The Fire Of Heaven In 07

“The Fire of Heaven in 07”

Thesis: New Life Community Church is praying for the Lord to send “The Fire of Heaven in 07” and we must do 4 spiritual disciplines to ignite it and to keep it burning. We must let it guide us, we must keep the fire burning, we must understand that it is a consuming fire and will bring sin into the open to be dealt with and we must not ever quench it.

Introduction:

Our theme for the New Year is actually a prayer “Lord, send the fire of Heaven in 07!”

In the past year of 2006 we had the theme and the task of getting a “Fix in 06.” The focus was on repairing the broken elements of the church, our families and our own personal lives. We cried out to God to “Fix us in 06” so that we could be repaired and prepared for “The Fire of Heaven in 07.” Over the last several months many people have been sharing their testimonies about how the Lord has done a fix in their personal lives, in there family lives, and even in our church. I shared about how the Lord did a fix in my own heart and mind about the call on my life to continue following my call and pastoring. So the Lord has been fixing many dimensions in us at New Life Community Church over the past year.

Is there more work to be done in all of us? Absolutely but I also believe that over the last few months God has been sending down his fire from heaven to us. The revival type atmosphere and the tangible presence of the Lord has manifested in our services. Many have noted to me how they have been feeling the presence of the Lord in our services. Our youth have been set on fire for the Lord and are doing awesome. So I stand at the threshold of 2006 and I look back over the year and I can say that the Lord has done a lot of repairing and fixing here at New Life. But as I turn around and look a head my heart actually leaps for joy because I do believe this will be a year of revival at New Life. I believe that when the Lord gave me the prophetic word for this church he promised that revival and the fire of Heaven was moving into New Life to set it ablaze for the Kingdom of God. This morning I want to reread the prophetic message for this church because I do believe it is tied in with receiving, “The Fire of Heaven in 07!”

The Prophetic Word: The prophetic message to share with New Life Community Church for Nov. 5, 2006:

Illustration: SAVING THE SHIP, REMEMBERING THE PAST

"Their hair is gray, their shoulders are slumped and they walk with the shuffle of the aged. Their ship, a rusty antique, wallowed through the Atlantic, battered by a winter storm. For the elderly crew of LST-325, a creaking World War II troop ship that had been taken out of service in 1946, it was the last chance to recapture their youth--and to preserve their exploits for future generations. Ironically, the U.S. Coast Guard deemed the voyage from Greece to Mobile, Alabama unsafe. The same daring that lead these men to ignore deadly enemy fire lead them to ignore the Coast Guard warnings. The ship, now safe at harbor in Alabama, will be the first memorial to the heroism of the amphibious land craft crews. The crew of WWII battled ancient equipment, 110 degree heat, cockroaches, governmental regulations and the death of a crewmember to secure the old vessel and make it seaworthy. ’They tried to stop us at times, but we knew that we could do it.’ LST-325 will serve as a double-memorial to the men who served bravely under fire during the war, and then fought once again to reclaim her from the scrap heap."

SOURCE: Bruce Howell. Citation: Newsweek, January 22, 2001, p. 12. Contributed by: Sermon Central

I read this story and the anointing of the Holy Spirit came over me in my office and revealed the following prophetic word to me. The Lord impressed in to my heart that I must share this with New Life’s community of believers:

* The church crew is being called to restore the rusty old ship – New Life has been called a rusty old ship but God is sending the crew to restore it as memorial to Jesus Christ.

* The ships is going to be put out into the sea to save the one’s drowning from the storms of life.

* The ship will require a lot of hard work to restore it for its mission to this county.