praisemag nov 12

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November 2012 / Issue No. 42

So the churches were strengthened in

the faith and grew daily in numbers.Acts 16:5

Pastor David E. Sumrall

Pastor Larry Stockstill

Pastor Beverley Sumrall


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A Sermon from Pastor David Sumrall

Luke 2:52 NIV And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favorwith God and men. I want to teach you about one of the most ignoredcomponents to success, productivity, and blessing in the Bible. A portionhat is humbling, because it forces us to realize all we do is the natural,

and then there is this incredible supernatural component to every part ofsuccess. We are going to start by understanding favor. The Greek wordor favor means: kindness, grace, mercy, goodwill, attractiveness,

charm, charisma. Literally, if I were to dene it using worldly terms, Iwould say that favor is the It factor or the X Factor in the kingdomof God. The world has this It Factor or X Factor. They say movie starshave it. You look at them and you say, What makes them special? Whatmakes them stand out? Theyre not smarter than anybody. They dontook different than anybody. But theres an it or an x factor abouthem. There is this unidentiable quality that sets them apart. Favor ishe X Factor in the kingdom of God. The It Factor or the X Factor in the

world is simply the devils imitation of favor.

t amazes me how often Christians seek to develop this charisma, or ItFactor. The Christian world will go after becoming like the world in itather than receiving Gods real favor. I looked at one guy many years ago

and said, How many times have you studied the Dale Carnegie course?He said, Six times! I said, I can tell. Now, I was insulting him but hehought I was complementing him. But he was so busy presenting his

charisma and saying things in just the right way, and presenting himselfn just the right way, charming and exuding his charisma. Forgive me, itwas all that he learned from a Personality Development Course.

Too often as Christians we try to accept the worlds imitation ofsomething that God has that is very real. When we go after the phony, wenever get the real. Ive always taught you that when it comes to the moveof the Holy Spirit, when it comes to a miracle, when it comes to anythingof God, if you will ever accept the imitation, if you will ever accept thephony, if you will ever accept the satans counterfeit, if you will everaccept the worlds counterfeit of what God has, then you can never havehe real. So I would challenge you, dont go after charisma like the world.

Dont try to have the X Factor or the It Factor by the methodology of the

world. There is something far more real than these things. There is attle thing called favor that only God can give.

Favor is not just something that is there in your life all at once. Favor issomething that grows. Everything about favor is progressive. Luke 2:52NIV And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God andmen. Even in Jesus life, He was not born with 100% favor of God and

00% favor of man upon His life. Favor was a progressive trait. The favorof God was a progressive trait. The favor of man was a progressive trait.This is something that will grow in your life.n 1 Sam 2:12-26, we nd a very interesting story. It is the story of Eli, his

sons and a young boy named Samuel. I want you to see something thatoccurs here - that people will either grow in favor or grow in disfavor withGod and with men. Note verse 26: 26And the boy Samuel continued togrow in stature and in favor with the L and with men.

Here are two sets of young men: (1) Elis sons and (2) a little boy namedSamuel. Eli raised young Samuel as his son. You have one set of boys,Elis sons, who were growing in disfavor with God and disfavor with thepeople. You have another boy in the same house, same physical location,growing in favor with God and in favor with men. You need to understandbrothers and sisters that your environment does not determine yourgrowth of favor. Your heart toward God determines the growth of youravor. My environment does not affect my growth in favor, my walk

with God does. You can have two brothers side by side and have themsleeping in the same bed every night. One can be growing in favor withGod and men and the other in disfavor with God and men. Especiallyas a young person, we tend to look at the environment we live in andsay, My brothers and my sisters are really wicked. One young man sat

down with me and said, Pastor Sumrall, you dont understand my life.said, Tell me about it. He said, When I go home on Sunday, I go homeo a father who is a drunk. I go home to a mother who is screaming. I

go home to two brothers who are dealing in drugs and we have drugsn our house and in our bedroom. And I looked at him and I said, Sowhat does that have to do with you? He said, How can God bless meving in a house like that? How could God bless young Samuel living

in a house like that? But God did. Samuels brothers, so to speak (Elissons), were involved in sexual immorality. They were having sex withwomen in Gods house. They were stealing the offerings. These guyswere wicked, wicked men sleeping in the same house with Samuel, buthe grew in favor. You just need to understand that the people aroundyou do not determine the favor of God upon your life. The environmentaround you does not determine the favor of God upon your life. Yourheart for God determines the favor of God upon your life. Now, the restof that story about that young man - when he graduated college he got

a wonderful job. He now makes P75,000 a month, has his own car andis buying a house. When he gets his house paid for hes going to choosea wife. I dont know why he wants the house paid for and then choose agirlfriend, but he seems to want everything in that order. I keep teasinghim and telling him, You know guy, you can have a girlfriend and startcourting while youre paying off your house. Getting a girlfriend isnt theeasiest thing in the world. He said, Pastor, the favor of God will flow tomy life for that. This young man got a revelation of favor. When I taughthim favor years ago, the Holy Ghost took it down on his insides. He said,Pastor, the same favor that flowed to me for my house and lot, my carand my job, the same favor will flow to me for a wife. Favor flowed toyoung Samuel in a very wicked environment. Success and greatnesscame to his life. Destruction came to the sons of Elis lives.

Lets take it a step farther. Theres a great difference between favorflowing to you from men and favor flowing to you from God. Luke 2:52NIV And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God andmen. Prov 3:4 NIV Then you will win favor and a good name in the sightof God and man. You need to recognize that there are two differentflavors of favor. First, there is favor that flows from God, and there arethings we do to see that favor flow from God. There are things we dothat will cause that favor of God to flow to us. The second flavor is thefavor that flows from men. Again, there are things you and I do thatcause that favor of men to flow to us, that cause us to grow in the favorof men. This growth is not just automatic. There are things we do inour relationship with God that cause His favor to grow to us, and thereare things we do in our relationship with people that cause their favor togrow to us. I belabor this point because some Christians are really goodat seeing favor flow to them from God, but they dont understand the

things that cause the favor to flow from God and the things that causefavor to flow from men are different. So, they grow really well in the favorof God, but they dont grow very well in the favor of men. There are otherChristians that work really hard at developing the favor of men, but theydont see much of the favor of God flow to them. So never forget thereare two different flavors of favor. They both operate on slightly differentprinciples and we need to grow in both of them.

Let me illustrate this to you. One of the f lavors of favor of men is the favorof leaders. Dan 1:8-9 NIV But Daniel resolved not to dele himself withthe royal food and wine, and he asked the chief ofcial for permissionnot to dele himself this way. 9 NowGod had caused the ofcial to showfavorand sympathy to Daniel. God can touch a leaders heart to showyou favor. A leaders favor is something we really need to treasure. Prov19:12 NLT The kings anger is like a lions roar, but his favor is like dew onthe grass. Prov 16:15 NIV When a kings face brightens, it means life;his favor is like a rain cloud in spring. What does a rain cloud in springcause? It causes growth. The favor of a leader can bring growth toanything you are doing. The favor of a leader can bring accomplishmentand very quick success to anything you are working on. It is like a cloudof rain in the spring time. You just planted your crops and that earlyrain causes your crops to begin to flourish. The favor of a leader isnot sought like the favor of other men. The favor of a leader is soughtwith integrity. Prov 28:23 NIV He who rebukes a man will in the endgain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue. In other words,speaking honestly to people, to a leader will bring much more favor thana flattering tongue. Prov 29:26 NLT Many seek the rulers favor, butjustice comes from the L. Prov 19:6 NIV Many curry favor with aruler, and everyone is the friend of a man who gives gifts. A leaders

favor, then, is one of those illustrations of the favor of men. It can bringvery quick growth. It can bring very quick accomplishment. All of thatjust to tell you there are different flavors of favor.

Another thing about favor is that favor must always be a two-waystreet. Favor must flow to you and from you. If you want favor to growin your life, just like everything else, it must be sowed as well as reaped.

THE SCHOOL OF FAVOR


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WATER BAPTISM WEEKEND 2012

An integral part of the message of salvation is water baptism.mmediately following the command to repent is the commando be baptized. (Acts 2:38). Each year, COP places a special

emphasis on this signicant event in a Christians lifeconsidered as the rst step of obedience after salvation. This

year, members and Connect Groups across COPs membershipworked to bring their friends and family members who haveust been saved in the various COP evangelism events or have

been saved for sometime but had not yet responded to the callo be baptized. As a result, a whopping 496 individuals in the

weekend of Oct 13-14 were water baptized and received thebaptism of the Holy Spirit at the same time. Praise God!

THREE NEW PASTORS!

Pastora Betty Lagonilla

(Young Builders Department)Pastora Betty grew up in a Christian family butremembers having fully surrendered her life to Christ in2000 during a Trio crusade in a Youth Home Connect

Group. Since then, her desire to grow and mature in herChristian walk grew, taking her to the next level. In 2009, she joined theTeam Ministry as part of the music group, Revibe. Two months later,her calling to the full-time ministry was conrmed. After completingeam ministry, she supported herself by auditioning for the Trios in

order to be able to follow the call upon her life. Successfully passingher internship and the School of Pastoral Studies terms, she nowoins the Young Builders Department Pastoral staff.

Pastora Ali Ignacio

(Pastoral Care Department, District 6)In case you might be wondering if youre seeing doublelooking at Pastora Ali when we have just recentlywelcomed another Pastora who looks just like her,well, you are indeed! Pastora Yanna is Pastora Alis

win sister. In fact, it was Pastora Yanna who shared the Gospelo her during their college years in 2005. In the following year, she

nally accepted Christ as her Savior in one of the major crusades hereat the Main Campus. She became actively involved in the CampusMinistry in 2007 and in 2009, she joined the Team Ministry. It wasduring this time that she received her lifes calling to become a pastor.Thus, in the following year she entered internship. Finishing all the

equirements of a pastoral student, she now goes on rounds with herwin sister, Pastora Yanna in visiting members in the Mandaluyong

area.

Pastor James Ragsag

(Youth Department)Pastor James has been attending COP since his

Childrens Church days but has totally dedicated hislife to Christ during his college years in an SNL servicewhere he had a personal encounter with God. From

then on he dynamically became ministry-involved, assisting in theYouth Home Connect Group. In 2006, he joined the Campus Ministryand, a few months later, the Dance Ministry. After graduating from

a tourism/HRM course in college in 2009, he entered Team Ministrywhere his call to the full-time ministry was dened. In 2011 he becamean intern and a student of the School of Pastoral Studies in 2012. Allthe years of service and training has paid off as he is now a Pastor in

the Youth Department.


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OUR TERRIFIC TRIOS!

At COP, we recognize that one of the most effective mediums to communicate the message of the Gospel is through music. Andsome of the best music messengers around happen to be our very own trios. We currently have 6 trios doing daily the roundso minister in the various COP Connect Groups in the homes, schools and government and private ofces. Our trios account for1% of this years total number of souls saved from January to September or a total of 5,635 changed lives. Thank you God!

Strictly No Limits(Campus and CAD Connect Groups)

PSP (Para Sa Panginoon)

Step Up(Specialized Connect Groups)

MP3 (Most Precious Trio)

Driven Sounds(Home Connect Groups)

K4J (Kids for Jesus)

Aiko, iChan & Em Jam, Ervin & Chelsea

Elai, Jay-Jay & Zion

Carlos, Kelle & Miko

Monching, Pam & Jeanette

Aileen, Jay & Jen


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THE FIRSTCOP NATIONALCHURCH GROWTH & LEADERSHIP

CONFERENCE 2012

Over the holidays, COP mounted its rst annual NationalChurch Growth and Leadership Conference last October 31o November 4. The successful event was participated in by

395 churches, and over 3,000 pastors and leaders attendingarious sessions. The afternoon plenary meetings were the

highlights of the conference where Pastor David Sumrallaught on the Pastors life with the people, and Sister Beverley

Sumrall enlightened everyone on the focus of worship andhe required excellence that music ministers should possessn their spiritual, ministerial and personal life. Guest speaker

Pastor Larry Stockstill from Bethany Church, USA spoke on thedifferent aspects of a leaders life both on and off the pulpit:amily, ministry and relationship with God.

The morning track sessions were also successful as delegatespacked the classrooms to the rafters. Specic areas of theministry such as youth, childrens, connect groups, visitation,music, media, church nances, specialized ministries (military

and prison) and Bible computer programs were discussed.

One of the event features also enjoyed by everyone was themini food and ministry fair. It was a great opportunity forhe delegates from various churches to meet and greet one

another as well as survey the different ministries COP has inplace for its members to be involved in.

The worship services in the evenings of the conference aswell as the weekend services were all taught by Pastor LarryStockstill except for the Saturday 3PM service in the Eastwhere former COP Pastoral Staff, Pastor Jamie Weidner, taughton strengthening one another.

All the services and sessions, even the worship andpresentations, complemented the principles being taught. Thegreatest examples of which were the models of faithfulness as

displayed by those serving in the church for years and by thedream teams being sent out for the next church inaugurationsin Cebu and Singapore. Their statement alone of the length oftheir membership, ministry involvement and staff service weretestaments of their love and loyalty for God, the leadership andthe people.


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know this is a very simple point, but it is amazing to me the Christianshat always want favor to flow to them, but they do not want any favor tolow from them. First of all, favor must flow to us. Gen 50:4-6 NIV Whenhe days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaohs court, If I

have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, 5 Myather made me swear an oath and said, I am about to die; bury me inhe tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan. Now let me go up and

bury my father; then I will return. 6 Pharaoh said, Go up and buryyour father, as he made you swear to do. Now, its Josephs turn. Gen47:25-26 NIV You have saved our lives, they said. May we nd favorn the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh. 26 So Joseph

established it as a law concerning land in Egyptstill in force todayhat a fth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of

he priests that did not become Pharaohs. When Joseph had the upperhand over all of the land of Egypt, when he had bought all of their lands,all of their animals, and even bought their own lives as slaves during theseven years of famine, the people came to him and said, We know youren charge, please have favor upon us. So Joseph understood that in lifepeople will ask favor and you must give favor to them. And you will askavor from other men and they will give favor to you. Favor will flow to

you and from you.

Another general thought I want you to understand about favor is ithere are seasons in life that are seasons of favor. Yes, favor is always

progressive, it is always growing in our lives, but there are specialseasons in our life when favor just flows. Isa 49:8 NIV This is what the says: In the time (in Hebrew, In the season) of my favor I will

answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you andwill make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land ando reassign its desolate inheritances, Isa 60:10 NIV Foreigners

will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger Istruck you, in favor(in Hebrew, In the season of my favor) I will showyou compassion. Isa 61:2 NIV to proclaim the year(in Hebrew, In theseason) of the Ls favor and the day of vengeance of our God, tocomfort all who mourn. When Jesus came and sat down and opened thescrolls, he nished with this and ended at the word favor. He did notcontinue into the time of punishment and vengeance that will happenater on during the great tribulation. Right now in this world, we are ina season of favor; a season of favor that Jesus announced when He satdown and opened the scrolls in the synagogue of Capernaum and said,The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He announced a season of grace, a

season of favor for the entire world that will not end until an event we call

he rapture. In each of your lives, there are going to be special seasons ofavor. Notice, Isa 60:10 NIV Foreigners will rebuild your walls,

and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor(inHebrew, In the season of my favor)I will show you compassion.As aChristian, I would like you to think back in life to a time when you reallymessed up. Do you remember how Gods hand came upon you stronglyand you repented and got right with God? Do you remember whathappened next? Favor flowed to your life. You could sit there and justcry because you know that you didnt deserve any of these nice thingshat were happening. You knew you had messed up, you had sinned, andhen once you repented it was like everything began to change. In fact,o be honest, some Christians probably got mad at you because you got

so blessed, because they wanted you to suffer longer for your sin. All ofa suddenly all of these blessings started flowing into your life. You haveo understand that, yes, in the anger of God He will bring judgment for

our sins, but as soon as we repent, the seasons change. Its like movingrom hot season to rainy season. All of a sudden the blessings begin tolow. Favor has flowed to your life. This does not mean God is rewarding

you for your sin. Dont get the idea like some Christians get saying, Well,sinned and now God is blessing me because I sinned. No, no, no, no.

Dont let the devil twist that in your brain. This is favor.

There are other times where all of a sudden its like everything is working.Promotion after promotion, things you have been praying for, things juststart happening. Its a beautiful season of favor. Do you deserve it? No!But isnt it wonderful to receive it? So dont say, This is a season ofuck. I dont believe in luck. I believe in favor. Im lucky this week! No,m never lucky. I have favor.

Let me give you one more general thought. In Deut 33:16 and 23, Mosess pronouncing generational blessings over the tribes of Israel. Deut33:16 NIV with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favorof him who dwelt in the burning bush. Let all these rest on the head ofJoseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers. Favor was goingo flow to a family. Deut 33:23 NIV About Naphtali he said: Naphtali is

abounding with the favor of the L and is full of his blessing; he willnherit southward to the lake. As you see favor grow in your life, you are

going to see it is one of the generational spiritual blessings passed on

through a family, passed on through a generation. Some of you youngpeople dont even realize it, but things happen in your life, people noticeyou, give you opportunities, do things for you because of the favor of Godthat has rested upon your mother, your father, your grandmother, yourgrandfather. You look around and say, Why do I get these opportunities?Why do people do these things for me? Why do these things happenfor me? It is the favor of God that came upon your grandparents, yourparents and is now passed on to the next generation. One of the greatestthings you can leave your children is an inheritance of favor.

Young people you need to understand that sometimes a secondgeneration Christian does not understand why things are so good and soblessed and so wonderful in their lives because the rst generation grew

in the favor of God.

What brings the growth of favor in our lives? There are many types ofprinciples that bring favor into our lives but were only going to deal withone category of these today: The principles of life that cause favor togrow. The rst principle of life: You must search for wisdom. Prov 8:35NIV For whoever nds me nds life andreceives favor from the L. Thecontext there is wisdom. So, we can actually say it this way, Whoevernds wisdom nds life and receives favor from the Lord. One of thepurposes of Proverbs is for attaining wisdom (Prov 1:1). Where do yound wisdom? Proverbs. Read a chapter of Proverbs every day and youwill read the book of Proverbs through and through once a month, and12 times a year. If you want favor, you should look for wisdom. And oneof the best places to nd wisdom is the book of Proverbs. Watch your

companionship. Prov 13:20 NIV He who walks with the wise grows wise,but a companion of fools suffers harm.Young people, do you want favorto flow to your life? Stay away from idiots. Stay away from fools. Walkwith the wise. Choose your companions well.

The second principle of life: Live a good life. Prov 12:2 NIV Agood man obtains favor from the L, but the L condemns a craftyman. I didnt say be perfect. I just said to live a good life. Dont be crafty.Dont be shrewd. Dont try to take advantage of people. Dont look forways to cheat people. Be a good person. If the Bible said be perfect andobtain favor from the Lord, wed all be in trouble. But it just says, A goodman obtains favor from the Lord. Just be a good person.

Third thing about lifestyle: search for understanding. Prov 13:15 NIVGood understanding wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.

The fourth one: Finding a wife. Prov 18:22 NIV He who nds a wifends what is good and receives favor from the L. So, thirty four yearsago this beautiful lady named Bev married me. And when she said, Ido, God gave me favor. Ladies you are a source of favor into a manslife. Some of you say, Why would God do that? Listen, you have no ideawhat it is like for a young man to get married. Sis Bev and I were lookingat old wedding pictures the other day, celebrating our anniversary. AndI can remember exactly what I felt like on our wedding day scared todeath. You say, Why? When a young man gets married hes taking theresponsibility to care for a woman, to provide for a woman. You have tounderstand ladies; a guy can sleep on the floor, a guy can sleep on thestreet, a guy can sleep in his ofce. He doesnt care about a house, if hehas a pair of shoes, a pair of pants and a t-shirt, a guy is happy. But whena guy gets married, he is taking on the responsibility to care for a woman,to make sure shes taken care of, nice clothes and food. Then the babycomes along and they discover that babies only get more expensive, notless expensive. Yes, favor will flow to a man when he gets married. A manneeds favor when he gets married. He needs more success. He needsmore accomplishment when he gets married.

Let me give you one more. Prov 11:27 NLT If you search for good, you willnd favor; but if you search for evil, it will nd you! You have to decidewhat you are looking for in life. What is your focus in life? Are you alwayslooking for evil? For what is wicked? For sin? He said, If youre alwayslooking evil, it will nd you. Believe me, he said, you dont even haveto go nd it. If you would just look for it, you attract it. Looking for evilattracts it. But if you will look for good, a heart that looks for good is amagnet of favor. You just have to decide what you are looking for in life.

Everything you see and do, you should look for the good in it rst. Dontlook for the evil. Dont look for the devil. Look for God! Look for the goodin everything. Look for the good in every person. Look for the good inevery opportunity. Look for the good in every new position that you walkinto. Dont be the person who is always looking for the evil in everything.Be a person who is always looking for good. That will be a magnet to thefavor of God flowing to your life. That will attract Gods favor to your life.


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8/8

CEBU DREAM TEAM

Trios 7,310

Prison 3,018

Campus 3,093

Teams 635

Pulpit 9,464

Connect Groups 2,803

Feeding 4,508

Personal Evangelism 2,927

Mighty Men in Uniform 13,003

Interns 1,342

Kids Trios 168

Harvest Visits 4,198

Lukes Call 1,021

Others(Choir outreaches, funerals, etc) 2,370

F

HARVEST

E F

We have seen

55,860souls saved

as of October 31, 2012

Comparison:

49,213 as of October 31, 2011

34,472 as of October 31, 2010

30,906 as of October 31, 2009

30,181 as of October 31, 2008

25,052 as of October 31, 2007

After this years successful rst branch church launch inDavao City last Holy Week with Pastors Ryan and DianeMillanar, COP is getting ready to mount its second branchchurch inauguration this time in the queen city of the south:Cebu. Following the Biblical pattern of sending out the bestworkers into the harvest eld, COP forms together a pastoraland music ministry pioneering dream team in the persons ofhe Pagadoras (Pastors Joey and Lani) and the Tabladas (Bro.

Christian and Sis. Em). Both couples have grown up with COPas their second home and family. Pastor Joey has served as

he department head for the children, pastoral care and youthdepartments for years. His wife Pastora Lani previously workedwith the COP Bible College and to date is a District Head withhe Pastoral Care Department. Bro. Christian and Sis. Em on the

other hand have been long-time staff members of the ChristianArts Department both as professors in the Music College andas part of the Trios. With such a formidable foundation forpioneering, COP is looking forward to establishing a premierSchool for Pastoral Studies and Music College in the southwith Cebu and Davao as its main campuses. Come the nextHoly Week, we will be celebrating Easter with the birth of ournewest branch church. COP lets support our south DreamTeam with our prayers, our missions givings and in creating

a network of communications to announce to our friends andelatives in Cebu and nearby provinces to watch out for our

Cebu branch. Glory to God for open doors!

praisemag nov 12

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