GodSightings

Purim- Fasting

2007-02-20T14:57:00.000-05:00

Fasting

In Esther 4, Mordecai finds out that Haman has put out a decree to have the Jews annihilated. Mordecai then urges Esther to go into the king's presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people. Esther knows that anyone that goes before the king without being summoned, runs the risk of being put to death. So, Esther sends a message to Mordecai saying, "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." (Esther 4:16).

The day before Purim, the Jews observe a fast day in memory of Esther who asked the Jews to fast for three days before she risked approaching the king. A fast day usually begins at dawn and ends at nightfall. It also consists of no eating, drinking, washing, or engaging in sexual activity (pregnant and nursing women do not have to fast on this day.)

So, we ask that you join us on March 3^rd (the day before Purim) to take a day to fast and remember G-D and his continual faithfulness to His people.

Lookin forward to paryin with all of you...

Oh Yeah...I also forgot last week to talk about why we drink wine on Purim...very quickly...we drink wine on Purim because it was during a wine feast that Haman's plan was revealed.

Food, Wine & Megilah

2007-02-13T19:50:00.000-05:00

As we continue our journey into the heart of why we are celebrating Purim, we are going to take a look at two traditions that are usually a part of the Purim celebration; the reading of the Megilah along with Feasting and Rejoicing.

The reading of the Megilah

It is Jewish custom for G-D’s people to gather during Purim and read the Megilah. The book of Esther is commonly known as the Megilah, which means scroll. Although there are five books of Jewish scripture that are properly referred to as Megilahs, this is the one people usually mean when they speak of the Megilah. Traditionally, G-D’s people will read the Megilah the night before and on the morning of Purim. It is customary to boo, hiss, stamp, and rattle gragers (noisemakers – in Hebrew they are called Ra’ashanim meaning “to make a lot of noise) whenever the name of Haman is mentioned. The purpose of this custom is to “blot out the name of Haman”

Feasting and Rejoicing (Esther 9:17, Esther 9:21-22)

It is also Jewish custom for G-D’s people to eat, drink, and be merry. According to the Talmud, a person is required to drink until he cannot tell the difference between “cursed be Haman” and “blessed be Mordecai” (Although this is true, a person should not become so drunk that he might violate other commandments or get seriously ill). There is no special food (except for Hamantashen- will explain later) or special rules behind the feasting or rejoicing… Just to have fun being together and to celebrate G-D’s faithfulness and protection.

Lets continue this custom as we gather together to feast and rejoice as we celebrate G-D’s protection and faithfulness in our own lives. We are using the heart of Purim to remind us that G-D has continually remained faithful to His people throughout time.

Purim- giving to the poor

2007-02-07T11:35:00.000-05:00

Purim is a time for us to
rejoice, worship, and celebrate G-D’s protection and

faithfulness for his people.

In the book of Ester, Haman (the king’s right hand man), sent out a decree that on a certain day, all the Jews should be destroyed (Ester 3:8-15). Through prayer, fasting, and faith, Ester, along with Mordecai and other faithful Jews, pleaded for G-D to intercede on behalf of his people so that the Jews (G-D’s people) would be saved. God demonstrated his faithfulness to His people as he used Ester and Mordecai to offer the protection that was needed as they triumphed over there enemies.

-- At the end of the book of Ester, Mordecai commands the Jews “to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor. (Ester 9:22b)”. Since the time of Ester, the Jews (G-D’s people) have traditionally given gifts to the poor in order to honor this command and as an example of how G-D continues to remain faithful and take care of their needs. So, we continue to honor this command by taking time to give to the poor and remembering that G-D continues to remain faithful and take care of our needs.

Action: So, for the next couple of weeks lets take time as a community (G-D’s people) to think about how we can continue this tradition as we celebrate Purim. Lets aim for taking a collection on the day we celebrate Purim (march 4^th) and then think of ways that we can use that money to give it radically to people who need it.

Examples:

take the money we would save on food, during the day we fast and give it to the poor
take the money and do a soup kitchen thing and donate it to them for the food
send it to Africa to help an orphanage
find a begger on the street and give it to them
take someone who is poor shopping

Pray about what G-D wants us to do with that money and then lets give it away!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man Child Birth - a.k.a kidney stones

2006-05-15T13:06:00.000-04:00

I woke up at about 3:30am on thurs. morning in the worst pain that I had ever experienced in my life. I was in so much pain I was puking and at times really thinking that I would die. Sarah was in shock, worried, and not really sure what to do and I was in to much pain to think about anything at all. (i only wanted the pain to stop)

At that moment when neither of us knew what to do we were able to experience the love of God as we lived out what it means to be the church. sarah woke up some of our friends (people who are a part of our community) and asked them to come and pray for me. They came and gathered around me to pray for me. They continued to pray as they came together to figure out what to do next and as I walked around the house, layed in the fetal postion and occasionly got up to puke (because I was in so much pain). they all drove with sarah and I up to the hospital @ 4:30 in the morning. Stood next to sarah and prayed with her in the waiting room, stayed with me as I cryed out in pain, waited with me as we awaited the test results, talked to me when I was high on morphene and then rode home with us at 7:30 in the morning.

It meant the world to me to know that there were people who loved and cared for me this much.

Why is this a God sighting? Becasuse at this moment I was able to experience the love of God through the church (God's people).

Thank you God and thank you friends

scott sulek

My dentist rocks

2006-04-21T14:41:00.000-04:00

after our funtime root canaling, she sat and talked with me for an hour and prayed with me. it turns out God has moved prophetically on her as in me in the same ways! and that she, like me, has been called to dance and is going to help me in this new intercession!! that alone is worth a gajillion bucks! and some lunatics (whom i love and am forever grateful for their lunacy) have blessed us with a financial offering towards the climbing teeth situation. hoo-ra.

Jillian

Cancer in remission

2006-04-18T16:32:00.000-04:00

A couple of months ago there was a family whose car broke down right in front of our house. I walked outside to offer assistance. They said they didn't need any but I offered for them to ring our bell if they did. They later rang the bell to use the bathroom and we got to talking and found out that their six year old granddaughter, who was in the back of the car, had cancer. so, we gathered a couple of peeps around her to pray for her and her family.

We have been praying for them as a community for the past couple of months and have just received word that Adia's Cancer is in Remission!!!!

check out "prayer requests" on our message board for the entire journey

God changes Lives

2006-04-18T16:20:00.000-04:00

A couple of God sightings ago there was a God sighting about a woman who was a part of our community who we called Hope.
This week she stopped by and looked differently then I had ever seen her look before. She stopped by with excitement about how God had been working in her life. She talked about how God has been blessing her financially, how God has been using her to impact peoples lives and that through the power of God she has been able to fight depression and the desire to take her life.
she has been able to impact people's lives as she has been able to give things to people who are in need, has been able to encourage people through life but also by sharing stories of how God has been impacting her life, by sharing Jesus with people and by praying for others as well. In fact she stopped by not just to share what God had been doing in her life but also so because she wanted us to join her in prayer for her friend who might have a brain tumor and so that he might be open for what God desires to do in his life. (this is from a woman that was not up for prayer at all a couple of months ago)

This is freakin awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

keep praying for her and her friend with a brain tumor

I'm an answer to prayer

2006-03-09T16:19:00.000-05:00

It is soooo cool when you see God use you as an answer to prayer. And even cooler when you see God's people living life as the church. I called one of my buddies today just to see how he was doing. We talked about a couple of things and then he shared some of the things that he had been struggling with. I just took time to listen and encourage Him. I then asked if I could be praying for him regarding anything specfic. he just told me to be praying that God would give him wisdom regarding his decisions. He then thanked me because I had been used as an answer to prayer. he was praying that he could find someone that would understand what he was dealing with or the things that he had been thinking about regarding life, ministry, school, and some other descisions. He said that it was even an extra blessing to have that call today - it happened just when he needed it the most.

thank you God that you use us in crazy ways. that you use us to impact each others lives and that none of your people have to live this adventure on our own!

Loving Neighbors = Lives Changed

2006-03-08T12:31:00.000-05:00

God is working hardcore in Hope's (name changed out of respect) Life.

A bunch of months ago our passionate life group (small group on caffiene) ended up inviting Hope out to dinner - our treat. Our goal was to get to know our neighbors, build a relationship with them and share with them the unconditional love of Jesus through our lives. We had also heard that she was having a rough time. Little did we know God was going to use this dinner to radically impact a woman's life.
Hope had dealt in the past with the death of 2 husbands, had just broken up with her boyfriend, was living in an apartment attached to his house, was contemplating suicide, had the electric and utilites turned off in the house, did not have a job, was so depressed she wouldn't even go anywhere (in fact this was her first time out of the house in weeks), and so much more. After that night, Hope continued to hang out with us, came to our worship gathering on sunday mornings, would stop by the house frequently just to talk and share what was going on in her life and then quickly leave. Throughout these months you could see God working on her hardcore. She usually would refuse prayer (would not let us pray for her) but would still come by and talk. She actually would even invite people to worship with us on Sunday morning or just hang out with our community. One of those people was Jolly (an indian man from California who is not yet a Christian but finds community in our group) and the second was a family whose car broke down in front of our house (their 6 year old granddaughter has cancer and we have kept in touch with them).
Anyway, throughout this time you could see God working in her life but she was still struggling very hardcore. But recently, she had begun to let us pray for her (still slightly resistant), she went and did something nice for someone (said it impacted her life to be able to love someone like that), has been giving God credit/praise for the cool things that are going on in her life, and she thinks that someday God is going to use her for some big stuff (this is a big deal because she has always been very self focused.)

Recently, she has gone out to seek medical help, she was blessed with four new tires for her car (she had been driving on a spare for six months), wants help, is realizing that she must die to herself to be healed, is seeking out God, is beginning to understand that she does not have to live this life on her own (saw a picture of that in our church and another who was helping her out) and is thanking/praising God for all that he has done and is doing.

Keep praying for Her

Thank you Jesus!!!!!

Homeless Impact?

2006-03-03T11:52:00.000-05:00

A couple of us guys were hanging out for "Passionate Life Group" (our small groups on caffiene) and we were talking about what we wanted to do as guys to encourage and challenge each other to live passionatly and radically for Jesus. As we were talking one of the ideas we came up with was to go and try to impact someones life each time we meet. The way we impacted their life can totally vary and these people would include people we know, people we don't know, people we run into, etc.

Anyway, as we were talking a very very drunk homeless man asked us for money because he was hungry, so we ended up taking him to arby's and buying him some burgers. The guy was very drunk: he was very scattered in his talk, didn't always make sense, switched subjects often, cryed, laughed, ran into walls and also the door at arbys. He told us he had been in prison, he told us he might not live through the night, that his girl was up north and he hadn't talked to his family in a long time, and that he was living in the woods near UC. We tryed to talk to him about Jesus but he seemed to like the president more - he avoided going into too much details on Jesus but spent a lot of time just talking.

I don't know why God set up this divine appointment but for whatever reason God gave us this opportunity to pray for him, impact his life, give him a meal, listen, and allow him to have fun (he kept telling us he was having so much fun).

God blessed this man with food, good conversation, a fun time, people to pray for him and gave us the opportunity to begin our group impacting someones life.

IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Journey as a community

2006-02-28T10:05:00.000-05:00

This sunday we spent sometime before worship just kind of talking about the things God had been teaching us. It was amazing to see how those conversations got deeper. It really felt like we were on a journey together. We were able to discuss some of the things on a deeper level, some of the things we talked about got us thinking or asking questions, and some of them taught us aspects of God that related to our lives in various ways. Its hard to believe that this is worship, exciting to think that this is church, and cool to see how God speaks to our hearts when we engage in these kind of conversations.

Sick then Not

2006-02-28T10:01:00.000-05:00

It was way cool. One of the guys who is a part of our community was feeling really really sick on sunday morning. many of us including himself had spent sometime praying for him that morning and that he would start to feel better. He showed up later that morning feeling just as good as normal. No pain killers just God!!!

God gave me a band-aid

2006-01-30T19:51:00.000-05:00

This God sighting seems small but impacted my life huge!I have recently developed a bump in my arm pit which was hurting really bad this morning. I was going to teach gym today so I went to find a band-aid so that I could put it over the bump to keep it from getting sore and hurting a whole lot. i searched the entire house but could not find one. So, i finally gave up and went to go and chill with God. AFter i read a little i got up to pray and then went back to the pillow that I had been studying on (and I had layed on it the night before - and with my ADD i totally don't sit still - which means the pillow get tossed around a lot) but when I went back there was a band-aid right on top of the pillow. It was way cool. I kind of felt bad that I didn't immediatly ask God for a band-aid but later God revealed to me that he really does take care of our needs - even when we don't ask!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sooooooooooooo, GOD GAVE ME A BAND-AID - WAY STINKIN COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't get hit by a uhaul

2006-01-19T16:37:00.000-05:00

Freaking awesome God sighting! God's people living life as the church - working together so that no one is in need (acts 2:42-47)!

Wed. evening someone in our church had her car break down on the way home and so she called her husband to help her out. So, her husband (being the loving sweet man he is) left immediatly to go help her out. Neither of them had any clue what was wrong with the car and had no clue how they would get it home or get it fixed. Not to mention while good husband was in the process of helping out his wife he was hit by a uhaul which ripped off the bumper off the back of his car. (not a fun eveneing for either of them) - So, a group of people, who are a part of there passionate life group, went on a mission to help out their friends. (they arrived as good husband was folding up his bumper and placing it in the back of his car)

anyway, To make a long story short we saw an amazing picture of God's people living life as the church. A bunch of people helping each other out as they froze together, climbed underneath a car together, got lost finding parts, laughing, cussing, and worshiping God together in a hotel parking lot at 9:00pm at night. Not to mention they fixed the car for under $15, the accident was not his fault, everyone is ok, both cars are still driveable, and they have a great story to tell as they saw God work in crazy ways!!!!

God Sightings

2006-01-10T19:42:00.001-05:00

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