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Prayer Corner
Church of the Vine has been
building a congregation in Surprise now since 2001. Let's pray that God will
give them a sense of clarity for the vision God has for them. Pray that Pastor
Brad Willson will be led by the Lord in his decisions and pray for high school
director Jeff Fuller and Jr high director Sam Totter as they continue to teach
salvation by faith alone, in Christ alone. Take a minute and pray right now....
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This Coming Sunday, January 3, 2009
A traditional New Year's message usually focuses
on setting goals for areas of personal growth, finding good books to read on
areas we want to improve and connecting ourselves with good mentors - these are
not bad ideas but any activity that is devoid of spiritual life and God's power
is pointless resolution. We need to understand what it means to be watchful for
apathy and what it means to "strengthen the things which remain". This path,
the path of being truly empowed by the Spirit leads to real growth. And who
doesn't want real growth when we consider the New Year? Come on out this
Sunday, January 3 to hear "To the angel of the Church of Surprise write", part
5, Sardis as we
continue our study of Revelation Ch 3. See ya Sunday.
Coming up....
- January 10 - On the Edge of Adventure: God's special wisdom for finding direction and purpose
for your life.
- January 17 - On the Edge of Adventure: God's breakthrough wisdom for getting kids back
on track.
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A Word of Encouragement
Revelation 2: 17a (NKJV)
To him who overcomes I will
give some of the hidden manna to eat.
To
"overcome" means to defeat something - and in this case it means to defeat our
tendency to quit or, worse, not even try at all. So often we pray: "God, if you
would just give me the strength to defeat this habit or overcome this emotion -
then I'll go for it" but God wants us to step out in faith, begin to be
obedient while continually depending on our relationship with Him - and THEN He
will give us the strength. That's the key: He does not strengthen us FOR the
fight but THROUGH the fight - and we've got to take the first steps of faith,
believing He will provide the strength to carry it through. This is where Manna
comes in - manna was God's means of providing food, that is, physical strength,
for the Israelites during their journey in the desert. The "hidden" Manna we
can receive is a spiritual provision, for the spiritual strength we need to
finish whatever task of growth and obedience He is leading us to begin. Why is
it hidden? Because we so often cannot see how we can ever find the strength to
change or grow or defeat something in our lives on the uphill side of the
challenge. We will only find the strength we need as we step out in faith - so
it is hidden from us until we're right in the thick of it. And because it is
hidden we must learn to rely on a continual, real, vibrant dependence on God
through prayer and obedience to the principles of the Bible in order to find
it. But it is promised to those who overcome and God always makes good on His
promises.
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Thank You
Thank you to some of our brand new people who
have already jumped into service. J.R. has started on the set-up/break-down crew,
and Toots has already started helping with the children's ministry. It is
really exciting to see new people plug into service and we are blessed with the
help. Thanks friends.
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Vision
We need to remember, once
again, that while marketing principles will have some effect for any outreach
or advertising campaign, we are asking God to bless our mailer outreach. Just
as He was willing to fill the disciples nets after they had been fishing all
night and caught nothing, so we are asking God to fill our nets.
Join us in fasting and
prayer for this outreach beginning Jan 3 through Jan 10 (7 days). Choose any
kind of fast you like - nothing but liquids, one meal a day, all veggies, no
sugar - something that says to the Lord "I am fasting as an act of worship, an
act of remembering that everything we have comes from you."
Then
ask the Lord for 3 things: If it is His will, send us at least 100 new people
on January 10th (fill the nets). 2) Give us a heart that is
motivated by love for God as our FIRST priority and let us not be distracted by
any success we enjoy. 3) Let us not lose sight of the vision God has given us
as we move forward.
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Special Announcements
January 3-7 - Fasting and prayer for mailer (see note on Fasting in last week's e-letter).
January 9- Men's Power Breakfast. 7 AM, Desert Palms Restaurant.
January 10 - Celebrate the New Year with your family with a message series called "Are you on the edge?". Join us as we welcome new visitors who respond to your 30,000 mailer outreach. |
