New Life United Pentecostal Church

As I taught Wednesday night, we all should be reminded of the importance of spiritual disciplines, and particularly prayer and fasting. Everyone is urged to take regular times of fasting and to maintain a habit of prayer. Everyone is encouraged to attend one Friday night prayer meeting per month.

Last weekend was a wonderful time of worship, particularly as our youth led us in worship Sunday night. Many thanks go to Seth and Sarah Simmons and the youth staff. We had a great attendance of 782!
Next Sunday we begin our mini-dramas leading up to Easter when all four mini-dramas will be presented in the evening service. The series is titled “He Is.”

Beginning March 10, we will begin a series of lessons on Wednesday nights, “Why I Am a Christian.” Each session will be followed by a time of questions and answers. Lessons include: “Why I Believe There Is a God”; Why I Believe in Jesus Christ”; “Why I Believe in Creation”; and “Why I Believe the Bible Is God’s Word.” Invite a friend!

We had a tremendous children’s service last Sunday night! Special thanks goes to Norma Frances for leading this effort, including writing the script. Everyone who was involved in the drama, both on and offstage, is to be commended. Many of our children prayed well, and one received the Holy Spirit.

We are focusing on our youth this weekend, and our guest speaker today is Akil Thompson. Tonight’s worship will be led by our youth, so feel free to come dressed more casually.

There is an inauguration service for Pastor Bernard, acknowledging his new role as general superintendent of the UPCI. The service will be held in St. Louis at The Sanctuary, Friday, March 5, 7:00 p.m. The service will be streamed live on the Internet at www.upci.org. It will be shown here at the New Life.

Beginning March 14, we will have mini-dramas in our Sunday morning services leading up to Easter. All four dramas will be presented Easter Sunday evening. Beginning March 10, we will begin a series of lessons on Wednesday nights, “Why I Am a Christian.” Each session will be followed by a time of questions and answers. Lessons include: “Why I Believe There Is a God”; Why I Believe in Jesus Christ”; “Why I Believe in Creation”; and “Why I Believe the Bible Is God’s Word.”

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We will be having a children’s service tonight featuring our KidSpace ministry team. Please come expecting God to minister to all. It is a casual night, and there will be “physical activity, action songs, laughing, playing, praisin' and Holy Ghost fillin'”! Come expect a great time in the presence of God!

There will be a special area-wide youth service at our church this Friday night at 8:00 p.m. with guest speaker Akil Thompson. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Brother Thompson will be speaking in our Sunday services next week.

Wednesday nights are exciting times of worship, fellowship, and instruction. There are benefits to attending these services that are not available on Sundays. Please make a special effort to attend the Wednesday night service. Too, everyone is encouraged to attend one Friday night prayer meeting per month. These meetings are held at the church from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

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We have a very exciting spring, so you will not want to miss any scheduled services! This Wednesday night, Bernhard Suppan, missionary to Austria, will be speaking in our service. The Suppans were members of our church when they left for Austria, so many of you know them.

Periodically we have an Introduction to New Life class for newcomers. The next class will be this Wednesday night. If New Life is your home church and you have never attended the class, you are urged to attend. It is for everyone.

This Thursday we will have our first House to House prayer meeting. House to House prayer is a monthly prayer meeting organized by our Care Group Ministry. Each month a different area of town is selected with a goal of having two or three care groups join together in prayer each month. These prayer meetings are held in the homes of people who live in the respective care groups. This is an opportunity for both prayer and fellowship, and everyone in the selected care groups is encouraged to come. There is a brief time of fellowship and snacks after prayer. This month’s meeting will be for the following care groups: Cedar Park (Gomez, Esquibel), Leander (Frances), Northwestern Suburbs (Dumas), and Jonestown/Lago Vista (Heihn). The meeting will be meeting on Thursday, February 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Michael and Norma Frances.

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We had a good attendance at our revival services and a great spiritual breakthrough. Thank you for making the effort to attend and reach out in faith and worship. We are thankful for 7 people receiving the Holy Spirit during our revival services last week! Several of these want to be baptized today.

If you have never received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking with other tongues, God wants to give you this gift. If you have never been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (invoking His name during baptism), you need to do so. If you would like a Bible study covering these topics, please see Arick Lassister, our Bible study coordinator.

All-church prayer meetings are held each Friday night at the church from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Everyone is encouraged to attend one of these meetings each month. Additionally, the prayer rooms are open thirty minutes prior to each evening service.

The equipment in the media booths at the back of the sanctuary, including computers, are not for personal use. Please do not use the equipment unless you are authorized to do so. If you have questions, please see Johnny Celey.

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Today we conclude our special services with Evangelist Doug Klinedinst. If you have never received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking with other tongues, you can do so today! If you need a miracle of healing, deliverance, provision, or for some other circumstance in your life, present the need to God in faith today. Let’s believe God for a miracle!

As we conclude our month of devotion—including prayer, fasting, and Bible reading—let’s not lose our commitment to these disciplines. We need to make a habit of seeking God. When we consistently discipline our lives, we can expect the blessings of God upon our lives. Continue to pray for personal renewal, a harvest of new souls in our church, favorable bids and conditions for our building program, the sale of our building, and another million-dollar miracle. Everyone is encouraged to attend at least one Friday night prayer meeting per month. God will provide!

We are thankful for all who gave in 2009. Your giving supports our mission both at home and around the world. Contribution statements for 2009 have been mailed. Please review your statement for accuracy. If there is a discrepancy, please contact our treasurer, Regena Dumas, by calling the church office or by e-mailing her at rsdumas@newlifeupc.org. This is also a good time to reflect on stewardship and faithfulness.

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This week we begin our special services focusing on healing, deliverance, miracles, and Holy Spirit baptisms. Our evangelist will be Doug Klinedinst. Services will be Wednesday and Friday nights at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 11:00 am and 6:30 pm.

Please make a special effort to attend these services. Let's all be in prayer for these services, believing God for personal renewal and
miracles as well as for new people to be filled with the Spirit. As always, the prayer rooms will be open before service.

Continue to pray for our building program. God is about to show us great things!

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As you know, Haiti was hit by a major earthquake. Haiti is one of the most destitute nations of the world, filled with poverty, government corruption, and organized crime. Such an environment makes the tragedy all the worse for the common person. The UCPI has 56,000 constituents, 764 ministers, and 586 churches and preaching points in Haiti. We need to remember them in our prayers. We will be sending an offering to Haiti through Compassion Services International, a UPCI-affiliated relief agency. If you would like to give to this cause, please designate your offering accordingly.

Please remember our commitment to prayer, fasting, and Bible reading. If you have not taken a weekly day of fasting for January, please consider doing so. Everyone is encouraged to take advantage of existing opportunities to pray including personal times, before Sunday night and Wednesday night services in the prayer rooms, Tuesday morning ladies prayer meeting, and Friday night all-church prayer. Everyone is encouraged to attend at least one Friday night prayer meeting per month. Pray for personal renewal, a harvest of new souls in our church, favorable bids and conditions for our building program, the sale of our building, and another million-dollar miracle. God will provide!

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I want to thank you for the remarkable response Sunday night to the call to fast. I believe spiritual disciplines are the key to ongoing revival, personal victory, an ingathering of souls, and seeing our building through to completion. If you were not here Sunday night or otherwise have not taken a weekly day of fasting for January, please consider doing so. If you would like more information please visit our month of devotion page.

There are a few staff changes I want to make you aware of: (1) Sister Pat Hall will begin working as our office secretary this week. (2) Greg Starks and Jerome Williams will be sharing responsibilities as the primary teachers of the adult Sunday school class, held in the sanctuary each week. Our licensed ministers who also serve as ministry directors will be helping us lead services. This includes Seth Simmons, Greg Starks, and Jerome Williams. Great things are about to happen!

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Happy New Year! We are looking forward to what God is going to do in 2010. We should see substantial progress on our building program, and we are believing God for a great in-gathering of new souls. To this end, we have designated January as a month of devotion with special emphasis on prayer, fasting, Bible reading, and special services with Doug Klinedinst January 27, 29 & 31. Please see the insert or our website for more details.

Pastor Bernard has officially assumed his role as general superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI). The UPCI has approximately 9,000 ministers and 4,000 churches in U.S. and Canada and approximately 25,000 churches and preaching points in 190 other countries. Please pray for Brother Bernard and his family during this time of transition.

Pat Hall will be working in the church office as the office secretary, and Lisa Gomez will assume new responsibilities as administrative assistant. We will do our best to minimize any inconvenience to you as we reassign roles.

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