Sarah Prayer update below. Sarah is taking a Sabbath today and I will probably forget these at prayer time
Wagner's update below
Good Morning Focused, Praying, Followers of Jesus! Turn off the noise. Focus on God. Remember in this life Christ really is all that matters! As we focus on Him and learn to follow, He will use us to be His light and to bring hope, love and joy alive. Amen! Our devotionals speak into this today. Check them out below.
Charles Stanley begins our time with the reminder to set our minds on things above--not earthly things. As we do and learn to live more fully for Christ we come to experience, as The Word for You today reminds us, God answering our prayers. The Upper Room reminds us as does Harvest Prayer to believe that what we pray for will be given, if we pray earnestly and according to God's will. He is a miracle working God! Amen! Believe! And nothing is too small for God! He wants to bless you! Our Daily Bread ends our devotional time with the reminder that we are God's representatives on earth today and He has custom purposes for us to do for such a time as this. We are sent to bless and encourage as we use what we've been given for His glory. It's also a reminder to run our races well until we are called home. We are placed in this Body of Believers for God's purposes. Those purposes come to life as we pray and as we go. Some of us are gifted and some of us have a purpose in His GN delivery co. to pray. But all of us need to pray with focus. God opens doors, guides, informs and refreshes us as we seek, listen, receive, follow and rely on Him through prayer. He made us for His purposes and wants to bless us and help us do them. What an awesome God we serve!
Today we will study Ephesians 2 together during worship and next week Ephesians 3. I like how our devos seem to be hitting on Ephesians this week. Today Eph. 3:20's reminder from the UR how God brings glory to His name by doing way more than we could ever imagine or ask. We are created and called to ask and follow. As we do, we will often find ourselves being amazed at all God is doing as He answers our prayers and directs our steps. God is cheering you on and providing and guiding! PTL! Let us commit to living out our salvation and purposes joyfully, earnestly as we glorify God and fulfill our purposes! Amen! See you soon! Shalom! Shalom! Know His perfect peace as you trust and follow and worship today!
CS:
TWFYT:
UR: Unexpected Provision:
Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us. - Ephesians 3:20 (CEB)
January 14, 2016, was the day of the International Kite Festival. As superintendent of a hostel, I wanted to provide a good meal of undhiyu (a traditional Gujarati curry) to the students at the hostel. I phoned a shopkeeper to discuss the matter, but due to the high price, I decided instead to order a snack called khaman-jalebi. Although the children were pleased to have the snack and kites to play with, I was disappointed because I could not offer the traditional meal I had intended.
In the afternoon, I received a phone call from the same shopkeeper, and he offered me undhiyu for the hostel students. He told me that he understood I had to change my order because of the high price, and he wanted to provide that special food for the students.
On hearing these words, I was overjoyed and thanked God. On that day, students and staff were fed sufficiently with undhiyu. Later, I shared these words with the students and thanked God for the way the promise in Ephesians 3:20 was fulfilled for us.
TODAY'S PRAYER
Lord God, thank you for the ways you provide for us. Strengthen our faith so that we fully depend on you. Amen.
Harvest:
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July 21 - Leaning on the Father
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God wants to be engaged in everything in our lives. Big and small. And there are huge residual effects when we pray about everything … when we pray without ceasing.
Jesus said, "Up until know you've asked for nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full" (John 16:24).
Simple, daily prayer about the small things is more than just a mere request to God. It is one of His ways of training us to turn to Him constantly. To show us the “breadth and length and height and depth” of His love. To know God. To teach us to lean on His breast for matters great and small. To fall in love with Him all over again.
I know a young man who has been saved from a deeply rebellious life. As He came to Christ, he thought you were supposed to pray about everything. And so, he prays all day long.
He prays for his co-workers at work. He prays about his finances and his relationship to his wife. He prays for random people he meets. He prays about the words that come out of his mouth. He prays about what he puts into his mouth. And, He seeks to listen carefully to the Lord and do precisely as He instructs. Unceasing prayer.
And, guess what? God answers his prayers! All day long. In fact, he bombards me with stories, almost every day of God’s answers. The residual of this unceasing prayer is that his days are filled with great joy, such a contrast to his former life! I know this for a fact, for he is one of my sons.
He is continually joyful because he is continually communing with the God who loves him (which would make anyone joyful) and continually receiving answers from the God who provides for him (which brings unceasing joy.)
We have many joyless Christians because we have many prayerless Christians. You may fall into that camp and, if so, it’s time to change—for your sake and His, and for the sake of a watching world. A joyless Christian is an oxymoron and a poor testimony regarding our big God.
What prayers have you not asked of God, simply because you thought it was insignificant? Ask Him right now! And ask the Lord to help you keep a running dialogue with Him today about everything.
Prayer-Answering Father, I worship You for all that You are! How blessed I am to know that You want to know even the smallest details of my life. You care so deeply for me that I can bring any request into Your throne room! Help me to remember that every moment of every day should be lived prayerfully and expectantly. Give me ears to hear Your voice in response to my prayers, and a grateful heart to praise You for each answer – even if the answer is “no,” or, “not yet.”
---Adapted from Prayer with No Intermission by Bill Elliff. This book is available at prayershop.org.
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- Glorify the Lord, who is gracious, full of compassion, and gentle with the weak (Ps. 116:5).
- Thank God for rescuing you during those times when you needed his help, even when you didn’t ask for it (116:8).
- Confess the times when you have been impatient with others in need.
- Commit yourself to remembering throughout this day God’s compassion for you and to reflecting that compassion to others. Ask God to help you fulfill this vow.
- Ask God to make the congregations in your community centers of kindness, where those in need will find the hands of Jesus ministering to them.
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Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here. |
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ODB:
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On February 5, 2023, Christian Atsu kicked the winning goal for his football (soccer) team in a match in Turkey. A star international player, he learned to play the sport as a kid running barefoot in his home country of Ghana. Christian was a believer in Christ: “Jesus is the best thing that ever happened in my life,” he said. Atsu posted Bible verses on social media, was outspoken about his faith, and put it into action by helping finance a school for orphans.
The day after his winning goal, a devastating earthquake shook the city of Antakya, once the biblical city of Antioch. Christian Atsu’s apartment building collapsed, and he went to be with his Savior.
Two thousand years ago, Antioch was the fountainhead of the early church: “the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (Acts 11:26). One apostle, Barnabas, said to be “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit” (v. 24), was instrumental in bringing people to Christ: “a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (v. 24).
We look to the life of Christian Atsu not to idolize him but to see in his example an opportunity. Whatever our circumstance in life, we don’t know when God will take us to be with Him. We do well to ask ourselves how we can be a Barnabas or a Christian Atsu in showing others the love of Christ. That, above all, is the winning goal.
By Kenneth Petersen
REFLECT & PRAY
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What does it mean to be a Barnabas to others? What opportunities do you have to talk about Jesus?
Dear God, I pray that You’ll give me opportunities to share my faith.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
One advantage of the persecution the early believers in Jesus faced in Jerusalem and Judea was that they dispersed to other regions “spreading the word” as they went (Acts 11:19). The Jewish believers witnessed only to other Jews (v. 19), but some believers in Christ from Cyrene and Cypress “began to speak to Greeks also” (v. 20). Luke, who wrote the Acts account, tells us that “the Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord” (v. 21). The attempt at stamping out Christianity served only to spread it.
Tim Gustafson |
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Sarah Prayer update:
Here are the updates that I have for those that need our prayer support:
From Barb Sommers:
Brenda Stauffer - (sister of Doreen Raudenbush who is a member of St Matthew's.)
Brenda is battling cancer and recent has had a burst ulcer. Pray for her healing and strength
Larry Raudenbush is a home now, on Hospice.
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Prayers for Harry Hebig's family - Services will be on Monday, with calling hours from 10 - 11 and the service will follow at 11:00am. Bachman, Kulik and Reinsmith on Elm St in Emmaus.
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Prayers for our church family members that are traveling: Schware Family, Siegfried family.
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Keep our church family Rita's ice event on Wednesday. May we share God's love to those we come in contact with. May people see Jesus in each of us.......
Wagners:
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“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.”
~Isaiah 26:3-4
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It is hard to believe that we will be boarding an airplane and returning to Kenya in just under 3 weeks! We do have a few events remaining on our schedule…
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- Friday, 26 July – sharing at Manbeck’s EC Church in Rock
- Thursday, 1 August – sharing at Bethany EC Church in Ashland
- Thursday, 8 August – returning to Kenya
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| We are excited that a new recruiting video for RVA has been released. You can view the video here. This video is so new that we have only shared it with one church. You are welcome to share it with your church! |
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| We’re grateful for our time of home assignment to: Rest, Reconnect, Recharge, Regroup, and finally, Retool. By retool, we mean that we’ve equipped ourselves with the tools, knowledge, and resources that will be helpful to continue in the ministry roles God has called us to in this next season. Brian had the opportunity for networking and conversations with AP Calculus teachers for nearly three weeks while scoring AP exams and leading a four-day workshop for calculus teachers wanting to sharpen their skills. Missy has completed a three-month course on education consulting for cross-cultural workers in preparation for a new role that she will be starting with AIM next month. We have both read quite a few books that have really challenged our hearts and minds. Rejoice with us that we feel ready to return to Kenya. |
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- Quality time with family as we wrap up our time in the States. We were so blessed to spend last week with Rachel, Luke and Cayden; and with that, the difficult “see ya laters” have begun. Soon we will be 8,000 miles and more than a few time zones apart. We are looking forward to spending time with our other kids and extended family during the next two weeks.
- Restful sleep at night and productive days to complete the tasks that need to be finished prior to leaving.
- Quiet moments to prepare our hearts and minds to re-engage with the ministry and community we love at RVA. We are excited to teach, love, and focus on the discipleship of our nine elementary dorm boys.
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Thank you so much for your prayers! You are appreciated.
In His Service,
Brian & Missy |
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