EMANUEL EXPRESSNEWS West Van Buren Ave Chicago, IL phone

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1 EMANUEL EXPRESSNEWS 3058 West Van Buren Ave Chicago, IL phone June 2015 is the Month of Spiritual Warfare Spiritual Warfare Greetings once again in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; I trust that you and your family are doing well and that the blessings of the Lord are rich and abundant in your lives. As we prepare for the month of June, our ministry theme will be Spiritual Warfare. From a high level definition, Spiritual warfare is the concept that the Devil and demons attempt to thwart Good and the will of God. Some believe this "warfare" to be manifested in multiple ways, including by demonic possession, demonic harassment, by attacks on a person's thoughts, relationships, or life with God. We believe that when someone is attacked by demons or fallen spirits, the targeted person can combat the attack by prayer, fasting, consulting with their spiritual advisers, and in extreme measures, by casting out demons. As Christians, there are some things you can be sure of... battles will come, the enemy will try to take you out, people will come against you, and life as a Christian will not always be easy. There is simply no denying that spiritual warfare is real and present. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Paul wanted Timothy to know that the Christian life is not a playground but a battleground. There are however several consolations that we have when it comes to spiritual warfare. First of all God does not send us into confusion, but prepares us ahead of time so that we can stand and be victorious. Secondly, God protects us from blind attacks and finally, all of the advantages of this war are in our favor. Pastor Michael & First Lady Anastasia Richardson Ephesians 6: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. KJV In This Issue First Things First 3 Annual District Meeting 4 Laity Day 6 June Events - Insert

2 Number one.. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might Paul declares that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. If we are serious about being victorious, Paul is emphasizing that we must rely on God s power and not ours. Number two: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Paul is saying that we must protect ourselves with the full armor of God from head to toe. We should protect ourselves with the shield of faith, the helmet of Salvation, cover our hearts in God s righteousness, stand in truth and cover our feet or tracks in peace. Number three: and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: After Paul lists all of the pieces of protective armor, he addresses our first offensive weapon, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Paul is saying that the Word is the weapon we should wage war with. The Word, like a sword, must be used properly in order to be effective. Therefore, we must not only have a basic knowledge of God s Word, but we must know how to use it properly, by applying the related scriptures to the specific attacks. We must remember that it is not our words that the enemy succumbs to, but the word of God. Number four:. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Paul climaxes with this last offensive weapon of prayer. Not just prayer but consistent and continuous prayer. Too many hit and miss or start and stop. But if we want to be victorious in spiritual warfare we must learn how to pray effectively, fervently and relentlessly. We should not only pray for our own battles but for the battles of other believers as well. Finally, spiritual warfare is not an option, but a necessity. The enemy is aware of your God ordained destiny and he is going to do everything in his power to hinder you from reaching it. That is why you must fight the good fight of faith by using every spiritual weapon at your disposal. If you don t the enemy will steal every God given blessing you are entitled to, including your identity, your testimony, your integrity, your family, your calling and yes your future. So during this month of Spiritual warfare, I admonish you to get up, stand up and by all means toughen up. Come off the playground and get on the battleground. Remember, that the greater the battle the greater the blessing. Your God ordained destiny is worth fighting for! Pastor Richardson Spiritual Warfare continued from page 1 JOIN US 2 First Jurisdiction Illinois AIM CONVENTION JUNE 15TH - JUNE ST. PAUL COGIC 4526 S. Wabash Chicago, IL Bishop Charles M. Ford, Host SPEAKERS: MONDAY ME NIGHT (Missions & Evangelist) ELDER JERRY RIDDICT TUESDAY - US NIGHT (Ushers & Sunday School) Missionary Cleola Crawford WEDNESDAY - MY NIGHT (Music & Youth) Elder Prince Reed THURSDAY - CHAIRMAN NIGHT Elder Michael Richardson

3 FIRST LADIES NIGHT On Monday, May 11th our Monthly Fellowship Meeting took place at Outreach COGIC hosted by Supt. James Sims. The place was packed as we came together for First Ladies Night. This was organize and led by none other than our First Lady of our Jurisdiction, Mother Jean Booker. What a wonderful evening this was as the churches came together to celebrate and bless the their First Ladies. On Saturday, May 2nd First Jurisdiction Illinois Women s Department under the leadership of our Jurisdictional Supervisor, Mother Shirley Hughes our Annual Woman of the Year Luncheon was held at the Hilton Oak Lawn. Congratulations to District Missionary Cheryl Giscombe for receiving the 2015 Woman of the Year Award. Many accolades were given to her for the help and work that she gives in her local church, the district, the jurisdictional women s department and in her community. For Emanuel we began the month of May with our special Mothers Day Service. We saluted our Moms for being great role models, giving us good advice, showing us tough love and encouraging us to be the best that we can be. We also celebrated the world s greatest church mother, Mother Ophelia Turner, who was able to be with us on this special day. After we showered all the mothers with gifts and love tokens, we took time to get a picture of all of the ladies in attendance. ********* D. A. REED SR. ANNUAL DISTRICT MEETING The D. A. Reed Sr. District is truly a district of Love and Power! For more in-depth information about our Annual District Meeting read Missionary Viveca William s article on pages 4. Monday, May 18 Friday, May 22 all roads led to Reed s Temple Church of God in Christ for our Annual District Meeting. Our theme for this year was It s Only Noise Isaiah 31:4. We had a wonderful meeting. Wednesday night was Women s Night. We changed from the traditional attire of wearing all white and all of the women came dressed in red. Everyone looked stunning and what a night it was from a powerful facilitation of the service by our Mistress of Ceremony Missionary Sherry Swan, to the Spoken Word by Sister Daeja Gaston, to the Emanuel Praise Dancers (Sis. Joyce Owens, Sis. Yolanda Hopkins and Msny. Crystal Willis) - to the presentation of our Super intendant by our Sunday School Field Representative, Sister Keeya Thomas and the melodious sermonic solo from Sis. Nikole Rumph. FTF: continued on page 7

4 4 Pastor David A. Reed District Superintendent The Annual District Meeting for the David A. Reed Senior District convened on May 18 th through May 22nd under the divine guidance of our Superintendent David A. Reed and our District Missionary Anastasia M. Richardson. The meeting was held at Reeds Temple Church in Griffith Indiana where our Superintendent serves as host Pastor. Msny, Anastasia Richardson District Missionary This year s theme was It s Only Noise Isaiah 31:4 was the scripture of reference. The meeting began on Monday night. the Music Department was in charge, under the direction of our District Minister of Music Sister Tamela Reed and her assistant Msny Klista Hill. The Facilitator for the evening was Sister Shaneah Taylor from Penson Temple Church of God in Christ. The District Mass choir came forth each night of the meeting with several spirit filled selections and the presence of the Lord met us in a great way! On Tuesday the Early message came by way of yours truly from the book of St. Matthew 26:28. Where the Lord shared the Last Supper with His disciples, letting them know that the suffering that He was about to endure, and the shed blood that would result would be the New Testament, or New Covenant in His Blood. Because of the Lord s sacrifice there Is Power in the Blood! In fact if it had not been for the shedding of His blood, the New Testament would not be written. The Blood of Christ then IS the New Testament and all of the redemptive power and authority written in those 27 books are at our disposable whenever we plead the Blood of Jesus! The main message came forth through our 1 st Assistant District Superintendent Tyrone Gaston of Restoration Ministries COGIC. His scripture text came from James 1:20 and Hebrews 1:3 with the subject It s testing time.but it s Only a Test! Pastor Gaston admonished the Saints that we must understand that as believers we will have to endure testing and times of trial during our walk with the Lord. He went on to say that the Lord Jesus himself endured and overcame testing, and so can we through faith in Him! The righteous man Job was also discussed and after suffering great tests in Job 10:23 he held on to his integrity saying; He knoweth the way that I take, and when He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold! So then we must understand that though trials and tribulations will come, our Savior has overcome everything we could ever face, and gotten us the victory! No matter what it is you face It s Only a Test! The evening closed with prayer for families, expedited by Pastor Clifton Johnson of Lively Stone COGIC. On Wednesday night the Superintendent was presented in a very creative and memorable way by our own District Sunday School Field Representative Keeya Thomas. She contrasted the fictional characters Batman and Robin who had double lives fighting crime. District: continued on page 5

5 District: continued from page 4 Superintendent may not be a crime fighter in the natural sense, but he is; armed with the Helmet of Salvation Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit! Is it a bird... is it a plane? Noooooo its Suuuuuuper in ten dent David A. Reed!!!! Our Jurisdictional Prelate Bishop Ocie Booker addressed the meeting letting the Saints know that he was glad to be among us. He also acknowledged the presence of Auxiliary Bishop Willard Payton who was traveling with him. He said that being with David A. Reed is a good place for him to be. Our 1 st Assistant Jurisdictional Supervisor Lady Myrna Herndon came forth with words of expression to our District Missionary Richardson. The Emanuel Praise Dancers also came forth with a wonderful presentation. District Missionary, 1 st Lady Anastasia Richardson spoke an awesome word and the Lord used her mightily as she took the scripture text II Timothy 2:34 with the subject Prepared for Battle! She admonished the Saints that just as an athlete or boxer in the natural wouldn t dare enter into competition or the ring without first properly preparing themselves by adhering to strict training regimes and discipline; so must we who are in the Lords Army properly prepare ourselves to do battle with the enemy of our souls! He goes about as a roaring Lion, and the nature of a Lion as predator is to lay in wait for the weak, sick, or unsuspecting, crouching low in the bushes and pouncing on their prey. So the enemy seeks to find Believers who are down, depressed and prone to separate themselves from other Believers that he may seek those whom he can devour! We must fight spiritual wickedness, not each other and remember that the offensive weapon we are to have is the Sword of the spirit which is the Word of God, and it is then that we will truly be Prepared for Battle! Elect Lady Evangelist Lundy prayed for the Women in a powerful altar call, admonishing us to take heed to the powerful Word from our District Missionary. The evening concluded with a wonderful presentation as we recognized our Founders wives. First Lady of the District Iris Reed, along with the 1 st Ladies of the District. First Lady Iris Reed presented our District Missionary with extravagant love tokens and the Official Red Card for the Women s International Convention Crusade. The speaker for Thursday evening was Elder Rodriguez Reed. He came from the Gospel of St. Matthew 14: His subject was Hold on to your Faith! He spoke of how in the midst of our greatest storms and trials we must understand that this is when our faith is made stronger. The Disciples found themselves in the midst of a life changing circumstance. This is when the Lord Jesus showed up and encouraged them to not be afraid. Peter stepped out on the word. Just as Peter knew to cry out to the Lord in times of life altering distress, so must we remember to look up and call on the Lord to save us! No matter what we face, no matter how difficult it is we must always Hold on to our faith! DISTRICT: continued on page 7

6 6 Not long ago, Pastor Michael Richardson made a declaration to assign each Sunday to various auxiliaries every month allowing members to exercise their knowledge, build their faith and exercise their willingness to be used. 5 th Sundays are dedicated to the laity. On Sunday May 31, 2015 the day started with a movie in Sunday School entitled, Paul the Emissary which chronicled the life of the Apostle Paul. Superintendent Marilyn Thomas then asked students of all ages to give feedback or ask any questions they may have had on the film which opened the floor to a beautiful discussion which was closed out by our Illustrious Pastor who summed up the life of Paul and added some items the movie had actually missed. This was a wonderfully innovative start to the day. During the morning service, the invocation, scripture, and word of God are delegated to non-titular Emanuelites to add not only a different flavor to the service, but to stir up the gift from a different aspect.; the perspective of the member. Yours truly was assigned the duty of invoking the presence of God, Deacon Johnson read the morning scripture and the service was mastered by our walking testimonial, Missionary Annie Owens all of whom allowed the Lord to use them greatly as instruments to His glory. Sis. Yolanda Hopkins and Sis. Reshelle Matheny were given the distinct honor and task of bringing forth the word from the Lord and they did so with power and truth. Sis. Hopkins was the first speaker for Laity day. She spoke from the scriptural text, I John 4:7-8 which reads, Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is love. In expounding on the scripture, Sis. Hopkins acknowledged that the world sometimes miss-conceptualizes this passage in particular to say that love is God, which is not altogether true. She spoke of having love for our brothers and sisters and how God s love carries us through some of life s most troublesome trials. To qualify this, she testified to how her son had been shot through the chest where the bullet ricocheted clipping certain vital organs before exiting through his chin, BUT GOD s love kept him. She challenged one half of the church to ask, What s love got to do with it? While the other half of the church answered, EVERYTHING! Amongst her guests were Elder Bobby Trice and Pastor Sconyers who graced the pulpit with our most hospitable Pastor who offered space for a word from Pastor Sconyers. Pastor Sconyers said that he immediately felt the love of God when he entered the church doors as he blessed the house then dismissed the service at the conclusion of the matter. Sis. Matheny spoke from the scriptural text, Jeremiah 29:11 which reads, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. In preparation for the day, Sis. Matheny spoke of how she sought the advice of the Pastor and others to ensure that she brought a powerful word, that she did! Her subject was, G.P.S., God s plan of salvation. She mentioned various courses of action in life that we may take which take us off route from God s plan for us, but advised that we can always turn on God s Plan of Salvation and get on the right track to God s goodness and truth to remain in His perfect will for our lives. The house was certainly blessed by this colorful message and call to God s grace, mercy and truth. Layman: continued on page 8

7 FTF: continued from page 3 Everyone did a bumper job!! During this wonderful night I was blessed to have from Memphis, my sister Ms. Georita Junior and god-sisters, Dr. Lori Elaine Porter and Sis. Michelle Flowers of Chicago. Our Jurisdictional Assistant Supervisor, Mother Myrna Herndon graced us with her presence. To top things off for the night, we were also honored and highly favored to have our Jurisdictional Prelate, Bishop Ocie Booker with us along with Bishop Willard Payton. It was a tremendous honor to have them come on Women s night and stay throughout the entire service. The Lord blessed us to share the main message for the evening, which was entitled Prepared for Battle. After the message Elect Lady, Missionary Ellanan Lundy facilitated the altar call and prayed for all the ladies in the house. Presentations were made to our Founders Wives, First Ladies, our First Lady of the District, Sister Iris Reed and to everyone in the house. Sis. Iris Reed literally rolled out the red carpet for yours truly. If you know our first lady, you know she is very gifted, very creative and very generous and she spares no pain in giving her best. Using the theme of the color red, she had me walk down a red carpet, she started by presenting me from the District my Red Card for the Women s International Convention Crusade, then she showered me with long stemmed Red Roses, a gift card to Red Stone American Grill, Red Ruby diamond necklace and ring, Pandora bracelet with a ruby charm and she topped it off with shoes, not just any shoes but Christian Louboutin RED BOTTOM SHOES!!!!!. Words can not express all of the love that was shown to me I m still feasting off of this memorable night and my RED BOTTOM SHOES!!! We ended the Month of May by attending the International Women s Convention/Crusade in Minneapolis, MN. The theme for the convention was An Urgent Call to Committed Holy Women Jeremiah 9:17. Our General Supervisor and Convention President Mother Willie Mae Rivers stated that our nation has been in turmoil; our churches and families are divided. In the midst of all that we face as a nation, we, the believer must not stress or panic; GOD IS IN CONTORL. This was a great meeting and the Lord blessed and showered us with His presence in morning and evening services. It was great to fellowship with some of the leaders from Chicago. If the Lord delays His coming the International Women s Convention/Crusade will be in Detroit in I hope to see you there!!

8 8 DISTRICT: continued from page 5 On Official night Superintendent Reed spoke on our theme. He opened by letting the saints know that no matter what you re going through, or what the devil tells you about your life and circumstances, its only noise! Though we have the promises of God that he will supply all of our needs, the enemy bombards the saints by telling us that we are alone and no one cares for us, attempting to demoralize and make us think that God does not care about our struggles but its only noise! He spoke of how the enemy has inundated the television airwaves and even gotten into the music that the youth listen to, trying to get them overly conscious of sex, drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. If we as saints are going to stop the enemy who goes about as a roaring lion we are going to have to do more than just make noise! We have to get with one accord worshipping in spirit and in truth, and the Noise of this move will shake up the enemy s kingdom and cause breakthroughs and deliverance for the people of God! The meeting concluded with all of the young people receiving prayer from our Superintendent as we all made a joyful and powerful noise unto the Lord calling on the name of Jesus! Also Congratulations to our Pastor who received the Bishop Ocie Booker Shepherd Award during our District Meeting!! Submitted by Missionary Viveca Williams LAYMAN: continued from page 6 ***************************************** The bitter sweet moment of the day came as Elder Walter Jones who has served as our musician for about a year informed us that he would be leaving. In the grand tradition of the Emanuel way, he was presented with cake and ice cream to share with the congregation, a card and farewell love token. Sis. Keeya Thomas (with whom he s worked closely over the last year) offered a beautiful salute on behalf of the Bishop C. C. Owens memorial choir. She referred to him as a big brother and told him he would be sorely missed. Elder Jones went on to say how he was grateful for the love that he had received from Emanuel and stated that he was always just a phone call away. The Pastor closed us out with a medley of songs on God s love and anointed those who wanted a special touch from God as he opened an altar call of deliverance. Sis. Keeya Thomas and yours truly accompanied the Pastor singing praises to our God as the spirit was high and lifted up. Our First Lady arrived near the end of our service and gave us a wonderful update on the power she experienced while away at the Annual Women s International Convention Crusade and urged every woman to join her in attending next year when the convention will take place a bit closer to home in Detroit, Michigan. Laity day is an awesome tool which is used to fine tune the gifts of laity in the ministry and inspire them to pursue holiness on another level. I was definitely inspired by the proceedings of the day and I m sure others were as well. Submitted by Sis. Latoya Gipson