Financial Peace University is coming to Sunset Chapel!

FPU provides biblically based, common-sense education and empowerment which gives HOPE to everyone from the financially secure to the financially distressed. It takes the knowledge from God and turns it into real action in our lives through a step by step process taught by best selling author and financial counselor Dave Ramsey.

FPU is a 9 week life changing program that empowers and teaches you how to make the right money decisions to achieve your financial goals and God's plan for your life.. The course includes practical lessons on eliminating debt, building wealth, giving like never before, and much, much more!

This initial class is limited to the first 10 memberships. Each session is scheduled for 2 hours divided into two parts. Part One, taught by Dave Ramsey on DVD, teaches you how to make wise financial decisions based on scripture. Part Two of each class session is a small group discussion. The design of the discussion groups helps you apply the principles to your daily life. Members hold each other accountable, build friendships, and support one another. since personal finance is 80% behavior, this small group format ensures that class members realize finance is more than just math.

We will offer a free class preview on Sunday August 5, 2012 at 7:00 PM. More information and an overview of the class will be shared at this gathering. Due to the outstanding response we are adding a second class session for this 9 week course that will meet Sundays at 5 PM. For more information and to register for this class contact the church office at 305-271-4094.

I was impressed to spend some extra time with God the other night so I gathered my laptop and added some small speakers and set up an area on our patio to just listen to some worship music and lock in with God. As I began to pour my heart out to God there was a noticeable slight South Florida breeze blowing. Thirty minutes turned into an hour and as I continued on in God's presence..... suddenly everything changed.

My heart reached a new point and began to soften as the Holy Spirit began to work in me. The breeze that had been softly blowing in the night air instantly stopped. And a "heaviness" surrounded me as I moved deeper in intercession. This became intense. Read what Psalms 119:28 says from the Amplified Bible:

   "My life dissolves and weeps itself away for heaviness: raise me up and strengthen me according to ( the promise of ) Your word."

How how I've missed that "spirit of heaviness" in my life. Not only have I been blessed to grow up in a church that God's Spirit and anointing flowed freely. I have also had the privilege of seeing God move in the churches He's allowed me to serve in. There has all these years remained deep within me a hunger in my heart that only God could fill. I'm convinced that our church and the lives of those who attend our services at SC are in need of the infusion of the Holy Spirit as well! For sometime we've been able to see that the Lord is causing a spiritual thirst to rise up among our faithful attenders. And the conditions are continuing to improve. I felt that during that night of prayer that God was impressing on my heart..."Get Ready! For I am about to make available a season of refreshing." I truly believe our best days are ahead and that God is about to envelope our church with His presence!

90 Day

Five weeks ago I gave a 90 Day Tithing Challenge to everyone who attends Sunset Chapel. The early reports are very encouraging! What is this? Basically its all of us tithing 10% of our income for the next 90 days. ( July-September ) Realizing that our church will not advance without the faithful and intentional giving of our church attenders. I am praying that you will join Shari and I in making God a priority in your finances. We've been married almost 30 years now and we have come to the conclusion that God has always been near and watched over our lives and ministry every single day! We consider ourselves to be very blessed!

Every dollar you invest into this ministry is used to enhance our abilities as a church to reach our community! We believe that God has called us to be the kind of church that that seeks out those who are hurting and living far from Him. Recent guests to SC have made the following comments:

   "God"s presence was so real and heavy today in this service"
   "I will never forget today! I will never forget how I feel"
   "I gave my heart to God today"
   "I came with my sister this morning and I recommitted my life back
     to God"

It's always amazing to see God change lives right before our eyes! God is giving us some great momentum as we come to the end of the summer months. I'm elated to report that we are up to 35 families/individuals who have accepted this 90 Day Tithing Challenge! As your pastor I am incredibly humbled to watch this list grow as so many faithful people make a commitment to Sunset Chapel. I will never forget your willingness to invest in our church.

If you are one of these families/individuals who are participating in this challenge. I would love to hear and share your stories about how you are personally experiencing God's blessing and favor in your life! Please leave a comment below, send me a quick text, or email me at rusdebord@aol.com and tell me how involved God is in your life!

Don't Fly Alone

As I sat on my patio yesterday in the late afternoon. I watched a number of different birds fly overhead in the sky. While most stayed near the ground. I watched as more than a few landed on my yard looking no doubt for a meal. While others perched and rested on the branches of my neighbors palm trees that surround our home. Most I observed flew in groups or were at least with a couple of other birds.

I was intrigued to notice that one flew so high up he appeared to be playing in the clouds all by himself. I wondered to myself is he an adventurer? He seemed unconcerned and unburdened with the cares of this world as he seemingly floated along with the wind currents. I then thought to myself "I wonder does he like to just keep to himself and fly wherever the wind or his whims take him? Is he lost? Has he lost his bearings, not knowing which way to go? Will he be able to find his way home?"

To often I find myself weighed down with the burdens and cares of this world. They come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some are related to family matters. Others are related to the church that I serve. Leadership is often lonely. And more times than I want to admit or can remember during the past thirty years of ministry I probably wished I could have just taken flight and left all my worries and concerns behind. But that's not what God wants me or you to do. He wants us to learn to trust Him more and to see our faith in His abilities strengthened. It's when I find myself flying in the storm clouds that God reminds me He is near and that He's always ready to assist and help me if I'll just call on Him. Gratefully He has always answered when I've called out to Him.

And I know He'll do the same for you too!

Weatherman said that there was a 60% chance of rain this morning! He should have said it was 100%!!!! Although many chose to stay home today and remain dry, those who arrived to church this morning and dodge the raindrops came and experienced a great service!

I preached on "Living Germ Free' in our service. As you and I walk up and down the aisle of any local grocery store you'll see many products sold that are labeled "anti-bacterial." People are obsessed with living as germ free as possible on the outside but seem less careful when it comes to the images and messages our culture constantly bombards us with. Each of the toxic influences we allow into our lives cause damage to our spiritual hearts. Consuming these constant influences can go a long way to poisoning us and eroding our spiritual relationship with Christ. Read what the scripture says in Romans 12:2 from The Message Bible.

   "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking! Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out! Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to it's level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-informed maturity in you."

I challenged everyone to stop consuming things with spiritual germs...things that are toxic to their spiritual hearts and then allow the Holy Spirit to re-adjust their standards of what is right and wrong.

Have you ever been in a situation where someone owed you money or borrowed something from you and they refused to give it back? There are only two ways to resolve this kind of tension. Either that person has to pay up or return the item that was borrowed, or you have to cancel the debt completely. As long as the debt is unpaid or unforgiven the debt dictates the relationship. This debt-to-debtor dynamic always causes an imbalance in any relationship. Proverbs 15:1 informs us that "harsh words only stir up more anger" and hostility. Anger can clog the arteries of our spiritual hearts instantly. Join us tonight at 7:00 PM at Sunset Chapel as we discuss this dark invader that causes us many times to explode! Come learn some valuable insights that can help you control the fire inside!

Sunset Chapel received a certificate of appreciation from Convoy of Hope! Since 2009 to present we've given $19,719.58 thus far to this outstanding disaster relief and feeding ministry! Great job church! Convoy of Hope has more than 120,000 children enrolled in their feeding initiatives. Because of your generosity, these children can know they will have a healthy meal to eat and clean water to drink each day. Our next "One Day To Feed The World" giving opportunity is scheduled again for November 2012! Thank you for caring and giving through our local church to reach the world for Christ!!

When People Pray

Last night after our worship set I gathered those in attendance for our mid-week service around the altar in a large prayer circle. And we prayed.

* We prayed for our students at youth camp
* We prayed for Sunset Christian Academy's upcoming school year and enrollment
* We prayed for all the individuals and families who have thus far accepted the 90 Day Tithing Challenge
* We prayed for this coming weekends service and message

When God's people pray powerful things happen. In the Book of Acts it records a prayer meeting of 120 in an upper room. They had no clue as to what was going to take place. The end result was that God sent His Holy Spirit to fill them and they went out from that experience and radically impacted the world!

Sadly today, for far to many times, we've gotten used to doing without the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. After the service I had a great conversation with one of our regular attenders and he and I spoke at length about the need for individuals to get desperate once again and to invite the Holy Spirit to come back into their lives and give Him control.

Recently my wife Shari introduced to our church a song entitled "We Are Hungry".  Some of the lyrics are...

       "Lord I want more of you
         Living Water rain down on me
         Lord I need more of you
         Living Breath of Life come fill me up

Chorus
 
         We are hungry we are hungry
         We are hungry for more of You
         We are thirsty O Jesus
         We are thirsty for more of You

This song is anointed. It reminds me of how desperate King David had become when he wrote Psalms 63:1-2 (NLT).
         "O God, you are my God
          I earnestly search for you.
          My soul thirsts for you;
          my whole body longs for you
          in this parched and weary land
          where there is no water."

He knew that something wasn't quite right. Something was missing from his life. When we find our passion evaporating and our spiritual consistency becoming hit or miss. Do we notice the Holy spirit's presence gone from our hearts and lives? What is it that keeps holding us back from seeking and searching for Him diligently?

We know there's more! We want more! But we seem unable to find it anymore. Isn't it time to rediscover what it means to "pray through"? Maybe it's time to create a prayer circle for our lives, family, and church? Desperate times require desperate measures. let's take our holy desperation to God together!

I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us this Sunday! I hope to see you and your guests this weekend at Sunset Chapel!

2012 Missions Faith Promises

This past week at my request I received a report regarding our 2012 Faith Promises that we made together in April of this year. During our Spring Mission's Service our guest speaker, Nathan Turney, challenged us to embrace a world-view in spreading the gospel. One fourth of the world has never even heard the name of Jesus! Another fourth has not received sufficient teaching and witness to be able to make a decision for Christ. We partnered to pray and give to mission's project's and missionaries around the globe as a church. Committed monthly giving makes this possible.

Our Faith Promise card indicated the amount we would individually commit ourselves to give and the combined total of our promises as a church was $19,020.00 during the next 12 months! (There were some other verbal pledges made as well that came in after April's mission's service) Our monthly commitment currently stands at $1585.00. And here's a first hand report from the first two months.

* May $1,013.00 came in representing 63.91% of what was pledged. ($572.00 shortfall)

* June $1,502.00 came in representing 94.76% of what is pledged. ($83.00 shortfall)

To meet our goals we would need to make up the $655.00 shortfall.

Remember a  Faith Promise is between you and God. It is a sacred act. It is a spiritual agreement between you and God that, with His help, you will give a pre-determined amount to the church during the next 12 months to be used in world missions for the purpose of reaching those who are far from God. It's your total reliance on God for divine provision. This is not your tithe-your tithe is God's portion of what He's already provided for you. This is not a pledge-our church will not contact you if you fail to make a payment.

As we continue to reach our goals in spreading the gospel around the world we want to also expand our efforts here at home in reaching our city for Christ too! Thank you for your faithfulness!

I love our city and our church!!

Pastor Russ

Financial Peace University

Financial Peace University is coming to Sunset Chapel!

FPU provides biblically based, common-sense education and empowerment which gives HOPE to everyone from the financially secure to the financially distressed. It takes the knowledge from God and turns it into real action in our lives through a step by step process taught by best selling author and financial counselor Dave Ramsey.

FPU is a 9 week life changing program that empowers and teaches you how to make the right money decisions to achieve your financial goals and God's plan for your life.. The course includes practical lessons on eliminating debt, building wealth, giving like never before, and much, much more!

This initial class is limited to the first 10 memberships. Each session is scheduled for 2 hours divided into two parts. Part One, taught by Dave Ramsey on DVD, teaches you how to make wise financial decisions based on scripture. Part Two of each class session is a small group discussion. The design of the discussion groups helps you apply the principles to your daily life. Members hold each other accountable, build friendships, and support one another. since personal finance is 80% behavior, this small group format ensures that class members realize finance is more than just math.

We will offer a free class preview on Sunday August 5, 2012 at 7:00 PM. More information and an overview of the class will be shared at this gathering. For more information and to register for this class contact the church office at 305-271-4094.

90 Day Challenge

Basically, here at Sunset Chapel, we've often stated from our platform that "you can't out give God!"If you are not tithing I am asking you to take the 90 Day Challenge. God has called His church to reach people with the life-changing message of Jesus and we do that every week with the faithful giving of our people. This challenge is very simple. Begin to tithe for the next 90 days. We believe that God is true to His word. And we want everyone at Sunset Chapel to experience all the blessings and promises that come to us when we trust God completely with the money He has given us. If at the end of 90 days you feel that God has failed to keep His promises and hasn't provided for you, then we will give you back all your money you have given to Sunset Chapel over that 90 days.

Our vision as a church includes the addition of a full time children's pastor. As well as the transition and transformation of our Kid's Church ministry into their own dedicated zone on Sunday's. Your faithful giving will greatly help us achieve these goals.

There are many ways to begin giving at Sunset Chapel, here are a few suggestions:

*Sign up for automated giving and you can have your bank account automatically drafted
*Giving online weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly
*Setting up automatic bill pay through your bank
*Mailing in your gifts to 9393 Sunset Drive Miami, Florida 33173
*Giving on Sunday mornings during our time of giving