NAC Fraser Valley
6665 Beaufort Road Chilliwack, BC, Canada

We are so happy to annouce, that local church services are planned to resume for 2 August 2020. Please keep in might that policies may change according to local, provincial and national directives from the Health office and the New Apostolic Church Canada Head Office.

Some exciting news for the Western Canadian Church Districts. Please continue to pray for those who lead the Church and serve God's children. We look forward to our 2 August 2020 start up date and we will have more news on that soon.

HIS LOVE An article by: District Elder James Griesbaum On June 21, 2020, we celebrate Father’s Day. This day is a day of celebration and remembrance. We bring o...ur thanks, honour, and praise to our fathers in appreciation for all that they have done for us. For many of us, our fathers cared for our well being, loved and protected us, taught us, and served as a role model for our future life. The special attributes of a father are clearly outlined in the parable of The Prodigal Son as described in Luke 15: 11-32. In this parable, the younger of two sons requests to receive his half of his father’s estate (inheritance) early. We do not know what the father’s thoughts and feelings were when he heard this request, but in his love, he gives in and the son takes his inheritance and goes away to live in a foreign land. We do not know how long the son was away from his father’s home but we do know that he squandered his inherited fortune on extravagant living and as a result, became desperately poor. In order to survive the son became a hired hand herding and feeding the pigs in the field. At the same time, this foreign land in which he resided was in the midst of a great famine with little or no food available. Starving and destitute, it did not take long for the son to realize that even his father’s servants were better off than he was since they had food to spare and were not starving to death. The son, in his desperation, decided to go back to his father’s house in repentance to seek a position as a servant in his house. As he approached his father’s house, his father saw him from afar and was filled with compassion for him. The father ran to his son and threw his arms around him in great joy. The son was not expecting such an overwhelming welcome and responded by saying Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your servants. In response, the father said to his servants quick, bring the best robe, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us have a feast and celebrate, for this son of mine who was dead is alive again, he who was lost is now found. What a beautiful picture this reunion must have been. The love of the father for his son was not in any way diminished. His heart and home were open. He was willing to share that which was the best for his child. The father was filled with joy and happiness. Brothers and sisters, we also have such a heavenly Father. Our heavenly Father loves us, His heart is open to us. He wants to share with us all that He has and that which is of only the best for us. Our heavenly Father longs for the day when we will be reunited with Him and His Son, the Lord Jesus, for all eternity. Despite our faults and failings, our heavenly Father in His unconditional love and compassion is willing to forgive us. Let us continue to appreciate and bring thanks to our fathers as well as our heavenly Father for all that they have done and continue to do for each one of us. The best gift we can bring to our heavenly Father is our continued faithfulness and following until the return of our Lord Jesus Christ!

This week's pastoral message: The Lord and I did it between us. Written by Apostle Thomas Schmidt June, 17, 2020 Someone once wrote, A Christian’s practic...al theology is often his hymnology. Many of us recall some deeply moving experience and a simple hymn which has been used by the Holy Spirit to minister to our spiritual need. The international virtual choir we heard on Pentecost reminded me that What a Friend We Have in Jesus is one such hymn. The author is Joseph Scriven who was born into a prosperous Irish family in 1819. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College in Dublin and served in the army. His military career, however, was cut short by poor health. Joseph decided to wed his sweetheart, but the night before their wedding tragedy struck. His fiancée was thrown from the horse she was riding and into a river where she drowned. Grief stricken, Joseph became despondent and introspective and withdrew from his friends and family. He left his homeland and migrated to Canada in 1844 at the age of twenty-five. Joseph refocused his life as described in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). He became a servant of the underprivileged, assisting the handicapped, the poverty-stricken, the ill, and the imprisoned. He cut and hauled wood for destitute families so that they might survive the frigid winters of Port Hope, Ontario. Although he was respected by the townspeople for his deeds of mercy, he was viewed as an eccentric and was not integrated into their fellowship. Still, Joseph met and fell in love with a young Canadian woman and again planned to marry. Before the wedding, tragedy struck once more as the young woman contracted pneumonia and died. At the same time, Joseph received the news that his mother, back in Dublin, was seriously ill. He did not have funds to finance a trip home, so he wrote three verses of a poem he titled Pray without ceasing and sent them to his mother hoping they would lift her spirits and comfort her. These words were never intended for publication. Sometime later Joseph himself was confined to his bed with illness. A neighbor stopped in to see him and saw a paper at the side of the bed with the words of Joseph’s poem scrawled on it. After reading the poem, the neighbor asked if his sick friend had written it. Joseph replied, The Lord and I did it between us. The poem was ultimately published and sometime later a well-known composer of the day wrote a melody for the verses Joseph had penned. The hymn was then retitled What a Friend We Have in Jesus after the first line of the poem. Our Chief Apostle reminded us on Pentecost that Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount are still valid. We can see how these teachings were reflected in the life of Joseph, when we look at the words of his poem. Jesus taught, Do not worry about your life your heavenly Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Joseph expressed these thoughts in his question, Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? And then in his repeated refrain - take it to the Lord in prayer. Jesus taught, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Joseph assuredly felt this, made evident in line, Can we find a Friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? In His arms He’ll take and shield us; we will find sweet solace there. What comfort Joseph must have found in prayer! And when we look at his life, we can see all that God was able to do through him; his service to the poor and handicapped especially, but also to the many that have been encouraged by his words for almost 200 years! Joseph continued to live his life according to the gospel, even in the midst of tragedy. We also can experience our Father’s care and refuge in times of trouble and these trials can draw us ever closer to Him. Perhaps we can take time this week to reflect on Jesus’ teachings on the Sermon on the Mount, and on the words that Joseph Scriven wrote in our well-loved hymn. Let them be inspirations for our faith and trust in the Lord. God alone holds us secure in His love, and we can share with others the good news that He wants to do the same for them.