Midweek Update #9

Dear Dayspring Family,

Here we are in the middle of the week between Christmas and New Year's trying to stay ahead of things.  I am doing a lot of work for SAGU this week in preparation for the beginning of the semester and the first day of classes. At the same time I'm working on my upcoming messages for Dayspring Church.  I'm glad to hear that Christmas sales have been positive and the economy seems to be improving.  Tonight, I thought we would look at the book of Ecclesiastes since it is the end of the old year and beginning of the new.  Our key portion of scripture will be Ecclesiastes Chapter 3.  Chapter 3 verse 1 states from the N.I.V. that "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven."

King Solomon, son of King David and the wisest man who ever lived, wrote the book of Ecclesiastes.  The Theme of the book is Vanity, Vanity, All is Vanity or Everything is Meaningless.   In this small book of 12 chapters, Solomon tells everything in life he attempted such as all kinds of work projects, adventures, and pleasures. All of these were an effort in futility according to Solomon.  Everything he attempted found no meaning for him in life although he was the wisest and wealthiest man that has ever lived.  He attempted many things.  The following are a few of the things he pursued to find a satisfying life:  wisdom, pleasure, vast gardens and parks, laughter, accumulation of great wealth, music, a vast harem of women, many wives, and many work projects.  All of these are reported by Solomon as a chasing after the wind and nothing significant really accomplished in the pursuit of these things.

By the last chapter, Solomon does end in a positive note and tells us two things that are worthwhile  in life that we should pursue.

It seems as I become older, I desire whatever days are remaining to be meaningful and significant and to really count for something.   I am hoping to continue working full time until 70 or 75 years of age.   I do still enjoy traveling throughout the world and SAGU provides an opportunity at spring break time for me to do that.  Tonight in the Wednesday evening prayer and Bible Study at 7 p.m., let's talk about this past year's accomplishments and opportunities for improvement in the new year in light of what Solomon says in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Well, I look forward to seeing you tonight for fellowship,  prayer, and time in the Word.  It's good to be a part of a church family who cares for one another. Love ya'll and see you tonight if the Lord is willing and the creek doesn't rise.

I have been reading George W. Bush's biography entitled Decision Points and finding it very insightful into his life.  Remember to pray for those from your Sunday bulletin prayer list.

Blessings to you,

Pastor Larry

Midweek Update #8

Hey, I think it has been warmer back in Dallas than it has been here in Florida.  It has been down in the 20's at night this week but will warm up to 75 by tomorrow.   I have had an opportunity to spend time with my son Shawn and his wife Julie in Orlando and my brother Rex and his wife Anna in Naples.  It was cold there also.

Stopped by Clearwater Beach and no one was on the beach except us and we were wrapped up warm.  Very seldom does Florida get this cold.

Tonight, Andy will be sharing in the Wednesday evening service. I know you will enjoy him.  We really appreciate Andy and Lucie in their ministry.  Kevin does a great job in working with them and with our Youth.  They are like the dynamic duo.

Today, Leah and I are headed to Lakeland, Florida, to visit with friends.  I pastored in Bartow which is just south of there.  Already have had some fresh Florida oranges and strawberries justed pick from the field just before the freeze this week. 

Doing some Christmas shopping.

Look forward to seeing you all this weekend as we continue our series on the Gift of Christmas. Good to get away for few days with Leah.  But there is no place like home.  Oh, don't forget the special Christmas Candlelight Service next Wednesday night and we will be sharing a meal together.  More details to come this Sunday.

Well, just wanted to let you all know that I was thinking about you and love you all very much.  See ya soon.

Pastor Larry

Midweek Update #7

Here it is, Wednesday again. I am saddened by the passing of Roy Swafford. I know he is rejoicing in heaven, but I am only human. We are in prayer for Lee and each family member and have a sense of grief along with them. However, it is really good grief because the Scripture says, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord," and "happy in the sight of the Lord is the home going of the saints."  We still experience loss, but we have hope in all our sadness. At the same time there is a note of victory at the promotion of a saint of God to heaven in that we can rejoice with them. The viewing will be Thursday night and the funeral will be Friday morning. Notice the details for the viewing and funeral at the end of this email.

This Saturday is The Wedding at 1:30 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and then back to the church for the Reception. You will enjoy having Dr. LeRoy Bartel ministering to you this Sunday. Anna Pounds thought I should be there to preach. Thank you, Anna, and I am glad to know that we will be missed. I know she was teasing and we had a good laugh in the process.

Tonight we will continue our series, "Too Busy To Pray."  We will share how easily you can spend one hour in prayer by breaking it down into 5-minute segments and what to pray during each of those segments. We will also look more in detail at the ACTS Plan of prayer that Dale mentioned recently on a Wednesday night. I know you will find this a productive time of praying from 7-8 p.m. tonight and sharing together about becoming more effective in prayer, and especially praying for Lee and the family in the homegoing of Roy. I look forward to seeing you all tonight.

Blessings,

Pastor Larry

The viewing for Roy Swafford will be Thursday night from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and the funeral will Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. at Arlington Funeral Home (1221 E. Division St., 817-548-1791). Entombment will be at Moore Memorial Gardens (1219 N. Davis Dr.)

Other prayer requests:
Donna Webb has been ill and spent some time in the hospital last week.
Tave' Garza's brother, Boaz, was critically injured in an accident and has had multiple surgeries.
Adolfo Galaviz, Jr.
Al & Thelma Mathews
The mother of Karen Lindquist. Karen is from Virginia and visited Dayspring with her husband in September following the death of her brother. She is back now with her mother.

Midweek Update #6

"Heart Building Habits and Praying Like Jesus" will be our discussion tonight. God seems to be helping me to move to a deeper level of praying. Maybe after doing the 10 Commandments of Marriage, I realize how far short I fall and know the remedy is a meaningful time of prayer.
Here is the beginning of our Bible study tonight:  God has invited us to come into His presence. He has told us that He is with us and in us, that He is waiting to hear from us, and that He can and will respond to us. What is more, He has told us what kind of habits we must develop in order to make the most of His blessings.

We will use Jesus' prayer found in Matthew 6:5-13 as a basis for our study tonight. When the disciples asked Jesus for instruction on prayer, He began by saying, "When you pray ..." in Matthew 6:5. He simply assumed the disciples would have a regular time for prayer. That's a big assumption to make about Jesus' disciples today. Most of us say we just don't have time for daily prayer. But do we want prayer to become a vital part of our lives?
Here are my closing remarks for tonight after we have our time in the Word:  Remember that God's prevailing power is released through prayer. He is interested in you and your needs. He is able to meet any need, and He has invited you to pray. His Son, Jesus, the expert on prayer, has given instructions so that you know just how to pray. We will look at those tonight. For the miracle of prayer to begin operating in our lives, we must finally do only one thing:  we must pray. I can talk about prayer but sooner or later, we have to pray. Then, and only then, will we begin to live moment by moment in God's presence.
Then we will take time to pray.
Here is a list of our prayer needs:

Roy Swafford
Thelma Mathews
Bennie Green
Adolfo Galaviz, Jr.
Hope to see you all tonight and at least by Sunday.  Blessings to you.

Pastor Larry

Midweek Update #5

Well, the Rangers finally made it to the World Series even though they lost finally in game #5.  We are all proud of them.

Thank the Lord for the rain during the last day or so.  My grass needed it and the rain brought cooler temperatures.

Don't forget the time change this weekend, but it is OK if you do. You can get to church early and attend one of

the Christian Education Classes at 10 a.m. or, as the Old Timers call it, Sunday School.  Does anyone ever graduate from Sunday School?  So in the Fall we fall back and gain an hour of sleep.  Yes, move your clocks back one hour.  That means it gets darker an hour earlier and lighter an hour earlier.  I don't like to get off  work at 5 p.m. and it is getting dark already.

This Sunday, we will continue our series on the Ten Commandments.The 10th Commandment is "Thou Shalt Build a Winning Team." I know you will really enjoy this one.  This not only relates to marriages but to church, your job, and friendships.   Also, this Sunday, we will have a special guest singer. One of the young ladies from Ransomed has a weekend off from Ransomed and is in my New Testament class.  I know you will enjoy her ministry in song.

Well, November 20th is this month. What is that date?  Hmmm. I wonder.  Do you know?

I hear that the safest place to be during a tornado is Cowboy Stadium because there are very few touchdowns there. Guess I better change the subject and talk about our time together tonight.

Tonight our Topic on Prayer is "God Is Able."   If you could ask God for one miracle in your life, knowing that He would grant your request, would you ask Him:

....to put your marriage back together?

....to change something about your job?

....to bring home a straying son or daughter?

....to heal your body?

....to straighten out your finances?

....to bring a loved one to Christ?

Whatever your request might be, do you regularly and diligently, every single day, bring it to God in prayer, trusting that He will intervene in your situation?  If not, why not?  Can God handle it? 

Let's talk about a variety of things tonight.   We will talk about believing in the heart.  We will discuss God's Power over Circumstances and God's Power over Nature.  We will look at God's Power over Hearts.  I know you will be astonished at the answer. When we recognize that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, our faith can become stronger to believe God to intervene in our lives.  You know what? He is just waiting for your call.  These are the things we will discuss together tonight and conclude with a wonderful time of prayer.

Glad to hear the good report about the success Lucie and her team had on Sunday evening at the apartment complexes in handing out bags of candy and being a witness for Christ.  Thanks for all those who turned out to share in that wonderful adventure. Thanks again, Lucie, for doing a great job.

Pray especially today for Bennie Green. She is in Arlington Memorial Hospital and will have a pace maker removed and a new one put in. Her surgery is scheduled for 1 p.m. Also, continue to pray for Al and Thelma Mathews.  Roy Swafford would appreciate your continued prayers.  Glad Gertie is getting better.

See you all tonight or at least by Sunday.  Bless each one of you.

Pastor Larry

Midweek Update #4

In Psalm 34:8, the psalmist says, "Taste and see that the LORD is good." Tonight we are continuing to talk about prayer.  Tonight's topic is GOD IS WILLING.  We will base our study on a story found in Luke 18:2-5.  In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.  And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, "Grant me justice against my adversary."  For some time he refused.  But finally he said to himself, "Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!"  According to Jesus, this story is not an allegory, where elements in the story stand for truths outside the story.  Instead it is a parable--a short story with a puzzling aspect that forces listeners to think.  This particular parable is a study in opposites.  Take a look at the contrasts.

First, we are not like the widow.  In fact, we are totally opposite to her.  She was poor, powerless, forgotten and abandoned.  She had no relationship with the judge. For him, she was just one more item on his to-do list.  But we are not abandoned; we are God's adopted sons and daughters, Jesus' brothers and sisters.  We are in God's family, and we matter to Him.  So don't tiptoe into God's presence, trying to find the secret of attracting His attention.  Just say, "Hello, Father" and know that He loves to hear your voice.

Second, our loving heavenly Father is nothing like the judge in Jesus' story!  The judge was crooked, unrighteous, unfair, disrespectful, uncaring, and preoccupied with personal matters.  By contrast, our God is righteous and just, holy and tender, responsive and sympathetic.

The psalmist says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8).  Don't think you have to figure out a way to wrench a blessing from Him, somehow to trick Him into giving up what He would rather keep for Himself.  God's Word teaches that God loves to bestow blessings to His children.  It's His nature; it's who He is - a giving God, a blessing God, an encouraging God, a nurturing God, an empowering God, a loving God.  God has all kinds of favors and blessings and resources and power that He wants to pour into our lives.  Just take a father's feeling for his children and multiply it exponentially, and you'll know how your heavenly Father feels about you.  No one's voice sounds sweeter to God than yours.  Nothing in the cosmos would keep Him from directing His full attention to your requests.   Is there anything holding you back from making them known to Him right now?  Come tonight and we will study about this more.

Hey, the World Series begins tonight in San Francisco at 6:30 p.m.   Will Jackie be at church tonight?  That is the question.  Knowing Jackie, he will be at church tonight. I know he loves the Lord more than baseball.  And we will need to help Lucie fill sacks for the outreach on Sunday.  Also, I want to meet briefly with the deacons and elders tonight.

Time change is not until Sunday, Nov. 7th, at 2 a.m. when we gain an hour of sleep and move our clocks back one hour. Here is how it works:  The phrase "Spring forward, Fall back" helps people remember how Daylight Saving Time affects their clocks. At 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March, we set our clocks forward and one hour ahead of Standard Time ("Spring forward"). We "Fall back" at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November by setting our clock back one hour and thus returning to Standard Time and gaining one hour of sleep. 

Well, it is less than a month until Nov. 20th which is the Pastor's and Leah's wedding day and only about 58 more shopping days until Christmas.

Hope to see ya all tonight and if not, then on Sunday, that is, if the Lord is willing.  Hey the ball game should be here at Ranger's Ballpark on Sunday.

See ya soon.  Pastor Larry

Midweek Update #3

Way to go Rangers!  3 wins and 1 loss.  Hopefully they will win this next time and take the division. Well, tonight we have a special guest sharing in our Wednesday evening service. Tave' Garza will be ministering at Dayspring tonight.   It is always a joy knowing Dayspring is in good hands when I am away on business.  I wish I could be there to hear Tave' minister.  Guess I should have her speak in the Sunday morning service soon.   Your Pastor has a required banquet to attend at SAGU (Southwestern Assemblies of God University) where I am a Professor.   SAGU is the number one A/G University that produces more than twice the number of A/G credentialed (licensed & ordained) ministers than any other A/G school.  Tonight (Wed. p.m.) is a strategizing meeting where we bring in the Secretaries of our eight Districts who own SAGU.  These men will have input in how we might be able to more effectively assist them in placing our SAGU students within their districts and what we can do to help our students become credentialed A/G ministers and assist them with their exam preparation.   SAGU's eight owning districts are North Texas, South Texas, West Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico/Arizona.  Both the Rocky Mountain District (Colorado & Utah) and GLAD (Gulf Latin American District) also participate in this meeting.  Miss Leah will be joining me tonight since she is Administrative Secretary for Dean Larry Goodrich in the Education Dept. What I like best about the meeting is free food and great fellowship besides preparing our students for testing for their licensed credential exam in March. We become better acquainted with these District Officials and share great discussions in helping our students.

This week there will be the Dayspring Garage Sale on Saturday and Tave' Garza shower on Sunday afternoon.  I hope you enjoyed our new Dayspring Singers on Sunday when they sang, "Oh for a Thousand Tongues to Sing."  I will continue the series on "The 10 Commandments of Marriage" this Sunday.  This will be Commandment #8 --"Thou Shalt Keep the Home Fires Burning."

Plans seem to be coming together very well for the wedding of your Pastor and Leah. We took some casual pictures recently that we are going to use in our wedding invitation, and I have attached them here.  Thought you might enjoy seeing them.  Those were taken in the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens and in the Rose Garden where Leah and I will be married.  Only one month away from today will be our wedding day on November 20, 2010.  You will have to respond to the R.S.V.P from the wedding invitation attached.

Continue to remember Al and Thelma Mathews.  Thelma suffered a stroke and really needs our prayers.  She is undergoing rehabilitation for 100 days and is in the hospital for that purpose.  I know they both appreciate your prayers.  Also continue to remember Roy Swafford who has been in the hospital for the past week. I know he is looking forward to being released and going home.   We are praying for you Roy.

Look forward to seeing each of you this Sunday if the good Lord is willing.   Bless you and see you then.  

Pastor Larry

Midweek Update #2

Can you believe it?  The Rangers have won and beaten Tampa Bay and now we are off to play the Yankees on Friday and Saturday. So, if the Lord returns before this weekend would you be disappointed?  I guess your answer might be determined by how much of a fan of the Texas Rangers you are.   I do love Octobers in Texas with relief from the hot Texas summers.

Tonight we will be dealing with the subject, "Too Busy Not to Pray."  I guess the book I am reading by that title written by Bill Hybels has stimulated some thought on the subject of prayer.   Most people have trouble finding time to pray.  There's church and school and neighborhood and job and friends and recreation.  And then the crises hit!  Time for prayer and medication, I mean meditation. Time for prayer often seems impossible to find.

Prayerless people cut themselves off from God's prevailing power, and the frequent result is the familiar feeling of being overwhelmed, overrun, beaten down, pushed around, defeated.  Surprising numbers of people are willing to settle for lives like that.  Don't be one of them.  Nobody has to live like that.  Prayer is the key to unlocking God's prevailing power in your life. Many Christians today are discovering that prayer does not have to happen on the run.  Often we think we are too busy not to pray.  Tonight we are going to share about God's Presence and God's Power becoming more meaningful than ever before.

God bless you and see each one of you tonight hopefully. If not, perhaps on Sunday and if not then, I pray we see you soon.

Pastor Larry

Midweek Update #1

James 5:17 says Elijah was a man who was subject to like passion as we are.  This means that he was just like us or had a nature like ours. James is teaching on the subject of prayer and brings up the great example of Elijah praying with fervency. James had just stated that the fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Then he said Elijah prayed and it did not rain for three and a half years and he prayed again and it did rain.  Well, you think that he was a great prophet of God and no wonder God answered his prayer.  Actually the scripture is trying to get us to see that we can get our prayers answered just like Elijah because he was a normal person as we are.  In fact, he ran scared when Jezebel said that she was going to kill him. He literally ran away to the desert to hide. He was a man not only of  like feeling and but of similar suffering.   Elijah knew all the frailties of human nature but “in prayer he prayed”, that is, he prayed earnestly and intensely and rain was withheld and later restored.  Earnest and persistent prayer, of course, is essential, whereas halfhearted prayer is self-defeating. However great the results of his prayer, this great effect did not change his essential nature as a mere man, a simple believer.

God wants you to become a person of prayer, who sees specific events & specific people specifically changed in answer to your specific prayers. Powerful, specific praying brings powerful, specific results. Prayer is not getting man’s will done in heaven. It’s getting God’s will done on earth.  Perhaps we should not pray "God bless what we are doing" but pray, "God help us to do what you are blessing."  Lord, help us to find and discover your agenda for our lives and our church.

Join us tonight for a time of effective praying and study in His Word. We are praying for each of you that God would meet you at the point of your need.  Bless each one of you.

Pastor Larry