In Community:

July 2016 Newsletter


Here Comes the Bride

By Pastor Craig

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Summertime is wedding season.  That’s true at FBC this year as well.  One wedding last month and another scheduled for later this summer.  As Lois and I have been helping the couples with their preparation and planning, not only for their weddings but also for their new lives together in marriage, I’ve been thinking about how different we do weddings in our culture compared to the way things were done in Bible times. I think we also miss out on some of the significance and impact that has on our understanding of our relationship with the Lord Jesus.

For example, in our culture, a couple meets, falls in love and gets married.  But from the time of Abraham in the book of Genesis until the wedding in Cana in John 2 things were different.  Typically, in Bible times, the decision about who would marry who was made well in advance of the wedding and was decided by the parents of the couple rather than the individuals themselves.  Occasionally this decision was made even while the bride and groom were still children.

There is a parallel here with the church, the bride of Christ.  Ephesians 1:4-5 tells us that “He chose us, in Him (Christ) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.  In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will…”  Our union with the Lord Jesus was decided long, long ago by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But even though the decision about partners had long been determined, there was still a rather long, drawn out process for the engagement, wedding and marriage. When the bride and groom were of age, a betrothal service took place.  Vows were exchanged and a bride price or dowry was paid.  After this, the groom would then begin to prepare a place for himself and new wife to live together.  And when the new home had been completed, the groom would show up unexpected to receive his bride and take her home to begin their new life together.  This is the stage that Joseph and Mary were in when Mary discovered that she was carrying the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit.

The similarities to our union with Christ continue.  At a certain point in time we make a decision or vow to believe in and follow the Lord.  At that point, we are His and He is ours.  Our relationship sealed with a commitment.  We have a ceremony, baptism, as well.  At a certain point in time a price was also paid.  Jesus shed His own blood on the cross to purchase us for Himself.  After that, the Bible tells us, He has gone “to prepare a place for us”.  And when that work is finished the Lord will return for us so that we may join Him where He is (John 14:3).  That’s why the Bible continuously encourages us to be ready for His return.

Every time I attend a wedding I’m reminded of the day that Lois and I said “I do”.  But I’d like to encourage us to also be reminded of a future celebration we’ll join in called the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9) and look forward to and be ready for it as well.


Vacation Bible School


Vacation Bible School is being held from June 27 through July 1st.  More stories and pictures will be shared in August Grapevine, but here is the sneak peak of VBS!

Thank you so much for those who have served at VBS.  A special “Thank you” to Sue Machida, who led and coordinated VBS again this year!


Key Verse from VBS

Day 1: Jesus gives us HOPE!   O Lord, you alone are my hope. – Psalm 71:5

Day 2: Jesus gives us COURAGE!   Take courage. I am here! – Matthew 14:27

Day 3: Jesus gives us DIRECTION!   He will show you which path to take. – Proverb 3:6

Day 4: Jesus gives us LOVE!   We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. – 1 John 3:16

Day 5: Jesus gives us POWER!   Our great power is from God, not from ourselves. – 2 Corinthians 4:7


VBS Service Project

Through mid-July, VBS will be doing a service project collecting the following items for the Yakama Nation, to be distributed through Sacred Road Ministries.

  • 20160628_122439[1] kids’ school backpacks
  •  new flip-flops/sandals/shoes of youth and adult sizes

Monetary donations can also be made to FBC.

A collection bin is in the foyer.


Faith Story

By Masahiko (Mario) Yamauchi

image1 (1)I grew up in a family where my mother and her parents are Christian.  When I was little, my mother took me to church along with my younger brother and sister. However, when I started playing soccer, I stopped going to church.

My mother asked me to attend Christmas and Easter service, so I attended these services with my family. I also attended some of the church events once in a while. Since I was active in a sports club at school, even when I had a day off from practice on Sundays, I did not want to get up early to go to church, and I fell away from church.

My mother often placed church event flyers where everyone can see such as on the refrigerator door, and I could tell that she wanted me and my brother to attend, but she did not force me by telling me to go, which is why I did not have rebellious feelings.  When I look back, I think it was good for me that I wasn’t forced to attend.

Whenever I saw the pastor of my mother’s church, he asked me “when are you going to get baptized?” and I gave an irresponsible answer such as “eventually,” but in the back of my mind, I had a vague desire to be baptized when the right time came.

After working for a company for two and half years, my company transferred me to a branch office in the States.  I had anxious feelings about my work and life in the States.  I wanted to have something as my cornerstone and core, and decided to get baptized.

People at Faith Bible Church have been supporting my life here in so many different ways.  The Bible gives me courage, sometimes makes me regret when I realize that my action is against what the Bible says.  Also, the grandeur of nature in the States is spectacular and it makes me realize the mighty power of God who created this nature.

I would like to continue walking by giving thanks to God and in His protection.


Faith Story

By Gordon and Sue Staley

87887E63-7FE7-41BF-8BF4-C76324047313Hello Faith Bible Church family!  It is so good to return to Seattle and join you in worship and fellowship.  We visited FBC last summer for 3 months and felt so welcomed and at home that we came back again, and are staying 4 months this time!  Sue and I (Gordon) reside in Port Charlotte, Florida, which is a beautiful place to live for most of the year.  Come June, however, the heat and humidity soar and it gets pretty uncomfortable.  As retirees, we are able to travel around and it was Seattle’s picturesque landscape and mild mid-year climate that drew us here.   Actually the Lord knew all along that your church would be our summer home and you, our Northwest Christian family.  We marvel at His goodness!

7DCC66B6-61BD-428E-B56C-71A8D564678ESue and I came to faith in Christ in 1981, about 10 years into our marriage.  Although we had both been exposed to a spiritual component as children (Sue in the Episcopal church and Gordon in the Catholic church) neither of us knew what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Without the Lord, it is impossible to develop and maintain a truly moral life, and our marriage had no secure foundation.  So we were really struggling.  Sue’s workplace friend was a Christian and invited her to come to church.  Within a short while, Sue asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior, and will testify to God’s power in changing the sinful desires of her heart.  I observed the changed behavior in Sue, and through a series of divine circumstances came to know the Lord as well.   Just a couple of Sundays ago, on June 12th, we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary!  The past 35 years have brought fulfilling joy into our hearts and marriage.   We believe that a life spent in obedience to Christ and devotion to His Word is the only answer to making it through the challenges of this world.

Some of you will recall that Sue and I manned the registration and check-in table at Faith Bible Church’s 2015 Fall Conference.  That job was right up our alley, because we both like tasks involving organization and administration.   I enjoyed a fulfilling career with Hewlett-Packard as a systems engineer.   For most of my years with HP, I worked at the plant in Corvallis, OR.   The position gave me an opportunity to travel to other plants around the world, and it was a wonderful experience to visit Singapore, Puerto Rico, and Ireland numerous times.  For some of the trips, Sue has been able to join me.

We never had children, so Sue worked full-time up until around 2008.  Her early years were spent employed as a bookkeeper for private industry and accounting firms.  Then in the 1980’s she started her own bookkeeping service which God greatly blessed with success and fulfillment.   It seems etched in Sue’s subconscious to this day, as she tells me she still has dreams where she is processing payrolls!

Our leisure time is spent in pursuit of differing recreations.  I am a bowler and Sue loves to kayak!  Neither one is interested in the other’s sport.   I bowled in college but put it aside when my career demanded more of my time.   Now that the retirement years are here, I am back at it and enjoying a moderate degree of competition on the senior level.   Sue became intrigued with kayaking when we moved to Florida and is attracted to the serenity of being out on the water.  I jokingly remind her that there are no alligators in bowling alleys!

We hope this helps you get to know us a little better.  It is our desire to build friendships with as many FBC families as possible this summer.


Missionary Update

By Bob and Noby Kennell


Greetings from Florida!

On June 16th we celebrated our 43rd anniversary.  Two months after we were married in 1973, we began our journey with New Tribes Mission.  Our lives have been full and rich with more blessings than we deserve. The years in Papua New Guinea planting churches, translating God’s Word, and discipling tribal believers were the “best days of our lives.”  After 27 years among the people groups in Bisorio and then in Malaumanda, moving to Chiang Mai Thailand has been an interesting change.  Thankfully it is where God has led us.  We have seen the value and benefits of immersing ourselves into the language and culture of the Thai community and through that, God has given us many opportunities to develop friendships and relationships with Thai Christians and Buddhists.  Our Thai church is a mixture of over four tribal groups and worshipping with them is a blessing.  Pastor Boontip and Phaylin are wholeheartedly committed to Jesus Christ and give 100% to teaching the Word, shepherding and discipling. Their love and fellowship has been a huge encouragement to us.

Another weekly highlight is our involvement with The School of Promise.  We have gotten to know the staff and students and love being able to minister to them in practical ways.  One of the main activities is helping them learn English.  The teachers’ selfless commitment to the Lord and these students is exemplary.

Our mission (English speaking) community is very small in Chiang Mai, but we do have opportunities to visit our tribal missionary teams.  Bob enjoys helping church planting teams as they prepare bible lessons and teach.  When possible he also travels to neighboring countries to teach in Bible schools as well.  Noby looks forward to her weekly bible study with other missionary ladies from different organizations, and being able to speak English.

Our greatest prayer request (apart from becoming more proficient in Thai) is for the salvation of our Thai friends.  Satan has done a fabulous job of deceiving Buddhists into thinking that they really have no need of Jesus and definitely no need of a Savior.  Please pray for the Thai churches to mobilize and evangelize their own people.  Pray for wisdom as we gain more knowledge and insights into the Buddhist world view, so we can present the TRUTH clearly.  Pray for us to be faithful each day and alert at every interruption God allows in our lives.

Returning to the States for three months was a very strategic plan:  Spend time with our daughters and our parents.  We are thankful to the Lord for allowing us to do this and we have already seen the benefits of these special and precious times together.  Strengthening and nurturing the bonds with our kids and grandkids is very important.  We are privileged to be so loved and welcomed to be part of their families.  None of us likes the separation but we remind ourselves often that God knows what’s best for us.  If HE wanted us to be together then we would be together.  It’s a comfort and encouragement to see our kids doing well and most of all to see our grandkids faithfully being taught from God’s Word, to love and respect God.  What more could we ask for.

By His Grace,

Bob & Noby Kennell


Bill’s Book Blurbs

By Bill Hamasaki

 New Book for July: The Case for Grace by Lee Strobel

bbb0716In his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace, Philip Yancey writes, “During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith.  They began eliminating possibilities.  Incarnation?  Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form.  Resurrection?  Again, other religions had accounts of return from death.  The debate went on for some time until C.S. Lewis wandered into the room.  ‘What’s the rumpus about?’ he asked and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions.  Lewis responded, ‘Oh, that’s easy, it’s grace.’”

In this book, the author (bestsellers include The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, and The Case for a Creator) “explores the evidence of transformed lives.”  Traveling thousands of miles, he tells the stories of people whose lives have been radically changed by the grace of God.  Beginning with his own personal journey toward Christ and His grace, he shares stories of Korean orphan who was abandoned at a very young age by her mother, a  drug addict who is now a pastor of a megachurch in Las Vegas, a man who lived a good life and did not see a need for God and later becoming a professor at a Christian school,  a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, a homeless man who became an ordained minister and has a  current ministry with homeless people, a pastor who committed adultery and found forgiveness, and Luis Palau’s prodigal son Andrew who is now an evangelist.

I like what the author writes about grace, “As Christianity is unique among world religions, so is the grace Christ offers.  Sometimes to understand grace we need to see it described rather than merely defined.  After all, the Bible is one grand narrative about grace; when Jesus wanted his followers to fully feel the emotional impact of grace, he spun a parable about a Prodigal Son.  ‘Jesus talked a lot about grace, but mainly through stories,’ said Yancey.”

This inspiring, hard to put down book also includes a discussion guide and an appendix on “What the Bible Says About Grace.”  I would also highly recommend Philip Yancey’s book mentioned above on grace.


Father’s Day 2016

A special “thank you” to Tiana & Gifford Cheung and Yae Lee
for helping the kids prepare delicious gifts for all the FBC fathers!