ABUNDANT LIFE FAITH CENTRE
AUGUST 2024 EDITION THE YEAR OF PERFORMANCE
Editor’s Note
Have you ever found yourself feeling overwhelmed by life’s demands, only to seek a moment of calm and clarity? This search for equilibrium is at the heart of what it truly means to live a sober and settled life. While we often associate "sober" with abstaining from substances, its deeper essence encompasses balance, temperance, and self-control—qualities that are especially crucial in our fast-paced world.
The pressure on young people to keep up with fleeting trends can be overwhelming. This is why it’s essential to remain anchored in your faith and understand who you are in Christ. Titus 2:1-10 offers timeless guidance on how to embody a life of fidelity that brings glory to God. For instance, Paul advises in Titus 2:6, “Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.” This counsel highlights the importance of self-discipline and prudence, particularly during the formative years of adolescence and young adulthood.
Rooting yourself in scripture is vital for maintaining a sober and settled spirit. Psalm 119:9 poses a crucial question: “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.” Engaging deeply with the Bible provides the clarity and strength necessary to lead lives that are pleasing to God and impactful on those around us. The Word of God shapes our decisions and desires, offering a blueprint for our lives.
Remember, your time is a precious resource; how you manage it can define your legacy. Each day is a chance to build a life of purpose and excellence. Don’t wait for “someday” to start shaping your future. Begin now by aligning your passions with your purpose, and watch how your daily choices become the bricks of a meaningful and impactful life. Embrace sober living not as a restriction but as a powerful tool for crafting a life of integrity and purpose that honors God.
In this issue, we have enriching articles, testimonies, and a special youth section. You will also find updates on upcoming events that you will not want to miss. Each piece of this edition is crafted with the intention of stirring up hope in your spirit and deepening your faith in God.
We invite you to visit our website at www.abundantlifefaithcentre.org for more enriching resources, past editions, and so much more. We also welcome you to join us for service every Wednesday, 6:30pm – 8:00pm and Sunday, 10:00am to 1:00pm. You are blessed!
Making Your Youthful Years Count:
“I know someone. I’ve seen him myself: the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, an excellent musician. He’s also courageous, of age, well-spoken, and good-looking. And God is with him.” (1 Samuel 16:18, MSG). This is part of David’s reputation as a youth aged about 17 years or less.
The youth are never too young to be an answer or a solution to their generation. When youth are willing to dream bigger and to serve better than their preceding generation, the church, the country, cities and communities all stand to gain.
Inside every youth is a God-given gift – one or more. If recognized early and well cultivated, these gifts coupled with the passion and energetic drive of the youth can quickly turn into a force for success. Knowing and honing your gift is the first step for one to count themselves a success.
Next is the ability to move from knowing that you are gifted to gracefully serving people with your gift. And that is what enterprise is all about. It is the willingness and ability to effectively organise your efforts for the advancement of the influence of your gift.
Building an enterprise is building the vehicle that transports the voice of your gift for both ministry and commercial gain in the marketplace. “A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” (Proverbs 19:16, KJV). Another translation puts it this way: “A gift gets attention; it buys the attention of eminent people.” (MSG).
The voice of your gift can travel ahead of you to decision rooms and power centers, opening doors that would have otherwise been shut to you. That’s because God-given gifts go hand-in-hand with the grace of God. When you operate in your gift, you flow in the grace of God – the lifting power of God.
This month the world celebrated International Youth Day. What were they celebrating? You can be sure that many of the loud voices in the media on International Youth Day were promoting self-centered ideas of so called “freedom” instead of a culture of selfless service. Without the knowledge that your gift is given to you by God to benefit others and not you, it is hard to escape being self-centered.
Are you a youth? Do you want to rise and make a lasting difference in your generation? Set your mind on service above self. Ask yourself, what are my gifts and how can I gracefully serve more people in better ways with them? If you preoccupy yourself with seeking the answers to these questions, you will step into higher levels of innovation and productivity that will profit both you and those in your world – and that’s what it means to have good success.
ALFC EVENTS
Youth Fellowship Mission Week
5th to 10th Aug; 2nd to 7th Sept and 7th to 12th Oct
Sow a lifetime seed in the men and women around you during Mission Week. Make time to pray for your community and city. Your words and deeds of love ignite flames of hope that spread rays of healing to souls and homes beyond the boundaries of your home, office, or business address. Together, our actions, in the spirit of faith, light up the nation –one life at a time.
Childrens Led Service
8th Sept | 10:00am – 1:00pm
Children are the heritage of the Lord. Jesus said to His disciples, let all the little children come unto me (Matthew 19:14). This September, the Children of Destiny take lead in praise and worship, sharing of the word and so much more. Consider being a part of this great day and experience the overflow of rich spiritual treasures from the children of the ALFC church family.
17th Aug, 21st Sept and 19th Oct 11:00am- 1:00pm
Teenagers and young adults! Your life is designed to grow and become like a fortified city – stable and secure. That growth begins with having fellowship with the right bunch of youth – “…those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22). Be a part of the monthly ALFC Youth Family Fellowship. Learn how to study the Bible and take off on your journey of adventures in truth and testimonies.
Hope Health Camp
5th Oct | 9:00am – 5:00pm
It’s that time of the year again when we reach out to our community to ensure bring the whole gospel to the whole man for a healthier and stronger community. Mark your calendar and be a part of this unique ministry that meets the needs of the total man – spirit, soul and body – in the spirit of faith.
Living a Planned Life
This is a reminder that your life was not meant to be a matter of guesswork. It wasn’t meant to be an issue of trial and error. We have not been called to a life of “let me do my best and we will see what happens.” There is a plan to your life, and it is a beautiful one! “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)
Believe it.
Do not let the misfortunes and mistakes of life change your view concerning this matter. Life does throw lots of things at us that make us doubt whether God has any good plan for us. I am here to revive your faith. Believe there is a God and that He has an awesome plan for you. You might have been through some tough moments, but I need you to believe again that this plan of God for you is meant to prosper and not to harm you. It starts with believing
Seek out this plan.
If you are able to believe again that God has great plans for you, then, in a practical way, start each day with a prayer asking Him to lead you. “Let me hear Your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in You. Teach me the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.” (Psalms 143:8, AMP). That should be your prayer as you get yourself set for another day. Lord, teach me the way in which I should walk today!
Walk in it.
As you go through the day, be alert to His instructions. Since you prayed for His leading, be attentive because He will indeed speak to you through an impression in your heart, an idea, through someone or some other way. Just be alert. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand”. (John 10:27-28, KJV). The instruction might be one that requires faith, obedience, or humility, but we have this promise: “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land” (Isaiah 1:19, AMP).
So, whatever you have been through in the first half of the year, face this second half of the year with renewed confidence that God has an awesome plan for you, and this plan is to prosper and not to harm you in the months ahead. Prayerfully seek that plan each morning, and then keep alert for His leading and follow through. I see you enjoying the good of the land and I see you doing great things in this Year of Performance!
Joseph KIGGUNDU
Wampewo, Nangabo | Arthur is grateful for God’s wisdom and divine peace that he experienced while on a project in his line of work. This project is annual, but they wanted to make it bigger, seeing that it was in its fifth year. Arthur and his team got to work. The clients were thrilled, and all was set for the launch. On the day of the launch, Arthur accidentally deleted the files while migrating them to the live site. This wiped out all the work that had been done for two months. It was about 40 minutes before the launch, which was set to be broadcast on a local television station. His world froze; he was served with harsh words, as his clients were in a state of panic because the launch revolved around this website. Amidst all this chaos, the Lord gave Arthur wisdom to focus on, and update forms for the launch in real time. This came with a peace surpassed his understanding. He maintained composure while working under immense pressure, and the launch happened successfully. Earlier, the Lord had prompted him to do a backup in an unusual way by cloning the old website online, and he heeded the promptings. This was helpful in speeding up the process. All wasn’t completely lost, and he didn’t have to rebuild the site from scratch. Glory to God!
Seguku, Makindye Ssabagabo | Ruth is grateful to God for the favor she has experienced at work. She serves as a customer care officer at a hospital. Many times, she has found herself handling complaints from different clients. The hospital board deemed it fit to put in place a quality assurance management team to ensure better service; and Ruth was selected to be part of this team. While she was on leave, the organization planned to have a charity walk. On her return, she was selected as the vice chairperson for that event. Despite her rank, she has become the go-to person to get things done. She thanks God for this recognition and platform to serve.
REQUEST FOR PRAYER
The Bible instructs us in Psalms 55:22 to cast all our cares to the Lord, and He will sustain us. As ALFC, we would like to partner with you in prayer concerning anything that may be troubling you. Simply reach out by phone at 0394507090 on weekdays from 9:00a.m to 5:00p.m ; or by email: prayer@abundantlifefaithcentre.org. Our prayer team is ready to agree with you on anything that matters for your total freedom!
Take a Deep Breath
Think about this...breathing is something we are constantly doing. Stop for a moment and see how long you can hold your breath. Why couldn’t you continue holding your breath? Yes, we need to breathe to live! That’s just how our bodies work. Prayer can be a lot like breathing. Paul states in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 that we are to "pray without ceasing." Does this mean we are constantly walking around with our heads bowed and eyes closed?! Absolutely not! Can you imagine what would happen? That could be dangerous!
Most of the time, we’re not even aware of our breathing; we don’t even have to think about it. It just happens naturally. God wants us to be so aware of His presence with us that it becomes natural to communicate with Him throughout our day just like walking through the day talking with a friend.
Yes, there will be times we need to stop and catch our "spiritual" breath, but this shows us prayer is also something we can do as we go about our day. For example, we can wake up thanking God for another day to be alive. Thanking Him for the bed we slept in, the clothes we put on, etc. Or we can talk to God about some fear or worries, about our disappointments or excitement, about the future or the past. Prayer is not limited by Space or Time Just as breathing can bring cleansing to our physical bodies, so can prayer to our spiritual bodies. Let constant breathing remind you to continually pray - talk with God. He is always with us! We are able to pray as we go throughout our day staying in constant communication with God.
PRAYER OF SALVATION
Are you ready for a relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior? It begins with a simple prayer in faith. Here is one you can repeat out loud enough to hear yourself: Dear God, I accept your forgiveness of my sin. I believe with my heart that you raised Jesus from the dead for my benefit, and I now declare Him to be my savior and Lord. Amen! If you just prayed the above prayer, welcome to the kingdom of light! We have free materials to help you get started on your journey to an abundant life –a better and brighter future. Simply contact us by email: prayer@abundantlifefaithcentre.org or phone: 0394507090 during working hours (9:00am to 5:00pm)
