AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
As leaders of Grace House and The ARK respectively, we have reached what we believe to be a significant and Spirit-led decision which we believe is a result of what the Lord has stirred and spoken to our hearts over the past few months.
We are happy to announce that on Sunday, June 3, Grace House and The Ark will begin to partner together in a tangible way from the same location at 1946 Florence Blvd where Grace House is currently located. We will be two congregations who will minister together in one facility as one family to see our region transformed. We are making a commitment to partner in life and ministry by bringing together the generations represented in the two congregations. We believe this step of synergy has been orchestrated by the Holy Spirit and we are saying "Yes, Lord!".
We have a desire to come together and we believe it is a desire born of God for us do life and ministry together from one location. God is moving in our region to bring about a unity that results in the body beginning to more fully function as family.
This will be one family with two congregational expressions and styles of ministry. One family made of Grace House and The ARK. We will be one family with two different worship services where everyone can feel secure and loved.
To make sure everyone understands, we will still be Grace House and The ARK respectively, but committed to function as family in unity and purpose.
MORE SPECIFICS
We will each continue to have our own worship services on Sunday but we will meet together as a family on Wednesday nights. In this way, we are able to maintain our unique expressions of giftings, anointings, and style while enjoying the synergy and unity that comes from coming together on Wednesdays.
Wednesday evening will be the mid-week gathering where one family meets together at the same time to celebrate Father’s goodness. This will be a no-competition zone. This will be a family atmosphere permeated with grace and acceptance and filled with passion and purpose.
Beginning in June, each Sunday morning, Grace House will lead a service at 9:00 a.m. and The Ark will lead a worship service at 11:15 a.m.
Each Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m., we will all meet together with various optional ministry opportunities for everyone including nursery, children, preteen, youth, couples and worship.
There will also be the continuation of the ministries led by each congregation on other week nights just like before. You will also be able to contribute financially to your own congregation just as before. We think this actual step of faith to do life and ministry together in this way pleases the Lord.
Of course, we do not have the answers to everything that lies ahead, but we do believe this step is more than just sharing a facility; it is a step of commitment to minister together as family. Our hearts burn to see a household of faith and a habitation of God in the Spirit demonstrated tangibly to our region. We will do our best to keep all of you informed and on track with this significant step into the future. If this is for a season or a lifetime, we know Father will use it to His glory.
We believe this to be a step forward for all of us. We will be stronger together. We will endeavor to develop a culture of honor and a supernatural culture that will result in people encountering God and engaging His Kingdom. Though we will still have the unique anointings, giftings, and callings represented by both congregations, and will continue to keep those as they are, we feel that our coming together as family will bring favor and blessing upon us all.
Excitingly we will move forward together to see what Father has awaiting us as we work together as family to see our region and world touched by Father's awesome love and supernatural power.
Additionally, you will also have the opportunity to embrace and connect with your brothers and sisters from both congregations. Wednesdays will be a great time of building new relationships and going deeper together in the love of Christ.
In Christ we know we are all one family, but we feel this is a tangible step of faith to demonstrate before the world that we are one in Christ and stronger together.
Moving Forward with Him,
Pastors Eddie & Mikki Lawrence and Pastors Phillip & Marsha Clemons
and Grace House and The ARK Ministries Leaderships
Dutch Sheets will be ministering at Grace House on December 11 at our 9:30 a.m. service. Dutch is an internationally known speaker and author. He has written many books including Intercessory Prayer. For 18 years, Dutch pastored in Colorado Springs. He travels extensively throughout the United States empowering believers for passionate prayer and world-changing revival. Dutch and his wife, Ceci, now reside in Hamilton, Alabama.
We are excited to have with us on Sunday morning, Nov. 6th, Dr. Tony Crisp from Knoxville, TN. He will be ministering on the subject, "Why Every Christian Should Love and Support Israel." This is sure to be an informative and inspirational time for us. And, it is also very relevant concerning all the news regarding those who oppose Israel. Here is some of Dr. Crisp's bio:
Dr. Tony Crisp is the Visionary Founder of True Life Concepts Ministry. A leading authority on the history, culture and geography of the nation of Israel, Dr. Crisp has been traveling and leading tours to the Holy Land for more than 30 years. Taught and mentored by some of the most respected men of the Evangelical world, Dr. Crisp has served as pastor of churches from North Carolina to California and is a highly-sought-after teacher and bible scholar. And yet, he describes himself as “country as cornbread” and has a unique ability to make the intricacies of the Bible and theology accessible to the common man.
Tony and his wife, Karen, reside in Knoxville.
Be sure to check out our Facebook page even if you are not a member of Facebook. You can view announcements and other news from Grace House members there, as well as lots of pictures from our events. You may want to see our recent Fall Picnic pictures there, too!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/160206015126/
Congratulations to our new deacon couples: Mike and Vicki Sledge, Mark and Nancy Forsythe, Mike and Mammie Clark, and Terry and Lynda Rogers! The installation service on September 11 was a time of celebration and affirmation.
Hello Grace House Family,
Some announcements to follow, but first…..
God is so good! The past few weeks, based on what we have been hearing through the prophetic, we have been declaring we are entering into a time of harvest, double blessing and fruitfulness, and stepping through gates that have been previously locked or closed. Already, I have been receiving calls and hearing testimonies from people that are experiencing unanticipated blessings. These have ranged from promotions at work, unexpected raises, new job opportunities, ministry opportunities, and financial breakthroughs. I believe more and more is on the way.
I am so enjoying the growing relationships that I am seeing between spiritual fathers/mothers and spiritual sons/daughters in Grace House. As I look back over the past four months, so many prophetic words and impartations are being realized and fulfilled. This is a time of advance. Now for some announcements:
1. Tomorrow morning (Sunday July 10) in our worship service we will also have Andrew Lawrence's ordaination as our Worship Pastor. Please be praying for this special time for Andrew and Grace House as he assumes oversight of our worship team. Tomorrow night we will all gather at Christ Chapel to hear Ray Hughes at 6 pm.
2. This coming Thursday night through Friday night, Joni Ames will be holding her annual Women's Pophetic conference at Grace House. Though it is a women's conference, everyone is invited for the evening services on Thursday and Friday evenings. People from Nashville, Birmingham and the surrounding area are scheduled to come. Several of our Grace House ladies will be speaking or singing and our Worship Team will be leading worship. Mikki has been asked to preach on Thursday night. Please come if you can.
3. Friday night, July 22, the Men and Women's Encounter groups will be hosting a night of worship at Grace House. Everyone is invited, so this will be another great opportunity to get together and worship. Our worship team will be leading the worship.
4. On Sunday morning, June 24th, Evangelist Kim Klaudt will be with us. He will be sharing his testimony and ministering. He also is a terrific blues guitarist. We will be hosting a W.C. Handy event at Grace House on Monday night July 25th at 7 pm and Kim will be burning up his guitar and doing some great Jesus jamming. Go ahead and invite your friends to come.
5. We have begun contacting several people to pray about serving as deacons at Grace House. When we have contacted everyone and they have had time to pray and seek confirmation, we will announce a time of ordination of our first deacons.
6. Please know that Jim Bevis, the Elders and I are also working on developing the model of training we will be offering at Grace House to further equip our people as well as to provide a biblically based way for people to seek being licensed, commissioned, and ordained. A major emphasis also right now among our Elders along with Bro. Jim (whom we view as one of the apostoic leaders in our midst) is the development, oversight and deployment of the company of prophets in Grace House.
Remember to soak in the presences and praise your way forward.
Well a lot is happening and praise the Lord it is good!!
Blessings and Hope to see all of you tomorrow as we worship together,
Pastor Eddie
Joni Ames' Prophetic Destiny Conference, July 14-15, beginning Thursday night at 7 p.m. with daytime sessions at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Friday night at 7 p.m.
Worship, prophetic ministry, writer's and dream interpretation workshops. Free conference but offering will be received.
Daytime sessions are women only; nighttime sessions are open to men.
We invite everyone to come and have a great time learning more about the awesome journey of hearing, obeying, and see God's Kingdom come.
THURSDAY 7pm:
Prophetic Dance by Natalie Clingan
(10-minute speakers: Evelyn Doneghy, Deanna Davis, Debbie Joyner)
Mikki Lawrence, main speaker
FRIDAY 10am-12:30pm
10-minute speakers – (LeAnne Goff, Charlotte Matthews, Marsha Clemmons)
Debbie Joyner, Editor of MorningStar Publications, will be doing a Writer's Seminar, "HOW TO WRITE & GET YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED."
12:30pm-1:30pm: Lunch on your own
2:00pm-5:00pm: Many Workshops – including Dreams & Interpretation with Debbi Carlson – Other workshops led by Andrea Penn and Carmen Mehreg
5:00-7pm: Dinner on your own
FRIDAY 7 p.m.
Prophetic Dance by Megan Hamlin and Leslie Hayes
(10-minute speakers: Sandra Saylor,Vicki Sledge,Terri Wardlaw)
Joni Ames, main speaker
Hello Grace House Family,
UPDATE OF THE WEEKEND:
Wow! God is moving in our midst and in the midst of our city.
Last Friday night was so pivotal. The hunger and impartation was incredible and what Ray Hughes shared was very significant for us. We were so blessed by so many from different churches who came together. The testimonies from the young people and people who been through the ENCOUNTER weekends were powerful. We all witnessed an altar full of young people praying for the rest of us. What a beautiful picture of the generations coming together.
Yesterday morning we were rocked again as Pastor Doug Abner from Manchester, KY shared about the transformation of his city and also gave us a powerful prophetic word for Grace House. During the service, people filled the altar to lay down offenses and then later to have a "redo" had Pastor Doug called it…a rededication to live for God. So many things happened in the service and you could sense and see God at work.
Ray Hughes spoke at Christ Chapel and they had long lines of people desiring prayer and hungering for God. The ARK had a former drug lord from Kentucky minister there and they do experienced God powerfully. Other congregations also have shared of how God is moving in their midst as well. Yeah!
10 congregations and other ministries came together last night at Christ Chapel to hear the team from Kentucky. It was one of the most wonderful gatherings of different church congregations I have ever seen. There was such a strong sense of family and this is the Lord's doing as it reflects His desire for us. The altars were filled with people who came forward to be free and transformed. How amazing it all was.
What is happening has been prayed for but it has not been planned by man; it is Father breathing on us new hunger, new zeal, new passion. Yes it is getting radical. Please keep praying that we would be led by the Spirit.
WHAT'S NEXT?
I feel the Lord has confirmed the next step for us. Last Friday when I arrived before the service, our drummer, Tommy Mills shared with me and the worship team a vision the Lord gave him. He said he saw me laying on a rock in the bottom of a river and I had such peace just laying there in the bottom of the river though above the water it was very turbulent. After he shared, we talked about what it could mean and we talked about needing to rest on the rock of Christ and soak in the river of God and so forth.
The next day, Leif calls me and shares with me that Paul Yadao, one of his spiritual sons from the Philippines, is going to be in Florence on Friday. I have heard of Paul and how God is using him to have an impact globally. Leif shared with me that Paul carries tremendous revelation about soaking in God's presence and receiving from the place of rest what we need to see our culture transformed. The culture created in the Philippine churches is seen to be one of the purest streams of love and honor in the body.
Paul has been traveling around the states recently sharing this message and congregations are experiencing transformation. He actually has changed his schedule to be with Leif for a day and then he is back on the road. He just spoke at a 12,000 Lutheran Church in Minnesota where God really moved among out Lutheran brothers and sisters. I may not be the brightest light bulb in the building but I immediately connected the vision that Tommy had seen about me soaking in the river with this opportunity. None of us are interested in just have more meetings, but if it is strategic and bringing us the revelation we need to move forward, then I do not want to miss it.
To top it off, I remembered the vision the Lord gave me in the hospital in Birmingham last August when I almost died as a result of a problem that occurred after a procedure on my heart. Part of that vision was the Lord telling me that what He was going to do in our region would be among those who learned to rest in the Lord. So now I am really stoked as this is what Paul really teaches…learning to receive from Heaven what we need instead of from self effort. We all want this to be a work that is done through the strength the Holy Spirit gives and in step with the leadership of the Spirit.
I have sought counsel from our Elders, Bro. Jim, Leif, Pastor Doc (Christ Chapel) and Pastor Phillip (ARK) about the meeting and they are all in agreement that we should go for it. So after this lengthy explanation, I am happy to announce that we are going to meet again this Friday night to pursue what God is saying and doing in this move of His Spirit.
Where: Grace House
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Answer to Your Question: Yes our air conditioning has been fixed!!!
We plan (always subject to the flow of the Spirit) to have about 45 minutes of worship and then to turn Pastor Paul Yadao loose to teach us which will be followed by impartation and ministry.
Please be praying about this and come if you can. Bring a friend. It seems God is having people we need to clear their schedule to be with us. This happened last week when Ray Hughes heard about what was happening. he cancelled his meetings and came to Florence to be with us. This week Pastor Paul changed his schedule to be in Florence with Leif and Leif felt led to call me about it. God is so good! Let's remember what we are hearing and share testimonies from what we are seeing. One final thing. I shared a prophetic word as a result of a vision I had this past Friday afternoon while in prayer. I saw two things happening, I shared the first and now I will also share the second.
I heard the Lord say, "Am I not the Lord of the tongues of fire? Am I not the Lord of the refining fire? Can I not dredge a channel so that my river will flow?" I then saw something being pulled up out of the river (I sensed it was the Tennessee River nearby). I could not tell what it was. But I knew it was something that is going to be pulled up out of the river. I heard "Pay attention to what it is named and what people call it. Study this for it is a message to you."
After Ray ministered Friday night about naming things and calling things forth, I shared what I had seen earlier in the afternoon. I also mentioned I saw a ball of fire but I would share that later. So here it is for all of us to weigh and judge as well:
Later after above vision, I saw another one. I saw a ball of fire streak across the sky in a flash. I heard "As I guided the sling of David as he released the rock causing the giant to fall, when the ball of fire steaks across the sky, you will know that one of the giants on the land in this region has fallen for I am raising up Davidic worshiping warriors whom I will use to bring the giant down." I have no sense of the timing on either of these and I know they are "watch" words, but when they happen each of them will be a sign to us.
-Tuesday morning men's group meets at Grace House and not our house this week.
-Tuesday night of refreshing at 7 pm
Enough for now, as you can tell, I am excited….
Blessings,
Pastor Eddie
LET'S KEEP GOING!!!
After prayer and consideration, I feel led that we are to have a special service this Friday night (June 3rd) with a desire to continue what we experienced this last Sunday morning at Grace House.
The presence of the Lord was so very strong and many lives were touched by the anointing and presence of the Holy Spirit. People stood in line for an hour and a half to receive prayer and ministry. There was much joy, many tears, and an awesome sense of God's presence. The prophetic was flowing as people received encouraging words.
We have all been talking about birth pangs. Last week, one of our worship team saw a cloud descend in the room. We have had three different unrelated people who have had a vision of a roaring lion roaring and the enemy being scattered.
Several weeks ago on a Tuesday night, I released a word about May 22nd. I prophesied that significant events would occur then and for seven days there would be shiftings among the nations. I saw a map with Europe and the Middle East. It had to do with an unusual cloud and much chaos concerning the borders of the nations in the Middle East. I saw economic shiftings occurring. I heard the Lord say, "Watch England Shine!"
When we awakened here in the states on the 22nd the news was filled with the story of a huge volcanic cloud. For the rest of the week the news headlines carried the story of the cloud moving toward and over Europe. On Monday the 23rd one of the news headlines led out with the economic turmoil that was surfacing in Europe. England is the nation that has not signed onto the Euro dollar as well. On Sunday 22nd, President Obama spoke readdressing earlier comments and stated his support for Israel but also for peace with the Palestinians. On the 22nd in Yemen they lay siege to the Embassy calling for the President of Yemen to resign. The Israel/Palestinian border situation has been mentioned repeatedly.
I also prophesied after the tornadoes hit that we would begin seeing double rainbows (which are rare) over sites where the storms hit as a reminder of God's New Testament promises to His people. Right after the tornado hit Joplin, MO the news carried the story of a double rainbow that appeared over the city and stated that the people there were seeing as a sign of hope to them. I believe we will hear of these happening in other storm struck areas as well.
Interestingly, just a week or so before the Japanese earthquake, one of young men, Justin Wardlaw, prophesied that he sensed there was about to be an earthquake. I remember it being a very powerful word from Justin. A few days later, an earthquake hit Japan.
When Ray Hughes was here, he shared with me that he really sensed we were on the verge of something breaking through. He even considered staying and continuing the meeting then. I talked to Ray earlier today. He will be with us on Friday night as well as we seek God's heart together.
Last Thursday morning at our home as Mikki and I were talking and praying, I felt the Lord move upon my heart and I just knew that Sunday was going to be a service in which God moved powerfully. He reminded me of what happened in my own life 14 Memorial Days ago in 1997. I believe in the weeks before us we will see many testimonies of people being filled with the Holy Spirit and have supernatural experiences with the Lord.
The Lord is calling us to pray, to worship, to press in.
I share these things to say, God is speaking and moving, so let's move with His moving.
We have so needed this refreshing. The Lord is bringing things into alignment and inviting us to press in. Now is the time for us to lay aside the things that have hindered us and to press forward together in love, unity, and faith.
I have discussed this with our Elders and we are all in agreement…MORE LORD!
We will meet at 7 p.m. and the worship team scheduled for this Sunday will lead us on Friday night as well. I exhort everyone to come with a heart to press in and worship God and prepare your heart for impartation from Him. We will turn the worship team loose and just go after God. Please invite your friends, and any believers who are hungering for more.
I really believe this is a Kairos opportunity for us. Let's step into the flow of what Father desires to do. Let's pray for the flow of the miraculous and supernatural.
Could you pass this on to people you know? Will you plan to come?
Blessings,
Pastor Eddie
Here are the specific details of our upcoming weekend with Ray Hughes
Saturday, April 16th- 9 a.m. to 12 Noon seminar entitled, Life on the Worship Team. No registration fee required for this great time of teaching for worship team leaders and members. Of course, anyone can attend.
Sunday, April 17th- 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Ray will be ministering at Grace House. Everyone invited.
