This week I would like to have Philip Brown our Youth and Media Director give us an update on our youth!
-Pastor Greg

Dear Church Family,

The heat is here, and summer is upon us. And that means that our youth group is about to embark into unmarked territory! On Wednesday June 16th LifeBlood Youth is headed to Jesus Culture for a 3 day power packed youth conference followed by a day of fun at Six Flags. When I stepped in as Youth Director in January, the Lord gave me a message and vision for our youth-Love the Lord, Grow in His Ways, and Expand the Kingdom. God has allowed this simple yet powerful idea to transform us as a group. It all begins with God, ends with salvation, and along the way a true relationship with God is built. That is what makes this upcoming trip so exciting! This summer our youth will be built up in the understanding of God and His power, while worshiping side-by-side with other youth from around the nation. God’s hand is already moving among our youth, and young leaders are emerging. It is our expectation that these young men and women of God will grab a hold of God’s mandate for their life, and usher them into a new season.

I want to say thank you to the church as a whole for embracing our next generation, and helping us with each of our fundraisers. Some of you have braved the heat for a pie auction, or shot some hoops with our young men, while others come out to Macayo’s in force to support us and eat some good food. Our goal was to make this trip affordable for each student, but along the way our church has grown in unity. We still have a small ways to go, but we serve a good God who is taking care of all of our needs. So keep us in your prayers, and always- Love the Lord, Grow in His Ways, and Expand the Kingdom!

Thanks,

Philip Brown

Leaders who Affect Change
Southwest Leadership Conference
With Greg Brown

At Skyway Church May 21-23
$25 Registration by emailing jmartinez@skywaychurch.com or call 623-935-4858 to reserve your seat

Dear Church Family and Friends:
If you are a leader you are going to be an instrument in the hand of God to affect change. You will change your life, the lives of those who follow you, and even the spiritual atmosphere where you are assigned to work. You will want to attend this conference because you believe you have a calling to lead and influence the culture. Prior to this century, the predominant Christian thinking has been that the high calling of God is to lead in a full time vocation at the local church. Now we understand the high calling of God is for you to lead at what ever sphere of influence God has chosen you to impact for the expansion of the kingdom of God. This means that most leaders lead outside of the local church, not within. The high calling of God for you is to occupy the high places at whatever sphere of life you have been called to live. This conference will empower you to understand the relationship between the spiritual and practical dynamics to move you to the top of your mountain, and bring others along with you as you go. You are going to learn the importance of your leadership position in the grand scheme of God’s plan for the earth in this hour. No matter if you lead a Child Care facility, a government agency, a local business, and yes a local church ministry, God wants you to be the best in your arena, the best on your mountain. You are going to experience an impartation of God’s power for your calling and access the principles of the kingdom for you to move to higher levels of competence and excellence. These three days will change your life forever when you apply what is released.

- Pastor Greg

Dear Church family:

I want to say happy Mother’s Day to all the moms. Mothers have a very special relationship with thier children that is different than most dads. Kids are going to spend more time with their moms, especially during the formative years of their lives. The daily interactions of mother and child are open doors to discover gifts and talents developing in the young one’s life. Over time mom develops an innate ability to know more about the potential of her child than even the child knows about him or her self. Mom you have an opportunity to pray your child into their destiny! The things you see you can call into being. God has given you a special access to heaven when you pray over your children. Never think it is too late! Your prayers regarding the destiny you see in your child can cause the righteous seeds in their life to bloom. I want to pray a special prayer for all of you today to be blessed and to walk in the blessings that God has for you and your entire family.

Pastor Greg

2 Chronicles 31:5 (NASB77)
5 And as soon as the order spread, the sons of Israel provided in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of all.

Dear Friends and family:

I know first hand the financial pain and hardships that many of you are experiencing. Because of this, I have been in prayer and seeking God about our First Fruits offerings for 2009. The Lord gave me a very clear process to see us move out of this place of pain. Simplify, unify and get out of debt. I am going to be speaking about how we can do this as a congregation in the coming weeks.

When we become a citizen of the Kingdom of God it is a free gift given to us. Jesus paid the highest price, his precious blood, for our salvation to be purchased. We can never give any amount of money that will buy our way into heaven’s gates. Our salvation is free, but living in economic freedom requires obedience to all that God has written to us regarding his principles in the areas of finances and economics, God has recorded key ways that our money should be directed first before we spend it on other things. When we are disciplined to obey the word of God and hear the Holy Spirit with our finances God will rebuke the devourer from our lives and open the windows of heaven to pour the financial blessings upon us! Do you know the difference between the tithe and First Fruits?

The Tithe: This is ten percent of our gross income we give to the local church from each pay check we receive. The tithe is to come before any other offering. It literally belongs to God and we are stewards of this money.
First Fruits: This is a free will offering that you give at the beginning of your year. You are giving the first as an act of faith and obedience that God will supply abundantly more as the year goes along.
All the tithes and First Fruits offerings are given for us to work in unity to expand the kingdom of God as he directs Skyway to be a light to the world. When you give along side of one another, we are all reaching the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ! We are reaching over 35,000 people around the world right now!

Many people ask me for an amount or percentage for the First Fruits offering. The first thing I say is for you to pray and ask God about an amount, but here is the amount I feel God is challenging us as a congregation for 2009.

· $200 per person; even if it takes multiple weeks to achieve this goal!

· 600 people accepting this faith challenge for 2009

Everyone else is invited to prayerfully give more or less according to your hearts desires, but every man, woman and child is asked to give a prayerful and sacrificial First Fruits offering this year. I greatly appreciate your support in this effort. I believe that God will deliver you in your personal situations as we come together corporately in this way.

Thank you,

Pastor Greg

We started our Saturday night services last fall on the first Saturday in November, now I feel it is best that we close this service and bring everyone back to Sunday mornings. During this season we have seen the Lord do many wonderful things in our lives. The assist staff has been incredible with worship, media, ushers, children and nursery support always being there for us. I am grateful to each of you for your service. I want to thank those of you who made Saturday night your home church and have come faithfully during the fall, winter and spring. Now that summer is approaching and families start thinking about vacation, I feel that we have room to combine our three services back into two. As I look at May I see for Mother’s Day we have a Women’s Tea on Saturday which will affect our attendance. After prayer and discussion with our staff, we felt it best to have May 2 be our last Saturday night service. I feel the Lord has given us three mandates, simplify, unify and get out of debt. This is a season to pull together when the forces of this world are trying to pull everyone apart. I would ask each of you to make a prayerful effort to come to church each week on time with an expectation that God is going to move in our services and in your life. Share your testimonies and invite friends to church every week. Your faith can make the difference in someone else’s life. Your energy and expectation can pull someone else out of a place of depression. When you arrive, be prayed up with God’s Spirit already flowing in your life! The Wednesday morning prayer group, which continues to have incredible attendance and momentum, felt agreement with this for our congregation at this time. Thanks for all your support, ministry and love. It is awesome to serve the Lord with each of you.

Pastor Greg