Drawing Near...

Connect Group will be @ 4pm this Saturday, my place.

We will begin the Drawing Near series by John Bevere.

I know each of us will benefit heaps from the series and through it develop a deeper hunger and intimacy with our Father.

Prepare your hearts by reading Chapter 1 & 2 of the book.

Village girls, can you please prepare dessert?
Kareeann will cover the drinks.
Sarah will be doing roast chicken and veg!

For this week's devotion sharing, we will hear from the youngest princess in our connect group, Michelle!

August Connect Group

Hi Gorgeous Gals!

We are heading into August in a few days & counting down to Edge Conference! Its going to be phenomena!!! Can't wait to participate and host the conference with all of you who have signed up as volunteers!!

For the month of August, we will be holding connect group on Saturdays.

4 August - 4pm @ Winnie's
I've received some feedback on our last gathering. I don't know about you but I was so encouraged & in awe of our God by the end of the night!

So come ready, with your notebook, bibles and pens.

Keep a lookout for some questions and more details in the next couple of days.

11 August - 10am @ Winnie's
We will be organising brunch, come chill out, interact and get to know Ps Nikki. On the menu at the moment is roti chanai, egg tarts, congee, BBQ pork bun. We will be collecting probably $7 or $8 per person

7 or 14 August Movie Night (Tuesday)
Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace is based on the life of William Wilberforce (Ioann Gruffudd), who, as a Member of Parliament, navigated the world of 18th Century backroom politics to end the slave trade in the British Empire. John Newton (Albert Finney), a confidante of Wilberforce inspires him to pursue a life of service to humanity, and William Pitt the Younger (Benedict Cumberbatch), England’s youngest Prime Minister at the age of 24, encourages his friend Wilberforce to take up the fight to outlaw slavery and supports him in his struggle in Parliament. Elected to the House of Commons at the age of 21, and on his way to a successful political career, Wilberforce, over the course of two decades, took on the English establishment and persuaded those in power to end the inhumane trade of slavery. Barbara Spooner (Romola Garai) is a beautiful and headstrong young woman who shares Wilberforce’s passion for reform, and who becomes his wife after a whirlwind courtship. Olaudah Equiano (Youssou N’Dour), born in Africa and sent as a slave to the Colonies, bought his freedom and made his home in London where he wrote a best-selling account of his life and became a leading figure in the fight to end the slavery of his fellow countrymen.

18 August - 4pm @ Winnie's
TBC - Most probably 'Drawing Near'

25 August - 4pm @ Winnie's
TBC - Most probably 'Drawing Near'

And *drum roll* baby Levi & Kathii went home yesterday!!! Praise the Lord!!!! GOD is Jehovah Rapah!

A little peek into one of my devotions

Stephanie Wong's devotion on the 22nd of July 2007 at 10.43 p.m..

I was getting ready to read the Word when the word 'way' popped into my head. I thus used my trusty PDA to search for every single verse in the Bible with the fore said word. 516 results came up! Scrolling through them all, I decided to read Psalms 37.

And guess what? The chapter fits nicely with the DVD we saw at Winnie's house on Saturday and also the exercise of writing down our dreams/desires :) Well, in my opinion anyways.

Here are the few verses which really stood out for me.

Verse 4: Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Verse 5: Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.

Verse 7: Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.

Verse 8: Do not fret-it only causes harm.

Verse 9: But those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the Earth.

Verse 24: Though we (it says 'he' in the Bible, but I think 'we' sounds better :p) fall, we shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds us with His hand.

Verse 39: He is our (originally 'their') strength in the time of trouble.

Verse 40: He will deliver us (originally 'them') because we trust Him.

What I gather from those few verses are (you may not agree with me :p):

1. We need to fall in love with God and long to be with Him/find pleasure in Him. If we can reach this level, he will grant us what we wrote down on that piece of paper (provided it's not something like 'I want to own 10 Porsche's').
2. We need to commit our desires/dreams to Him and trust that He will see it through.
3. We should wait patiently for what He is going to do.
4. We should not worry about whether or not we can achieve our dream because it is in His hands.
5. Even though we fall along the way, He won't give up on us/let us go.
6. He will deliver us from all that stands in the way of our dream simply because we trust in Him with all our heart.

What a cool God we have! :)

Hope you all are having a great week!

Love,

Stephanie Wong

Connect Group Latest

Hi Gals!

Connect Group this week

Have you invited your friends to the Variety Concert this weekend?
I've invited my colleague and her husband and she seemed keen. Gonna pass her one of those flyers. :p
Let me know asap which session your friends prefer to attend and we will go together as a connect group!

Connect Group 11 August 2007

Ps Nikki will be joining us on 11 August 2007 @10.30am (Saturday).

She is our women's pastor and an awesome Woman of God with a heart to see women in the House released and grow into 'Complete Women'. Its a rare opportunity & i know Ps Nikki is so looking forward to meeting each of you, so please make yourself available.

I'm thinking lets organise a brunch thingey and be ready by 10.00am at my place.

Please let me know asap if you can't make it.

Calling Women of Prayer

1) Matt & Kathii Wever
Please continue to keep Kathii in prayer. I spoke to her on Sunday & she shared that she had a really rough time and the doctor said it was one of the most 'brutal' delivery she had to conduct. So it was a very emotionally traumatic experience for Kathii & at one point in time, both she & baby Levi's life were in danger zone. Kathii is still recovering and could only walk on the 6th day.

Please pray Isaiah 55 over baby Levi. He is still in ICU but has his tubes removed. They are still doing MRI scan to ensure that bleeding has stopped and there's no brain damage.

Please pray that both mum & baby will be able to discharge on the same day. And that God will continually strengthen Matt & Kathii.

2) Mike Gug's healing from blood & bone cancer

3) Jasmine's mum

4) Steph's friend bro

Lets continue to press in as a connect group in prayer & see miracles in the House.

Keep smsing or calling your prayer buddies during the week! Encourage & spur one another on to be eagles!

Steph will be sharing with us something from her personal time with God. So look out!

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart

Be pleasing to you, O Lord.

Most of us who grew up in Christian households or have been attending church for long enough would have stumbled upon this verse at one point or the other. As I was praying for a specific theme to write about- one which would encourage our connect group as a whole, this verse came to mind. I don't plan to write a 1000 word exposition on what this verse means right down to its original meaning in Greek, exciting as that may be. What I am going to do though, is write a little bit about what God has taught me over the past one week regarding my words and the meditations of my heart, with much emphasis on the word "meditate". I should probably clarify before moving on that "meditate" does not mean sitting cross legged under a bodhi tree as you empty your mind and imagine that your spinal cord is a never ending river of peace, or something to that effect. Quite the contrary, meditation in the Christian sense of the word (well to me, anyway) is to fill our minds with the promises of God as is written in His word, the bible.

God has reminded me on many occasions over the past 2 weeks of the importance of knowing and quoting His word. Some of the valuable truths I've learnt through the memorizing and quoting of scripture over the past 2 weeks are

1) It increases our level of faith.

The bible says that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Basic human nature tells us that seeing is believing. However, our spirit-filled nature begs to differ seeing as faith would cease to mean anything if believing only comes as a byproduct of sight. So how else do we battle against our intrinsic human nature but to quote the word of God repeatedly, which we know is relevant and true.

2) It influences our speech, enabling us to speak faith into each other's lives.

The bible says that out of the heart, the mouth speaks. I have been guilty on many occasions of speaking against the very thing I pray about. To quote a simple example, how many times have we (and when I say we, I actually mean me) prayed for our exams to go well only to say just before we enter "aiyo, i think I'm going to fail. I feel so unprepared." What we need to do is start to not only read about the promises of God, but believe and speak it! So next time I say something quite the opposite to what I have been praying about, I give you the permission to smack me softly. (and make sure you tell me why you smacked me because I'd probably smack back if I think you did it without reason)

3) It encourages us.

We all go through highs and lows in life, sometimes even within a day. We need to remember that even during our lows, the validity of God's word does not change. Sometimes all we need is a simple verse to remind us that God loves us, or that He has plans to prosper us or that He can do immeasurably more than we can ever ask for or imagine, and the list goes on.

I really believe that God will continue to reveal more of His truths to all of us over the coming days as we spend time reading, meditating and acknowledging the importance of His word over our lives. It's amazing how much I've grown and learnt simply by remembering and quoting scripture on a daily basis. I'm praying that all of you have been blessed and encouraged by this.

Love y'all,

Su

Connect Group, 21 July 2007,Saturday@4pm - 7.00pm (incld dinner time)

Hi Gals!

I'm so looking forward to this Saturday (pick up 3.30pm from the Village). As I prepare, there's such an expectation as I know God will breathe something new into each of us, encourage & challenge us as we gather to praise, share and listen to the message from T D Jakes.

Come with open spirit & hungry hearts. Ready to participate and to step out of our comfort zones to create an atmosphere for breakthrough & faith.

Bring your notebook and pen along with you.

Lets get hungry and continue to press in, as God promises in

James 4:7-8 (The Message)
So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time.

Chelsie will be organising the pot-luck.Give her your support yeah.

I will confirm transport arrangements with all of you shortly.

Coming Up....
1) Look out for this week devotion sharing by Su!

2) Hospital Variety Benefit Concert 28 July 2007 @ 7pm
Grab a flyer & start inviting your friends!! Lots of fun & laughter from our very own in-house Stars!

3) I will be inviting Ps Nikki, Edge Women's Pastor to come to our connect group. Most probably it will be on 28 July, prior to going for the Concert.

4) Commencing on a 12 week journey of Drawing Near to God by John Bevere

5) SA Women Conference @ Paradise Church in August

6) Colour Conference 6-8 March 2008 (Thursday to Saturday)
Early Bird Single Adult - $139 (18 March - 30 September 2007)

I would love to bring a group of gals with me next year and join in with the rest of the women from Edge who will be going. Its a phenoma conference as we gather with our global Sisterhood.

Pls give it some thought. I would like to get us registered by 30 September.

There's so much to look forward to & I so believe as we are diligent in pursuing His Heart & coming alongside one another, we will grow so much as Women of Purpose & Destiny!!

Love ya heaps!

Connect Group

1) We will be having steamboat this Saturday @ the Village after the 'Destiny' course!!

2) Connect Group @ Winnie's place commencing at 4pm followed by pot-luck. Bring a dish!

Next Saturday (21 July 2007) we will be listening to Bishop T D Jakes message and sharing on what God has revealed to us (ie the questions I've asked you to pray about) on:

1) Where do you think God is leading you or what is God saying to you to move, grow or step into in this second half of 2007?

2) What are the challenges, obstacles or struggles u face in responding to the voice of God?

3) Write on a piece of paper your dreams and desires (without limits)

We will than pray for one another and change prayer buddies (would be 5 weeks by then). Hope you have been keeping in touch with one another and holding ur prayer buddy in prayer!

Come expectant, prepared, and hungry!

Jasmine's Sharing

A few days ago, I was asked to post up my sharing for this week with the connect group. As there was so many that I could share, I prayed and asked God to drop into my heart what He wanted me to share with all of you. As I walked to the bus stop on Monday morning, I felt the LORD dropped into my heart this statement.

“Share with them what had really captured you at the conference”

Immediately, thoughts flooded my mind and I was drawn back to the whole week reflecting on everything at once, I was searching for the thing that captured my heart at the conference.

“Was it the big stadium arena of crowd and the awesome worship?” or
“Was it he fact that the electives were all interesting and captivating?”, “Was it the fantastic line up of speakers which rallied the whole crowd of people?” or “Was it all the hype about Hillsongs Conference?”

NO.

It was all about You LORD. You and me having a personal encounter, being in the place at a time dedicated for Your Purpose and Your Glory. It was about You having your own way with me and every other individual who was there at the conference. It was about coming back to the heart of worship, to live it out and not just have head knowledge. It was about being impacted by You and being transformed. I guess one of the issues that I faced was distractions when I return to Adelaide. As you all know, distractions will come and I did not want the whole transformation bit to be just merely another “great experience” or a “just a moment at Hillsongs Conference”. Another thing is keeping eternity in perspective also really hit homeground for me and to know God more initmately. I was also reminded of the power of the Cross and what Jesus had done for me and you. The power of His love for us (not our love for Him) is what will drive me and you to spur on in our walk with Him.

With that, I pray that each one of you will also continue to seek God, to know Him and be challenged to love Him with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength. I know that you and I may stumble at times but be encouraged for God’s grace is sufficient for us and His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses.

In Jesus’s name, AMEN.

Revelation is yours !!

Hey gals,

This is probably the first time for me "blogging", just wanna share with you all a thought and also to add some flavour into this blog (besides Winnie) .... hehe ....

For the past month/months, it is really my deep desire to know Him in a more personal way and not to settle for anything less than a "revelation" of His love ...

Among the journey (which I'm still walking), I begin to understand the meaning behind it, that revelation really means to ask God to UNCOVER and show everything of God and that belongs to us in Christ. Many people can give us opinion or tell us the truth (thank God for them !) but that is only information but when God helps us to understand it becomes "REVELATION".

And the amazing thing is, Revelation has our name stamp in it, nothing can take it away because it is God-given to you and belongs to you !! With this, I really thank God that He longs to give us His revelation (in anything that we ask) and as He has said, "Draw near to me, and I'll draw near to Him."

So guys, let us continue to tap into and never stop diggin deeper in the "spiritual mysteries" that He has in store in all for us, and I believe we'll begin to see the wonderful secrets that we may not even realise existed.

Let us pray like how Paul prayed, in Eph 1:18 "Pray that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened in order that we may know the hope to which He has called us, He riches of no glorious inheritance and great power for us as believers."

Cheers !!

Love,
Kareeann.

FAST and PRAY

I would love us to pray and fast as a connect group this Wednesday for:

1) Mike Gug healing from cancer. (I don't know about u, but its kind of irritating and like soo sick to watch Mike Gug being cancer ridden for so long! Its like God, hurry up, heal him!)

2) For Steph, Chelsie & Su's friend brother (whats his name?), and perhaps one of u cld drop the family an sms encouraging them that we are keeping them in prayer.

3) Jasmine's mum who will be going in for another operation this Friday. Lets believe for a totally clean report and nothing less!

Partnering with you in prayer,
Winnie

Pray & Expect

Hey gals!
As we enter into the new week, lets prepare our hearts for Wednesday night's miracle service. I would love us to intercede for the following 2 breakthroughs as a connect group and carry an expectant heart to Wednesday night service.

1) Mike Gug healing from cancer. I don't know about u, but its kind of irritating and like soo sick to watch Mike Gug being cancer ridden for so long! Its like God, hurry up, heal him!

2) For Steph, Chelsie & Su's friend brother (whats his name?), and perhaps one of u cld drop the family an sms encouraging them that we are keeping them in prayer.

Lets also continue to keep in touch with our prayer buddies throughout the week, pray and encourage one another. :o)

Keep a lookout for more updates!

God has given 5 pointers for our connect group to move forward and get our roots deep by knowing Him more intimately and rising up as women of God to become all that He has called and purposed for us to be, each unique and important in the body of Christ.

We will kickstart our weekly sharing of devotion or anything that God has taught us next week with a blog by Jasmine to be posted by Friday!

Love ya all!