March 2013
Releasing the Past, Focusing Toward the Future, Embracing Our Calling
Rev. Dennis Ahern provides pastoral care for those serving in distant, difficult, and sometimes dangerous locations. Dennis serves the church by shepherding ministry families during times of need, fostering the spiritual health necessary for the growth of both worker and work. Since 1992, Dennis has focused a portion of his ministry serving those impacted by trauma. His mission statement includes “the development of trusted relationships during times of crisis, speaking words of grace, hope, and truth in submission to God’s redemptive purposes.” Dennis and Denise Ahern’s journey with WorldVenture began in 1979 when they were appointed to serve in Hong Kong. After studying Mandarin in Taiwan and spending a year in Hong Kong, the Aherns eventually settled in Macau to work with new immigrants from China. They then moved to the Philippines in 1992 where they taught for two years on the faculty of Faith Academy, a school established to provide education for missionary children. Dennis taught high school Bible, but eventually became the school’s pastoral counselor. He helped missionary families face the challenges of disorientation due to separation from family and friends, loneliness, and cross-cultural stress. In September 1995, the Aherns returned to the States so Dennis could become WorldVenture’s Southwest area director. As director, he assisted cross-cultural workers and coached local churches to take the gospel from their neighborhoods to the nations. Dennis now serves as pastoral counselor with WorldVenture's Paraclete Centre. Dennis and Denise have been married for 38 years. They are the parents of four children, all raised in Asia. They are also grandparents to seven granddaughters. Dennis enjoys chess, fly fishing, and taking pastors to lunch at Chinese restaurants. He also serves as a volunteer clergy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
February 2013
The Gospel of Mark – Partnering With God (Part Four)
Pastor Pete will carefully unwrap twelve essential ministry principles from Mark 6:6-13, 30,31. From the ministry of Jesus, as He sent out His disciples, apostles two by two, why did our Lord send His disciples out with nothing but a message? What was the lesson for them then and for us today? Once we know our calling and our message we need to come to understand who we are in partnership with, what our motives are, where we get our provisions, what to do with our baggage, what is it that betrays our identity, integrity and attitude? We will answer the question of who we are accountable to, what should be our life focus and lastly, what will our fruit look like when we faithfully finish the course set before us. Listen for Life!
The Gospel of Mark – Dealing With Failure and Rejection in the Ministry Part Three
Most believers today are wasting their lives pursuing the empty dreams and promises of the Enemy. In Mark 6:6,7 The Lord Jesus called out His twelve apostles, disciples to go out two by two to share the gospel message of good news to a lost and dying world. For one and a half years Jesus had done all the preaching, teaching, healing and evangelizing. It was time for the disciples to move from the principles to the practical application of doing the ministry for themselves in the power of Christ and His gospel. It is high time for the church as well to move out for the King into His kingdom, not only because we’ve been called but because we’ve been given a message. We are ambassadors for Christ. God is pleading through us to those who are lost to come to repentance and salvation in Christ alone. In this message Pastor Pete will carefully examine our calling, the five phases of God’s calling, and our message: what exactly is the gospel of Jesus Christ? As willing bond slaves of Jesus Christ we give ourselves completely to the Lordship of Christ. Our lives are at His disposal for the faithful deliverance of His gospel, even to people who will reject the message and the messenger because they are lovers of self over lovers of God. Listen for LIFE!
The Gospel of Mark – Dealing with Failure and Rejection in the Ministry Part Two
Many people in the church of Jesus Christ either don’t know God’s calling on their lives, for what it is He has called them to do for Him, or they feel inadequate to the task and simply fill their lives with empty, meaningless pursuits and activities that will have little to no merit throughout eternity. Let’s assume everyone wants to make a difference with their lives, It is Satan’s objective to so distract us as believers we end up living entire lifetimes without making a difference or impacting our world for Christ. All of us can do a little bit. We will all, individually stand before the Bema Seat of Christ, to give an answer for what we did with Jesus and His message of redemption. We will individually do that work in as many different ways as God has given us fingerprints. With many hands working together, the work of the kingdom will get done. Pastor Pete gives us a challenge from Mark 6:7-13 and verses 30-32 from the lives of the disciples of Jesus who were sent out and failed in the work He called them to do. What are ten lessons we can take with us for our own lives and ministries as we Listen for LIFE?
January 2013
The Gospel of Mark – What Happens When Prophets Go Home?
What are the consequences of unbelief? What are the various stages of faith as a born again believer? In the text for this week’s message, Pastor Pete shares the tragic reception of Jesus back into His home town of Nazareth. What lessons can be learned for ourselves when we experience the inevitable reactions of many, the inevitable questions of many, the inevitable conclusions of many and the plausible applications for many? What happens when prophets go home and try and share the truth of the gospel message to family members and those who know us best? In this passage we will learn how to deal with the inevitable feelings of rejection and failure in ministry. Listen for Life!
A New Creature – Who Does God Say I Am
Have you ever wondered what exactly happened at the moment of your salvation and who God thinks we really are now that we are part of God’s family, redeemed, saved and regenerated as believers? Steve McIndoo, a brother in Christ from Phoenix, will share from his heart and from the Word of God who we are in Christ and our true identity in Christ as God sees us. The enemy does his utmost to discourage and feed us a pack of lies but once we comprehend who we are in Christ all that should change. We really are God’s kids endowed with an inheritance that cannot be defiled or taken from us. It is said of us as believers, “We will spend the rest of our earthly lives becoming who we really are in Christ Jesus.” What a prospect to revel and grow into. Maybe if we thought less of ourselves and more of what God thinks of us and knows of us because of His Son Jesus we might actually learn to live more in victory and less in discouragement and defeat. Listen for Life!
The Gospel of Mark – O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing
Jesus was not proclaimed for who He really was by those who followed Him until the last chapter of the book of Mark, where we hear in Mark 15:39 of the Centurion at the death of Christ who said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God.” The demons believed and spoke out fearlessly the truth of His Person: fully God, fully Man, but not until the end of this book do we see His followers and the multitudes who witnessed His amazing power over Satan, demons, disease, creation: the wind and the waves, hunger and even over death itself that Jesus was indeed who He said He was. We see two people who exemplify true faith in Mark 5:21-43, a man wealthy, prosperous and highly esteemed and an outcast woman, timid and fearful come to Jesus in true faith so driven by their desperation and need that all else paled in comparison. One day, around the throne of God, in eternity future, we will gather as an uncountable throng of believers declaring in praise, adoration and worship the truth of who Jesus really is. Pastor Pete will hang this amazing story on the five stanzas of a truly great hymn of the faith: “O for a thousand tongues to sing, My great Redeemer’s praise, The glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace.” In light of this amazing story within a story, set to music, we are challenged as well to Listen for LIFE!
A Walk Through the Let-Us Patch
Deep in the letter of Hebrews that (I believe) Paul writes to Jewish believers who are considering going back to their Jewish ways of worship there is an amazing passage that is filled with both wonder and challenge. As we close 2012 and start thinking through our desires, attitudes, and mind-set for 2013 let’s take a walk together through the Let-Us Patch of Hebrews (Heb. 10:19-25) and take notice of not only the confidence that God has given us in Christ but also how that confidence allows us to draw near to Him, hold fast to Him, and consider how to provoke each other for Him.
December 2012
The Gospel of Mark – My Name is Legion Pt Two
In this Part Two message on Mark 5:1-20 Pastor Pete completes the outline below. On this last Sunday of 2012 this message serves to be a wonderful reminder of the need to look backwards so that we can look forward. Most of us don’t learn well from our past mistakes we seem to be doomed to repeat them. History is a cruel teacher. If we would take time to pay attention to our past and learn from the mistakes of others we might be able to avoid pitfalls in the future. Legion is within all of us. We may not be demon possessed but we are all under the influence of sin, death and destruction. This message will give you some practical tools in overcoming the fear of the enemy and help you to enter in to the victory our Lord has already purchased for us through His precious blood. Listen for LIFE
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