If you are a mother, have a mother, or just like to hang out be sure to join us this Sunday for a Mother's Day Picnic at Bear Creek Park, King George and 88th in Surrey.

We are meeting at 1:30 pm at the picnic tables near the running track.

Thanks Melanie and the Women's Ministry Team for organizing this.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been reading a stimulating book, “A New Kind of Christian” (Amazon | Chapters | House of James), about moving from modernism to postmodernism. It is great being challenged to grow. (And I'm still sensing the "glow" from the "Weekend to Remember (USA) (CDN)" that Inez and I experienced the last weekend of April.)

God has been touching the lives of Creekside attendees through the “True for You?” series. For some this has been a real challenge and for others it has been really helpful. From what we are hearing very few people have been going to the “ho hum” place. Yeah God!

In week 1 we said, “All truth is God’s truth and we need to claim truth wherever we find it.”

Last week we wrestled with the question, “What is truth?” Here are the main things we touched on:

This week the message is called “Cracking The Da Vinci Code" First as a runaway best-selling novel and soon as a blockbuster movie, The Da Vinci Code has captivated millions. Its allegations against historic Christianity are colorfully portrayed – but are they true, or merely inaccurate accounts of centuries-old myths and legends?

We are going to engage this piece of contemporary culture and apply the principles of the last few weeks to start a process of answering that question. Some Creeksiders have read the book and admit to admiring Dan Brown’s writing skills, so this will be a discussion of ideas, not an attack on a person.

What’s Been Happening?

Langley Junior/Teens celebrate. 4 of our junior/teens committed to and succeeded in memorizing Psalm 103.

Tammy Fleming, our leader says…

“I'm very proud of all my kids, but just over the moon for the ones that memorized such a lovely passage that really reflects God's character.”

The memorizers are: Chantal Noakes, Gabriel Penner, Joshua Penner, and Joseph Yap. Tammy had a social last Sabbath and 8 kids and her had a blast. Way to go, Tammy! Congratulations, young people!

This last week team leaders from both campuses met for a management council. We had a good time. Rhoda lead us through a great team building experience. We discussed how to more effectively work together and shared ideas of things that are working well. We also introduced a new web based tool called the Leaderzone. It is designed to help leaders and team members stay connected and share information.

Alfonso is out of the hospital and home. Thanks for your prayers for him and his family who look forward to a speedy recovery.

Please keep praying for Arlene’s dad and Adrian’s mom.

What Is Coming Up?

May 14
Happy Mother’s Day to all our wonderful mom’s!

Mother's Day Picnic
There is a Mothers day picnic this Sunday, May 14, 1:30 p.m. at Bear Creek Park on King George and 88th in Surrey. (Weather permitting.) We will meet at the picnic tables near the running track. Please contact Melanie Greaves at melaniegreaves@hotmail.com for details.

May 27

Hassan’s membership celebration happens during the worship gathering at the North Shore Campus. This is going to be a great experience!

Ruby Klein’s baby dedication will be at 6:30 p.m.

God's best to each of you,

Jim Gaull & Colin Griffiths
(posted by Sherman Hu c/o Jim Gaull & Colin Griffiths)

My son-in-law, Alfonso de Vega is back in the hospital again. He hasn’t been improving at all. Would you please join our family in praying for him and his family? Thanks!

~ Jim Gaull

May 12 Update

Alfonso is out of the hospital and home. Thanks for your prayers for him and his family who look forward to a speedy recovery.

Inez & I attended the Weekend to Remember conference last weekend. We had an incredible time renewing our commitment to one another. This conference is one that every engaged, married and remarried couple should attend, whether they are doing great or doing horrible, no exceptions. I am adding it to my resource bank. Ask if you are interested in more details.

Jim Gaull

Sun Run Report

Report from Pastor Jim.

Thank you so much for your prayers and overall encouragement. Our Creekside Sun Run Team finished well and we rejoice we could represent each of you and God.

14 of our team finished the event. 1 person was sick and could not participate. There were three other Creeksiders who participated. Look for some photos on our website. You might have seen the news coverage, but this was the first time ever that the 50,000 mark was broken. 50,700+ actually participated.

I know this is an early invite, but 2007 Sun Run is coming. Wouldn’t it be thrilling to have a huge portion of Creekside along with our friends participate?

You’re the first to hear this, but because of our team effort and some bubbling enthusiasm, our joy and service may spread!

Our conference president and treasurer, Gordon Pifher and Michael Wixwat, are interested in taking this event BC wide.

Imagine having hundreds of people on a BC Team, from all across BC!

Imagine having each one sponsored to help a really worthy cause in addition to what the Sun Run already does.

Imagine having a grand concert on Sunday night celebrating the overall accomplishment and handing the charity a cheque for thousands of dollars!

Imagine even bigger if you like. Higher than the highest human thought is God’s ideal for his children. None of this is reality, but it could be.

The Revelators

Rob and Ken (Creekside Langley people) have formed a band. They have an apocalyptic emphasis in their music. If you’d like to hear them, come to the House of James in Abbotsford on April 28, 2006 at 8:30 p.m. They’re in concert and would love to have your support.

A New Series Begins

We start a new series this week called “True For You”. We want to start some discussions around key questions about truth:

Here is the series summary:

How do you know whether the sun will rise tomorrow? How do you know that you are not dreaming now? How do you know that your teacher has not been possessed by aliens? And how would you know if he had? In fact, how do you know that anything is true?

Where do I find truth? How do I decide if something is true? And how does this apply in my life?

Be sure to check it out for yourself and invite your friends. We know this series could start some pretty deep discussions.

Coming Events

May 10, 2006

This is the day we check the receipts in our “high tech money manager” (remember the brown bag?) May 13 we will hear each other’s stories about this.

May 27, 2006

Hassan Qazilbash will become Creekside’s newest member! Hassan is of Muslim background and will be the first Muslim Christian member of Creekside. How cool is that?

Sabbath morning is going to be a huge God honoring celebration at the North shore campus.

Blessings and joy,

Jim and Colin

Dear Creeksiders.

He is risen!

Did you think of His resurrection at all this last week? I hope so. It’s so important that Colin and I are team teaching about it tomorrow.

Here’s a summary of our message called "The Hope".

What if we could know that despair is not the last word? Hope is! What if we could know that death is not the last word? Life is! How would that impact the way we do life? Jesus addresses these questions and demonstrates His answer in the most amazing “show and tell” ever.

I am looking forward to celebrating with you again. If you would like to join me, you are warmly welcomed to the Bible Discovery time at 9:30. It’s a great place for questions and all are welcomed as we look at God’s word in depth.

Other News

www.creeksideonline.org is happening. If you haven‘t checked out the new look, please do. We keep improving it to be more current and more user friendly. If you have friends you’d like to share a message with, feel free to send them here. They can download the audio messages or listen online.

A big thanks goes to Sherman, Steve, and Chris for making what looks so great really stay great. Thanks web teamers!

Vancouver Sun Run

Ready or not it going to happen 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 23, 2006.

Our Creekside Team has 15 members this year. I know of at least one other Creeksider who’s participating individually.

I am planning on having fun this year and enjoying the wonderful sunny day that’s forecast.

If you’re not running or walking with us, and want to help, I have a couple of suggestions our team would appreciate:

1. Root us on.
Pastor Colin is planning to cheer us on at the finish line. And take pictures. I’m sure he would love to have you join him.

2. Pray for us.
With around 49,000 participants – all going to the same place at varying speeds and groupings, it can get a little crowded to say the least. But, who knows, God may be gracious!

God’s best to you!

Pastor Jim Gaull & Pastor Colin Griffiths

Easter is one of those huge deals for Christ followers and it is an excellent time to connect with your friends who have questions about God.

We have two events planned to help unpack what Easter is all about:

Connecting

It’s Friday evening, 7:00 p. m. at Deer Lake School, 5550 Gilpin, Burnaby.

The Thursday before Jesus died He connected with his Jewish roots by celebrating The Passover and showing how it was fleshed out in His life. We are going to relive that experience by connecting ancient traditions with present reality. Children will play a special part in this family friendly experience.

This will be a great time for Creeksiders from both campuses to connect. Invite your friends as well. This will be an experience as we remember Jesus - who He is and what He has done.

Saturday Gathering

At 10:30 a.m. at each campus we continue our series, “Who is Jesus?” Last week we talked about The Man who is fully human and experiences the full range of human emotions. He intentionally connects with people at their lowest point.

This week we talk about The Mystery – There are some things about life and Jesus and his teachings that are really hard to wrap your head around. Here is one confusing thing that we are going to talk about this week:

Why is it so few of us get to experience greatness, power, and success? Jesus deals with this question at a time when His life seems to be a total failure. His conclusions could lead you to think and live in totally new ways.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend and I’ll look for you!

Jim Gaull & Colin Griffiths
(posted by Sherman Hu, c/o Jim Gaull & Colin Griffiths)

Hi Creeksiders,

Last Sabbath was a great day for Creekside. We finished up a great series called Crash and found solace in realizing afresh that Jesus is the One who is worthy to open heaven for us. God longs to throw a party for us as we come to Him and receive forgiveness, cleansing and adoption as His children. Wow!

Did you know our North Shore campus had 75 people in attendance last Sabbath? This included 22 children. Yeah, God!

Did you know that the "12 Steps – A Spiritual Journey", which ran from January to April 1 at Langley campus, finished up as a success to those who attended?

And many our Team Leaders from both campuses spent over 12 hours on April 1 and April 2 planning, sharing, and learning how to be better leaders. What a commitment they each have to fulfill their unique Team Purposes. Thank you so much, leaders, for going for the gold.

Each of you makes a difference by showing up and lending a hand at our weekend gatherings. Your love and help really makes a difference as we together help our friends become fully devoted followers of God.

What’s Next at Creekside?

A great serving opportunity is waiting you this coming Sabbath afternoon, April 8. It’s called Pay It Forward, the new name for Creekside serving in our nearby communities.

It happens at 1:30 p.m. on both campuses. We invite you to bring a bag lunch and stay until the project begins. We’re estimating it will take a little over an hour to complete.

We are going to pass out pairs of gloves with a Creekside card that says, “Have a great growing season” and “Compliments of Creekside Community Church”.

It’s really a simple gesture of kindness, but we think that doing this for 204 homes near the North Shore and the Langley campuses will make an impact.

So, I’m inviting you to participate. You won’t want to miss this.

Connecting

Jesus is all about building bridges to people. We are going to take some time on Friday, April 14, 7:30 p.m. at Deer Lake School to walk across one of the bridges He built.

We’re going to step back in time to celebrate the Passover in a way that reflects how Jesus would have done it the night he was arrested. As He filled an ancient tradition with new meanings that night, so we are going to connect with those traditions, new meanings and each other.

This is one of those times when people from both campuses get together so we are talking about connecting on many levels. And since children are precious, they are invited to attend and participate.

Place: Deer Lake School, 5350 Gilpin, Burnaby, B.C.
Time: 7:30 pm

New Series

We start a new 3 part series this week called “Who is Jesus?”. People are more open to talking about Jesus at this time of year so this would be a great time to invite your friend to experience our weekend gatherings.

God’s richest blessings to each of you,

Jim Gaull & Colin Griffiths
(posted by Sherman Hu, c/o Jim Gaull & Colin Griffiths)

Creekside's North Shore campus is back at its regular meeting place Boundary Community School - 750- East 26th Street. North Vancouver. Hurray!

North Shore campus is meeting at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall, 170 West 3rd Street.
North Vancouver - Oct 22, just for this week.

This week we are meeting upstairs in a bar lounge, a first for a church on NS! If you want a new experience - come visit us this week!

170 West 3rd Street, North Vancouver