THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR
FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14.
This last phrase of this verse about Jesus is captivating for me. He is full of grace and truth. He is not 50% full of grace and 50% with truth. He is neither 70% to 30% nor 40% to 60% in grace and truth. He is 100% full of grace and 100% full of truth. He doesn’t dilute the truth to show grace but He is the Truth himself. Grace and truth do not compete rather they work together. I have seen many incidences where we compromise the truth to show grace and in other cases where we are so focus on the truth that we miss the grace of God. This is often manifested when we see a brother or sister going astray and for the sake of peace we look the other way pretending that nothing is happening. The reverse is the case when we see such a thing that we hammer the truth so much, condemning and shooting down our fellow wounded soldier that we miss grace completely. Both approaches are wrong. Jesus demonstrated this balance perfectly in the story of the woman who was caught in the act of adultery (see John 8:1-11). They caught the woman in the act which means that the man was caught too but they let him off the hook instead only the woman was brought out to be stoned to death. There is no space to expand this here. God hates partiality. Back to our focus for today. Jesus asked the people who were ready to stone her to death a deafening question in verse 7: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” They all left one after the other. When we understand that we are all work in progress, we will be very gracious to one another. Jesus told her in verse 11 “Neither do I condemn you”. However, He didn’t stop there. He continued “go, and from now on sin no more.” Many times, we are gracious but we neglect the truth. We must always tell people the truth but in love. We achieve this by telling people the truth in love. Grace doesn’t diminish sin and the penalty of sin instead it reveals the truth and empowers believers to say no to ungodliness (see Titus 2:11). These grace and truth came from Jesus himself as stated in John 1:17 “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” and Jesus is the truth himself (see John 14:6). I pray that you will be full of grace and truth unto overflowing that the world around you will experience Jesus, who is the truth and the saving grace He brings. May the grace of God empowers you for greater kingdom impact.
Blessings,
Pastor Favour Ibom
SUNDAY SERVICE REMINDER
This Sunday we will complete our journey in our series, KNOWING GOD: THE KEY FOR EXPLOITS. This weeks sermon is titled The WILL of GOD So come and fellowship with us and experience a time of refreshing as we dive into God's word.
Venue: 3rd Floor, 21st Century Hotel, Liangmaqiao Rd.(朝阳区40亮马桥路二十一世纪饭店)
FAITH BUILDERS
Sunday Services
1. First service @ 9:50am - The Will of God
Speaker: Pst. Favour Ibom
2. Second service @ 11:30am - The Will of God
Speaker: Pst. Favour Ibom
IMPORTANT AOM WEEKLY OPPORTUNITIES
Heroes meet in Room 700
Daughters of Zion meet in Room 800
Sons of Abraham meet in Room 900
ANNOUNCEMENTS
THANK YOU!!!!!
AOM and 1 Person One Shoe would like to thank you for you donations last year to our Shoe Drive for Kenya. They recently were delivered to areas with in Kenya and many lives were touched because of this.
THE FIREPLACE
The Fireplace is the name of the newly opened prayer room at BICF Offices in 21st Century Hotel.
The room has been renovated to create a comfortable environment for people to enjoy spending time with God in prayer. It is open to the big BICF family - not only those located at 21st Century campus (but foreign ID holder only), and it will be available 24/7, but time slots have to be pre booked through https://fireplace.skedda.com/
For more information please email fireplace@bicf.org
AOM Miracle Service
"For nothing will be impossible with God."
Luke 1:37 ESV
"But if I were you, I would call on God and bring my problem before him. God does wonders that cannot be understood; he does so many miracles they cannot be counted."
Job 5:8-9 (NCV)
AOM invites you to a Miracle Service as follows:
Date: 25th March 2018
Time: 9am - 11am (1st Service)
11am - 1pm (2nd Service)
Venue: 21st Century Hotel, Third Floor conference room.
This is a special service where we stand in faith together as the BICF family to pray and to believe God for various miracles. We are believing God for great testimonies. Don't be left out.
Come in faith, come in expectation, come with someone!
For more details contact aom@bicf.org
FIRE WEEK
March 25 - April 1, 2018
This year, for the week leading up to Easter, we will be doing a prayer relay at the FIREPLACE.
We want to encourage on that week to bring your small group, ministry, or group of friends to the FIREPLACE and spend your time in a prayer for this nation and our city. Book your time slot at the link here: https://fireplace.skedda.com/
An hour in the prayer room is an hour to refresh you and renew your focus. It will bless you. Guaranteed.
GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE
Why the Cross?
You’re invited to a special Good Friday Service. Bring a friend and discover the meaning of the Cross. Invitation cards are available on Sunday morning at the church lobby.
Foreign ID holders only.
Date: March 30, 2018
Time: 7-9 pm
Upper Auditorium
**Service will be bilingual (English and Mandarin)
NIGHT VIGIL
Date: Friday, March 30, 2018
Time: 11:00pm-5:00am
Location: BICF 21st Century, Rooms 800&900
Colossians 2:15
In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
Join us immediately following BICF 21st Century's Good Friday Service WHY THE CROSS for a NIGHT OF VICTORY ON THE CROSS. With out the cross there would be no victory over sin and death. This will be continuation of reflecting on what Christ did for us on the cross. Because of the cross and what Christ did for us we have VICTORY over sin. Christ defeated the power Satan has on our lives by sacrificing Himself and taking our place. So come expectant to receive VICTORY over what it is that has control over your life and allow the Holy Spirit to work inside you.
EASTER SUNDAY
Join us Sunday April 1st for our Easter Celebration.
We will meet in Rooms 800&900 of the BICF Office from 9:00am-12:30pm.
This will be a time to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This will be a time to look at THE RECKLESS LOVE OF GOD. We will have a time of fellowship, singing and dancing, food and we will be listening to a powerful message as well.
We hope to see you there and bring your friends as well.
Mission Trip to Kenya/Uganda in July 2018.
This year AOM will be doing another missions trip. This time, we will be going to both Kenya and Uganda. Last year there were many testimonies of how God used our team in bringing people to the Lord and doing notable miracles. Lives were changed both in the people they visited and in the lives of the team members that went. This year's missions trip will certainly be another life altering trip.
Register now and pay up by 1st week in April. Cost- 7000 RMB.
Dates for the Missions Trip will be from July 9-July 24
Israel 2019
Have you ever wanted to go to Israel? Have you ever wanted to walk where Jesus walked? If so, AOM has this amazing opportunity for you. In February of 2019, we will be heading to Israel.
A few of the places we will be visiting are:
Mount of Olives
Garden of Gethsemane
The Garden Tomb
Holocaust Museum
Mount Carmel
Bethlehem
the Jordan River
This just a short list of the places we will visit. This trip will be life changing.
Register now and pay up by 1st week in August. Cost-14000 RMB
Register, plan and pay early. For more information, see any of the leaders.
Looking forward to seeing you all!