Sunday, January 11th 2009

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

There's an old hymn that goes like this: " I thank God for the mountains. I thank God for the valleys. I thank God for the storms He brought me through. For if I'be never had a problem, I'd never know that He could solve them. I'd never know what faith in God could do. Through it all, through it all. I've learned to trust in Jesus... I've learned to depend upon His word".

There are many powerful hymns and songs were birthed out of personal life experiences in the lives of men and women of God. they went through persecution and tough problems, but came out of them victoriously and with unwavering faith, what's the secret?

They clung to the word of God and at the same time they took time to worship Him with their hearts. That's the secret. We must understand worship and not just have the knowledge of the Word. Pharisees and the Scribes had a lot of knowledge about God, but did not recognize Jesus as the Son of God.

When we worship Him, Heaven hears us. And Heaven will respond to us. Our case is before Him. He is listening and He is acting on our behalf. We must not forget this, and don doubt it, because doubting is a waste of our God-given time.

Also when we worship, whether we sense it or not, there are reactions in the spirit realm. In the same way, when we declare God's truth's over ourselves, they will stick. They change the atmosphere and they change us. We are no longer the same, whether we are aware of it or not.

Friends, worry, fear, doubt, anxiety, stress, will make nearly impossible for us to hear God's voice. It's like putting in spiritual earplugs that keep us deaf and unaffected by the thing that should affect us the most. Those things break our compass, and as long as we listen to the whispers of negative voices in our heads that try to deceive us, we are lost.

But when we spend time in worship, our ears are open and we will be comforted by His presence and be confident in who God is. We will then be able to hear Him clearly and when we're hearing Him clearly, our destinies become visible, and we have hope once again. Don't miss worship, we must flow out of worship.

Scripture Study:Acts 16:25-26; Matthew 26:29-30; Ps. 40:3; John 4:23-24; Rev. 4:10-11

NEW YEAR CORPORATE PRAYER AND FASTING (January 5th - 24th)

We have an exciting year and an incredible future ahead of us! Because God has given us a vision, a dream for our life. The coming New Year will be the year God releases the blessings and favors we need to grow and increase. What's the key? The NEW YEAR FAST! When we fast, we open up the blessings and opportunities God has provided to pursue our God-given vision and dream.

FRIDAY EVENING PRAYER

Corporate Friday Evening Prayer will be held on January 23rd. Prayer will be held at 7 pm at Ps. Rony's residence.

COMPASSION MINISTRY

Our Compassion Ministry is now offering a ministry opportunity to all members who have burden to involve with community work. This compassion team is planning to provide free professional services such as free tax preparation and free ESL course. If you want to know more about this project, please contact Sister Delia or Irene.

SATURDAY PRAYER

Every Saturday morning 10 am @ Peter Kurniali’s Residence (We would love to have you all join us.) Please feel free to contact us with any prayer requests or if anyone need personal/congregational prayer support, We are here to help!

CARECELL

All church members are always encouraged to be part of care cell. What is care cell?A CARE cell is a spiritual family where we experience God through relationships with one another. It is also place where we can receive support and encouragement and learn practical truths to help us to grow and overcome challenges of life.

CARECELL CONTACT NUMBER

• Downtown Area (Wijaya/Angie Elham - 312-731-4621 )
• Chinatown Area(Felix/Delia Widjaja - 708-351-0594 )
• Schaumburg(Peter/Sunny Setiawan - 312-863-9407)
• Libertyville(Akiong/Merry Gunawan - 847-414-4068 )
• Oswego(Kasih/Tanfie Listiawan - 630-566-8602 )