WITNESS ~ INSTRUCT ~ NURTURE / Volume 1 Issue 26
Sep 21, 2005
Hi !
In this issue, you'll read:
THE BOOK OF 1st CORINTHIANS - PART ONE
REPORT FROM VOICE OF GOSPEL
A WORD FROM THE EDITOR - TWENTY SIXTH EDITION We would also like to invite anyone who has a calling on their heart to work in this specific area of ministry to send an e-mail to the Intercessory Prayer Team Leader, Jennia L. Braswell, at her personal e-mail address, 2 Kings 20:1-6; All editions of The W.I.N. E-Mail Newsletter are available on the Internet. To find them, navigate to www.fcgm.org and click on the "Newsletter" link. Feel free to copy as many as you want and pass them out to family and friends. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, send an e-mail containing your name and e-mail address to winsubscribe@fcgm.org. Each morning, read a Scripture passage of your choice. Talk with the Lord as you read His Word. When you are finished, go back and select one or two verses which you believe God is using to speak to you and meditate thoughtfully and prayerfully on what He is saying. II. Bible Study In this edition, we begin reading Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. To understand why Paul writes the way he does let's first become familiar with this city and with what was happening in the Corinthian church. Corinth was, in many ways, the chief city of Greece. It had a population of about 250,000 free people and as many as 400,000 slaves. With its two harbors, it was a crossroad for travelers and was a busy, prosperous commercial center between East and West. At least 12 temples donned the city, the most infamous being the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, whose worshipers practiced religious prostitution. This fostered gross immorality, so much so that the Greek verb "to Corinthianize" came to mean "to practice sexual immorality." The Corinthians were interested in Greek philosophy and placed a high premium on wisdom. Read Acts 18:1-18 Paul came to Corinth around AD 50 (about 20 years after the ascension of Jesus). He preached the Gospel first in the synagogue, but when he was opposed by the Jews he turned his focus to the Gentiles and many of the Corinthians "believed and were baptized." Paul's letter to the Corinthian church was not only in reply to a letter they had written to him enquiring about marriage and the eating of meats offered to idols (1 Corinthians 7:1; 8:1-13), but was also written in response to information that Paul had received from several sources concerning factions that were developing, false teaching they were following, and immorality that was rampant in the church. With this background understanding we will now read Paul's letter. Because of its length, we will divide the reading of 1st Corinthians into three sections. Several times before our next lesson, read chapters 1-6 right through in one sitting. Be sure to listen to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to speak to your heart as you meditate on His Word. III. Memory Verse 1. Ask the Lord to help you remember his Word (see John 14:26). 2. Use the version of the Bible you are most familiar with. What you normally read in your Bible is what you need to be memorizing. 3. Don't just memorize the contents of the verse; memorize its "address" (the verse reference) as well. You can do this by following this pattern: Step 1: reference; Step 2: verse content; Step 3: reference. Then repeat steps 1-3. Note that you are quoting the reference twice as many times as you quote the actual verse content. This gives the verse a clear "reference tag." 4. After you have read your memory verse out aloud several times, try going through your memory verse without reading your computer screen. 5. Look up your memory verse in your Bible. Look at its immediate context and read the verses that come before and after your memory verse. 6. Print out your memory verse or jot it down on a piece of paper. Take this paper with you when you go to work or do other daily activities. Meditate on the meaning of the verse throughout the day. 7. During your noon appointment with the Lord, take out your memory verse and go over it again. Talk to the Lord about what this verse means to you personally. 8. In the evening (at either your evening study or your evening devotions), see if you can quote your memory verse from memory. Then, without looking at the memory verse itself, see if you can find it in your Bible. 9. The next day, before you begin committing a new verse to memory, rehearse your previous day's memory verse and see if you can remember it (without cheating!). 10. Finally, at the end of the week (possibly on Sunday), collect all your week's memory verses, rehearse them and see if you can recall them without reading them. Spend a little extra time on any verses you have difficulty recalling. 11. Remember: Don't just memorize a verse. Put it into practice (James 1:22). It is not being able to quote a verse from memory that counts. It is His Word abiding in your heart that counts (John 15:7). When you actually apply a verse consistently to your daily life; that is when you truly know that verse! This article is Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College. It is used by permission and formatted for presentation in this newsletter. By the time we arrived the mission house was packed with people. About 30 people were in fast for the last one week. God enabled to minister from the Book of Judges on the life of Samson “when the Spirit of the Lord came on Him Samson killed the young lion that came against his ministry and destination with no weapons in hand. To kill a lion we need the anointing of the Lion of Judah”. We need no weapons except the anointing of the Lord. The morning session was over by 3 PM and we went to a village called Ullahalli where Pastor Joseph and Sheeja are working for last 18 months. God has blessed their work and many had come to the Lord through healing ministry. A house church is planted with 60 people. This is the only Christian work within 28 villages and 25 miles. They are facing a lot of problems from the anti-Christian people accusing them for converting people into Christian faith. The village head-man has asked him to buy some land outside the village and start a church, so the villagers can come and worship there. Joseph wants to open a Mercy home also for the orphan kids in the community and serve the people with the love and compassion of Jesus. This Mercy home will open more doors for ministry and will solve the hatred and allegations against them. About 30 people are ready to take water baptism. Next we moved to another village called Eggvadi, which is 40 miles away from Ullahalli. As we reached there it was almost 7 o’clock in the evening. 30 people were jam-packed in a room size of 10x12 feet. About 40 people were waiting outside to hear about the life of Jesus and to be prayed and blessed. Sister Molly shared her testimony on how God healed her heart disease and set her free from death. God gave me the privilege to preach about Jesus who is the creator and saviour of the world. 60 people accepted Jesus as their God and saviour with tears. This was an awesome experience. We need more missionaries for Karnataka to work in the villages of Karnataka, where there is no electricity or proper transportation or housing. We left the village with a new vision and burden to pray more for Karnataka. There are a lot of polio stricken paralyzed and handicapped people in that village. We would like to help these people for their daily living through some type of cottage industry. 18th was the last day of the 40 days fasting. About 100 people from different villages came for the final meeting. God poured out his spirit on the worshippers and many were set free for worship. 8 people were baptized in the near by river and 13 more committed for baptism. The service was over with the Lords table. These are some of the needs I sensed in Karnataka. 1. More national workers to work in the villages of Karnataka. Dr. Daniel Unless otherwise noted: All Scripture is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Greetings and welcome to this edition of the W.I.N. E-Mail Newsletter. It is with great joy that I announce a new ministry within Freedom Covenant Global Ministries. God has led several of the ladies from our FCGM churches to form an Intercessory Prayer Team. Anyone who needs specific prayer may send an e-mail to intercessors@fcgm.org and your request will be routed to each member of the Intercessory Prayer Team immediately.
As you can see from the Scripture reference above, earnest intercessory prayer is heard and answered by God. In verse five, we read these words, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you." No sweeter words have ever been heard by one of God's children. Until next time...God bless you in all that you undertake! In Jesus Name,
Rev. Sam T. Leigh
Presiding Bishop
Freedom Covenant Global Ministries
E-mail: ambassador@fcgm.org
Website: www.fcgm.org
Bishop's eCorner: www.fcgm.org/ecorner/
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THE BOOK OF 1st CORINTHIANS - PART ONE
I. Devotional Reading
1 Corinthians 1:18; "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
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REPORT FROM VOICE OF GOSPEL
Dear Mission partners
Greetings from India in the name of the Lord of the harvest. Once again the Lord of the harvest enabled me to visit our mission fields in Karnataka on 16th & 17 of September with Pastor Rajan and His family from Calicut. After 7 hours of tedious car journey we reached at Nanjangund Mission station at Karnataka State by 10 AM on Friday. Brother Benny Joseph was in fasting for 40 days and the same day was the 39th day of his fasting. We came to join with his fasting and help and encourage him in the ministry. Pastor Benny is in the 5th year of his ministry in this village and had gone through a lot of persecutions, challenges and trials. God strengthened him to get through these and be strong in the Lord and ministry. ”Nanjundan” is the strong man in this area and people are under the bondage of this demonic spirit. The people had used all sort of threats against pastor Benny and his church to be destroyed and they tried to kill him through witch craft and evil magic and kept the kids under sickness. A lot of accidents and snake bites from cobras and vipers had effected the church members. Still the Lord kept all safe with out any death. Benny knew without the anointing and the power of God he cannot continue the ministry in these villages and he decided to set apart himself in fasting and prayer for 40 days. He invited me to be with him for the closing two days to minister and do the baptisms.
2. More international leaders to train more national leaders.
3. Transportation facilities for the native workers.
4. Worship places for the believers.
5. Gospel literatures for ministry.
6. Prayer and financial support for the missionaries.
7. Mercy homes for the orphan kids
8. Mobile medical clinics for the villages.
9. Mobile gospel teams with Jesus film.
10. Educational support for missionary kids
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This newsletter Copyright © 2005 Freedom Covenant Global Ministries. All Rights Reserved. Individual articles displaying copyrights from other ministries are used by permission, have been formatted for use in this publication, and remain the property of respective ministry. Permission is granted to copy, print, and distribute this newsletter for ministry purposes, whether whole or in part, so long as ALL copyrights remain in place and no copies are printed or distributed for sale or commercial purposes.
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