This Week’s Prayer Focus (9/19 – 9/25)
That God would open our eyes to the places in our lives where He’s given us Grace!
read moreGraphic Designers Needed
Calling all graphic designers – The Publications ministry is looking for additional graphic designers to join the team. All basic skills, backgrounds and knowledge are welcome, but not limited to: Adobe Photoshop, IN Design, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Publisher/ Word, watercolor, and calligraphy. The commitment involves designing postcards, banners, special bulletin covers, brochures, flyers and other projects as needed. If interested, please sign up at the Connection Center or send an email to publications@ptspice.org.
read moreThis Week’s Prayer Focus (9/5-9/11)
LORD help PT to be focused on accomplishing your plan and purpose.
read moreJust A Reminder
This sermon illustrates the importance of the “Nehemiah Principle” (consistently reminding ourselves of GOD’s plans and purposes). Bishop Brian reminds the congregation of Pentecostal Tabernacle’s mission and our personal need to live the SPICE life. Nehemiah 4 (NLT) 6 At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. 7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired, they were furious. 8 They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves. 10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.” 11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, “Before they know what’s happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.” 12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, “They will come from all directions and attack us!” 13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows. 14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!” 15 When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. Nehemiah 6 (NLT) 15 So on October the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. 16 When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God. The ‘Nehemiah Principle’ Vision and purpose (mission) must be restated every twenty-six days (once per month) to keep an organization moving in the right direction. (John Maxwell) Our Mission: Restoring Broken Lives What is a Broken Life? A Life that is Out Of Order. (Ephesians 2:8-10) What does a Restored Life look like (Vision)? It is a life that is growing Spiritually, Physically, Intellectually, Characteristically, and Economically. We call this: The SPICE Life. How will we execute our Vision? Recruit (Welcome) – Restore (Worship) – Return (Word) What are our values? What makes P.T. strong? Prayer, Praise, Preaching, Partnership, Presence, Professionalism, and Power (Holy Spirit). We call this: Our 7 P’s. Nehemiah 6 (NLT) 15 So on October the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. 16 When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help (GRACE) of our...
read moreGoing Back to the Heart of Worship
http://www.ptspice.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09//20100516-2c.mp3 Heart Of Worship
read moreDay 16: Quiet, Please!
My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him. (Psalm 63:5, Amplified Bible) “The heart and soul of the Christian is learning to hear God’s voice and then developing the courage to do what He asks us to do…Busyness is akin to something the Bible calls worldliness – getting caught up with society’s agenda, objectives and activities to the neglect of walking with God.” (Page 119) These somewhat biting words are located in the 11th Chapter of Bill Hybel’s Book Too Busy Not To Pray. The chapter is entitled Slowing Down to Pray. We cannot learn to listen for God’s voice until we’ve learned to discipline our souls (minds, emotions, and wills) to wait on the Lord. This involves quieting oneself and keeping silent in the presence of God. And this is the manner in which we get to really know who God is (Psalm 46:10). No, this may not be exciting! But at this point in our walk with God, we are not looking for excitement. We are looking for transformation which only can occur when we move out of our world and into...
read moreDay 15: What’s in Your Wallet?
For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer… (Psalm 66:17-20, NLT) You may have seen the CapitalOne credit card commercial whose motto is “What’s in your wallet?” Basically, its message is that if a person does not have a CapitalOne credit card in his wallet, rival credit card companies will inflict high rates and fees upon him. This commercial conveys a message of the problems a person may have if he does not possess something. By contrast, the Psalmist tells us in the Scripture about the problem we may face if we do possess something. In chapter 10 of the book Too Busy Not To Pray, Bill Hybels teaches about how we can be “Cooling Off on Prayer”. One of the things that can throw cold water on our prayer lives is “old-fashioned sin” in our hearts. Whenever there are elements of bitterness, jealousy, lust, pride, arrogance, frustration (which can be passive anger), etc. filling our hearts, these things can really put a damper on our prayer lives. Again, I must stress that consecration almost always involves the confessing of sin in our lives. So the question is: What’s in your...
read moreDay 14: Pray? Really?
SCRIPTURE: 1 Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. 3 Give us each day the food we need, 4 and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation” 5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. 9 “And so I tell you, Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. (Luke 11:1-9, NLT) “Look me in the eye and tell me-yes or no-if you you’ve prayed about this (situation) fervently and regularly over an extended period of time.” This is a quote from Chapter 9 of Too Busy Not To Pray, which is entitled “Prayer Busters”. In other words: Have you prayed about this consistently (undeviatingly) and persistently (continuously, constantly, perseveringly, tenaciously)? Wow! This really hit me right between the eyes, as in smack in the middle of my brain. I may think about my situations non-stop. I may complain to others about it passionately. I may even talk to myself constantly about it. But pray? I mean really, PRAY persistently, passionately, and perseveringly? Sadly, even as a pastor, I rarely do this. As Bill states on that same page (99), “Unfortunately I joined the club whose motto is “When all else fails, (then is when I decide to really) pray…” As April quickly approaches, let’s first repent and then make a list of our top three concerns and peace-stealers and begin a consistent P.U.S.H. (pray until something happens) into our new...
read moreDay 13: A God Who’s in the Details!
If the request is wrong, God says, “No.” If the timing is wrong, God says, “Slow.” If we, ourselves, are wrong, God says, “Grow.” But if all the above is right, then God says, “Go!” (Page 86 of Too Busy Not To Pray) SCRIPTURE: When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands…O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.” …The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?” With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.” (Nehemiah1:4-5, 11; 2:4-5, NLT) In reading this Scripture, I am both amazed and discouraged by the details of Nehemiah’s prayers. Even while he’s in the presence of the king making this huge request, Nehemiah is constantly praying. Chapter 8 of Too Busy Not To Pray is entitled, “The Hurt of Unanswered Prayer”. What struck me about this chapter was the amount of detail and length of time Bill and his staff spend praying over one staff decision as described in page 87 (Too Loving to Say Yes). And even while making the decision, Bill is still asking God to lead him as to what he should do. Then just before he makes the decision, the Holy Spirit tells him, “No.” But what startled me was when the potential candidate asks Bill, “Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?” Bill was disciplined enough to trust what God had told him. I wondered: what would I have done if I were in his place? Would I have taken this as an open door? Would I have disregarded what I sensed the Holy Spirit had spoken to my spirit and simply walked through the trap door Satan had opened, thinking it was God? Not only must every step of our lives be guided by prayer, but we must also be weaned from our need for circumstantial answers to our prayers. We must mature to a place where we walk with the Holy Spirit and obey what He tells us, even when Satan seems to use circumstances to confirm answers to our very...
read moreDay 9: Focus!
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” (Mark 11:22-24, NLT) I had a picture taken of me last week in the balcony of our church. The photographer wanted to try something new, so he asked me to lean against the balcony railing so that he could get the main auditorium as a good background to the picture. I thought this was a great idea, but the problem was that I am afraid of heights. Wondering how I was going to sit on the balcony railing without panicking, I came up with a great idea. Instead of focusing on the drop behind me, I would focus on the photographer and his camera. And guess what? It worked! My focusing on the right thing made the difference, not only in me and my fear of heights but also in how the picture came out. My face was full of calm and not anxiety. In Chapter 7 of Too Busy Not to Pray, Bill Hybels teaches us about “Mountain Moving Faith”. His main thought is that mountain moving faith focuses on God and not the mountain. In reading the Scripture on which he bases this Scripture, I began to see three keys need in order to possess a faith that brings God results to impossible situations. I observed that mountain moving faith: 1. Sees God, not the mountain. (Mark 11:22) 2. Speaks what it believes. (Mark 11:23) 3. Secures in the heart what it believes before seeing it happen. (Mark 11:24) If we are going to have the productive prayer lives both that God wants and we desire, then we must learn to discipline ourselves in the area of focus. (Psalm...
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