Time to Thrive

This week we just want to remind you of the prophetic word that came to us during our church anniversary celebration through Pastor Frank King. When you connect this powerful promise with the encouragement the Lord gave us through Pastor Carol that our breakthrough is imminent, you just have to feel like a little kid on the night before Christmas. We’re rejoicing with excited anticipation.

Recorded in our church history on Sunday, March 25, 2012:

“Prepare for the shifting for you are now ready to begin. For many will come from all walks of life to build. For there are a people yet ready to come. Some whom the Lord will relocate. They will be relocated to this emerging region. For Harrisburg is an emerging city. It is a city that is on the horizon. For you will compliment, not compete with Philadelphia. For the Lord has purpose for that place as well.

Do not compare, but be prepared for what the Lord desires to do HERE in this emerging city. You will be an emerging city in this nation. For many will come to build, for many leaders will come to glean and many will come to live.

Likewise do not compare yourselves to others. For the call that is on you is unique to you and to His purpose for this generation. For the Lord says you are forerunners. For the Lord has given you the grace to survive the pressure. Now you will thrive. You are moving out of survival mode into thriving mode. For the Lord will place you in the center of this growing region. Wait on the Lord!”

This is the reason we keep declaring that we’re going to do something great for God. New people are coming to this region and when they get here, we’re going to be ready to minister to them in the unique styles, methods and strategies that God has given us.

This week we're going to start a very intentional preparation process to get us ready to thrive. This Friday, we're meeting with our ministry TEAM and we have wonderful news to share. This Sunday, we're going to partake of Holy Communion and prayer for every person and family. There's just so much that's about to be released upon our church family, that it's impossible to put it into words. All we can say is get ready for your moment in purpose and destiny. Don't let it pass you.

Perseverance and Purpose

Something is happening to us. We can’t explain it, but ever since we celebrated our church anniversary, there has been a fresh strength and grace upon us. In our gatherings, we are experiencing a new freedom. We’ve been laughing (a lot) in the midst of the teaching and feeling deeply, the healing of the Lord in our hearts.

As more people continue to visit us from time to time, our church family is doing a great job of making people feel welcome. We love watching them give out the same kind of warmth and openness that they received when they first attended.

Even though we’re not led by our feelings, it’s still very nice to feel the joy of the Lord and know that HE is with us, teaching us, guiding us, and helping us move forward in our journey together.

Some of them are new to the Faith and some are returning to the path of purpose. Others have been walking in this way for a long time. That’s what makes this so fascinating. Even though we are at many different stages of life and even though we are moving at different paces in life, the Lord is helping us to walk together.

This week we want to encourage you to keep pressing forward. Keep chasing the Lord with all of your heart. You may have discovered that when you make up your mind to follow the Lord with all your heart, there are many obstacles that rise up to stop you. Most of those obstacles revolve around old habits, old friends and family relationships that may not be healthy. At one time in your life you may have been dependent upon certain vices, people and relationship to help you get through difficult times.

However, now that you have drawn close to God, those people and things that you once leaned on for support are no longer needed in that way. This is mainly because; you are not the same person. You are a new creation in Christ. Old things have passed away and all things have become new.

Often, the people that become offended with your relationship with God will begin to do or say things to pull you back into that unhealthy connection. We just want to encourage you to keep chasing after the Lord. You may feel the strong temptation to go back to your old familiar pacifiers for comfort. Now is the time to exercise perseverance at a new level in your life.

Please hear us closely. This is part of what it means to follow the Lord. Everyone will not understand and many will simply not accept it, at least not until they make the same decision that you have made: to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

The past couple of weeks we have been teaching about the keys that will unlock the dream of God within you. One of those keys is virtue, which is moral excellence. You have to make up your mind to live a righteous life and sever those things and people who will hold you back. We also talked about what it means to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Simply put, make it your goal to get to know Jesus.

Finally we talked about self-control and receiving the ability of God to rule your own spirit. We cannot live out the dream of God if we cannot master our passions and desires.

This Sunday, we’re going to talk about adding perseverance which is a major key for all of us. During our church anniversary service, our special guest, Pastor Frank King, declared that perseverance is in the DNA of this church. We’re going to dig deeper into the Word of God so we can have a greater understanding of what has been infused into our substance as a church family.

If rather you’ve been a Believer for a few weeks or for many years, we will all benefit from this special teaching that the Lord has given us to share with our church family.

If this has been a tough week for you, please press past the circumstances and gather with your Urban Life family and friends. Please don’t sit at home trying to work out everything in your mind. Remember the lyrics of one of our praise songs:

Come on in, the table’s spread.

There’s a feast going on.

 Come on in; have your fill.

We’re so glad you made it home.

Come on and get another full course meal of home cooking. Get some strength for your weary soul. Drink deep of the cool waters of the Spirit. Don’t allow the enemy of your destiny to cause you to go one more day, one more week, or one more month without receiving the LIFE that you need.

Pioneer the Chosen

We were just thinking about how honored and blessed we are to be able to serve and minister to such a special family of Believers. Every week we are privileged to share in fellowship, teaching, breaking of bread and prayer, just like the original Church in the second chapter of Acts. This is so amazing!

Many years ago the Lord gave us the following songs:

Pioneer the Chosen

Fulfill the Father’s dream

Pioneer the Chosen

That He has redeemed

March through barren land

To waters never seen

Pioneer the Chosen

To the place where they believe.

Little did we know that over 17 years later, we would be living out the lyrics of that song as pastors leading a church family in a mission to rebuild, restore and renew hearts and homes.

You may wonder why we are working so hard to keep your email inbox constantly receiving an encouraging word. We believe that we are under orders to consistently send forth the Word of God to dismantle the strongholds that have built up in many of your lives.

Most of you have had so much negative reinforcement of doubt and fear that it is going to take a deliberate and very intentional assault to destroy what has been built up over many years.

It’s going to take FAITH in order for you to overcome in this relentless battle for your purpose to be fulfilled. And FAITH comes by HEARING the Word of God, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.  That’s what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

We discovered that this usage of the word hearing meant a constant repeating of the Word of God. We have to hear the Word of God over and over until FAITH (Insight from God, agreement with God, and obedience to God) comes forth in our hearts and lives.

We have a dear pastoral friend who worked in a top U.S. corporation for 20 years. He said that when they trained people in the company’s policies and procedures, they would repeat the instructions at least seven times. This practice was based upon various psychological studies that said new ideas and concepts must be repeated at least seven times in order for a person to be able to really grasp the new way of thinking.

That’s why we are making every effort, to the best of our abilities, to give you the opportunity to hear the Word of God over and over again. That’s why we’re sending something to you almost every day, every week and every month. It takes this kind of effort to help us grasp this new way of thinking.

We’re not trying to fill up your email inbox with useless information and advertisement. This is not junk mail, as needless email has been labeled. This is LIFE email.

So here is our FAITH BY HEARING strategy:

For those who feel they are in a season of transition, we’ve set up an online class that we call Purpose Preparation. Each video is an actual a clip from various teachings at Urban Life since 2005. You will find that these teachings will settle and ground you in foundational principles that are necessary for understanding what God is doing in this season of your life. Every Monday we send you a class segment to build your FAITH concerning your purpose and future.

Every Tuesday, we send you a replay from a Sunday gathering so that you can rehearse and reinforce the Word that was taught. We call these our IN CASE YOU MISSED IT posting and it is designed to keep the cares of this life and deceitfulness of riches from choking out the Word that was sown in your heart. It will also give you an opportunity to receive a seed that may have been plucked away or fallen on shallow soil in your heart the first time it was sown.

Of course, every Wednesday we send this Midweek Connection e-mail.

Every Thursday we send you a Nugget of Wisdom to help you navigate through life’s trials, challenges and changes.

Every Saturday we offer words of advice and healing for married or engaged couples from our We Made a PACT video series. These video clips can also benefit those who may be separated or divorced.

Every Sunday, we post some of our most important teaching sessions. We have broken down the sessions into short video clips so that the Word can be received in smaller bite-size portions. We call this our ONLINE CHURCH.

These daily releases are part of our God-given mandate to Pioneer the Chosen. To pioneer someone means that we are commanded to lead them out of the place of bondage, through the wilderness and into the land of promise and purpose. We have to guide them through unknown and unfamiliar territory into a place of fruitfulness.

We have been commanded to do this because God has chosen YOU for a powerful mission in this community.

In John 15:16, Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”

Our Future Begins Today

Two of our dearest friends in the ministry were with us last week to be a part of our church anniversary celebration. We were able to spend some time with them just talking and hanging out.

In one of our conversations, Pastor Frank King  told us that he did some research on Harrisburg and discovered that our city is one of the new emerging cities in the United States. It has been listed as one of the top cities in America for people to live. That distinction has gone out all over the country through various high level business reports and publications. Therefore, it is estimated that this entire region, (both east and west shore) is about to increase by over 500,000 people. This is about to become a bustling metropolitan community of over 1 million inhabitants.

He confirmed what the Lord has told us and what we have often shared with you, that Urban Life Church has been established to reach people who are about to move to this area. Can you imagine over a million people in this Capital region? That’s why we’re observing so much new construction with many new banks, houses, shopping malls and expansion on the roadways. The landscape of this entire area is about to make a dramatic change.

Please believe us when we say that several thousand of those new people are going to be looking for a family oriented church. When people move into a new area, they’re looking for excellent schools, outstanding shopping malls, nice restaurants, family entertainment and a good solid, positive, friendly, faith-building, hope-inspiring church. That’s why the Lord is preparing us. And we’re going to be ready for them when they come!

Over the next few months, we’re getting our hearts and homes prepared for the growth that is coming to this community and to our church. Remember the Words that the Lord brought to us this past weekend through Pastors Frank and Robin King. Our legacy is alive right now. Like the almond tree that the Lord showed the prophet, we’re blooming NOW.

Launching Into A New Beginning

Seven years ago we launched a ministry with a mission to rebuild, restore and renew hearts and homes in the Harrisburg community.

When we started in a renovated warehouse on Seventh Street in uptown Harrisburg, our hearts were filled with excitement. We spent six months in prayer and strategic preparation. We opened our doors to a full house on Good Friday on March 25, 2005, with a celebration of praise and worship. Then on Resurrection Sunday, March 27, 2005, we held our first Sunday service.

Six months later, in September of 2005, our overseers, Bishop Raphael and Pastor Brenda Green, came to Harrisburg to officially install us as the Senior Pastor and First Lady over the church. Little did we know, that just like Jesus was acknowledged by His Father during His water Baptism and led into a season of trial and testing, we were about to walk the same path.

However, today we can proclaim, ‘To God be the Glory for the things He has done.’ God gave us grace after our failures, wisdom to navigate treacherous passages, favor to overcome opposition, comfort for our seasons of mourning, consolation for our process of grief, light in our darkness, joy  in the midst of disappointments, and a new closeness with the Holy Spirit that we could never have imagined if we had not crossed through the  wilderness.

In spite of attacks from the evil spiritual forces that seek to control the hearts and homes of this region, the Lord our God still caused our paths to cross with each of you. All that was intended for evil, God has used it for our good.

From chance meetings on our jobs, to unexplainable connections on the internet, God has brought people in and out of lives and brought this congregation together, one person at a time. We have met in hotel conference rooms, a local church’s classroom, the pastor’s living room, and now we meet in a board room. It never really matters WHERE we meet. It’s all about the wonderful experience that we share WHEN we meet.

We have laughed together, cried together, danced together, worked together, had our moments of disagreements or misunderstandings, and managed to come back together through forgiveness and now we’re stronger than ever.

We are not a large gathering yet, but somehow, that really doesn’t matter. We’re doing more than building a big ministry. We’re building people who will do big things for God.

Recently, we took a poll and asked the volunteer team, “What is the one thing that Urban Life is really good at doing? What is the one hallmark of this ministry?

The response was unanimous. It’s RELATIONAL. People matter. People feel welcomed. They feel that they belong.

So after seven years, the foundation has been set. The standard of God’s unconditional love has been cemented in our church family. WE have become an assembly where the atmosphere is safe for those who are searching, thirsting and longing for more than what religion has to offer.

The number SEVEN symbolizes that this phase of our growth and development has been completed. Now we are launching into a New Beginning. We had to go through the process of death to reach this place of new life.

Jesus said in John 12: 24-25, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

After our overseers laid hands upon us in September of 2005, we thought we were about to take off and soar. Instead we were buried and died. But today, we are looking at much grain. When we hear your testimonies of how the vision of rebuilding, restoration and renewal is taking place in your hearts and homes, we are can only say, “This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes!”