Speakers

In 2011 the overall theme for our church community is VICTORY.

There are three steps to VICTORY for our church this year:

Step 1: AWAKEN

Step 2: MOVE ON

Step 3: ENTER IN

Let's have a look at the first step - AWAKEN.

In Matthew 28: 18-20 it says and Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

This year God is sounding a wake-up call to the body of Christ! There has been a lull and a spirit of slumber that has spread over much of the church in the last couple of years. We have become satisfied with "life as usual."

Unfortunately, many people have settled into a place of comfort and complacency—but God is shaking and waking this sleeping giant once again!

I hear the Lord say, "Some of you keep trying to snuggle in and get comfortable. I will not allow you to get comfortable. I did not create you for comfort; I created you to be a weapon of warfare. To take ground, territory and be victorious – going from strength to strength and level to level!"

God has created you to be on the cutting edge.

When it is time for eaglets to learn to fly, the mother eagle begins to remove the soft down feathers in her nest. As she does this, the nest becomes more uncomfortable, and soon the eaglets begin to feel the sting of the sharp sticks beneath. In order to seek more comfortable living quarters, they are forced to fly. In this same fashion, God is removing your place of comfort because it is time for you to fly.

Frustration, agitation and uncomfortableness is a good thing! Something in you in 2011 will refuse to be comforted in your present condition this year. There will be a hunger in you to change and grow spiritually!

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Jericho was a fortified city. There were two walls that surrounded the entire city. The outer wall was six feet thick, and the inner was twelve feet thick. As far as mere man was concerned the walls were impregnable! But, with God all things are possible! And, as we will see the walls fell flat before the children of Israel, and every man went straight in to conquer the inhabitants.

How was it that Israel experienced such victory? Well, it began as only it could have: with a God-given vision.

In Joshua 6:2 God said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, it’s king, and it’s mighty men of valor.”

The word "SEE" comes from the Hebrew word râw-âw, and it means to envision something: to see far beyond the physical realm of present reality to see something as it can, and will be.



God’s call for Joshua to envision the fall of Jericho was based not upon Israel’s power and might, but upon God Himself, as He declared unto Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand…”

Joshua knew what it meant to have vision of future things. He and Caleb were two of twelve spies sent in to spy out the promised land some forty years before. Like the others, Joshua and Caleb saw the inhabitants of the land; they had seen the fortified cities; but they also saw the blessings of God that lay before them, and while ten spies saw themselves as nothing more than grasshoppers in the eyes of their enemies, Joshua and Caleb were visionaries, and tried to encourage the people to move forward to receive God’s blessings.

Solomon, in his great wisdom, declared in Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

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As a church community, we want to encourage everyone to pray and fast this week beginning Monday January 24 to empower everyone to establish clear vision and purpose and strength for the exciting year ahead!

Fasting & Praying together is a powerful type of worship to God as our spirit opens up to God more and breaks through a dullness or spiritual blindness or spiritual weariness.

Fasting brings us to a place where we become more sensitive to hearing God’s voice.

When we deny something like food or television or facebook etc. it helps us to desire and hunger more for a closer relationship with the Holy Spirit.

A food fast abstains from food or a type of food for a period of time.

A media fast abstains from reading, listening to and watching, newspapers, magazines, radio and TV, and surfing the internet. 

In the book of Mark - Jesus teaches the disciples that the power of God to establish a new level of breakthrough in a person's life is accessed through prayer and fasting.

Other Scriptures for inspiration to Pray & Fast for 2011:

Luke 2:37 "And she was a widow of about 44 years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day."

Acts 10:30 "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing."

I Corinthians 7:5 ". . . that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer . . ."

Philippians 4: 6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3: 12-14 "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind & straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

The different types of fasts can be:

40 Day Fast: Exodus 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8; Luke 4:2

21 Day Fast: Daniel 10:3.

14 Day Fast: Acts 27:33

10 Day Fast: Daniel 1:10-19.

7 Day Fast: 1 Chronicles 10:12; 2 Samuel 12:15-18

3 Day Fast: Nehemiah 9:1; Esther 4:15-16; Acts 9:9

1 Day Fast: 1 Samuel 7:6; Ezra 10:6; Jeremiah 36:6

Partial Fast: (Denying 1 or 2 meals a day or Favourite food or drink): Daniel 6:16-20. 

Be blessed!

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WISDOM is a Pathway, a Laneway, and a GATEWAY to an easier and more efficient way to building a life that bears good fruit (Greatness).

In Proverbs 4:5-7 it says:

“Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding."

Knowledge alone is impotent to change a life.

We learn and know, but if we do not act and make a habit of such inaction, we are doomed to discontentment and frustration.

We know, but others succeed.

The opening scene of Forrest Gump was lauded for its special effects wizardry.

A computer-generated feather was superimposed on the scene in such a way that the audience believed the camera had caught its long, haphazard and spasmodic movement as it journeyed on the wind to finally come to rest on Forest’s shoes.

The feather, of course, was a metaphor.

The winds of coincidence and the gusts of chance play a key role on who we are and what we do or don’t do in life.

However, unlike the feather we can choose how we react to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

We can use them to our advantage. In other words, we either use or are used.

The out of control life is the life that is responding rather that initiating.

It is a life that simply happens rather than is caused.

A life which gives in to the lie of fatalism and settles unquietly into the blame mentality.

The truth about Forest Gump was that he was in control.

Other characters in the film with so much more to live for were often not!

Get Wisdom!

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Every person must answer this question. The crowd cannot answer it for you. You cannot abstain or opt out from answering ... you can delay, but eventually every person on planet earth will have to answer this question.  

There’s really only 4 answers that you can give:

Answer 1: “Jesus was a legend. It’s all made up. He never really was.”  

A very small minority today believe this one. Intellectually you cannot hold this position. Why? Because there’s more historical proof of the existence of Jesus Christ than of any other person in human history.

Answer 2: “Jesus was a liar. He deceived people into thinking He was someone He was not. He was a good teacher, a good person who did good things, but He was not God in the flesh.”

This position is not even an option. Why? Because He claimed to be God, and if He wasn’t then He was a liar, and good people don’t go around living a lie. It wasn’t a little white lie if He was lying, He would have had to be a pathological, habitual deceiver. And people can see right through that kind of liar.

Answer 3: “Jesus was a lunatic. He was off in the head. Maybe sincere, but crazy...mentally deranged.”

But again, read the words of Jesus, and see how the people marvelled. They said, where does He get His wisdom. The most brilliant minds have studied His words for centuries and have only scratched the surface at the depth of His wisdom!

And so, if he was not a legend, liar, or lunatic, then there’s only 1 other conclusion you can make ...

Answer 4: “Jesus is LORD.”

Peter got it right! Jesus was the long awaited, predicted Messiah.

In Matthew chapter 16 versus 13 to 18 it says, when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"  Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

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Relationships in the church should be House to House.

Friendships within the church should not be “Sunday only.” We should interact with one another throughout the week.

Acts 2:42, 46 says, they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. . . every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.

The New Testament church was connected to each other. The fellowship of the early church was more than joining together for a worship service. Their partnership brought them together in one another’s homes.

Through successfully forming friendships with peers we as a church learn and develop key social skills of cooperation, sharing and confrontation management.

A person’s successful interaction with peers influences both immediate and long-term social and spiritual growth.

The church should run counter to our culture. Australians are increasingly more and more isolated from each other – circles of friendship grow smaller and smaller.

But within the church our friendships should be increasing.

Hebrews 10:25 tells the lone ranger to get reconnected with other believers; we are to join together regularly to encourage each other from House to House.

Matthew 9:10 says, Jesus had dinner at Matthew’s house.

Luke 19:5-6 says, Jesus stayed at Zacchaeus’ house.

Luke 24:36-46 says, Jesus spent time with the disciples after His resurrection.

Hebrews 10:25 says, let us not neglect our meeting together, but encourage one another.

In reality - love is spelled T-I-M-E in today's world. This can hold its challenges in today’s busy society.

We are not to live in our own little world ignoring those around us; because we are of one body – united in Christ – we are to identify with and respond to the needs of others.

1 Corinthians 12:26 says, If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.

Galatians 6:2 says, carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

But compassionate relationships are not just about feeling one another’s pain or sorrow.

Compassion moves us to action.

Be blessed!

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