Ron Sawka Ministries
December 20, 2023; Tevet 8, 5784
Christmas—The Power of Celebration
“‘And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” (Luke 2:12–14).
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths” (Col. 2:16
“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills” (Hab. 3:18–19).
Greetings!
A very merry and blessed Christmas to each and every one from Teddy and me. May you be very blessed as you celebrate God’s gift of Jesus and His great salvation to us and to all of mankind.
I know the Lord wants us to celebrate. And there is no question that the greatest celebration each year is Christmas. And yes, I know even this has changed.
One does have to admit that in recent years—perhaps because of the seeming effort to humanize and take Christ out of it—that Christmas has changed somewhat. However, personally, I do want to celebrate it. Here are some thoughts about celebration in general, and Christmas in particular:
1. Celebration honors the Lord. Jesus is God’s gift and salvation for the whole world. The more we celebrate and thank the one who gives the gift, the more we honor both the gift—Jesus and His Salvation, and the giver—God, our Heavenly Father.
2. Celebration helps us to be thankful. What a great time to express how thankful I am to the Lord for His goodness to me and to my family this past year. I am also so very thankful to each and every one of you. I am thankful for how the Lord has used you to bless us.
3. Celebration helps give us the mindset that God is good, that He is for us, and that He wants us to prosper and be blessed. We now have come to understand correctly that this was one of the main reasons God gave Israel the three main feasts, the monthly firstfruits celebration, and even the weekly sabbaths (see Colossians 2:16). He wanted them to joyously celebrate and thus gain the mindset that He is good and loves His people and is for them—not indifferent or against them.
4. Celebration affects the people around us and causes them to seek the Lord. We see this in Luke 2. God couldn’t keep quiet about the birth of His Son. He sent an angel to tell some nearby shepherds that in a stable in Bethlehem they would find a baby who was actually God’s Son and who would be Savior of all mankind. This was followed suddenly by a huge angel choir, celebrating, praising, and thanking God. When it was finished, the shepherds knew they could only do one thing: they knew they had to go and find this baby, this Jesus.
Don’t you think the same thing happens each time you and I celebrate Christmas? That others are impacted or feel moved to find out more about Jesus? We have people in Japan who were saved precisely because of Christmas celebration in our church.
5. Celebration helps take us to the high places God has for us. Yes, God does have “high places,” very special individual blessings and places of standing for each one us that are not normally—nor easily—reached. We can come into them only by His grace and help. Yet as we celebrate, we are changed. We are given “hinds’ feet” for those high places (see Habakkuk 3:18–19).
Apostolic Fund Supporters—Thank You for Your Support This Past Year
In this Christmas Greetings letter, I want to be sure to say a special thank you to our many Apostolic Fund Supporters around the world. You live in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Korea, and the US. Some have become friends because of ministry. Many of you have become friends because I had a part in training you in the prophetic and apostolic. Thus, I know many of you very well. And yet there are others whom Teddy and I hardly know at all.
I know you have been moved by the Lord to support us financially, and we appreciate it so much. Your support helps us to carry out what God gives us to. The funds you provide pay for much of my travels and help me minister in poorer nations. Your funds also help provide for publications, for staff, and for so many things.
Teddy and I are truly grateful and want to take this opportunity to say a special “thank you” for your support in 2023.
Be very, very blessed, and thank you for being such a blessing to us—and thus to so many.
A very merry Christmas and happy New Year to you all,
Ron and Teddy
Keep On Interceding for Ukraine and Israel!
Both of these nations are very close to my heart: Ukraine—Because it’s my bloodline. In fact, both my father’s parents and both of my mother’s parents came to Canada from Ukraine—making me 100% Ukrainian blood. As you know, I have ministered a lot in Russia and other former USSR nations. Those pastors told me that 90% of all churches planted in Russia and other former USSR nations were planted by Ukrainian ministers. Amazing!
The present war against them by Russia has been brutal, but by the grace of God they are holding up, and the faith and prayer of the Christians there is amazing. Lord, let the fire in the Ukraine believers spread to both Western and Eastern Europe.
Israel—Every believer should feel very close to Israel; after all, they were the original “olive tree” into which we Christians have been grafted into. They may have been set aside for a while, but God will graft them in once more (see Romans 11:16–25). And also, those who bless Israel, God will bless (see Genesis 12:1–3).
I also want to continue to announce the daily fifteen-minute prayer session for Israel led by Patricia Bootsma (CTF), which I highly recommend. You can join via Zoom: http://prayer.jhisrael.com/pray; passcode: pray.
Daily 11:00 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time. (Note: No Zoom meeting on December 25 or January 1.)
Wearing the Crown to See a Flooding of Supernatural in Our Lives
Tevet—The Tenth Hebrew Month
December 13, 2023–January 10, 2024
The Lord wants us to be supernatural people. He is a God of power and miracles, and He wants the supernatural to be a part of our lives—daily. Not once a week or month, but daily. One of the hindrances is an occult veil that can be over us and over our nation. One solution is to rededicate ourselves, our homes, and our work to Him. As we do so, the enemy is exposed and we can easily break its power in Jesus’s name.
All of this connects to Hannukah (or Feast of Dedication [see John 10:22]). When we are dedicated to Him, which means that we live our lives for Him, then the oil of His anointing doesn’t run out. Our light shines brighter and brighter.
We should also note that not “walking in the supernatural” leads to disappointment and a kind of spiritual sickness that plagues many Christians today (“Hope deferred makes the heart sick” [Prov. 13:12]). God doesn’t want us living in fear or discouragement, or merely getting through each day. He wants us to rule with Him and advance daily. Remind yourself that He has prepared and shaped us. There is no need for delay. Wear the crown He has prepared. Let’s rule with Him. We will see a flooding of supernatural in our daily lives.
MPP (Mondays–Fridays, 6:00–6:45 a.m.)
The next scheduled off days are as follows: Monday, December 25–Monday, January 8. MPP will begin again on Tuesday, January 9.
Weekly Broadcast Schedule (Times are listed in Japan Time, UTC+9:00.)
Apostolic for Russia—Fridays, twice monthly: Dec. 22; Jan. 5, 12, 7:00–8:00 p.m. Join us on Zoom (Meeting ID: 840 2016 0640, Code: 219951), or watch on YouTube.
Apostolic for Chinese—Saturday, Dec. 23, 8:00–9:30 p.m. How Celebration Brings Victory. Join us on Zoom (ID: 823 7276 5237, Code: 878174)
Apostolic Center Training—Tuesdays, 8:30–10:00 p.m., English/Chinese, registration required. Please contact chinese@rwsministries.com.
Note, I usually post links to my public Facebook page.
Resources
Ron’s new book, How to Activate Prophecy and Revelation Gifts, the first title in our new “Apostolic Center Training Series,” is intended as a tool for training others in prophetic activation. It is now available for Kindle. Print copies can also be obtained from our office in Sano. Contact info@rwsministries.com for information about ordering copies, or to obtain any of the four books from the “Building Apostolic-Prophetic Foundations” series, which are also available on Kindle:
• Judah Goes First: The Power of Apostolic-Prophetic Praise
• Activated to Prophesy: The Essential Experience for This New Church Era
• Apostles and Apostolic Anointing: Raising Up the End-Times Believers
For English or Japanese books, contact info@rwsministries.com.
For Chinese books, chinese@rwsministries.com
For more information or to connect with our ministry team, please write us at info@rwsministries.com or info@mppjapan.com.
Giving
You are welcome to give to Yarn Alive via giving to Ron Sawka Ministries. Please clearly mark your designation. Thank you.
Bank Info and Online Giving (From Any Nation)
You can give online by credit card or debit card at https://give.mogiv.com/app/giving/rwsministries.
In addition to online/credit card giving, which can be used from any nation, you may give via the following:
Japan
Japan Apostolic Fund Supporters should give directly to CTF Japan. Also, Yarn Alive donations can be given directly.
Direct Bank Transfers from Overseas
Account name/number: Ronald W. Sawka 93642377
Bank name: SMBC Trust Bank
Address: Nishi Shimbashi Square 1-3-1 Nishi Shimbashi, Minato Ku, Tokyo Japan 105-0003
SWIFT code: SMTC JPJT
Intermediate bank name and SWIFT code: Sumitomo Mitsubishi Bank Corp. SMBC JPJT
USA
CTF World USA, 2304 Page Rd, Durham, NC 27703. Please make out the check to CTF World. Be sure to clearly designate “For Ron Sawka Ministries.” If it is for Yarn Alive, please notify us separately at info@rwsministries.com.
Singapore
POSBank 149-42129-7 (account name Ronald W. Sawka)
Taiwan
Bank: China Trust
Account Name: Ronald Wade Sawka
Account Number: 42854 0413470
Korea
KEB HANA BANK 249-890619-84307 Ronald Wade Sawka
Canada
Since we do not have a Canada office, we suggest you use the credit card option https://give.mogiv.com/app/giving/rwsministries. (Unfortunately, the receipt is not tax deductible for Canada.)
Apostolic Fund Supporters
Apostolic Fund Supporters are the backbone of our support system, and we feel you are so important. Therefore please know that we:
Pray for you regularly—if you have needs/requests, please let us know.
Send you a weekly recorded prayer.
Want you to contact us whenever you feel a need arises.
Yes, I Commit to Being an Apostolic Fund Supporter for 2023 (US $1,200 for the year)
Name:
Number of pledges:
Family members you want prayer for:
Nation:
Email:
Also please be sure to attach a recent photo of you and your family (if applicable).
Please send us this information to info@rwsministries.com with the subject line “2023 Apostolic Fund Supporter.”
Thank you for your giving!