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The E-pistle
7 February, 2008
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Announcements: Pay Close Attention Here
! ! ! Friday
Intercessory Prayer at New Covenant – The Fridays at list and
bring it with you!!! Contact Ron Rock for any questions at his e-mail *******************************************************************
Covenant Kids
children’s ministry is now meeting in the Welcome Room during the 11:00
services. There’s worship, games our children in the
way they should go!
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Home Groups are throughout the city. Currently we are studying the Book of John.
Tuesday, February 12, we will be studying John 5. If you are interested in joining a home
group, there are brochures available in the lobby with directions for each
group. Pick up a brochure to pass on
to a friend ************************************************
with Evangelist Evelyn Schave – 22-24
February 2008 Plan now to bring your friends, family and co-workers!
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Submission,
Callings, and the Work of God Finding
Out Where and How You Fit into the Kingdom By Pastor Randy Morgan Ephesians 4:11-12 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as
evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the
saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. Have you ever wondered what you were born "to do"
for God? Make no mistake about it, God has a plan for your life. He wants to
use you to do amazing things in the earth; God wants YOU to do the work of the ministry - His work. He
wants more than just a few "special people" to do the work of the
ministry. A misperception that is common in the modern Body of Christ is that
there are only certain people who can do the work of the ministry; that only
pastors, teachers, preachers etc. should DO everything. This is deeply rooted
in a "Priesthood" mentality, which is a deception. We are all called to be priests unto God (Revelation
1:6, 5:10); however, not everyone is called to be an equipper. There are
anointings within the Body of Christ given by God to particular people to
"equip" and prepare the saints for the work of the ministry; those
anointings and/or callings are Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, and
Evangelists (Eph. 4:11-12). The equippers are only equippers because of the
anointing, not because of their trainings, skills, etc. Those called by God
to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers have nothing
extraordinary about themselves; they only equip because God has called them
to; there is no school or seminar that one can go to in order to learn to be
an equipper; God's anointing leads and directs and that's the only true
source for those who are called to equip the saints for the work of the
ministry. What does it mean to be equipped to do the work of the
ministry? God has called each of us to work for Him; however, when we're
born-again, we're not immediately equipped with the knowledge of how to do God's work in the earth.
This is evident throughout the book of 1 Corinthians, specifically chapters
12-14. The Gifts of the Spirit were flowing freely in that church; however,
Paul had to give instruction on how to utilize those gifts. Was the Holy
Spirit speaking to and through the people? Absolutely. Were they
handling His Voice properly? No. It is demonstrated in scripture that when we're born-again we
can hear from God (Romans 8:14); however, it is also demonstrated that WHEN
we hear from God we must learn to submit WHAT we hear from God to those who
God has anointed to equip for a refining and equipping process (1 Cor. 14:29,
Hebrews 13:17). I can imagine some of the Corinthians saying something like
this: "But Paul, I know that I hear from God, so what you say doesn't
really matter." Well, that is called rebellion. Yes, we are each of us
called to have sensitive ears to God, and we are also called to allow God to
use others to equip us. The enemy will always attempt to utilize gifts and callings to
promote a sense of elitism in people - a sense that no one else can do what
they are called to do. This is pride and a skewed perception of propriety
with service gifts. We are all called to be broken and submitted with our
gifts and callings. If you have a ministry gift, or if you feel that God has
anointed you with a special ability or gift, then use it for His Glory by
submitting it for proper usage in the Body of Christ. What is the work of the ministry? Pretty much any activity within the What Happens If I don't Like How I'm Being Equipped and
Prepared? I imagine this was a question that a young man named Joseph
asked; his whole story can be found in Genesis chapters 37-50. He had a
vision and a gift from God, so he thought he'd share it, and in the process
of sharing it without proper timing and authority, Joseph had to be
restrained for a time. God has a way of doing this. So, during Joseph's time
of imprisonment, he learned humility and brokenness. God wants to prepare us
and equip us by using those whom He's placed in our lives for such a task. The Key to
being equipped to do the work of the ministry properly is to obey God and
live in a state of faith-filled readiness!!! God is the greatest. When it
comes time for you to be released or 'geared down' or pulled forward or
whatever, God will instruct those who must give an account for you, so don't
worry, God's Got you in the Palm of His Hand, and He will see to it that you
get to do what He's put in your heart to do for Him. Look to Him because He's
the Author and Completer of your faith (Hebrews 12:2) |
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Pastors’ Corner with Pastor Angela and Pastor Joan Helping Feed the Family of God |
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“Prayer Warriors” There have been a few times that I have
called on the saints who read this daily word to pray for specific need of
another. Today I am asking that each person identify a need of someone you
know, literally go up to someone or call them on the phone and ask them is
there any need that they have that you could pray for. I am asking some,
including myself, to step out of your comfort zone and step soundly on faith.
When we pray, the spirit realm enters into warfare and if we all pray
specifically, battles will be won and the victory will go to God. Let’s cause
the enemy to flee today and Heaven to rejoice. James 5:15-16 15And
the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will
raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore
confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be
healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. ________________________________________________________________________________________
Confession of Faith I
confess: “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” I have the ability to stand freely in God’s
holy presence, and in Satan’s presence as a victor. I
confess: “I am a temple of the Living God.” I have God living in me and walking in me. I
confess: “My God shall supply all my needs.” I have the supply of every need, in Jesus’
Name. I
confess: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” I have
the assurance I shall see God for the blood of Jesus has made me pure in heart |
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Loneliness by Leah Lindsey-SellarsSunday morning Apostle Randy announced that we will be taking a break from our study on the book of Acts and we are going to discuss Love. Ok, well, he didn’t really say that, but that’s my summary of what he said. He spoke about how God loves you, how God believes in you, and how God sees you as loveable. In my mind that means LOVE!I want to talk to you this week about loneliness. There is a big difference in being alone and being lonely. Being alone means that you are by yourself and have no one around you. However, to be lonely as described in dictionary.com, means that you have a depressing feeling of being alone”. It also states that when someone is lonely you are “destitute of sympathetic or friendly companionship and support”. Wow. Destitute means completely void of something. So if you are feeling lonely, are feeling void of friends? Maybe you are single and you want someone to date and that would make you feel less lonely. Could it be that you are married and you still feel lonely? Whether you are single, dating, engaged or married, you can still feel lonely. To becompletely honest, I have felt lonely at all of those stages. It was not until I was married that God set me “straight” in that area of my life. I remember it very clearly. I was driving through downtown and how the person wasn’t meeting my needs and how I still felt lonely even though I was married. (Shocker, I know.) God quickly said, “You are not looking to the right person to fill your need of loneliness. That is my job, not her job!” I immediately repented and asked for forgiveness. If you feel lonely I want you to ask yourself these questions and answer them honestly. Do you have friends, a Church Family, and a God who loves you? Do you have a personal relationship with God? Have you asked God to fill the hole in your heart called loneliness? - If you do not have a personal relationship with God, please contact someone immediately at - http://www.savedandgay.com. If you do have a relationship with God and you are - willing to cast off this feeling of loneliness, then pray this prayer by faith: Father, I understand that you can fill this feeling in my heart called loneliness. I know that you are all that I need. I know that you are my greatest supporter, friend and companion, the best that anyone could ever have. All I need is you Lord, all I need is you. Thank you for answering my prayer and filling my heart with joy and peace. In Jesus name, Amen. |
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Ministries Available at
and
areas in which to become involved. A listing of those ministries is available
here: http://www.newcovenantatlanta.com/94-church/ministries.html |
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Awesome Links for 2008 New Covenant’s Daily
Devotional from Pastor Joan Castle – e-mail her at pastorjoan@newcovenantatlanta.com
to receive it. This devotional has
daily prayer requests from your New Covenant Family, Daily Confessions, and
daily readings that will take you through the Bible from Cover to Cover in
Two Years. Pastor Angela’s “Daily
Word” – e-mail her at pastorangela@newcovenantatlanta.com to get
signed up for that awesome link. Kenneth Copeland’s – From
Faith to Faith - http://www.kcm.org/studycenter/devotional/f2f/index.php?l=eng |
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I could give testimony about
many things. God has given me victory over HIV and He brought me through an
ugly and abusive childhood. But, the greatest testimony I have to give is
this: God the Father so loved me that He crucified His only begotten Son for
me so that I could have eternal life. I once was on the road to Hell, but now
I have entrance into the Heaven. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I have
been that Prodigal son that came back to his Father. My salvation was a
gift freely given to me. For eternity I will sing His praises in the We all have a testimony, are you willing
to share yours? There might be someone
out there that will be blessed by newcovenantgirl@aol.com. To view others’ testimonies, go to http://www.sweetwaterministry.org.
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If you’d like to
subscribe to the New Covenant Daily Devotional, please send an e-mail to pastorjoan@newcovenantatlanta.com.
She will sign you up right away.
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What is
The Scriptural basis for GROWING: So pray to the Lord of
the harvest to force out and thrust laborers into His harvest (Matthew 9:38) Great multitudes followed
Jesus (Matthew 4:25). Great multitudes gathered
together unto Him (Jesus) (Matthew 13:2). Great multitudes came
unto him having with Him those who were lame, blind, dumb, and maimed and
many others and cast them at Jesus’ feet and He healed them … and the
multitudes were amazed (Matthew 15:30). The multitudes resorted
to Him (Jesus) and He taught them (Mark 2:13). And the believers were
the more added to the Lord, multitudes both men and women (Acts 5:14) The Word increased and
the number of disciples increased (Acts 6:7) The Hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned to the Lord (Acts 11:21) We are always setting
goals here at New Covenant for higher, greater, more excellent, and more
powerful service to God. Without a vision people perish and cast off
all restraint, so goals are vital for any group to thrive and grow,
especially in the Kingdom. God has given us a vision and a message that
will reach the nations, help revolutionize lives, and lead souls into a
relationship with our God and King. With that in mind, in order to
fulfill the vision that God has given Will you set your faith
in agreement? Will you call friends, family, loved ones, those who
haven’t been to church in a while? Will you send cards, e-mails,
etc.? Will you call it forth in prayer? If so, thank you.
God is going to do amazing things here in this Body of Believers. We
need the exponential power of unity and growth to continue here at New
Covenant – to breakthrough the 100 or so mark in attendance, to increase in
order to sow out into the world. Let’s reach higher than we’ve ever
reached before A corporate confession
based on the Scriptures above, say this out loud: Where Jesus was, multitudes followed Him, gathered together with Him, were healed by Him, and taught by Him. Father, your Word makes it plain that where Jesus is, people come – we call them in through prayer first. You add to the church and I | |
