Next new member installation Sun June 2nd during worship. See pastor Don or Sarah for more info. June 2nd is also congregational meeting and vote after worship about AC in fellowship hall
FYI: No Blog tomorrow as I will be leaving early for outpatient heart surgery (cardioversion=shocking AFBIB back into rhythm). I covet your prayers! Thanks Gail for leading prayer with bread gals over me yesterday! That means a lot! For some reason I have these thoughts that tomorrow may be the end for me. I know I'm overmedicated and not thinking clearly lately. But many of you know from experience how easy it is to get all twisted up in your own thinking sometimes. I trust God and the docs and staff. This is a common and easy procedure. And if by some strange chance something happens, you know where I'll be and I'll be waiting for you, so rejoice! Joy comes in the morning! Turn off that noise and step into God's shalom, Donald! Amen!
OKAY! Enough of that foolishness, but these are my journal entries and I document my heart in many of them. I will be splitting my last week of vacation, before the July 1st reloading, over the next two weeks so blogs will be hit and miss the next two weeks. Know I am spending time with God and praying for you and I'll share when I am home and not on vacation. Plus we are celebrating Karen's birthday too! (How blessed I am that God brought us together and that she gave herself to me! What was she thinking? It had to be from God! Thanks Lord! I am soooo blessed!)
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Good Morning Friends! One of my most frequent prayer requests is for our church to become a House of Prayer (HOP) for the Nations. We are moving towards that! PTL! One of our focuses needs to be on loving all people that God loves well. Living and loving like Jesus is our goal. Check out Harvest Prayer blog about that below and pray to love and make disciples like Jesus. He was a friend of sinners and some very unreligious church outsiders. We are welcoming all kinds of people to our giving ministries (bread and clothing) and our fellowship meals on Wednesdays. Some are feeling comfortable enough with us and getting to know we are not judgmental, legalistic Pharisee-types that they are joining worship and the church too. Keep at it and keep praying into our growing as a HOP for the Nations and many to be drawn to God's accepting love. Thank God for what He's been doing, is doing and will do! PTL!
One of my daily prayer requests is that we start and develop small group ministry all over the place--houses, dinners, neighborhoods, maybe even in the building. How is God stirring you to that? I keep getting all kinds of ideas and people keep coming to mind to invite to a small group. Who are your people of peace that God is drawing together? Will you do something about it? Is this the summer God fires us up to do this? Talk to Him about it and share what you are hearing and feeling. Ask for His heart and mind and willing hands and feet.
One of my prayer requests for the past several years is that we learn to turn off the noise and chaos all around us and even in our heads and spend more time with God and in His Living Word filling our minds with His love, wisdom and truth. How's that going? I sometimes struggle but as I pray to and ask to be made aware quicker when I am failing, God helps me catch myself much sooner and I am able to redirect my thinking and focus on Him better. PTL! It helps to be saturated in His Word and familiar with His voice to catch yourself quicker. It also conditions us to knowing when He is at work and inviting us to join Him. Just like Gail did yesterday when she stepped out of comfort zone and led prayer over me. Keep focused on God and tune out the noise. And we all have experienced that noise. How are you doing at redirecting your thinking and renewing your mind? Check out Charles Stanley's reminder about who you allow to speak into your life and The Word for You Today's reminder to be like Bereans and check all things I say and others say against Biblical truth. God is speaking to you all the time and has great plans for you. Stay focused on Him and working with like-minded believers to achieve all He has planned for you and us. Amen!
One last thought...will God carry on this work without me? If something would happen to me, would you guys continue the good works He has started? We all need to be developing our replacement and that comes through disciple making small groups. Jesus had 12 in His small group and since we aren't Jesus, our groups will probably be much smaller but He promises they can be as effective as He fills us and leads us and uses us. Pastor All paved the way at St. Matts, trained and released me to carry on and God keeps expanding that work that started at least ten years ago. Will it continue through me and you? We all have a role to play in His Good News Delivery and Disciple Making Co. What's yours? What are you doing about it? What can you share that we can celebrate as God uses you and works through you and all around you? We need to celebrate! That encourages us as we see that this is all really working and it motivates us to carry on. Amen!
That's all from the heart today. It is also what I am discerning from God that He has for us. What's God saying to you? Let's talk, pray and process together as we make plans to move from adding disciples to multiply them....from Emmaus to the Lehigh Valley, to the world! Amen! God is on the move!
CS:
TWFYT:
Harvest Prayer:
May 16 - Refuse to Judge by Appearances
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Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. (John 7:24)
We Christians quickly dispute any notion that we are as judgmental as the world claims, but if we take an honest look at our lives, what do we see? Are we only comfortable with those who share our culture? Are we quick to look down our noses at anyone who holds a different political view than ours? Do whole groups of Christians whose worship looks unlike ours make us squirm? It seems that we have taken our preferences and our assumptions based on outward appearance to a level that would mirror idolatry. We desire our comfort and our opinions more than we want to see Jesus worshiped and his love shared with the entire world. The book of John tells us that Jesus died because God so loved the world. What prejudices and preferences can we put aside to share the gospel? If Jesus truly died for everyone and his love is available to anyone, how can we possibly see that one we judge through any eyes but his? We must ask Jesus to give us his eyes to see and his heart to love all for whom he died.
Precious Jesus, we love you. Because we love you, we want you to teach us to love all whom you love. Thank you for dying on the cross for us, and also for those we judge. We repent of selfishness, fear, and prejudice of every kind. Please forgive us for the pride that convinces us that we know the deepest part and ultimate destiny of every individual. Only you know the plans you have for those you have created. Only you know how to bring us all to the purpose for which we were made. Enlighten the eyes of our hearts that we may live with a hope not only for ourselves but for those around us. Help us to trust your power to bring about the work you have for all of your people. Show us how to help those who are weak, encourage the strong and love everyone. There is no way we can do any of this on our own. Fill us with your Spirit today so we may believe you for your work of unity in our community. Strengthen us so we may fight for the oppressed and forgive the oppressor. Give us patience and endurance to believe when the change we all need is slow in coming. Give us love to cover the sins that so easily entangle us all; give us hope to believe that you are working a mighty plan of restoration in our lives. We love you, Jesus. Show us how to love our brothers and sisters, in your name.
--Adapted from Praying God’s Word Over Your City: 40 Days of Prayer for A Transformed Community by Trey and Mary Anne Kent. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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- Praise the Lord, your Savior and your God.
- Thank God for the hope that he gives to you and for the fact that he never forgets you.
- Confess all the desires which you have that crowd out your desire for God himself.
- Commit your soul to panting after God “as the deer pants for streams of water” (Ps. 42:1).
- Ask that you will “delight yourself in the LORD and [that he will give] you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4).
- Ask God to cause your friends and family to have a deep thirst for him, and to allow nothing else to quench that thirst.
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