stay in
touch and feel free to come and visit.

God bless,

Pastor Dave

[image: Youth April 21st, 2023.png]

[image: Youth April 14th, 2023.png]

This Sunday, April 16th, is potluck. Please join us and bring some extra
food as well as a friend or neighbor.

This Sunday will be part 3 of my 4 part series on the gospel. This week’s
title is “Jesus Died for Me.” Please pray for me that I would have the
ability to speak God’s truth boldly and please pray for Rachel Kardash as
she leads worship.

I am reading a book right now called “From Social Media to Social Ministry”
by Nona Jones. It is really, really challenging my thinking and ideas about
discipleship and ministry when it comes to using technology and things like
Facebook. In my mind I have or had mostly dismissed technology and social
media as being a part of the church and the discipleship process… but…
maybe I have had some things wrong. Anyway, it’s a challenging read and
will definitely push our old-school traditional brains. Perhaps I am a
little stuck in my thinking and perhaps I don’t know it all. Technology use
and discipleship aside, the author has some really powerful thoughts about
church. If you are a reader, it’s worth a read.

Here’s a couple of quotes I read yesterday:

“I find it particularly interesting that in most churches the largest
budgets are dedicated to the operations that help ‘maintain the aquarium’
when we’ve been called to be fishers of people. We spend incredible sums of
money on… things that don’t compel anyone to go out into the deep oceans
of our communities to win souls.”

“Dying churches see their target population as the people in their pews.
Thriving churches see their target population as everyone else.”

Let’s never, ever forget why we are here. We are here to reach the lost and
to share the gospel of Christ. We are here to make disciples. As this
church and its leadership begin the process of figuring out what is next,
let’s keep our eyes on the ocean and not our aquarium.

Blessings and have a great rest of your week,

Pastor Dave

This Friday is Good Friday!

As in the past several years we will be doing a contemplative service on
Friday from 9 am to noon. Come whenever suits you and go through different
stations set up in the sanctuary to ponder the meaning, purpose, and value
of Easter. Everyone is welcome!

After going through all the stations, you’ll leave with a Good Friday
themed bookmark or a bracelet. I would imagine most would want to spend
about 15 minutes or more working through it.

This Sunday is of course Easter Sunday and we’ll celebrate Christ’s
resurrection with our yearly tradition of releasing helium balloons. It
truly is a reason to celebrate, because if Christ was not raised… then
everything we believe as Christians is just a nice story with some morals
to live by.

But He was RAISED! Which means that Christ has conquered death and Christ
is who he says he is!

We should be absolutely filled with joy.

This Sunday will be part 2 of my 4 part series, “The Gospel” and the topic
is, “I Have Sinned.” Please pray for me as I share and for Rachel Drinnan
as she leads. Pastor Mike is recovering in Regina from his hip surgery and
is doing well. He’ll likely be leaving the hospital Friday.

Blessings on your Easter weekend.

(Note, no youth this Friday).

Pastor Dave

Pastor Mike’s Garage-March 30/2023

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to share at church and I spoke on the cost of sin. How God still take sin seriously, and some steps we can take to deal with it in our lives. At the end of my message I made this disclaimer, if you want to start dealing with sin in your life, look out! The attack will come!

The reality is, if there are areas we are unaware of that are hindering us, or if there are things we aren’t ready to deal with, or even some vices that we literally don’t want to deal with because we still enjoy them; usually there’s not a lot of attack that accompany these situations. There definitely may be some conviction from God, some guilt, foreboding, or negative affects on our behalf, but not usually a terrible amount of spiritual attack. If we have sin in our lives that we are not dealing with, that is already doing the enemy’swork! He doesn’t need to attack; the works being done already! BUT….. should you decide to start taking some steps to deal with it, look out! Don’t be surprised, the attack with come! Our adversary, the devil, roars around like a lion looking for someone to devour. He comes but to steal, kill, and destroy! He isn’t particularly interested in you dealing with some of the things in your life that are hurting or hindering you or those around you! He’s kind of opposed to the whole idea of you getting spiritually stronger or closer to God and others!

Now this battle is a lifelong process! The fight is real! We wrestle not against flesh and blood! There is a very real sinful nature within each of us that we actively need to wrestle with and try and diminish while strengthening our relationship with God in submission to His will and plan for our lives. As I mentioned in my sermon from Sunday, if you were brought into a spiritual court of law, would there be enough evidence found in your life to charge and convict you of attempted manslaughter in the killing of your old man?(sinful nature) You have to be intentional in this, the struggle is real people! This has been a struggle for me all of my Christian life, and will likely continue to be a struggle until Tubman’s make my final move!

Recently I have taken some steps in dealing with some areas in my life that I have been harbouring and ignoring for far too long. Because of this I am feeling stronger spiritually, being able to feel, hear, and express God better than I have in a long time! But there have definitely been some attacks in the last little bit, that while seemingly they come out of nowhere and are unrelated, I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t the enemy testing my resolve, trying to discourage, and ultimately cause me to give up dealing with those areas that need attention. The question that I ask is how do we carry ourselves in the midst of the attack? Even when it sometimes comes from people we have known for a long time, love, and respect? Without giving any teaching or direction in this I want to close with two very familiar passages of scripture. If you feel like you’re under attack today by someone in your life, read these verses; focus, meditate, soak on them! Let them challenge, strengthen , encourage, convict you of what kind of person you ought to be in the midst of the attack. “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

Pastor Mike