New Life United Pentecostal Church

Today we are celebrating the Sixteenth Anniversary of our church. Our guest speaker is Stephen Drury, director of Stewardship for the United Pentecostal Church International and formerly director of Tupelo Children’s Mansion. His wife, Evelyn, is the dean of administration for Urshan Graduate School of Theology. There will be a reception after the evening service.

Next Sunday is Mother’s Day, and it is also Pentecost Sunday. We will feature Mother’s Day in our morning service and Pentecost Sunday in our evening service. Please take this opportunity to invite family members and friends to church.

My trip to Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia was a success. I taught the first seminar in this country on the Apostolic message to about 25 ministers and church leaders. At the conclusion, three pastors and one assistant pastor were baptized in Jesus’ name, and others will be baptized soon. An application has been made to register the United Pentecostal Church in this overwhelmingly Muslim nation.

Please pray for our building program. In the next couple of weeks, we expect to obtain approval for our loan as well as approval for our site plan, but we need your continued prayers for favorable answers and favorable terms. We have sent a down payment of $112,500 for our metal building, and we will finalize our purchase of the additional 1.5 acres soon, so we also need your continued financial support.

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Our International Potluck last Sunday was a great success. There were 194 in attendance, with 28 nations represented. New nations were Ghana, Honduras, Malaysia, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Sierra Leone. Special thanks goes to our outreach director and wife, Jerome and Debra Williams, and to the potluck coordinators, Ron and Sun Russell.

Today I am finishing a missions trip to Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. In my absence, our associate pastor, Rodney Shaw, is preaching in both services.

This coming Sunday we will celebrate the Sixteenth Anniversary of our church. Our guest speaker will be Stephen Drury, director of Stewardship for the United Pentecostal Church International and formerly director of Tupelo Children’s Mansion. His wife, Evelyn, is the dean of administration for Urshan Graduate School of Theology. There will be a reception after the evening service.

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Once again, we had a wonderful visitation of God in our Wednesday night service, which concluded with tongues and interpretation as in I Corinthians 14. One person received the Holy Spirit.

Historically, three things have helped to establish people in our church: discipleship class, Sunday school, and Wednesday Bible study. We need to reemphasize these important meetings and not take them for granted. We retain 90% of converts who follow these three spiritual disciplines, compared to less than 50% who do not. Thus, if you have recently been baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit, make every effort to attend Life in the Spirit, a 6-week class on Sunday at 10 a.m.

All of us need to attend Sunday school and Wednesday Bible study. Schedules, distances, and gas prices make it difficult for some to attend every Wednesday night, and in those cases God’s grace is sufficient. Some, however, have simply neglected to attend. In such cases, individuals and families suffer spiritually. We should also remember that God will judge unfaithfulness.

Our guest speaker tonight is Gary Erickson. He is the director of the Sunday School Division of the United Pentecostal Church International and a graduate of Urshan Graduate School of Theology.

This week, I will travel to Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, to teach the first seminar on the Apostolic faith in this predominantly Muslim nation. Please pray for God’s protection and anointing as we walk through this new door of opportunity. In my absence, our associate pastor, Rodney Shaw, will preach next Sunday morning and evening.

Next Sunday night in the fellowship hall, we will conduct our first French service, under the direction of Jerome Williams. We will hold these services periodically for French-speaking immigrants from Africa and other places. A group from our church will attend an African immigrant conference in Dallas in May.

For the past few months, we have worked diligently on our sound system. Special thanks goes to our sound coordinator, Craig Crowder, who has invested many volunteer hours and has done an excellent job of repairing, upgrading, and fine-tuning our system. Musical instruments and parts can now be heard with much greater clarity. To regulate volume more effectively, we adjusted the position of some of the hanging speakers. It seems that we have found the happy median of greater intelligibility and quality with moderate volume, but there will always be adjustments due to changing room and crowd conditions. The sound varies somewhat across the building, so different spots are optimal for different people. If you have questions or input, see Rodney Shaw.

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Our children’s revival weekend was a great success, with four children and one adult receiving the Holy Spirit. Today we are in the midst of another great weekend with emphasis on youth.

Our guest speaker is Shay Mann, the general youth president of the United Pentecostal Church International. You will be blessed by his ministry, so open your heart in faith.

This coming Saturday, we are hosting a seminar for Sunday school and children’s ministry workers, followed by a banquet for our Sunday school staff. Our guest speaker is Gary Erickson, the general director of Sunday School for the United Pentecostal Church International. He is also a graduate of Urshan Graduate School of Theology. I will preach on Sunday morning, and Brother Erickson will preach on Sunday night.

This coming Sunday, after the morning service, we will have our quarterly International Potluck. This is a special event for those who were born in other countries, for those who bring international guests, and for those who are working with this outreach. Please pray for this endeavor and invite someone to attend. For more information, see the coordinators, Ron and Sun Russell.

Quarterly contributions statements have been mailed. Thank you for your support of the kingdom of God. Please take this opportunity to verify our records and to evaluate your stewardship. If there are any questions, you may contact our church treasurer, Regena Dumas. Her office hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM, and her email address is rsdumas@newlifeupc.org.

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Once again, we are thankful for wonderful services this past weekend as well as a significant move of God on Wednesday night. In the midweek service, after a short message by Jerome Williams, there were some powerful testimonies followed by a strong spirit of prayer. We never got to my Bible lesson. Many people received a touch from God, and I know we will hear victory reports as a result. If you were not here, you missed it!

There was great participation and a spirit of unity for our annual Springfest. I want to give special thanks to our ladies leader, Pat Matthews, her committee, and all the volunteers who worked hard for this special event.

Joe Castorina, children’s evangelist from Texas City, is ministering in children’s church this morning. He will minister to the whole church tonight, and the children’s choir will sing. Please come in support of our children and to receive a blessing yourself.

Next weekend we will have special youth services with Shay Mann. Brother Mann is the general youth president of the United Pentecostal Church International. There will be a youth rally on Friday night and a youth workers seminar on Saturday. Brother Mann will preach to the whole church on Sunday morning and evening.

Please pray for Urshan Graduate School of Theology in St. Louis, of which I serve as president. We have a site visit this week that is an important step in the process of accreditation. We also need funding for this purpose.

We are making application for a new daughter work in central Austin, which will target downtown and the area around the University of Texas. The pastor will be Nathaniel Binion, who preached for us in February. He and his wife, Regina, plan to move to Austin in August and begin a home friendship group.

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We had wonderful services on Easter Sunday. We had a record attendance for Sunday morning, for total Sunday attendance, and for total attendance including daughter works. A total of 931 people attended our main church, which is an increase of 11% over 2007. About 1,500 people attended our main church, daughter works, and former daughter works.

Vita Sharpe, who has been our church treasurer for the 16 years of our existence, is retiring as a church employee as of March 31. She will remain our church secretary. We thank her for all her hard work over the years, including volunteer service for the first four years.

The duties of church treasurer and bookkeeper have been assumed by Regena Dumas. Her office hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM. She is a CPA and previously served as church treasurer in Bay City, Texas.

Please participate in and invite visitors to the following special events coming soon:

• Springfest, Saturday, April 5, on our new property, 13523 N. Mopac at Century Park. There will be food, games, and exciting events for the whole family.
• Children’s Emphasis Weekend with Joe Castorina, April 6. Brother Castorina will minister to the children on Sunday morning and to the whole church on Sunday night.
• Youth Emphasis Weekend with Shay Mann, April 11-13. Brother Mann is the General Youth President (UPCI). There will be youth services on Friday and Saturday, and he will minister to the whole church on Sunday.


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Christ the Lord is risen today! Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we share in His victory over sin and death.

We welcome all our visitors today. We appreciate your taking time to worship with us. Please take a moment to fill out the visitor’s card so that we can send you a letter of thanks along with information about upcoming events. Also, be sure to pick up the brochure about our church.

Today you will see the final mini drama in our series of four. All four dramas will be presented in the service tonight, after which I will speak briefly. This will be a great time to invite friends.

I want to thank the director, Danielle Parks, and the drama team for all their hard work. I also want to thank our music directors, Jared and Rachel Wood, and the choir for their special efforts.

Several special events are coming soon:

• Springfest, Saturday, April 5, on our new property, 13523 N. Mopac at Century Park.
• Children’s Emphasis Weekend with Joe Castorina, April 6
• Youth Emphasis Weekend with Shay Mann, April 11-13

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Once again, we had a tremendous weekend. Three were filled with the Holy Spirit at the women’s conference. Two were baptized, and two received the Holy Spirit on Sunday.

As we have done for the past two weeks, we will present mini dramas today and next Sunday morning. We will also present the combined dramas next Sunday night. Our associate pastor, Rodney Shaw, will preach tonight.

Next Sunday is Easter. Please make every effort to attend and to bring someone with you. Now is the time to invite family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Let’s have a record attendance!

As mentioned last week, it appears that we will be able to purchase 1.5 acres of land adjacent to our new property at Century Park. I will take a small portion of the service on Wednesday night to present this information and to conduct a short business meeting.

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We are off to a great start in the month of March. Our mini drama last Sunday morning was excellent and helped set the tone for the service. We will present mini dramas today, next Sunday, and Easter Sunday. Don’t forget to invite people to church for Easter!

Last Sunday night was also outstanding, as Ernie Murillo, deaf evangelist, preached in sign language and gave his personal testimony. Everyone was stirred, and many people received great victory in prayer.

Almost 100 women from our church attended the annual Ladies United in Vision Conference, held this year in Sugar Land, TX. I am sure they have great testimonies to share with us.

Our church has seen a record number of surgeries and other medical procedures in the last three weeks. During this time, many people have also been sick with flu, strep throat, or bronchitis. Let’s pray for everyone to get well soon!

It appears that we will be able to purchase 1.5 acres of land adjacent to our new property at Century Park, giving us a total of 12 acres. The price is $350,000, or $5.32 per square foot, which is less than what we paid for the other 10.5 acres. If we are successful in negotiations, we will conduct a short business meeting as part of the service on Wednesday, March 19, 7:30 p.m.

Continue to pray for our building program and our finances. We are now moving forward rapidly with building plans, budget, and financing. We need God to direct our steps and to supply our needs. Several of our daughter works are also in urgent need of land and building, so pray for these needs also—particularly Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Fredericksburg, Austin Spanish, and Hutto.

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What a great time we had last Sunday night, in what we can only call a blowout service! During the worship, the Spirit of God moved in a powerful way, and many people responded with demonstrative worship. Many received great blessings, and many prayers were answered.

For the next four weeks, from today until Easter, we will have a short skit, or mini drama, before the morning message. Thus, every Sunday will be a great opportunity to bring visitors. Special thanks goes to Danielle Parks for organizing and directing these skits.

Tonight our guest preacher is Ernesto Murillo, national coordinator of Deaf Ministry for the United Pentecostal Church International. He will minister in American Sign Language with translation into English. Please invite deaf friends and acquaintances to attend.

Next Sunday begins Daylight Savings Time. Turn your clocks ahead one hour when you go to bed on Saturday night. Otherwise, you will be late for church!

If you have not already done so, start inviting people to attend our services on Easter Sunday. If this is your home church, make a special effort to attend. Let’s break our attendance record.

It appears that we have an opportunity to purchase 1.5 acres of land adjacent to our new church property for a very reasonable price. This would increase our total area at the new location to 12 acres, which will make a big difference for future planning. Let’s pray for God’s direction in this matter. If this option proves to be realistic, then I will share the information with you on Wednesday night and conduct a brief business meeting as part of our service.

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