FAHOW Vision 2015-2016

Matthew 16:18

¹⁸ And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The word translated church is the word “Ekklesia: from ek, ‘out of,’ and klesis, ‘a calling’ (kaleo, ‘to call.” This word had been in use for approximately 500 years by the time of Christ. It was the principal assembly of the government in Athens, Greece, open to all male citizens over the age of 18. An ekklesia was comprised of a quorum of up to 6,000 citizens.

-         They were responsible for declaring war, military strategy, electing strategoi (military generals) and other officials, including archons (chief magistrates of the city-state).

-         Voted on decrees, treaties and law proposals. Typically met 3-4 times a month.

The ekklesia was by definition a governmental assembly.

I.            FAHOW CORE VALUES.

1.   We value Passion for God and Compassion for people as the motives upon which we operate.

 Matthew 22:37-39.

³⁷ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.

2.   We value Personal Freedom (Deliverance).

Luke 4:17-19

¹⁸ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, ¹⁹ to preach the acceptable year of the Lord

                   - Healing, Deliverance, God Encounters

3.   We value prayer. (Isaiah 56:7; Matt 21:13) since, “except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1).

Isaiah 56:7

“ …For mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.”

4.   We value purity and holiness, but true holiness resulting from intimacy with God and a passionate pursuit of His presence. 

Psalm 29:2

² Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

5.   We value Humility and Servant Leadership as the model by which we serve God’s people. 

1 Peter 5:5

⁵ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

6.   We value the Word of God and sound practical teaching of the scriptures.

Hosea 4:6

“…My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

Psalm 119:105.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

7.   We value training our children and youth to be radical Disciples of Christ.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7.

⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

 

8.   We value order and excellence as the wineskin through which God will release His Spirit.

Daniel 6:3

³ Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

II.          FAHOW VISION.

Proverbs 29:18 

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the

law, happy is he.

1.   Cast off restraint. Proverbs 29:18

2.   Time is not maximized. (Teach us….Psalms 90:12; Redeem time Ephesians 5:16)

3.   Resources are not maximized or wasted Ex. Personal finances (No savings, no future etc.)

4.   Loss of Momentum and motivation.

5.   Frustration and feelings inadequacy.

6.   Exalt the Lord (House of Worship) It’s All About Him.

Isaiah 6:1

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU??

·        We want you to meet God.

·        Want you to know God.

·        Radically committed to God.

·        Spiritually fulfilled.

·        Walking in 100% obedience.

·        Fulfill your destiny.

·        Impact the Planet for the Lord.

7.   Extend the Kingdom (House of Missions) Touch the World.

Acts 1:8

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU??

·        Reward in Heaven.

·        Joy of Impact.

·        Global Prospective.

8.   Empower the People (House of Mercy) Transform the Community.

Proverbs 19:17 

¹⁷He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given.

         

III.       FAHOW IDENTITY. (What Kind of Church are we?)

1.   Jesus Church.

2.   Family Church.

3.   Embrace the Gifts of the Spirit.

4.   Loving Church.

5.   Praying Church.

6.   Equipping Church.

7.   Community Church.

8.   Soul Winning Church.

IV.       WHAT WE EXPECT OF YOU.

1.   To protect the unity of the church.

A. Acting in love toward other members. (1 Peter 1:22)

B. Refusing to gossip. (Romans 14:19; Ephesians 4:29)

C. Following the leadership. (Hebrews 13:17)

2.   I will share in the responsibility of my church.

A. Praying for its growth. (1 Thessalonians 1:1-2)

B. Inviting people to attend. (Luke 14:23)

C. Warmly welcoming those who visit. (Romans 15:7)

3.   I will support the testimony of my church by.

A. Attending church faithfully. (Hebrews 10:25)

B. Living a Godly life. (Philippians 1:27)

C. Giving regularly. (1 Corinthians 16:2; Leviticus 27:30)

JUBILEE...

Leviticus 25:8-11

⁸ ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. ⁹ Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. ¹⁰ And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family. ¹¹ That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. ¹² For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.

I.                   ISRAEL’S SABBATH.

1.   One day per week.

2.   One year every seven years.

3.   One Jubilee Every seven Sabbath years.

II.                 COMPONENTS OF SABBATH.

1.   Rest.

·        A Day.

Exodus 20:8-11

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^…11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Numbers 15:32-36 (Punishable By Death)

³² Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ^…35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶ So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

  

Mark 2:27-28

²⁷ And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.

·        An Attitude.

Psalm 46:1-10

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. ² Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; ³ Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. ⁴ There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. ⁵         God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. ⁶  The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered his voice, the earth melted. ⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. ⁸  Come, behold the works of the Lord, What desolations he hath made in the earth. ⁹ He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire. ¹⁰       Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Matthew 6:25-33           No Thought

Philippians 4:6-7             No Care

Isaiah 26:3                      Trust

·        A New Dimension.

Hebrews 4:8-11

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. ⁹ There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.¹¹ Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

2.   Restoration.

Leviticus 25:13-17

¹³ In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. ¹⁴ And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another. ¹⁵ According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you. ¹⁶ According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops. ¹⁷ Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

Joel 2:25-27

         And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, The cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you. ²⁶ And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, That hath dealt wondrously with you: And my people shall never be ashamed.

The Palmerworm

(Hebrew "Gazam") - A gnawing locust that targets fruit.

Gnaw means.

•To wear away by persistent nibbling

•Vexation

•To reduce slowly

The Locust

(Hebrew "Arbeh.") military locust or migrating locust. It is when you come under strategic attack.

•It is a strategy against you, A plan that’s being carried out against you, A clever scheme designed just for you.

                   The Cankerworm

(Hebrew "Yeleg.") - a wingless locust larva.

It’s an undetectable worm. Like a tapeworm or pinworm that works deep in the belly. Cankerworm is an attack that’s designed to hatch. A larva hatches from eggs and insects. It then transforms into a pupa or chrysalis form from which the adult emerges. And what the locust left, the cankerworm was The cankerworm feeds on buds before fruit can develop. It attacks: The possibilities; The promise of better things; The potential beauty and desirability of a thing

The Caterpillar

(Hebrew "Chasil") - the adult ravager that brings total destruction.

All hell has broke loose – an attack on all sides. An invasion. Thousands swarm and strip everything that show signs of life.

3.   Supernatural Provision.

Leviticus 25:1-4

25 And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, ² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. ³ Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; ⁴ But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

Leviticus 25:20-22

²⁰ And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: ²¹ Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. ²² And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.

5 REASONS WE OUGHT TO TRUST GOD

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Isaiah 26:3-4

³ You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you. ⁴ Trust in the Lord forever, For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.

I.                   HE’S GOD (SOVEREIGN)

God is free and able to do all that he wills; He reigns over all creation and His will is the final cause of all things.

1.   He does what He wants to do.

Psalm 135:6

Whatever the Lord pleases He does, In heaven and in earth,In the seas and in all deep places.

                   Psalm 115:13

³But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.

Daniel 4:35

³⁵ And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

2.   God cannot successfully be opposed.

Ecclesiastes 7:13

¹³ Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked?

Isaiah 43:13

¹³ Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”

  

3.   He is in control of World History.

Proverbs 21:1

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.

Psalm 22:28

²⁸ For the kingdom is the Lord’s: And he is the governor among the nations.

Jeremiah 18:7-10

⁷ At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; ⁸ If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. ⁹ And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; ¹⁰ If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

4.   He has power over all gods and demonic forces.

Psalms 95:3

³ For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods.

Exodus 18:11

¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.”

II.           HE IS GOOD.

The benevolent nature and character of God referring to His acts of mercy, pity, compassion, long suffering, patience and justice.

1.   Demonstrated by His Actions.

Psalm 119:68

⁶⁸ You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes.

2.   His Goodness extends to all of Creation.

Psalm 145:9

⁹ The Lord is good to all: And his tender mercies are over all his works.

3.   He’s Especially Good to those who trust Him.

Psalm 34:8

⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

4.   He Boasts in His Goodness.

Exodus 34:5

⁵ And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ⁷ Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

III.          HE IS PRECISE.

1.   He Orders our Steps.

Psalm 37:23

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way.

2.   He limits our temptations.

1 Corinthians 10:13

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

3.   He keeps us.

Psalm 91:11-12

¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. ¹² In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

4.   He Faithfully Keeps Seed Time and Harvest.

Galatians 6:7-8

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

IV.          HE IS ETERNAL.

Genesis 21:33

³³ And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God (Olam El).

Even the translation, “Everlasting God,” is not quite enough to describe the full meaning of Olam El. The El portion of the name means strong, mighty, or powerful. But Olam is much more challenging to define; its meaning is greater than simply “as far as possible into the future.” Olam actually extends both directions in time. It is forward and backward— forever!

The concept of Olam is not confined to a timeline, and neither is God; the Everlasting God exists outside of time. If you were to go back to the very beginning of time, He was before that. Olam El defies definition!

The way humankind thinks about time forces us to consider a start and a finish. Olam El, however, knows no beginning or end. When time as we know it comes to a close, the Ancient of Days will continue. He sees the past, present, and future—all at once. Obviously, this enables Him to have a unique perspective, seeing the results of an action long before it happens (for example, Adam’s fall and the consequential need of the cross); it also gives God the unique ability to deal with the ramifications of events that occurred in the past, erasing their consequences as though the events never took place. For example, God doesn’t see a born-again, former prostitute as “a former prostitute;” He doesn’t see the redeemed murderer as “a former murderer.” God separates our sins from us “as far as the east is from the west,” (Psalm 103:12) and remembers them no more (Hebrews 8:12, 10:17).

Isaiah 46:10

⁹ Remember the former things of old: For I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, ¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times the things that are not yet done, Saying, My counsel shall stand, And I will do all my pleasure.

V.          HE IS UNWAVERINGLY COMMITTED TO YOU.

1.   He can’t be taken away from you.

Romans 8:35-39

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. ³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2.   He will never leave you.

Hebrews 13:5

⁵ Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

3.   His Mercy is consistently renewed.

Lamentations 3:22-23

²² It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. ²³ They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.