Dawn and I had looked forward to the week of January 28th for some time. We had traveled to Dallas to spend a Monday through Friday vacation to celebrate our grandson Bennett’s first birthday. We had a special party with decorations and presents and above all we had quality time with Sarrah, Brandon and Bennett. It was a great week with special memories being shared each day. Suddenly a Thursday afternoon message on Dawn’s phone changed everything. We were driving on the freeway when Dawn repeated what she had heard on the message. “Richard has been shot.” We looked at her with disbelief and then she repeated the phrase again. We sat in silence as Dawn returned the call to her brother to try and gather the details. Little was known but it was clear that her mother Carol’s husband, Richard, had been shot and he was at the hospital. We went to the apartment and immediately began searching the internet to find flights out of Dallas. Within three hours we were at the airport to fly back to Phoenix before driving to California. Then the next call came in. “Richard had died.” Our thoughts went from a hospital vigil of hope to dealing with this tragedy. Carol was now a widow. Their day had started with preparation for a trip to St. Louis. Richard had gone to see his father before the trip. He called Carol to report being shot. She was able to get to him as the paramedics were in route. She said, “Hold on” and he said, “I don’t think I am going to make it. I love you.” With those words, he lost consciousness. In that moment, Carol’s world would change forever.

We see these events on television or in the newspaper so often we become desensitized to the emotional devastation that is connected to death. For those who have personally lost someone they love, they know the pain and anguish connected to it. Words cannot bring comfort and the quest to find out why only leads to frustration. As a Christian it is important to understand that Jesus did not come to remove all suffering, he came to help us through our suffering. Our faith is not an instant cure to sadness; but an anchor of stability. It is there to keep us from washing away with the fear and anger that rush the soul each and every day. God hates death. Jesus hates death. One day this enemy will be under our feet. Until that day, God has sent us His Spirit to give us comfort. He is here to help us walk out of the dungeon that death tries to hold us captive within. The journey out is different for each person who has suffered loss. There is no appropriate time for grieving or for it “to be over.” Little by little we find a new “normal.” It seems that those who stay connected to loved ones get out of the darkness faster than those who become isolated and live alone.

After a long day of many emotional swings I heard one voice of laughter among the many others. Carol had laughed and no one really noticed. I looked her in the eye and told her how good it felt to hear her laugh. Then everyone held back tears once again. Keep praying for Carol and all of Pastor Dawn’s family. Your love and support have meant so much to us during our time of loss.

As we discuss the seven things the Spirit is saying to the Church we see a major area of shift that is taking place is a shift in emphasis from “the church” to “The Kingdom.” This shift includes the concept of social transformation. Jesus spoke more about the Kingdom of God than any other single topic. He came to give us entrance into the Kingdom, to know the power of the Kingdom, and to be citizens of the Kingdom. He spoke so much about it that Herod wanted to know where this kingdom was located. God is redirecting our attention to this message of the Kingdom once again. I define the Kingdom of God as the rule or reign of Christ in the life of a person, community, nation or world. As ambassadors of the Kingdom we are sent to share the principles of the Kingdom with others and to bring its transforming influence into the nations of the world. This is a major change in focus from simply inviting people to come to “the church.” Are you a citizen of The Kingdom? Is Jesus the ruler of the decisions you make in life? Are you committed to bringing this Kingdom to others? Today I am going to share more about this topic with you.

I am going to be working in a mentor relationship with Che Ahn this year in his School of the Apostles. Peter Wagner felt I should contact Che in regards to learning how to develop an International Apostolic Network. (Currently we have Jacob and Jayakumar in our network and they have about 500 pastors and over 26000 believers under them.) When I contacted him, Che told me that the Lord had led him to create this new school for the emerging apostles in his network. He was very gracious to open the door to me to join him. This school will be very intense; I will travel to Pasadena nine times, go on at least one international trip, one national trip and participate in an apostolic roundtable. The key is the impartation of ministry from one who is already established and seeing God work in the HIM Network. The people that I will be working with through Che include Heidi Baker, Bill Johnson, John Arnott, and Randy Clark. God has opened a significant door in 2008 for us to press through. Che has invited Pastor Dawn to join me in all my travel with him. I feel this is a very important opportunity for training in my life as I lead Skyway into our next season. I will have a very busy schedule when this is added to our WLI local and national meetings and all the local work we will do as a congregation in our own community in 2008. I am convinced that the staff is ready to lead here locally and I will not miss many Sundays. Last year I was only out of the pulpit four times, and I don’t plan on missing more than this in 2008. This is where I can effectively lead the entire congregation through the series I preach each week. I say this to let everyone know my commitment as leader of Skyway is my first commitment.

Dear Friends:

We are now in the Hebrew year of 5768, and we are entering into the New Year of 2008. The number eight always speaks of a new beginning. God has a new season or cycle for each of us to enter into as individuals, families and corporately as a church. We are breaking out of the old season and up into our new one. Our new season is going to be released to us with a sound from heaven that resonates with truth in our hearts. God is going to speak to us and manifest himself amongst us this year! This new season should be embraced with prayer and worship. Do you know what God is saying to you regarding this change? Is it a change in jobs, homes, lifestyle, health, spirituality? Are you embracing the call of leadership at home, in the workplace or the church? If you do not embrace your season of change, then you could be stuck in a new cycle of more of the same. The enemy is going to try and build a wall to prevent us from reaching our inheritance but God is going to open a gate for you to pass through in 2008! I am asking everyone to fast one day during the week of December 23-30th. Seek God for direction regarding your season of change and others as well. We are going to devote the entire service to worship and prayer for breakthroughs to occur for everyone on this day. The Skyway leadership will be praying with people at the altar and the entire congregation will be making declarations of breakthrough. I am encouraging everyone to come expecting healings and miracles to take place on this day and throughout the New Year of 2008.

Dear Church Family:

Dawn and I were at the International Coalition of Apostles this week to hear what God is saying to the Church for 2008. There are many in the Church today that have not heard the title Apostle used in a modern sense. We have been comfortable with pastor, teacher, evangelist, and even prophet, but not too many are addressed as apostle. In the biblical sense, this word describes an office which is necessary to build up the saints into maturity as we prepare for Jesus to return. When the first apostles died, the office continued to be filled. Over time, this office was neglected or filled by people with other titles such as pastor, but in reality Jesus has given apostles to the Church for a very specific reason. They are able to build the Kingdom of God in places others cannot. The very definition of an apostle is “one who is sent.” They have a spiritual gift to put people together and oversee ministry in such a way that things are accomplished and completed that never were accomplished before. They have a spiritual gift to fight against principalities of darkness to bring people out of bondage and into liberty that is different than other offices in the Church. Finally, the apostles are important in setting the Church in order. People that feel out of place are able to find their place when apostles are building ministry. Everyone is not an apostle, but in this season of change, everyone should be connected to apostles and apostolic ministry. This may sound new to some of you today, but in the next five to ten years, talking about apostles will be common to many. Today I am going to lay a biblical foundation for this office so we can see the value of being correctly fit together in the body of Christ.

 This past year of 2007 was the beginning of our intentional effort to make disciples. In this past year we have ordained Sherry Holliday as or Discipleship Pastor as she has led a great Discipleship Ministry Team of leaders to prepare our congregation to grow together around the word of God. I started the year with a challenge to build more classrooms, train more teachers and recruit the entire congregation to participate in the discipleship process. Jesus commissioned us to make disciples, not to draw a crowd. It is our vision to make disciples of the 1500 members of Skyway Church through the word of God. This is why we began our S.A.L.T. training program and now many of you are going through these life changing classes. Today we will join Pastor Sherry and learn more about our Discipleship Ministry for all ages of the church. As we prepare to go into the New Year of 2008, it is my prayer that all of our members will become true disciples of Jesus Christ through the training of the Word of God.

Dear Church Family:

It is Christmas time and there are many different agencies giving people an opportunity to care for the poor and needy in our community. Jesus tells us that “the poor will always be among you.” We need to remember them all year long, not just at Christmas time. Skyway Church has a fantastic connection with All Faith Community Services to provide a year round “hand up rather than a hand out.” We are able to care for those in need in our own communities of Avondale, Buckeye, and Goodyear with food, clothing, job training, life skills, and the true love of Jesus Christ in a tangible expression outside of the walls of our sanctuary. Today I am going to interview Cassie Wilkins who is the founder and president of All Faith. She has held this position from its inception without ever receiving a salary. You will hear how you can be a part of the ongoing ministry to change lives and share the gospel. I hope this will encourage you to learn the different ways you can participate and contribute to our community.

God makes a famous statement in Malachi 3:6, “I am the Lord and I change not.” I know a lot of people who are like that as well, but did you know that one of the consistent aspects of God’s nature is that he is constantly in motion when He deals with mankind. We are living in a continuum of change when we walk with God. The seasons of change last for years then suddenly God is moving to the next cycle for mankind as we are ultimately moving towards the consummation of this age of redemption. I have said all of that to say that the Church is entering into a new season or cycle. God is changing and it is important for us to recognize this change and to learn how to move with it. I am going to be sharing on this subject for many weeks from many different directions with the goal of helping everyone understand what the change is and how they can embrace it rather than resist it. I am doing this because history shows us that resistance to change is usually the first response. Those that embrace change and participate in change enjoy the benefits of the new work of the Holy Spirit in their life. This is what God wants to do for all of us. He has something new to release and it requires a new container to receive it. Are you ready for this change in your life? I believe many of you are already feeling the winds of change blowing in your lives and you are ready to hear more about what is really taking place. Even if you are not sure, I encourage all of you to hop on, fasten your seat belt and get ready, God’s bus is about to move forward into the twenty first century.

Dear Church Family:

It is such a blessing to be your pastor. I have witnessed a great growth in our corporate cooperation to express Jesus to our world. The Harvest Festival was such a blessing to witness the love of God conveyed through each of you. I was so pleased to see our new members taking active roles in leadership and serving. Skyway is now truly your church! Seeing each of you in action brought great joy to my heart. I saw your warm smiles welcoming each guest to our campus; working together in unity with the food, the games, and even the details of cleaning up as the night went on was another wonderful message of love. There is a saying that states, “People don’t care what you know until they know how much you care.” It is truly moments like our festival that we showed the community how much we care about them. Every act of kindness builds a bridge of trust into the lives of people who do not know us. When we establish a consistent reliable reputation in our community, they will feel safe to come to us to find biblical answers for the problems they face in life. Your smiles and handshakes preached the gospel much louder than a microphone and a pulpit. You did more to expand the Kingdom of God last week than I can preach on a Sunday morning. Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the gospel and if necessary use words.” Thank you for preaching so loudly this week through the language of love.

Principles of Biblical Health: Spirit, Soul, and Body  3 John 1:2 (NASB)
² Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. In this series we will examine the principles from God’s Word for our spirit to be born again, our souls to prosper and our bodies to be well. I am not a doctor but I believe there are foundational steps we can take from the word of God to be in better health.  When our born again spirit gives godly principles to our soul to follow, our bodies will be healthy. These principles will be laid out in the first message, “No more excuses.”  Today I want to invite you to join me for one month of “Pastor Greg’s health challenge.” 

September 9, 2007:        No more excuses
Our beliefs will determine our actions.  It is amazing what we can convince our selves to believe.  Change never happens until we unmask the excuses and make a decision to do something different with our lives. The catalyst for change is different for different people, but everyone who makes a change to live a healthier life has a moment when they decide, “No more excuses!”  In this message In this message I will give my testimony of why I had to make a choice to change my nutrition and begin a journey to better health. 

September 16, 2007:      How you look might reflect how you feel…about yourself 
Many people have health problems because of emotional trauma they have experienced in their life. Somehow, food became a place to find comfort and refuge. In some lives, the more a person eats, the more they hate who they have become and they give up trying to improve their life because they have given up on who they are. The Bible teaches us that those who are in Christ are free of condemnation, have a new nature, and new power to overcome the circumstances of their past. This picture of being a new creation in Jesus Christ is essential in finding the emotional healing that will bring lasting change in one’s life. This in turn will affect the way we eat and take care of our self.  Many will find the outward change possible once the inner healing occurs.  This message of hope in Christ is for those who long for this healing. 

September 23, 2007: Hope for the ADD and ADHD
An estimated 2.4 million children between the ages of 8 and 15 in the
U.S. have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but fewer than half of them have been diagnosed or are receiving appropriate treatments, researchers report from WebMD Medical News Sept. 4, 2007.  The stress in the families with children with this diagnosis is tremendous.  What can a parent in this situation do? The Bible gives us instructions on how to raise our children.  Many people focus on behavior but God’s word really gets to the next level of “emotional responding.” In this message parents will be given tools to bring lasting change in their child’s behavior and the atmosphere in the home in the first week. 

September 30^th, 2007:  Laughter is good Medicine
There are numerous statistics that show the healing power of laughter and the destructive power of anxiety and fear in our lives.  The key to change is to recognize the source of our problems and make a decision to become a joyful person with a positive outlook in life.  God’s Spirit can give you the power to make this change.  Let’s learn to laugh and gain good health by putting this into practice. 

Pastor Greg’s Health Challenge I am looking for volunteers who will join me in making a decision to change their nutritional habits for the next month.  Everything that is on this list is something that is simple to follow but could result in feeling much better immediately including having more energy, potentially losing weight and seeing positive changes in your blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides.  What to drop from the daily nutritional choices

• All soda pop, diet or regular
• All processed sugars, artificial sweeteners etc.
• All fast food restaurants
• Pastries, chips and candies
• Simple carbohydrates (white bread especially)
• Creamy salad dressings high in fat

What to add to the daily nutritional choices

• Fresh fruits (avoid canned products)
• Fresh vegetables (avoid canned products)
• Low fat proteins
• Look for lots of color on your plate from natural foods
• Use olive oil and vinaigrette dressing
• Eat complex carbohydrates when choosing breads and pastas
• Eat snacks that are nutritional and blend protein and carbs while being low in sugars
• Drink lots of water throughout the day add lemon
• Yes, fresh tea or coffee in moderation without adding sugar
• Stevia is a naturl sweetner

When to eat

• Try to eat 4-6 times a day every three hours apart (Three meals max the rest are snacks.)
• Set your portions to be the size of your fist for your meals
• Avoid heavy meals after 6:00 PM

How to exercise

• Walk 20 minutes a day every day
• Or Run 20 minutes three days a week (elliptical, treadmill, bike jump rope etc.)
• Exercise with weight resistance, bands, or isometric exercises three times a week at 30 minutes a session.
• *  See your doctor before adding exercise

Are you ready to join?  Email me at pastorgreg@skywaychurch.com and join the team!