10,500 Global Prayer Connect

This week’s message is prepared by Pastor Joseph Tai.

This Week’s Audio Message

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. … 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” – Romans 5:3-5, 11

Last week, we saw from Acts 1:3 that before Jesus were taken into heaven, he appeared to his disciples over a period of four days and spoke about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the zeal of the Lord.  It is the purpose for him to come down to earth and is the commission that he gave to his disciples (Isa 9:7, Jn 3:16; Mt 28:18-20) to expand through their testimonies.  There are five key aspects for us to testify God through our life at the market place, to expand God’s Kingdom. They are: Character, Communication, Commitment, Capability, Completion.

• Character

Character is the expression of the life of Jesus. John 1:4 says ”In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”  Verse 12 says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  Children of God have the life of Son of God. This life is not a stagnant life, but will grow to maturity.  Romans 5:3-5 says, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”  We see here that Character that is approved and tested is ripe.

The first important element of life is Grace.  We have justified through faith and gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand (Ro 5:1-2).  The second element is faith that is not ours but comes from God.  Faith is the truth of God. (Eph 2:8, Heb 12:2).  The third element is God’s love poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Ro 5:5).

• Communication/Fellowship

Today, God uses people in the market place to manifest and to share His character.  They are to let the River of the Water of Life move, to bring the living water into the market place and to make the salty water fresh, to bring life (Rev 12:1-2; Eze 47:8-10).

• Commitment

God’s flow through our lives will bring influence for His purposes.  For in God’s Kingdom, we not only need to participate but also need to fully commit ourselves.  We must commit to God’s direction and His goal.  Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus and to live for Him alone.  We make it our goal to please Him, to have sufficient courage so that Christ will be exalted in our body, whether by life or by death (Php 1:20, 2:5, 3:7, 13-14, 2 Co 5:9, 14-15, Ro 14:7-8).

• Capability

W as we commit to God’s work, we will be imparted with gifts, talents and capacities from God to serve Him and to serve others.  These capabilities will increase as we apply them and do everything through Him who gives us strength (Ro 12:3, Php 4:13).

• Completion

When we embark on the right goal/target, we need to bring it to its completion.  We need to fight the good fight and to finish the race, to fulfill God’s Great Commission (2 Tim 1:12，4:6-8; Mt 28:18-20).

Market Place Prayer

We pray that soldiers of Christ in the 10500 will live out the character of Jesus Christ in their market place to share God’s grace, faith, and love.  They will commit themselves to God and use their given opportunities, capabilities, and talents to serve the market place.  They will be faithful to God even to the point of death to accomplish God’s commission so that they will receive His crown of righteousness and life.

This week’s message is prepared by Pastor Joseph Tai.

This Week’s Audio Message

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”– Acts 1:8

This coming Sunday is Pentecost, which is also called the day of first fruits.  It is the day of the Lord’s favor, of His grace, and of open heaven.  It is this open heaven that brings down God’s blessings, grace, authority, wisdom and power.

Scripture provides a few examples of when heaven opened:

• When Jesus was baptized to show His obedience – Matthew 3:16-17
• When the saints all joined together in prayer – Acts 1:14
• When Apostle John faithfully loved the Lord to the end – Revelation 4:1

Acts 1:3 says: “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive, He appeared to then over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”  Later, Jesus commanded them to not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, the Holy Spirit.  They shall receive the power from the Holy Spirit and be His witnesses.  Then he was taken up to the heaven.  In people’s eyes, that was a situation of hopelessness for the disciples because their Lord was gone. However, when they joined together in prayer, heaven was opened.  They were filled with the Holy Spirit that resulted in breakthroughs and witnesses. They:

• Spoke in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them– 2:2-4
• Preached boldly – 4:8-13
• Ministered to others – 6:1-7
• Took on martyrdom as a witness for the Lord – 7:54-60
• Healed from sickness – 9:17-18，32-40
• Were full of faith – 11:21-24
• Were sent out – 13:1-3
• Denounced heresy – 13: 8-12

Market Place Prayer

May the market place soldiers join together in prayer in obedience and faithfulness to God.  May they sustain their love for the Lord to the end so that they will experience open heaven, being filled with the Holy Spirit and becoming His witnesses. May they act out the book of Acts for this generation.

This Week’s Audio Message

This week, we would like to pause a bit and look back at the tremendous market place insights the Lord imparted to us from the past few months.

Back in February, as we pressed deeper into the theme of “The Joy Set Before Christ”, we saw that one piece of this “vision of joy” is the awesome picture of the Groom receiving His “Bride and Wife” – a picture that shows our market place preparation for our role as Christ’s “Wife” – His Holy City.

The Joy Set Before Christ – Picture of the Bride and the Wife

Message 1 – The “Bride and Wife” of Christ is the New Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:2, Revelation 21:9-10)

Message 2 – The Bride’s Kingdom Responsibility – to Prepare for the Wife’s Role (Revelation 11:15, Revelation 21:22-27)

Message 3 – 10,500 – One of Our Bridal Preparation for the Wedding (Revelation 22:1-5, Isaiah 9:7)

As His “Wife”, the Holy City that governs His Kingdom, we came to see in Adam & Eve’s marriage model that we have a role as the “suitable helper” to the Last Adam.  Jesus will establish His Kingdom governing model according to His intent in family relationships.  This is one of the key reasons the Church must occupy the “Family Mountain” and connect its significance to the market place as we prepare for Christ’s return.

The Joy Set Before Christ – Christ’s Kingdom Model is in the Family

Message 1 – From First Adam and Eve to Last Adam and the Church

Message 2 – The Church – Christ’s “Bone of Bones, Flesh of Flesh” (Genesis 2:22-25)

Message 3 – The Church – Christ’s “Suitable Helper” (Genesis 2:18-21)

In declaring us to be His spotless Bride through His sacrifice, Christ gave us a pattern for operating in the Father’s capacity.  He showed us the heart attitudes that release the Spirit’s power – the willingness to sacrifice according to the Father’s agenda.

Power in Sacrifice

Message 1 – Love of the Husband, Love of Christ – Sacrifice (Ephesians 5:25)

Message 2 – Principles of Sacrifice – Abraham’s Example (Genesis 22:1, 15-18)

Message 3 – Sacrifice in the Father’s Capacity (Hebrews 11:17-19, John 5:19-21)

Finally, the pursuit as Christ’s market place witnesses in the Spirit’s power will always lead us to one basic spiritual discipline: our connection with the Lord.  This discipline will lead us to know the father’s agenda and open the path to demonstrate the Spirit’s power in the market place.

Know the Father’s Agenda

Message 1 – Know the Father’s Agenda – One Thing I Seek (Mark 1:35-37)

Message 2 – Know the Father’s Agenda – Jesus’ Secret (Luke 10:42)

Market Place Prayer

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down* the nets for a catch.”  Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”  When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.  So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”  So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.  – Luke 5:4-11

May our market place leaders understand the Father’s agenda such that they will experience the Spirit’s power in “catching men”.  May they bring to their sphere of influence the same confession as that of Simon Peter, “I am a sinful man”.  May they come to understand that “catching men” is not to give up their market place positions.  Rather, it is to “influence men” as a cloud of Christ’s witnesses in their holy grounds, the places where they’ve been called to be “fruitful and multiply”.