“Greetings, brothers and sisters in Christ. My wife Debora and I and our three girls (Lexa, Paige, Erin) arrived safely on June 5th and received a warm Aylmer welcome. We look forward to serving you and worshiping with you this summer. Even after a few days, we have been blessed by the body of Christ here and we thank you for that. A special thanks to the Board of Administration for putting us up in a “sweet” house in the country. It will be difficult to go back to Grand Rapids in the fall! Email: jmoelke5@calvinseminary.edu. God’s blessings, John, Debora, Lexa, Paige & Erin”

The Bible says that spirits exist. Numerous places in the Bible mention angels helping real people and demons seriously affecting the lives of real people. The Bible also tells us about the Spirit of God very very early in the book Genesis and throughout the Bible. The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God was hovering over the earth, giving it life.

The Holy Spirit is one of three parts of the Trinity. Sometimes the idea of the Trinity confuses people. The Apostle’s Creed helps us understand this fundamental idea of the Christian Faith and is a very powerful summary of our Christian Faith:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
      creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
      who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
      and born of the virgin Mary.
      He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
      was crucified, died, and was buried;
      he descended to hell.
      The third day he rose again from the dead.
      He ascended to heaven
      and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
      From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
      the holy catholic* church,
      the communion of saints,
      the forgiveness of sins,
      the resurrection of the body,
      and the life everlasting. Amen.
*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places

It is God’s Spirit, The Holy Spirit, that was poured out over His Church on Pentecost that was celebrated a couple of weeks ago. It is God’s Holy Spirit “that is the presence and power of God with us here and now, leading the church, uniting God’s people, applying God’s forgiveness to our broken lives, speaking to us, and spurring us individually and communally to godly living” -CRCNA.

It is comforting to know that God’s Holy Spirit is with His Church today, empowering all who believe to do His Will on this earth and continually supporting His children in all their trials, hardships, and joyful times. Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, grant me a vision of your gracious spirit. Please speak to me words of hope, life, grace, forgiveness and eternal life. Amen.

-Rev. deJong

Rev. deJong is a retired CRC minister. He resides in the Aylmer area and attends church at Aylmer Christian Reformed Chruch.

Below is a link to the scheduling web page to allow church members to book an appointment.

Click here to schedule a session

I ask myself how many people really hear and take into their hearts the Good News of the New Life presented to us in the Holy Bible. Do we really know what the Bible tells us? Do you think many of our neighbours know the resurrection of Jesus Christ as fact? Do our leaders in government know the Good News of the Bible? What about in the community? Do local business people, school teachers, ministers, and people who say they go to church know the meaning of the New Life of Easter?

The New Life of Easter means that we must believe that Jesus really rose from the grave and that this is an historical fact.

Secondly, it means that we must truly believe that Jesus rose from the dead for us.

Thirdly, it means that you and I must accept the fact that as we share the consequences of Christ’s death so we share the results of His resurrection.

If Jesus is therefore alive, than you and I who believe in Him, and I ask why not believe in Him, are also alive.

I know watching the television and surfing the internet has replaced much of our reading today. But why not pick up the Bible and read the Good News? I am sure that you have one laying around the house somewhere.

A second question I ask myself is what does it mean that we are or can be alive in Jesus? Practically speaking it means that we must live the way Jesus wants us to live. In short, it means that we must surrender and submit ourselves to Jesus and His Word. And when we do this we become new people.

The results of living in and for Jesus are numerous, but some examples include:

We become patient instead of being short-tempered.

We become content instead continuous greed for more physical possessions. Let us stop devastating greed and jealousy for other people’s achievements and possessions. Instead we should be caring for our neighbours and be Christ to them.

These are only some examples of how Jesus works through us once we become Christians. There is really no end to the specific results of Christ’s life within us. The Good News of Easter can change and renew our community, our family, our work-site, our government and our school system.

The Bible says that he who abides in Christ brings forth much fruit. In the face of all the difficulties and temptation of the day, the Christian has the upper hand, for his faith is rooted in the one person who has been and is victorious over sin and death.

Enjoy your new life in Christ.

-Rev. deJong

Rev. deJong is a retired CRC minister. He resides in the Aylmer area and attends church at Aylmer Christian Reformed Chruch.

]]> http://aylmercrc.org/2010/04/21/reflecting-on-easter/feed/ 0 aylmercrc http://aylmercrc.org/2010/03/30/happy-new-life/ http://aylmercrc.org/2010/03/30/happy-new-life/#comments Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:19:11 +0000 aylmercrc http://aylmercrc.org/?p=690 ]]> Dear readers,

Has anybody ever wished you a “Happy New Life”? Most people immediately say of course not. But upon closer inspection, wishing somebody a “Happy New Life” is the same as wishing somebody a “Happy Easter” or “Blessed Easter”. To wish someone a “Blessed Easter” is the same as saying “Enjoy Your New Life in Christ Jesus”. That is what Easter is all about. Easter is the celebration of the New Life that Jesus Christ has given to us though His resurrection. Easter is the sure hope of eternal life.

Many people believe that everyone goes to heaven. Many people believe that eternal life just happens, something like the coming of spring. Some people see Easter as the start of spring, a new beginning, a fresh start, a new life. The true hope of Easter, however, is only available to those who profess and believe in Jesus Christ.

When you come to Jesus Christ and profess Him as your Saviour, you can be assured of eternal life in heaven. And when you come to Jesus Christ and take Him as your Saviour, Jesus will begin a new life in you. The Holy Spirit will constantly be ‘spring cleaning’ your heart. God will clothe you in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

So today dear reader, may I wish you a “Happy New Life!” Come to Jesus and He will take all your burdens away this Easter. Jesus will provide you with comfort in life and in death. Walk closely with Jesus by following His Word in the Bible. Listen to the Holy Spirit and rid yourself of greed and selfishness. Look to the cross Jesus died upon and the empty tomb from which He arose as eternal comfort and you will enjoy a blessed Easter in and throughout eternity.

This Easter take some time and read Luke chapters 22 – 24 and reflect on the true meaning of Easter.

-Rev. deJong

Rev. deJong is a retired CRC minister. He resides in the Aylmer area and attends church at Aylmer Christian Reformed Chruch.

]]> http://aylmercrc.org/2010/03/30/happy-new-life/feed/ 0 aylmercrc http://aylmercrc.org/2010/03/10/the-days-of-easter/ http://aylmercrc.org/2010/03/10/the-days-of-easter/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:23:40 +0000 aylmercrc http://aylmercrc.org/2010/03/10/666/ ]]> This time of year you find a lot of named dates on the calendar. “Fat Tuesday” or “Mardi Gras” followed by “Ash Wednesday” and then the group of dates named “Lent”. Then after a few weeks more dates are marked on the calendar. “Good Friday” followed by “Easter Sunday” then “Easter Monday”. Some people just see these dates as a chance to have a good time. A good party New Orleans style or a big stack of pancakes, a chance to find chocolate and sweet things during a Easter Egg Hunt, possibly a Monday off from work. All of this excitement and good times seems like a carnival or a good show.

We should look at these dates more closely to see the true importance in some of them. Days like Fat Tuesday or the “Easter Egg Hunt Day” or the day off on Monday to “do as I please” make a lot of noise but not a lot of sense. Many people today treat these days as a carnival, a superficial event often used to cheer themselves up from the pain and sin they experience everyday in their lives.

The events that take place on the dates of Good Friday and Easter are historical facts which shed light over the shadows of death with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and Life through His Resurrection. The Christ on Good Friday died on the Cross and arose on Easter Sunday to life. He did not only die to cover all our sins. He died to also renewed us to a new life, eternal life, removing all our grief, pain and suffering. What days of celebration at Easter!

Search the internet, better yet, search the Bible for the facts of the cross of Good Friday and the Resurrection of Easter. Enjoy yourself in this Lenten season.

-Rev. deJong

Rev. deJong is a retired CRC minister. He resides in the Aylmer area and attends church at Aylmer Christian Reformed Chruch.

Yesterday was Rev. deLange’s last Sunday to preach the word as the senior pastor of Aylmer Christian Reformed Church.

We wish Rev. deLange and his family God’s Blessings as he begins his new position shepherding Trinity Christian Reformed Church in Edmonton, Alberta. It certainly is difficult to part ways, and Rev. deLange’s passion for his work will certainly be missed.

Below are a couple of brief last comments from Rev. deLange

“Dear Aylmer Congregation,

It’s been a great decade among you. Today was a wonderful end to a wonderful time here. Thank you for everything, including the beautiful clock we were presented this morning!

Thank you for your partnership in ministry…

God bless you all.

There a few pictures of the day attached.

We love you all!

–Pastor Rich & Patsy deLange

Adrian deLange is in the youth ministry and theology program at Dordt College. Adrian would like to thank Rev. Norman Jones for providing some assistance in completing his message.

We love you. Aylmer CRC has been so good to us for the past 9 ½ years. We offer our sincerest thanks for your love and thank you for the ways you have forgiven us for our failings. We praise God from whom all blessings flow for we have surely felt a steady flow of love—encouragement, cards, gifts, visits, support, time away, hugs and prayers. We have felt God’s grace through the trials and experienced the power of your prayers. We are thankful to have been part of this church for the past decade. I’ve enjoyed great cooperation and fun with all of the staff and council over the years (Phil. 1:5).

As we prepare to leave Aylmer, I want to encourage you to continue to love one another deeply (1 Peter 1:22). Our mutual love for the Lord is bigger than any of our personal issues or problems. Life is too short to hold grudges and our place in the body of believers is too important to waste time alienated from one another or alienating one another. The body of Christ is diverse but united in Him. She is beautiful in her diversity (1 Cor.12). This church—and every other one—has growing pains. But better to have the growing pains than to have no growth.

I have grown through struggles in the past decade, grown to see how great God’s grace is (2 Cor.12:9). I’m thankful to God for His providence and grace. As we leave Aylmer, it is part of God’s plan for you to seek a new pastor. He may be very different from me. He may have some similarities. Whoever he is, remember that God sent him to you. Love him and his family as you have loved us.

Carry on the vision you have adopted. Support one another in fulfilling it. Love your neighbours as yourself. Show them the love of Christ. Let the community see how much this congregation loves Jesus and each other so that they want to know Jesus and be a part of this church (Mt. 5:16).

We are on the brink of a new year, the beginning of a new decade. Does it seem like ten years already since we were being warned about the potential problems with Y2K? Time goes quickly. But our time is in God’s hands. You can count on that. No matter where we live, we are united in Christ and continue to be part of His growing family.

Thank you once again for being such a blessing to our family in the formative years of most of our children. It has been a good thing to be part of this covenant community. We thank God for all you’ve done to shape us and our children into what God is calling us to be. Aylmer will always hold a special place in our hearts. God bless you!!

The deLanges—Pastor Rich, Patsy, Rachel, Adrian, Erik & Jessica

PS If you come to Edmonton, stop in for a visit.

Please post a good-bye note for Rev. deLange and his family in the comment section below. You must first click on the post title to view the comments section.

Twenty three individuals did one or more of the rides with an average of 10-11 participants each time. The ages of the riders ranged all the way from fourteen to seventy eight. Many of the participants began the season with limited previous riding experience. Most had never journeyed the average 32 km. distance in one sitting before and were somewhat apprehensive, not to mention intimidated by the prospect. By season’s end, however, that distance was “just the norm.”

While an interest in cycling may have been the initial, prime motivator to join in the rides, fellowship with each other quickly became a huge part of the experience as well. Riding and talking together with people that you don’t necessarily “hang out with” on a regular basis, provides a wonderful venue for new relationship building. Throw in a breakfast at the halfway point, where you can pray, talk and eat together over a meal that includes a mixture of eggs, egg casseroles, bacon, toast, hashbrowns, muffins, pancakes, coffee, juice, etc., and you’ve got the makings of a warm, family type atmosphere.

Of the twelve cycling “outings” this past season, eight breakfasts were hosted by members of the congregation, many who were not participants in the rides themselves but were very willing to open their homes and share a meal with us. A BIG thank you goes out to Harry and Hilda Broer, Wilf and Joanne Saarloos, Dave and Leslie VandenBrink, Chris and Al Helder, Kor and Lia Smit, Rev. and Patsy deLange, Tesse and Alice Kuipers at Port Bruce Manor (Ted was too busy cycling with us to help cook), and Corry and Kor VanTil for being such generous and gracious hosts.

Three of the trips, including two to London to ride on the cycling paths along the Thames to enjoy the fall colours, saw us head to Tim Hortons that just “happened to be” at the halfway point of our journeys. For the remaining cycling journery, the 54 km. trip to Wildwood on the July long weekend, a cooler full of drinks and snacks more than amply sufficed our needs at the “pit stops” along the way. (Thanks to Herman Bremer for driving with us and being our ride back home).

What about next year? Just listening to the cyclists themselves, most of them are already talking about next season, and perhaps even participating in a fundraising cause as a group. Two possibilities in that regard, cycling the astoundingly beautiful path along the Niagara River, as well as doing the “Ride For Refugees” north of London, have been mentioned as possibilities to consider. From that, it would appear that the cycling bug has not only “caught” but is here to stay, at least for a while yet. If the truth be told, that is just fine by me.

Pastor Bosma