Invest in Prayer

Every Tuesday evening at 7 PM, the ministers of Grace come together for Corporate Prayer. You are welcome to join us. Thursday mornings the women are in prayer. For further details go to https://graceapostolicchurch.net/pray.html.

RECAP (update):

Deacon Dines talked about the importance of know who we are. Hey reader… be authentically you. It’s easy to mimic Kingdom assignments and live falsely. However, God wants us strong and purposely living. We are our strongest when we walk within the vocation for which we’ve been called. Wonderful prayer and word.

The Pentecostal Experience: 7 key verses

ICYMI, these are the key scriptures from Bishop’s sermon on “The Pentecostal Experience,” for Pentecost Sunday.

1. I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. -Joel 2:28

2. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. -Acts 2:4

3. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. -Acts 2:38

4. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. -Acts 26:14

5. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. -Hebrews 12:14

6. Be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. -Ephesians 5:18-19

7. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever -John 14:16

Learning to Live Holy

Ephesians 2:2
When you come to Christ, you must change. Change is sometimes difficult, but God requires us to become new creatures. (see Romans 6:4) We must not conform to this world, but must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (See Romans 12:2) A transformation takes place when you become saved. Don’t let anyone make you believe you are the same after God saves you. Your mind has to change. You can’t be stuck and comfortable in your old mindset. You must be willing to go through the process to become the person God requires you to become.
God wants His church to be like Him. What is Christ like? He’s holy, righteous, patient, long-suffering, forgiving, kind, etc. Those are the characteristics that He wants us to exemplify. In the flesh dwells no good thing and it wants to rise up. However, the Holy Ghost will help you control it and to display godliness, but you have to yield to it. Paul told Timothy to be an example of the believer in word, deed, and in conversation.
It is a good thing to be saved and to know that you are chosen by God! God saw and chose you before you saw yourself. You were chosen before the foundation of the world. Once God saves you, you have to learn how to walk and to please God. When you receive the Holy Ghost, you are not immediately perfect. That is why you must learn to live holy and to grow in grace. God’s purpose for His church is that it is holy. It is to be nothing like the world. (See Ephesians 1:4)
We have to live a life of holiness. God expects nothing less. Holiness means we live a life that is separated from the world and for God. When you are baptized in Jesus’ name, you bury your sins and rise up to walk in the newness of life. You are to be different when you get up. You are not to go back to the same thing you were doing before you were baptized. You are to be a visible example to unbelievers. Let others see Christ in you!
We have to believe to the saving of our souls. Once we believed, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the Holy Ghost. (Ephesians 1:14) You have to have the Spirit of God to go back with God when He comes for His church. The best way to know you have the Holy Ghost is not by speaking in tongues, but by the fruit you bear. You have to show the Holy Ghost in everything you do and in everywhere you go. You must also feed and maintain the Holy Ghost. You must live holy.

GPS: God’s Positioning System

In this world, all of God’s children are on a journey, and the Holy Ghost, which is the spirit of God in us, is our guide. The Holy Ghost will guide us into all truth. (St. John 16:13) It did not come to force us to follow God, but instead, to guide us into His will. Following God, therefore, is a choice.
(Focus scripture: St. John 16:1-13)

If we have the Holy Ghost to guide us into all truth, then how do people stray from God? Straying is a result of not reading the word of God. Becoming slack in reading leads to becoming slack in prayer. But God is merciful to warn you and to help you get back on track.

Even when trials seem to overtake us, God is still there to guide us to victory. When Lazarus died and Jesus went to visit Mary and Martha, Mary said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” (St. John 11:21) But Jesus went on to raise Lazarus from the dead. Even then, death had no victory over Jesus. Also in St. John 11, Mary seemed to be very busy when Jesus came to visit. Likewise, we sometimes become “too busy” to listen to God and to go to church. We can never become to busy to hear God. God will guide you to victory when you take time to listen and to heed His voice

The Holy Ghost gives us power and authority to claim victory in our lives. But we must have faith for the Holy Ghost to work. Our faith increases by hearing the word, and by fasting and praying. We must be focused on God and in tune with the Holy Ghost. We must have determination to break through. If you want a break through, pray until you get a breakthrough, whether it takes thirty minutes, an hour, three hours or more. Stay in prayer until you meet God.

God can move in our lives now just has He did in the past. But we must be determined and spiritually minded. Know where you are spiritually, walk in the word, and strive to be where God wants you to be. The word of God will transform your mind, and consequentially, your life.

We might think that life would be much easier if God would just control us and make us obedient. However, God has given us the commands to follow, we just have to be determined to do whatever necessary to be obedient. Sometimes we must find a method that works for us that will help us be obedient in reading the word and in prayer. Go back and get a fresh anointing so you can stay in tune with God. Transformation may not feel good, but it WILL yield results. Transformation is a process. When you put forth a real effort, you see change.

There is a right way (a way that seems right to man), a wrong way, and there’s GOD’s way. Follow God’s way and He will guide you to where you need to be.

Enemies of the soul Pt 3: Walk by the spirit

Bishop is beginning a series on the Enemy of the Soul, starting with the flesh. The flesh will keep you out of heaven and is your enemy!

Notes: Scripture shows a conflict between the flesh and spirit to reveal the nature of our everyday struggles.

Two births, two natures
We are born naturally. John 3:6 – That that is born of the flesh is flesh.  That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Jesus explained this to Nicodemus. Receiving the Holy Ghost is the birth of the spirit. Galatians 4:23-29. Ishmael was born after the flesh and Isaac was born after the spirit. Therefore we have two natures. 1 Corinthians 11:14, Ephesians 2:3. Because we are born again we are partakers of the divine nature, since we’ve been born again. 2 Peter 1:4. Within us both natures want to rule. One is fighting against the other.

Two walks
Every child of God have two roads, two walks that rise to meet us. Jesus says one is narrow and one is broad. You can’t take both. Each one leads to a destiny. You’ll end up somewhere, but the decision is yours. God gave us direction and then left it up to us to decide which way we go. We can walk in the flesh.

Galatians 5:16-17, Romans 8:4. Paul urges us to walk in the spirit. When you walk in the spirit then you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. If you want to overcome your flesh, fleshly desires then you must choose to walk in the spirit. That’s why it’s important for every child of God to understand how important the spirit is. 

Sis. Rossie gets baptized in Jesus’ name

Watch and rejoice! This is one of the first baptisms of the New Year. God bless you Sis. Rossie! May the Lord fill you with His Holy Spirit. Video taken by Sis. Taelor

Pearls of wisdom from Bishop Samuel Wright

Bishop Samuel “Handsome” Wright of Zion Apostolic Christian Memorial Temple in Petersburg, Va., was a guest speaker during the PAW International Men’s Conference. He stayed to preach on Sunday, and shared the following pearls of wisdom:

-Don’t listen to random Last Day prophecies: No man knows the day nor the hour when Jesus is coming back.
-The church’s job is to win souls and your job is to be a witness, and your walk has got to match your talk.
-Some of you might think you’re saved, but you’re not. All you have to do it take an attitude test.
-Learn to tell the truth even if it hurts. Liars will be swimming in a hot lake when all is said and done.
-The Holy Ghost will check you if you want to be checked. He makes you respect and be concerned about people.
-You don’t boss God, He bosses you; You never know how He is going to move.
-If a sermon is preached and doesn’t hit you then it may not be from God. If it does

Video: Sis. Nicole receives the Holy Ghost

Sis. Nicole was filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave utterance, on Sunday, January 10, 2010. As you can see she is worshiping God like never before.

Nicole’s life-changing experience is a testament to the promise found in Acts 2:38 which has been made to you, your children and your children’s children. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

If you have not received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and want to know more we encourage you to make your election sure. Write a comment below, call the church offices at (202) 399-7774, or visit us as 4417 Dix Street, NE, Washington, D.C., and see for yourself.

(Videos courtesy of Kandyce and Erika Williams; post embargoed for Jan. 27)

Sis. Gravette bares her soul, salvation

Sis. Gravette said she was blessed with water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, and then the infilling of the Holy Ghost last year. We asked her to relate her testimony so that God would get the glory, and that others would overcome just by hearing it. Here it is in her own words.

Even though I was raised in the church, I didn’t really understand the role that the Holy Spirit plays in my relationship with God. As a child I was sprinkled but never baptized. As I grew in my walk with God and my desire to know what His plan was for my life, I always had this overwhelming sense that something was missing.

Every time I went to church and the pastor extended the altar call for those who wanted to be saved and give their lives to Christ, I would hear the same voice saying to me,”I’m talking to you.” I could never understand why I kept hearing this because after all, I had been sprinkled at the age of eight. In all the churches that I went to, no matter what state I was living in, with whom I went, or what reason I went, I always heard the same  voice. “Fran, I’m talking to you.”