The Power of Words

WOWgroup Global Fellowship NY

We first began with Cami Ortiz a young seven year old girl reading a verse from her Princess devotional book. What a beautiful moment we experienced in the presence of the Lord.

WOWgroup Global Fellowship NY was presented with three clips from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. If you would like to see each clip click here:
Lab Coat
Dad's Approval
Real You

After we viewed each clip we discussed what we saw and what lesson we learned from each one.

Proverbs 18:21 ESV
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Ephesians 4:29 ESV
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear it.

Proverbs 15:4 ESV
A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

Minister Tanya Merced focused on the three clips and shared that as a result of Flint's mother speaking life into her son's life he didn't give up. We see throughout the film that Flint states in his own words " From that moment on..." Although his future inventions failed Flint did not consider himself a failure. The reason why Flint did not feel like a failure was due to the fact that his mother changed a negative situation (teasing) into a positive one (perseverance). The mother deposited seeds that would later go on to multiply and produce good fruits.

On the other hand, Flint's father spoke death upon his son's dream. Flint's father never approved of his son's inventions. It may have been that his father wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and inherit the business. Another reason could have been he was embarrassed of his son or he wanted to protect his son from failure. We see Flint searching for his father's approval, but as a result of his father's actions it produced a strained relationship between the two of them.

It is the job of every believer to build one another and not destroy. We are called to encourage and to bring hope to a lost world. In fact we might be the only Jesus people see. Our life must be a reflection of the King of Kings. If we believers are speaking death (negative) than the only thing we will produce are rotten seeds. Remember seeds do grow and multiply under the worse conditions. What kinds of seeds would you like to leave behind?

Below you will find five simple things you can do to encourage one another.

1. Speak encouraging words.
You want the person to know that you care and that you know they can do it.

2. Encourage by cheering them on. (Praises help to motivate)

3. Follow the Lord's example. Be an encourager! (Psalm 10:17)

4. Think positive. Don't use negative words or ideas.
We all have challenges we have to deal with in our life, however, if you focus on the challenges you will never see anything good in your life. You will lose focus.

5. Pray and dig deep into the Word of God.
The more you stay connected to God the more you think like Him. Leaving no room for doubt or hopelessness.

Psalm 19:14,
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Using God's Approach

WOWgroup Global Fellowships NY

At times it may be very difficult to do it God's way. Minister William Merced shared such a powerful message about using God's approach instead of ours.

We were asked to look at two pictures and discuss how these pictures made us feel. One of the pictures made us think of relaxation, joy, fun and the other made us feel sad, depressed, gloomy.

Matthew 6:22-23 (NLT)

²² “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. ²³ But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

Minister William Merced Jr. gave us examples about his childhood and shared how many of the things he saw he adapted, because he thought they were good. Moreover, examples such as smoking, becoming an abuser, drugs stems from what our eye sees and then internalizes it.

It is our responsibility as believers to represent the light and not to fill our eyes with things that are in darkness. One great example that was used by Minister William Merced Jr. was a conversation that he had at his place of employment. Minister William Merced Jr. stated " I found myself talking negatively about my employer and quickly I knew I had to stop and say instead of talking badly let us pray for that person". The conversation was quickly stopped, but Minister William Merced learned a valuable lesson he (the light) had the power to change the atmosphere from (darkness) back to light.

The Church Must Become as One

WOWgroup Global Fellowships NY had the privilege today in having Andrew W. Merced share his gift of song with us. Moreover, Andrew W. Merced reminded us of the importance of unity within the Body of Christ.

Andrew a teen with Asperger Syndrome does not let that stop him. I am so amazed at how God uses Andrew to capture our attention. Andrew began his lesson with a song from the Disney movie " Tangled". If you would like to see some of Andrew's singing click here.

After the song Andrew showed another clip from the movie "Tangled". If you would like to see some of the clip click here. Then WOWgroup Global Fellowship was asked to describe what was the message in the movie. Andrew then stated that the church must focus on becoming as one. Today many churches are divided and are not following the Word of God. We must learn to work as a team. It doesn't matter what church we belong to, or how we praise God, what matters is that we have salvation in Christ Jesus.

Then Andrew led us to the following scripture verses: Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

The Fellowship of the Believers

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Luke 10:27 (NIV)

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’, and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

After the reading of the scriptures Andrew shared a personal testimony about a friend he met at Park Slope Christian Center who no longer attends, but that made a great impact on his life. Andrew told us that he was sitting by himself at a table while all the other teens were busy talking to their friends and that Anthony came to his table. Andrew told us that Anthony didn't look at his color or race nor that he was different than the other kids. Anthony started speaking with him and reached out to him. Andrew finished his experience by stating that Anthony made him feel happy and accepted.

Truly God was speaking to us. Andrew finished his message by reminding WOWgroup Global Fellowship that we must do our very best to be like the disciples from the early church.

Phil 2:2
² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

God Wants You to Hold On!

WOWgroup Global Fellowship NY started it's celebration with worship and praise. Minister Tanya Merced and son Andrew performed a mime called Hold on (Toby Mac). The mime reminded WOWgroup Global Fellowships that we must not give up, but keep on going no matter how difficult it may get, because at the end we are victors.

If you would like to see the mime (Hold On) Click Here

Following the mime WOWgroup Global Fellowship NY was asked to describe a horse. Many of the words that were used to describe the horse were the following: loyal, fierce, smart, stubborn, fast, powerful, etc. After this 2 minute exercise we read the following scripture:
Job 39:19-25(NIV)
¹⁹ “Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
²⁰ Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
²¹ It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
²² It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
²³ The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
²⁴ In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
²⁵ At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

Minister Tanya Merced than shared a clip from "Secretariat". If you would like to see the clip from the movie click here. Key Points we learned from watching the clip. We see God's awesome's power through one of His most majestic and mighty creatures. God wants us to be all those things we described loyal, fierce, powerful, steadfast, courageous, etc.

So many times we stop short of fulfilling our potential, because we put limitations on ourselves. Would the Lord place these limitations on us? Or instead, we like the horse can run the race , forget about the limitations and realize our full potential is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Intercession Changes Lives

WOWgroup Global Fellowship NY was reminded of the greatest intercessor of them all ~ Jesus Christ. Minister William Merced and son Andrew created a skit based on Carmen's song The Courtroom: Mission 3:16 and Revelation.

WOWgroup Global Fellowship NY's mission is to build up families and communities where everyone feels accepted, supported, challenged, and affirmed. In addition, our special needs population is proving time and time again that all of us have gifts and talents that God can use. Thank you Andrew for showing us that no matter what All things are possible with God!

If you would like to see Andrew's Skit click here: The Courtroom

Minister Tanya Merced mentioned 3 points we could learn from Abraham's Intercessory Prayer.

1. Boldness (Confidence) we need to be confident before the Lord in order to ask God to change His mind or His action. Ephesians 2:18

2. The Lord's Character and Word - In order to appeal on behalf of others we need to know God's attributes.

For great examples of intercessors in the bible read:
Exodus 32:9-14 Daniel 9:4-19 Amos 7:2-6

3. Persistence-Continue praying until the answer is given. Luke 11:5-13; Luke 18:1-8