Coast2Coast Missions

November 2011 Shepherd’s Heart

A Lamb that is Worthy

Winter is not the season of lambs being born, but in a field right on the
edge of town is a wee flock that has an autumn-born lamb fattening up on the grass. Those lambs are so cute, you just want to jump out of the car and give it a wee squeeze. You know it wouldn’t hurt a fly. Lambs have to be one of the most gentle and sweet-natured beasts in the animal kingdom. It is in God’s wry sense of irony that the Savior and Lord is pictured as a lamb. When Jesus first comes on the scene, as recorded in the gospel of John, John the Baptist “saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ But there was something very special about this particular lamb, because, “John bore witness: ‘I saw the Spirit descend
from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”(John 1:29, 32) I have seen rain come down on the sheep around here, and even snow, but never anything remotely close to the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.
The true story of Christmas is the amazing grace God showed by the Son leaving the splendor of heaven for abject poverty on earth. It can be summed up by Philippians 2, verse 6 which says, “Though he was in the form of God [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
But Christ, though he died on the cross for our sin, was raised to life three days later then ascended back to heaven. There he now sits at the right hand of God receiving worship as the angels declare, “Worthy is the Lamb!” So as you remember the wee baby in the manger this Christmas, whisper this as a prayer to Him: “Worthy is the Lamb.

Here are some more words for youse:

Buns: Sweet Baked Goods. “My favorite buns are the ones at Cinnabon”
Ornaments: Figurine. “That is a lovely nativity ornament on the mantle”
Baubles: Ornaments, Balls. “I got new baubles for the tree on Black Friday!”
Brick-a-brack: Nic Naks. “We sold some nice brick-a-brack at the car boot sale”
A Kit: A uniform or outfit. “The fire brigade got new kits.”
Engine Driver: Fireman. “The engine driver from the fire brigade spoke at our school”
Autumnal: Fall-like. “Her kit had a real autumnal look to it.”

3rd Annual Hallelujah Party

Wow, our 3rd Hallelujah party! Can’t even believe we’ve been here this long! Once again the children enjoyed great fun, games and lots of
sweets. We had some of the same games, as well as some new ones. Brad & Cheryl Matsunaga had brought Christian craft kits when they
visited us earlier. The kits explain the Gospel through colored beads and a cross. Rick shared the Gospel with the children while they assembled their bead necklaces. We had a great turn out, around 50 people in all.
One of the favorite games of all is the ‘Guess How Many?’
where different sized jars are filled with different kinds of sweets. We always have loads of fun and a great many laughs! We are grateful for the blessing of this building to hold such events in. Jan Knight and
Melissa Conroy were a great help in setting the building up.

Voice of Hope Choir presents “The Gift”

Five members of Harvest, Rick, Jan Knight, Melissa Conroy and Robbie & Sarah Orr were all members of the VOH Choir who performed a three evening presentation of “The Gift”. Being a gospel outreach to the community and a fund raiser for two different Christian charities, the message of Jesus Christ being the ultimate Gift, given by God to us was a wonderful experience. Cindy was able to catch their last performance on the day she returned home from California.
The weekend before The Gift, Rick joined a group of choir members who went door to door to personally hand out invitations to attend the free event to homes in the neighborhood where the event would take place.
It was especially chosen to be in the north end of town, the “Catholic” part of town, and the choir wanted the Lord to move among our neighbors. Please pray with us that fruit will remain.

Praise and Prayer

Praises:
For our son Daniel’s salvation!
· For Cindy’s trip to California in November
· A great turn out and time was had at the Annual Hallelujah Party Outreach
· For Margaret Henry’s recovery from hip replacement surgery
· Voice of Hope gospel outreach was a success and blessing to many
Prayer requests:
For Cindy’s mom, Vernie, as she adjusts to the loss of Fred her husband
· For Dee, Rick’s mom as she adjusts to her new home
· For issues of health for our mothers
· Christmas service – 23rd Dec
· Shepherd’s Heart Care Team members –many are having various struggles
· Financial provision for the cold months

God Bless YOU!
Rick and Cindy Johnston