6/08/2011 Revival Prayer Meeting

Prophecy

Last year we have been talking about the wind of opportunity, God gave me a vision it is the first step, like a sunrise in the morning. There will be a second wind of opportunity. This wave of revival will expand even further and more.

Message

Acts 2: 1-4

Today, the church needs to see the great mighty deed of the Lord in current time. This coming Sunday is the day of Pentecost. Let’s take a look at this scripture and meditate the event happened in this very day. The Holy Spirit poured out upon the disciples. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit comes from the signs and wonders. The fact that the Holy Spirit enormously showers down the power results in two manifestations. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is like a wind and firing tongue.

There are three attributes of “Wind”:

1.    You can sense it- no matter it is breeze or strong wind; we can feel it. When the wind is blowing, we can sense and feel it. The Lord is with us for sure. The church needs to see that. The weakness of current churches is we are not so sure God is still working NOW. But often times, God chooses His timing and way to manifest His works. So that the people of this generation would have deep reverence of God.

2.    You cannot predict it- John 3:8 says, “The wind blows wherever it pleases.” You can hear the sound of wind, but you cannot know where it comes from and where it would go. Even though the high technology is so advanced; it is difficult to forecast the tornados, typhoons precisely. Similarly, the work of the Holy Spirit is not predictable, such as Azusa Street Revival moment. God chose an ordinary African American brother- William Seymour to ignite the revival fire in 1906. Therefore, we should know the lordship of revival is in God’s hands.

3.    It brings “change”- nothing can remain the same blown by a strong wind. Similarly, when the Holy Spirit fall upon us, it must bring “transformation” and our lives will no longer be the same. Sometimes, you feel chaotic or disorganized. More likely, the work of the Holy Spirit turns one life upside down, and He does “tear-down” work and remove all the barriers, darkness in one’s life. Do not be afraid, just welcome the Holy Spirit and let Him do new things in your life.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is like “fire”. We notice two features of “fire”:

1.    It cannot be hidden.

2.    It spreads out- the work of Holy Spirit will not be stopped by the persecution. It will grow from you, to the cell group; from your cell group to the church and to the Bay Area.

3.    It has power- it brings light and heat. In Acts 4:29-30 “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”  Let’s continue to expect God is going to do miracles and wonders among us.

4.    It needs to be ignited- that is why you need to come to the prayer meeting. Let’s be hungry for God and obedient to the Holy Spirit so that the fire can be ignited from us.

Reflection

Are we obedient enough in small things? Think about it and maybe the beginning of the revival in this church starts from you!

6/08/2011 復興禱告會

先知團隊分享

異象中見到神機會的風雖已過半，卻如同朝陽升起只是神復興計劃的第一步，神的工作會繼續更深更廣的前行。神機會的風吹在七年荒年的轉接之處，神要提升每一個人，進入戰略性的服事據點，在動盪加劇之時成為神祝福的管道。我們當體貼神心意，把握時機突破。

牧師分享

使徒行傳2章1至4節

這星期天就是五旬節了，讓我們再次回到這段經文來看當時五旬節聖靈降下能力的這個事件；聖靈大大地澆灌在使徒身上，是神蹟性的工作，而這樣聖靈澆灌的工作會產生兩種現象，一個是聖靈像風一樣，大風吹過；再來就是聖靈像火ㄧ樣，如火焰降臨在人的頭上。

首先，來看「風」，風有三種特性：

第一、風是可以感覺得到，當聖靈澆灌下來時你可以感覺得到，無論此風是微風還是強風，你可以感覺到，當神的聖靈降臨時，你我都能感覺得到神在我們中間；現今的教會仍要看見神的大能現在仍然在此地上運行，今天教會最大的軟弱就是以為神是不再工作的神，不再行神蹟奇事，而神常常選擇在祂的時間與方法顯明祂的作為，好叫這世代的人能敬畏神。

第二、風是不可預測的，約翰福音三章八節說到風隨著意思吹，你聽見風的響聲，卻不曉得從哪裡來， 往哪裏去。即使科技再怎麼發達，風的動向仍是很難預測得很精準；同樣的，聖靈何時要澆灌下來，也是很難知道，像1906年阿蘇薩街大復興運動，神揀選一為美裔黑人，在一個看似不起眼的建築物內，來帶動此復興浪潮；今天我們可以做當做的一切的準備工作，但我們也必須承認，復興的主權是在於神，所以我們才能謙卑自己來到神的面前尋求。

第三、風是會帶來改變的，當強風吹過，沒有東西可以維持現狀不變的，很多東西會斷開改變，所以當聖靈澆灌在我們身上時，總是會帶來生命的轉化。有時可能會覺得很混亂、沒有次序，很多時候，聖靈在一個人身上工作就是想要拆毀、將生命中的攔阻與黑暗趕出去，進而翻轉你我的生命，所以不用害怕，要歡迎聖靈來澆灌下來。

另外一方面看到聖靈像火一樣，我們注意到火有幾個特質：

第一、火是無法隱藏的，所以中國人有句話說：紙包不住火。當五旬節聖靈降臨下來，大家都知道，聖經這裏說住在耶路撒冷城裏的眾人都來聚集，因為有火在那裏，無法被隱藏。

第二、火有蔓延性，五旬節的火並無停留在耶路撒冷，燒到猶太全地和撒馬利亞直到地極，沒有什麼能攔阻聖靈的工作；從教會歷史可以看到，沒有什麼能攔阻聖靈的工作，當基督徒越是受到逼迫，福音越發興旺。

第三、火具有能力，火會產生光與熱並帶來能力。在使徒行傳第四章二十九至三十節看到使徒們的服事是極具能力的； 聖靈澆灌下來時候，是有神蹟奇事發生的。

第四、火是要被點燃的，當來到神的殿中，參加禱告會、與有火的人在一起追求禱告，你就會被點燃，求神幫助你我來渴慕尋求祂，順服於聖靈的工作，使火從我們身上蔓延燃燒出去。

心靈迴響

想想我們是否能在小事上夠順服於聖靈的帶領呢？或許此教會復興的火之關鍵，就從你順服的一個小小舉動開始喔！

5/25/2011 Revival Prayer Meeting

Prophecy

Exodus 3:3-4  So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight- why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”  And Moses said, “Here I am.”

I saw a vision that a new wave in our church, the wave of “Revival.” We need to pray for more people to have a spiritual curiosity so that those who are called by God can see His glory and enter His predestination. May people from all over the world will be drawn to our church’s vision- Wind of Revival.

Message

Genesis 28:20-22 (from Pastor Belinda)

We have been talking about “Family Prayer Altar.”  When we see the family prayer altar been built, we will see the spiritual heaven will be opened. We are very excited to see our prayers been answered. “Bethel” represents “the house of God”, and Jacob clearly knew this place is where God’s blessings and His presence reveal. God also spoke to Jacob in Bethel. Tonight, we will see how Jacob responded to God.

When Jacob left his father’s place, he was trying to escape and did not want to seek God. On this journey, he was tired and did not know what would happen in the future. But because Abraham’s prayer and built a prayer altar, we see that God appeared Himself to Jacob. All of sudden, Jacob realized that God is with him. So he made a vow, which is a very common prayer as yours and mine. We can see Jacob did not have a full faith in God, he said “If” God will be with me.... In Jacob’s mind, he cannot trust God.

As parents, I realize when we pray for our children, we probably cannot see the changes right away. However, we need to know our children should encounter God. They really need to have assurance that God is with them on daily basis. We see when Jacob left home and turned in twenty years. He had been lied to, labored hard and experienced difficulties. This time when Jacob returning back home, Jacob realized God had dealt with him and worked a lot in his life.

Actually God did allow Jacob to experience many trials and tests in his life. So when Jacob returned to his home, he can have the desire to build the altar and know God is so real and true. So let us not give up on praying for your children. Even though there are times we face tests, feel discouraged. We still need to keep our hope in God and know God will lead them back in His own timing.   

Pastor Belinda’s testimony:

As a mom of two pretty daughters, Pastor Belinda often prayed for them when they were kids. She tried so hard to pray for their characters. Years later, the children were grown up. After they sent one of their daughters to LA for college, she gave Pastor Tong Liu and Belinda a letter. The letter was about that she wanted to walk her way and explored the world. She only asked Pastor Belinda to continue praying for her. She said “I believe one day I will return back to God and trust Him, but not now.” 

On that day, Pastor Belinda was so disappointed that she thought all of her prayers for the children were in vain. She cried out to God and the only thing she could hold onto was the paragraph in the letter: please continue to pray for me and I will return back to God one day. So she prayed for her daughter every day and proclaimed that one day her daughter would turn back to Him. The only thing she could do was to establish the prayer of altar. In these five years, God had strengthened Pastor Belinda’s prayer muscle; she began to write down her own journey, also known as the book- How to pray for your children’s spiritual character. Pastor Belinda was a bit hesitant to publish this book because her daughter had not turned back to God yet.  God challenged her faith and asked her to trust Him more, so by faith, Pastor Belinda submitted the scripts to the publishers.

One night, the daughter gave Pastor Belinda a call and told her she wanted God to build up the Godly character. Just as Pastor Belinda’s daughter said, “even though I came back to God, I am not perfect yet, please continuing praying for me.” Our God is so amazing that He does listen to prayers and answer them. Do not give up or disappointed, just lift up your children before God.

Reflection

Are you worried about your children? Can you lift them up before God and continue praying for them? Let’s build up the family prayer altar and pray God can bring them back.

5/25/2011 復興禱告會

先知團隊分享

出埃及記 3：3-4 耶和華的使者從荊棘裡火焰中向摩西顯現。摩西觀看說"我要過去看這大異象，這荊棘為何沒有燒壞呢？" 耶和華神見他過去要看，就從荊棘裡呼叫說："摩西！摩西！" 他說："我在這裡。"

今早異夢中見上一波復興的西人弟兄姊妹在歡慶中等待華人肢體的上台，復興時刻如此之近，不要膽怯！異象中見到生命河建築如復興靈火中之荊棘，我們要禱告更 多的人有摩西的屬靈好奇心，”我要過去看這大異象“（出3：3），以致蒙神按名呼喚，得見神榮耀，進入命定。願世界各地的人都被生命河異象吸引，一同復興。

牧師分享（劉梅蕾師母分享）

創世記28章20-22節

這幾個星期我們圍繞在「家庭祭壇」這個主題，我們看到家庭祭壇一旦被建立起來，我們的下一代都要蒙福，屬靈天空要被打開。在座當中我們看到很多人的禱告，得蒙應允，是因為家庭祭壇被建立起來，「伯利恆」豫表「神的殿」，雅各很清楚知道這是神祝福且顯明祂同在的地方，神在伯利恆對雅各說話，今天讓我們看看雅各如何回應神。

當雅各離開父親家時，他是為躲避哥哥以掃而逃出家，當時他並沒有尋求神，然而在整個過程當中他試著靠自己的力量，不知道將來會如何，但因著他祖父亞伯拉罕在此地築壇禱告，使得雅各能在伯利恆遇見神；忽然間，雅各驚覺到神一直與他同在，所以雅各才會有這樣的回應，且這個回應禱告如此平實，就如同你我都會做的禱告；而我們也看到當時的雅各對神還不太認識，他說：「神若與我同在…」，似乎在他的心中，他還不太能相信神。

每位父母親知道為孩子們禱告，雖然不見得立刻看到果效，然而我們一定要知道，要讓孩子們與神有親身的經歷，必須讓他們自己確信神是天天與他們同在的神；雅各在外顛沛流離二十多年，當他再度回到父家時，他才明瞭神在他生命中被對付的地方與所做的工作。

事實上，神的確容許試煉與考驗在雅各生命中，所以雅各自己回到父家才懂得要築一座「家庭祭壇」，表明他已經知道這位神是又真又活的神，與神有真實的關係；所以千萬別放棄，持續為你的下一代禱告，將我們的盼望放在神身上，相信神會帶領他們再度回到神面前，且是在神的時間表裏。

劉梅蕾師母的見證

劉師母有兩個女兒，小時候常為他們的屬靈品格禱告，也為自己教導有方，感到些許驕傲，多年後小孩成長到上大學的日子，將大女兒送到南加州上大學，女兒給了她一封信，信上大致上是這樣寫著：很感謝你們長期為我禱告，但從今天開始我想要走我自己的道路，請持續為我禱告，相信有一天我會再度重拾對神的信心，但不是現在。

在那一天，劉師母傷心大哭，突然感覺多年來所有為孩子所做的禱告都付之一炬，但她決定就緊緊抓住那句話—「相信有一天，我會再度重拾對神的信心」，即使女兒在這五年期間，做了許多瘋狂頭痛的事情，她仍選擇每天為此在神面前宣告與禱告，盼望神能親自帶領她的女兒，在這當中她也著手寫日誌，也就是後來出版且為眾所熟知的—「為孩子的屬靈品格禱告」這本書，一年多來，她女兒仍是沒改變，多少次想問女兒是否參加教會，但答案都是「沒有」，在即將出版前夕她很掙扎，萬一出了書，女兒仍沒改變怎麼辦？但仍憑信心，將書稿交給出版社。

有天晚上，劉師母突然接到女兒從南加州打來的電話，分享她覺得一個人的屬靈品格很重要且願意買聖經、去教會，甚至明白雖然自己回到神裏，但有很多仍不完全，請師母持續為她幫忙禱告。劉師母又再次大哭，但這次是心中充滿感謝，不得不驚歎神的奇妙作為！

看到自己孩子的轉變，劉師母再次鼓勵大家，要緊緊抓住神，持續為下一代禱告，不要放棄相信神會親自帶領你的孩子，回到祂的家中。

心靈迴響

你常為孩子的問題頭痛嗎？還是他常闖大禍讓你束手無策？趕緊起來建立「家庭祭壇」，以禱告將他們交到神面前吧！相信神必在祂的時候，帶領他們回來。

5/18/2011 Revival Prayer Meeting

Prophecy

Isaiah 7:15 “He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.”

When God is expanding our church ministries, He also reminds you and me to choose to do the right things. God will reveal His new ways so we should purify and prepare ourselves to be a channel of His blessings.

Message

Genesis 31:13

We are still talking about Jacob. “Bethel” is a special place, because God very seldom connects himself with a location. He said I am a God of Bethel. He linked himself with a location. Bethel is a place where the prayer altar is built on. Abraham built an altar here and prayed before God, so did Jacob. Actually, “Bethel” originally represents “House of God”. In other words, “Bethel” symbolized “Church”. That means whatever God was calling people to do in Bethel, He is calling us to do at church in this moment as well. A while ago, we talked about Genesis 35 that God had asked Jacob to build a prayer altar. That is why Jesus says, “My temple will be called the temple of prayer.” Bethel is the place that God invited people to pray.  In our heart, we need to pray. In our cell groups, prayer meetings, we should start to pray. This is God calling us to do whenever we are. We see “Bethel” overshadowing Church, so what God has done in Bethel at that time, God is going to do here, at church, today! In June and July, there are Ling Leung Conference and 21 Day Healing Crusade, let us not to focus on so many tedious works to do, we should know God is doing miraculous things now in our church.

Genesis 28:16-17 describes how Jacob met God here. It says when Jacob awoke from his sleep, he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Here we see three things God wants us to do:

1.    “Bethel” is the gate of heaven- a place where the heaven will be opened. These days we have been talking we need to open our spiritual heavens. So we need to pray for church, cell group, otherwise our hearts are being oppressed. Even though we want to be joyful, however, we lost the power of being happy. Why? It is because the gate of heaven has not been opened. That is why we cannot see the works of God, we cannot hear from God. We can see “church” is actually the place, exit or door to open the spiritual heaven.

2.    “Bethel” is location where God manifests His presence- here we see Jacob said, “Surely the Lord is in this place…” Church is not a place filled with programs, ministries; it is mainly a place that God’s presence is manifested. Let’s God turn around our heart towards Him, seek His presence more than anything else on this earth.  

3.    “Bethel” is a place where people meet God- even though some of us come to this place, the house of God, their hearts will be drawn to God. Once the altar of prayer has been established, the Holy Spirit can start working in people’s hearts. The church is such a miraculous place where God shows Himself among us.

Reflection

No matter what you do and serve, let’s cry out to God in these three things: Open the gate of heaven, show us your presence and so people drawn near to you.

5/18/2011 復興禱告會

先知團隊分享

以賽亞書7：15  當他曉得棄惡擇善的時候，他必喫奶油與蜂蜜。

異夢中見到現階段復興場地已成形，唯有廚房的下水道堵塞滿溢。 今早異夢中見到現階段復興場地已成形，唯有廚房的下水道堵塞滿溢。異象中見到賽7：15，“當他曉得棄惡擇善的時候，他必喫奶油與蜂蜜”。神提醒在事工和服事迅速擴展的同時，我們不可忽略心思意念每天的更新變化，當刻意警省，“棄惡擇善”，成為暢通的復興管道，必蒙神在荒年中奶油與蜂蜜的祝福。神啟示祂的 新作為即將降臨，故此我們應當自潔、預備。“當他曉得棄惡擇善的時候，他必喫奶油與蜂蜜”。神提醒在事工和 服事迅速擴展的同時，我們不可忽略心思意念每天的更新變化，當刻意警省，“棄惡擇善”，成為暢通的復興管道，必蒙神在荒年中奶油與蜂蜜的祝福。神啟示祂的新作為即將降臨，故此我們應當自潔、預備。

牧師分享

創世記31章13節

還是在講雅各的事情，「伯特利」是個很特別的地方，因為神很少把自己跟一個地名連在一起，這幾個星期我們常講到 「伯特利」，除了這是一個禱告祭壇被建立的地方，另外其實這個字代表「神的殿」，也就是「神的教會」； 既然伯特利是豫表「教會」，因此神當時呼召人在伯特利所要做的事情，今天教會也要做，這也是耶穌基督說「我的殿要成為禱告的殿」，因為伯特利是神邀請人來禱告的地方，讓我們心中隨時不住地禱告吧！讓我們在小組生活中禱告，在教會禱告會裏禱告吧！或不管你人在哪裡，也都隨時禱告吧！

再者，神在伯特利顯現的事情，神今天也要在教會裏做出來，隨著六、七月的靈糧特會、21天醫治佈道會到來，我們要抓住神的應許來禱告，相信神在伯特利所做的奇事在我們當中也要做，創世紀28章16-17節講到，雅各醒來就懼怕，說這是神的殿，也是天的門，這裡看見三方面是神要作的：

(1)伯特利是天的門—是打開屬靈天空的地方，所以要來為教會禱告，為小組禱告然後屬靈的天空才會被打開。如此人的心才能被打開，很多時候想喜樂都喜樂不起來，小組或教會被黑暗勢力受到轄制，就是因為屬靈天空沒被打開，這裡說教會是天的門，換句話說，從教會開始。

(2) 伯特利是神顯明祂同在的地方—所以雅各說神真的在這裡啊！雖然教會有很多事情事工在進行，但教會主要是神顯明祂同在的地方，渴望神的同在勝過一切的東西，當靈糧特會，21天醫治佈道會，我們擔心事情很多、預算夠不夠，但最重要的是看重神的同在，勝過這一切事情，因為只有在神同在中，人的生命才能得以翻轉。

(3) 伯特利是人與神相遇的地方—即使人不預期的來到這地，就感到莫名奇妙的感到被神的愛觸摸、聖靈就能在他的心中工作，教會就是這麼神奇的地方。

心靈迴響

不管你手中所做的事奉是什麼或從事什麼樣的工作，讓本週就來禱告呼求神吧！求神顯明祂的同在，讓人可以遇見神！

5/04/2011 Revival Prayer Meeting

Prophecy

Amos 3:7 “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”

God is looking for vessels, workers. He is moving among us and doing more wonders and miracles to heal this land. If God reveals you to do something, just obey and do it. He is waiting for you to say, “Yes, here I am, please send me.”

Message

Genesis 35:9-13  “Altar” is the place God made covenant with us. God’s convent is not just salvation; it is also a convent of “life”. So many times you may say, “I don’t know what God is doing, what His will is…” that is because we did not build up the altar of prayer, so we could not really understand God’s heart and plan for us. From this passage, God made convent with Jacob in three areas of his life:

First, a covenant of life changing: he changed Jacob’s name to Israel. “Jacob” means, “grasps”. He used his own strength working hard for his own need. God taught Jacob not to depend on himself, but lean on God. Do you know depending on God takes practice as well? When you built up your altar, you start to rely on God.

Secondly, a covenant of enlarging territory. Our God is almighty God, He does not want you to stay in the valley. He will walk you through the valley and enter the Promised Land. The theme of 2011 is “New Frontier, New Opportunity.” Let’s have great expectation of God and step out from our current place.

Lastly, it is a covenant of inheritance. We know God revealed Abraham the promised land, but only Jacob (Israel) inherited the land, and it happened in his lifetime. Why is that? The reason is he built the altar of prayer. Let’s not neglect the importance of prayer altar.

Reflection

Is there something in your life, family, career that you want to fix with your own way and strength? Let’s trust in God and believe His way is higher than yours, His will is better than yours.