New Year's Blessings

A New Year's Blessings,

We would like to thank you for a great year! Over the past 12 months our Share Beyond Sunday Campaign has been a great success. Because of your support and eagerness to share God's word we have grown to almost 5,000 ministry partners. We began this campaign to remove the boundaries that would limit ministries from reaching the world through media and you participated. Thank you for sharing our vision because of your efforts and participation we have Sermon Players on websites throughout the world. Missionaries, pastors, para-church ministries, small groups, teachers and many others have chosen the Sermon Player to deliver their media.

When Sermon Player began three years ago things were much different, many of you were part of that first release. We are now on version 4 of the player and what a difference. We have always taken the approach of adding features based upon the requests of you, the ministry. We have invited your input and built a Media Delivery System based upon what you have requested. We still want that input. Don't hesitate to let us know the changes you would like to see. We are constantly looking to upgrade our system and make it more user friendly. Because of your partnership we have been able to add many new features to the Sermon Player system. In the past year we have added video, a new more user friendly Media Manager, updated our embed code to work in more web systems, made the player more customizable and so much more.

Although much has been accomplished in 2007 we eagerly look forward to 2008. Over the next several months you will begin to see some exciting new features released. We expect to see a continuation of the growth of new ministry partners signing on to reach their world. In 2008 we foresee video on the web becoming more and more prevalent. We are moving forward to meet this new challenge by offering you more and more options to share the word with video as well as audio. Our focus remains on removing any and all barriers that would keep the church from being on the forefront of technology. We are here to equip you and serve as a partner to your goal of evangelizing the entire world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God is doing a new thing in the church with Media Delivery and technology and we want to assist you in being part of it. Let me wish you a blessed New Year! There are still many that need to be reached and with the world wide web and your Sermon Player no one is beyond your reach. We have seen a tremendous rise of Sermon Players preaching the gospel in many languages but we have just begun. Let this New Year be a new day for your ministry. Declare to the world that Jesus Christ is alive and is the Saviour of the world, teach your local congregation so they can reach others.

I pray a very special blessing on your ministry for the coming year. May God anoint the Word as it goes forth that it will seek out those who need to hear. May that word change lives and enlighten those who live in utter darkness. I pray that through your Sermon Player and podcast that your church will be strengthened in their knowledge of the Word, that your community will begin to hear the truth that can only be found in the scriptures. I pray that your church and God's Kingdom will grow by those who hear the life changing message you have been called to preach. Finally, I pray for all of you who preach God's Word with passion and conviction that this will be your best year yet. As you give voice to the will and word of God may you and your family prosper as never before so that those around you will see the glory of God manifest in your life.

Happy 2008,
Sermon Player Team

The Father's Business

The Father's Business

From the staff here at Sermon Player we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. We are wrapping up our National Share Beyond Sunday Campaign. It has been a year of giving for us and we have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you. Thank you for participating in our campaign to give the gift of the gospel to the entire world.

Let me encourage you during this holiday season to take some time off both mentally and physically and truly enjoy this season. This time of year is one of the busiest for our churches but we need to take time with our families and remember just what it is we are celebrating.

I was thinking this week of how stressful that time must have been for Mary and Joseph making a long journey to Bethlehem to pay their taxes! If the trip were not enough strain for Joseph and the very pregnant Mary how about the stress of going to meet with your family and enduring some of the shame that would be accompanied by a pregnancy that was impossible to explain. When they arrive in Bethlehem they find the streets crowded and no room for them to stay in the inn. I'm sure Joseph wanted to provide the very best for Mary and the soon to come child. However, when it was all said and done we see them resting in a barn after having given birth to the Son of God. Imagine the thoughts going through the heads of these two very young new parents. How can we properly care for the Messiah? How can we ever please God while raising His Son? They must have been thinking on Him, their new son, and what His life was going to be like. You and I are no different, the day Jesus came into our lives we had to become less about us and more about Him. He is the reason we celebrate Christmas, He alone can bring the joy of this season. Once He comes into a life that life is never the same. Mary and Joseph would be reminded throughout His life of just how different life had become since the Savior had come into the world.

In one particular scene in Luke chapter 2 we see the stress of raising this child. Jesus is no where to be found and they begin to look for their young son. What a reminder it must have been that He was no ordinary child. Three days after noticing He is gone they found Him in the Temple with the scribes and doctors asking and answering questions. The bible says all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. Mary and Joseph upon finding Jesus began to tell Him of their sorrow thinking He was lost. Once again they are reminded that His purpose was to fulfill the will of God and He was about His Father's business.

In this Christmas season let's focus on Jesus. Christmas truly is being about the Father's business. You can't make a difference in another's life without Him. Mary and Joseph did a lot of this worrying and wondering , stressed over every situation but each time they were reminded God is in control. Hustling to buy the best gift for someone ultimately won't make them happy or give them joy. I polled some young adults in my Sunday School class recently and asked them to name the top five gifts they had received in Christmas' past and not one of them could name more than one or two items. If we keep the season in perspective and keep our eyes on the Christ Child we will truly know the joy of this Christmas season. Take some time with your children, grandchildren tell them why we celebrate. Tell them what the tree represents, tell them why we give gifts. Let them know that everything we do this time of year should serve as a reminder that Jesus Christ came to earth to live among us so we could all receive the free gift of salvation. All this being said perhaps it is time to sit down and enjoy the season remembering that while we're about His business He is in control and He will take care of the details we so often worry about.

Blessings from the Sermon Player team and have a Christmas filled with the joy that only Christ can give.

Sermon Player Team

Winter Wonderland

Needless to say it has been a very eventful week in Oklahoma. Below are some pictures I took while driving around with the family to stay warm. This ice storm has done some major damage to the Tulsa and surrounding areas. I am sure we will see clean up efforts for months to come.

We were very fortunate to have our power outage last only a few days. There are thousands of families that most likely will not see their lights on for another week or so. Please keep the elderly and those in need in your prayers.

We had a good time at our house.. the kids, dog, and cats all huddled in the living room with a stack of blankets. The first night was quite shocking - I took my dog out for her walk and quickly realized how pitch black it was. I don't think I have ever seen a night so black. I couldn't help but think of how in control God is and how out of control we can be.

"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?”

Job 38:22-30

I am also happy to report that our Data Center never switched to generators and we experienced zero down time! Merry Christmas!

Joshua Stokes
Co-founder
SermonPlayer.com

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations" Matthew 24:14

Little Known Facts

Little Known Facts Feedback

As you know we are here to help you share God's word with the world. We are continuing to work to remove all barriers that would limit your ability to use media technology. Today we want to give you an opportunity to give us feedback. Let's discuss the Little Know Facts Series. We need your help! Many of our ministry partners need your help. Give us your feedback and ideas on what you like about the Sermon Player System.

How are you using the Sermon Player?

Have you found any of these features or uses helpful?

What is your favorite feature?

What are your listeners saying about your Sermon Player?

Do you see the Sermon Player as a ministry tool? Why?

Give us a link to your player blog or website.

Are you using video mini-players give us that link as well.

Perhaps you can think of some uses we haven't, these ideas will help us to help others. Feel free to post your responses we look forward to hearing from each of you. If you don't want to post here simply email us and we will post your thoughts info@sermonplayer.com.

Sermon Player Team
info@sermonplayer.com