Empowering your Word from God!
We continued this week talking about Empowerment, and spoke about what happens when we have a word from God. It is exciting when we know he has given us a promise, a sign, clear direction. It causes faith to rise up in hearts. It really takes off when we empower that Word through our thoughts, words, actions, and the meditations of our hearts. Start empowering your word from God!

Guatemala Team returns safely to the US Early this morning,
Our Guatemala team returned to US soil! I am sure they will have many great testimonies of the work they did there and the way it changed there lives.

Sabbatical approaching July 1st
I have talked some the last two Sundays along with a church-wide letter about my upcoming sabbatical. During this time I will try step away from public teaching and preaching as well as the day-to-day administrative duties and commit myself to study and seeking from vision for the church. You will experience great ministry from different people during this time. Please direct any questions on this to Mary Lou or the church elders. Thank you for the notes and e-mails of encouragement I have receive as I prepare for this time of encouragement.

Extension Campus in Nashville/Spring Hope Area
If you have been attending COTR for very long, you know of our desire to establish some extension campuses around our region. One of the first areas we have a heart to target is the Nashville/ Spring Hope area. We have many families that drive from that area each week and we feel that not only would an extension campus help many of those families get more involved, it would allow us to reach many more people in that area with a closer location. There is almost 25,000 people in the Nashville/Spring Hope area alone! We have identified a potential location and have some inspections lined up for this week. If they go well, we will begin to communicate to key leaders and families that would potentially be a part this site. Please pray for this and stay tuned for greater details to come.

More on the Sabbatical!

You have received a letter about the Sabbatical, and I spoke some about this Sunday.  I  want to continue to communicate on this so everyone has all questions answered before July 1st.

- A sabbatical comes from the root word Sabbath.  It is a practice of those who serve in full-time ministry as a Lead Pastor where they step away from the day-to-day operations of the church and the responsibility of public preaching and teaching.  It is for the purpose of:

a)  Renewing their ability to cast vision for the church.

b) To recharge emotionally and physically.

c) To renew spiritually in a personal way and in the context of weekly study to bring forth relevant, divinely inspired teaching from God’s Word.

- In July, I was already scheduled for my family vacation, and August 1-8 I will travel to Orlando Florida to attend the Bi-annual General Council of the Assemblies of God.  My family attends this every 2 years with thousands of other Assemblies of God ministers for training as well conducting business for the Assemblies of God.  The Elders have asked that I take an additional 3 weeks around these two events as a sabbatical time. During those 3 weeks,

July 3-17 and July 26^th-31^st, I will spend time away from the day-to-day operations of COTR and away from the responsibility of corporate preaching and teaching, and concentrate on the purposes of a sabbatical just described.  I will also undergo a complete physical the last day before the sabbatical and make sure I am attending to any physical health issues during this time as well ( although I do not anticipate any!)

I look forward to this time, and I thank the elders and you for allowing me this.  In 13 years, I have never taken a sabbatical and I believe that it is a divine appointment to recharge me for ministry and renew my love for God and his people!

Weekly Services!

Wednesday Connection
GET CONNECTED!
Dinner: 6:00pm-6:45pm
(sweet and sour chicken, rice, and dessert)Connection- 7:00pmAdult Worship and TeachingGo Groups
Revolution Youth

Sunday Celebration
10:20 am
Free Starbucks Coffee before Service!
Teaching:  Empowerment and Spiritual Warfare

Other Announcements

Guatemala Team Doing Great!
Our Guatemala team has arrived safely and they are already entering into their ministry there.  We will keep you updated.

Online Giving Now Available… Just A Click Away!Go to http://churchontherise.org and click on Online Giving.
We allow 3 different options: General Account,  No Limits, and Missions Account.  If you would like it to go towards  a different account please just mail it in.

Podcast…If you have tried to listen to the podcast over the last year, please go back to the website and subscribe to COTR’s Podcast again.We had some trouble with the last link and it should be fixed now.

Pastor Richard & Lisa

What are you Empowering in your Life?

Where there is agreement, there is power! We empower things in our natural and spiritual life through what we come into agreement with. We have been talking about this for 3 weeks now and it has brought much revelation to our hearts. The vehicles for the things we are empowering are our words, our actions, our thought patterns, our attitudes, and the meditations of our hearts. Take stock of what you are empowering!

 Pray for our Guatemala Team! 
We commissioned 25 people to go forth to Guatemala in ministry this past Sunday.  They will leave this coming Saturday, June 13^th Pray for safety, service, and signs and wonders in the lives of the people there and our team members!

Other COTR Stuff!

Vacation Bible School
“Studio Go” 
July 13^th-17^th  
6:00pm-8:30pm nightly

Missions Fundraiser
Stuart Briscar will throw a golf ball 18 holes on June 29^th to raise money for local and foreign missions.  Consider a per throw sponsorship or a one-time gift sponsorship.  

 In closing…
Let me ask you… How is your daily prayer and devotional life?  On most days, our spiritual victory or defeat for that day is won or lost before any activities start.  It is based on whether you put your spiritual armor on in prayer.  Even 10-15 minutes alone with God each day can change everything.  That’s how powerful and loving He is! Remember this Focus on 5 Principle this week… DEVOTION! 

Pastor Richard and Lisa

earlier this evening we were at a birthday party

for my nephew Blake when we got a call from

Lisa’s sister Susan who said that there parents

had been in a car accident. We rushed to the

hospital to see the damge. Lisa’s dad and mom 

had been hit by a car when they slowy were

turning on to a road. we arrived and 

immediately got in to see them.  The good news

is Lisa’s mom is okay with only a gash on her leg

and soreness on her  left side. Her dad is having

cat scans and x-rays to check for internal

injuries. We prayed and God is bringing  his

healing touch to both their bodies.  We are

finding God at Wake

Med!!!!           

ABOUT BLOGGING!!!

I am trying to learn how to use this blog.  Please bare with me!

Pastor Richard