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.