Three new Hour of Power opportunities to reach ’round the world!

The reach of this positive televised church service is EXPANDING! In an ever-changing television market and even during an economic recession, recent miraculous developments are reversing a downward trend in ways only God could imagine and initiate.

The Hour of Power is now more widely available on Lifetime Network nationally, Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN) around the world, and other international, self-supporting broadcast outlets. And now—there’s more!

In an increased effort to provide more programming in native languages, at no cost to our ministry, TBN is collaborating with us to televise:

1. Our Spanish-language church service with Pastor Dante Gebel on the new Enlace TBN network.
2. Our Arabic-language church service with Pastor Emeel Shenoda on a new network reaching the Middle East with the gospel of Jesus Christ. A third exciting development occurred when a friend of a Crystal Cathedral member approached the ministry with an amazing opportunity.
3. Rev. Joseph C. Nguyen, Chairman and CEO of Vietnamese Broadcasting Services—a TV network reaching millions of Vietnamese and Americans throughout the U.S., Canada, Saigon, and beyond—stepped forward with free television airtime for our English-language church service with Dr. Robert H. Schuller and Pastor Sheila Schuller Coleman every Sunday, 11 AM to noon.

Now reaching more of the world than ever before at a fraction of the cost, your gifts are essential in maintaining the English language Hour of Power base. Like loaves and fishes, your gifts multiply beyond measure as the Lord sustains, increases, and creates new possibilities bigger than our minds can even imagine! Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in the seeds you sow into this ministry. God bless you for your fruitfulness.

Sustained in Battle, Lifted by the Lord’s Prayer

By Dr. Robert H. Schuller

During the first World War, German armies swept over Belgium, destroying many of its cities. One day after the war was over, a Catholic nun with a group of young students paused at a small Catholic shrine at the edge of a Belgian village. They knelt and began to repeat the Lord's Prayer. But they couldn't utter one phrase.

Around them were the rubble, the ruin, the resentment, and the hurt of the war years. The small group started again, "Forgive us our trespasses as we..." They could go no further—until from behind them came a strong man's voice: "…forgive those who trespass against us." They looked around to see their own King Albert! With a great spirit of forgiveness, he led the way.

Christ, our King, shows us how to conquer resentment and hurt. It was our King who cried from the cross, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." Perhaps you need to forgive someone. God can help you be a forgiving person. He will replace your bitterness with love and kindness.

-Excerpted from 365 Power Thoughts: Hope for Today and Tomorrow

Living the Lord's Prayer

Sustained through praise, permission, petition, pardon, and protection!

By Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman

It seems that everywhere I go these days I hear the word "sustainability." This new go-green word means "continued, ongoing growth." Though used most frequently as an eco-friendly adjective, isn't sustainability even more important as it applies to our walk with God? Don't we want our spiritual journey to be sustainable, ongoing, continually growing?

The secret to spiritual sustainability is found in the Lord's Prayer. Jesus taught us only one way to pray in His "model prayer," the Lord's Prayer. Two years ago, I began to model my own daily prayers on the Lord's Prayer. It transformed my prayer life! I found myself praying it throughout the day until I realized I was not just praying the Lord's Prayer, I was living the Lord's Prayer. It transformed my whole life!

The principles found in the Lord's prayer are the secret to Spiritual Sustainability! Here is how it works: (I encourage you to cut this out and tape it where you can see it until it becomes part of your soul.)

"Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Your name." Heaven is where God is! Where God is-is heaven! I ask God to be present in my life so I may experience heaven on earth. I begin with praise and continue to praise all day long. Even if things go horribly wrong, I say, "Hallelujah, anyway!"

"Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." THY will-is MY will. When my will is His will and His will is my will, then I discover God's purpose for my life-one I can live for, a self I can live with, and a faith I can live by!

"Give us this day our daily bread." God, the Great Provider, always provides for His beloved children-sometimes it's abundance and sometimes it's barely-to teach me the thrill of living on the edge, relying on Him and Him alone!

"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." I am loved and forgiven-by God Almighty! All He asks in return is for me to love and forgive others-even those who have hurt me. For what do I need to ask forgiveness? Whom do I need to forgive?

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." It's tempting to limit my dreams by my ability, instead of believing in His-ability. I pray for the courage to dream big enough for God to fit in!

That's it! Practice these five principles, which I will expand on each Sunday in August on the Hour of Power. As mine was, I know your life will be forever transformed!

Because of you, they are hearing the message, "Yes! God is there! Yes! God cares! God loves you and so do we!" Thank you for being there for us so we can let the world know that God is there for them!

Give Your Spiritual Sustainability A Lift!

"Those who wait upon the Lord
Shall renew their strength,
They shall mount up on wings as eagles
They shall run and not be weary
They shall walk and not faint!"

Known as the "Eagle Verse," only God knows how many times these powerful, life-affirming words from Isaiah 40:31 have been referenced in human history to lift and encourage the soul of a depressed or discouraged person. This is one of many places in the Bible where God concentrates profound and positive spiritual truths within a relatively short grouping of words.

Another spiritually concentrated Bible verse is the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). Starting July 25th and four consecutive weekends, Pastor Sheila Schuller Coleman will delve into Jesus' "model prayer" during her new Hour of Power message series, "Spiritual Sustainability: Living the Lord's Prayer." As does the "Eagle Verse," this important scripture lifts your spirit. And this message series promises to lift your prayer life, as well, as each prayer phrase takes your spiritual experience to increasingly higher levels—helping you to see your relationship with God from an entirely new and exciting vantage point.

"Our Liberator... His Name is Jesus"

"What I would challenge people to embrace, today, is to fall in love with our Liberator. His name is Jesus. And if you fall in love with him, he will take you places you, never dreamed of. God's plan for our lives is much bigger than anything we can ever dream. You're talking about Possibility Thinking. Most of what has happened to me, I could have never even dreamed of. That's the big God I love and serve."

- Rear Admiral Barry C. Black, ret.
62nd Chaplain of the United States Senate
Author, From the Hood to the Hill

Is anybody there?

By Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman

In the Broadway musical, 1776, John Adams sings the lyrics, "Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Give up the fight, John! They want me to quit!"

What if John had given up the fight? What if he had quit? America exists today because a handful of brave men (and women) refused to quit, refused to give up the fight. Even though there appeared to be no hope, even though by all accounts they should never have won, they believed in the impossible and the rest is history!

My husband, Jim, my sons, and I watch the movie version of the Broadway musical, 1776, every year on the fourth of July as a family tradition. It is a delightful reminder of the faith and courage of America's founding fathers and the freedoms that we enjoy as a result.

Today, there are so many of you who are facing the impossible. Some of you have prayed and prayed and are not seeing the answers that you had hoped for. I wonder, have any of you called out in the dark silent night, "Is anybody there? Does anybody care?"

Well, this ministry is here to remind you week after week that we are here! We care! That's because Jesus cares about you! He came to earth to die to show you just how much he cares for you. And he has commissioned us to
show you that he is there for you and he will never leave you or forsake you!

So, we will not give up the fight! We will not quit! We will keep on striving until we climb over, find a pass through, or simply stay and turn this mountain into a miracle with God's help-so we can be there for you and for the many others who write and call us every week, saying:

"Sheila, I gave my life to Jesus. Thank you for saving my life."

"Sheila, I am on death row. You are my spiritual lifeline. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Sheila, I have never been to church in my life. I saw you throwing sandbags off the pulpit. I have never watched you until I was surfing the channels and saw you. I lost my twin babies this past week. Please pray for me."

Thousands and thousands of these letters, phone calls, and emails-telling of lives being saved-arrive every week. Many of them are from struggling young people who cannot afford to give.

YOU are the stars of this ministry, keeping it sparkling bright to shine God's light on viewers near and far. YOU are the stripes of this ministry, helping to move it straight forward in its God-ordained mission to save lives through a message of hope. And, in the process, YOU are saving lives!

Any gift you give this year means that hope and love and life can be born in the hearts of millions of people who cry out, "Is anybody there? Does anybody care?" Because of you, they are hearing the message, "Yes! God is there! Yes! God cares! God loves you and so do we!" Thank you for being there for us so we can let the world know that God is there for them!

Representing God's Greatest Gift: Freedom

On Sunday, July 4, 2010, America celebrates her 234th birthday. On this day, beneath the 120-foot glass ceiling of the Crystal Cathedral (and seen on the televised Hour of Power), you'll witness the raising of the giant nine-story high American flag—the world's largest indoor flying flag. The presence of this huge flag awes persons into tearful and pride-filled silence. Why does this flag flown on this holiday inside this church affect our emotions in this powerful way?

It's because God Almighty, through his Son, Jesus Christ, has proclaimed unlimited freedom, liberty, and grace for all. Forever. His love is boundless, for...

"Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:17).

The Bible is filled with stories of human beings struggling to grasp and apply the immeasurable value of God's greatest gift—freedom. Freedom from slavery (Romans 8:15). Freedom from selfishness (Galatians 5:13). Freedom to choose leaders (1 Samuel). The Independence Day event we commemorate on July 4 is a celebration of freedom—the freedom that inspired one of the most recent, greatest, and most successful endeavors to build a nation governed by values based on God's biblical truths.

America's Declaration of Independence remains an unparalleled example of Possibility Thinking...a goal on the horizon...clearly in view...sometimes within reach, sometimes not. Whereas the Declaration of Independence announced the intention, the United States Constitution became the framework for achieving the dream. And symbolizing all the possibility-filled ideals found in these two documents is the American Flag.

In 1973, Dr. Robert H. Schuller had an inspiration. He asked himself, "If the American Flag could talk, with the wisdom of nearly two hundred years of history behind her, what would be her words for us today?" With this unique idea as his inspiration, he wrote and delivered a message from the pulpit of what was then the Garden Grove Community Church, and it was seen and heard over his new weekly televised program, Hour of Power. He titled his new message:

"I AM THE AMERICAN FLAG."

The message was received with overwhelming ovation. It immediately earned the esteemed Principal Award from the Freedoms Foundation in Valley Forge for "the most outstanding sermon in the United States." This bronze medallion is still one of Dr. Schuller's most cherished awards. Since 1973, "I Am the American Flag" has been delivered several times on Hour of Power...and printed and distributed to hundreds of thousands of persons both in America and beyond her shores. The ideals of America still inspire hope in the oppressed wherever they may live.