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A Quote to Meditate On....
"It's not about finding ways to avoid God's judgment and feeling like a failure if you don't do everything perfectly. It's about fully experiencing God's love and letting it perfect you. It's not about being somebody you are not. It's about becoming who you really are." ~Stormie Omartian, THE POWER OF A PRAYING WOMAN
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This Past Wednesday Night--We Experienced Glory!
Wow! What a glorious service we had this past Wednesday night. As we witnessed God's Spirit moving among us, I thought about the waves of glory we have been praying for. In addition, a prophetic word had been sent to ARK that on 10-10-2012 something unusual was going to happen. And....happen it did! Here is a short testimonial I posted on my facebook page about it:
TESTIMONY: Last night I witnessed an awesome sight. In the midst of worship, a spontaneous movement of high praise began among the people and continued to grow in intensity. People were shouting, leaping, weeping, laying face down in the carpet. This went on uninterrupted for a long time.
The children were called out of their classes into the worship service. In the midst of this outbreak, the worship team began to sing an older anthem, PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW. This went on repeatedly for a long time. You could feel weight of glory over and upon the people. The children were called forward to form two lines and pray for everyone else as they walked between them.
What happened then was even more amazing. Person after person was touched by the power of God's presence in our midst. I saw people weeping, some uncontrollably laughing in joy, others lay on the floor soaking in His presence. The sight that touched me the deepest was the little 5, 6, and 7 year old children who began to take their turns coming through the prayer line with tears streaming down their faces.
It was an incredible refreshing, a suddenly from God that swept into our midst and I am so thankful for the goodness and love that He would visit us in this way. It was a wonderful two hour experience of seeing refreshing come from the presence of God. Waves of glory came rushing in.
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This Sunday morning we will be week 3 in the new series entitled, "RIPPED OFF BY RELIGION." The first week we saw the difference between living under the Old Covenant versus living under the New Covenant. Last week we studied a list of seven GRACE BUSTERS found in Galatians 2. The week, as the Lord wills, I will leading you into some very strong questions Paul asked the church. These question apply to us today and they speak to our coming under the spell of people who want us to give up our Christ secured freedom and the joy of living the grace life. Most of us have faced this or released this on others in some way. Let's gain a solid understanding of what it means to be free in Christ.
So many of you have shared how you have been impacted by this series and my heart rejoices. Let's press in and commit to walking out our Christianity with a fuller understanding of our New Covenant benefits.
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Prayer for the Nation - Sunday Night at the Coliseum
This Sunday night, the area Churches of Christ have invited people from other churches to join them in a time of prayer for our nation. This event will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the City Coliseum. This is an opportunity to collective call upon the Lord for His guidance and help during this season in our nation, particularly as we face the presidential election.
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Double Dipping...ARK & GRACE HOUSE
Double Dipping is encouraged at our place. I am not talking double dipping in the salsa bowl, but double dipping at the Sunday services. We have the privilege of being two congregations but one church family. It is encouraging to see everyone intermingling on Sundays and Wednesdays. After all, Father has always seen us as one.
What a John 17 sight, to see our brothers and sisters from our ARK family coming to our service or part of our service and then staying for their service. Then to see Grace House folks coming to our service and staying over for all or part of the ARK service. And if you don't, that's alright too. That's the beauty of understanding that we are all free and on the same team and members of the same family.
I have pastors from other churches ask me often, "How does that work with two congregations?" When I tell them it just does because we all have committed to love and honor one another, and we have no competition, they often have a puzzled look on their face and then say something like "That's wonderful." They usually follow with, "How do you do the giving?" I then tell them, we have our boxes on the wall and the ARK has their boxes as well, and we just trust the people. That's when I get the second strange look. Well, I guess it is strange and new, but we believe it is God's will for our two congregations and it makes Jesus smile.
Thanks to you all, for your flexibility, your love, and your awesome heart for God and people!
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Last Sunday was awesome. We experienced such a precious communion service and ministry time. The worship was sweet and God's Spirit was tangibly present. We heard numerous testimonies from people of how God had touched and changed their lives. The reports of answered prayer, healings, and breakthroughs were all so encouraging. I am always blessed to see new faces in our midst and am thankful to God for the growth we are experiencing.
Let us be grateful to be in the midst of a people who are experiencing God powerfully in their daily lives. Invite someone to attend service with you this coming Sunday morning.
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In less than a month, we will be given the opportunity to vote in the Presidential election. As citizens of this blessed nation, it is important that we exercise our right to vote. Please be in prayer, seek God's guidance, become informed on what the candidates believe and support, and then use the "vote" you have been given to help guide our nation forward. To fail to vote is to forfeit your voice. If you have not registered to vote, then do so as soon as possible.
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Nov. 18th - Pastor Stan Tyra
I am excited to introduce someone new to our fellowship, Pastor Stan Tyra. Stan lives in Rogers, Ark. where he pastors Revolution Church. We met on the retreat I attended in N.C. back in August. He was also one of the four of us that was in the UTV accident and he is recovering well. I know you will love his heart and spirit as he comes and ministers to us on Sunday morning, Nov, 18th.
Revolution Church
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