Dear Church Family,
- Thank you for all the prayers over the past several years for Grace’s health and Grace’s mother. We have seen so many of them answered. Grace is now permanently home. Her hand is doing well. Her mother has people there to check in on her and to encourage her in her walk with Christ. Please continue to pray for her mother’s health, happiness and for Grace’s brothers as they try to care for her. Also pray for us as we begin shopping for a house to live in and to use for ministry. Continue to pray for Grace’s health as well.
- Thank you for praying for our vacation. It was delightful. We missed you all and are happy to be back with our church family.
- We are making a couple changes to our evening prayer meetings as we attempt to obey the Lord’s directive that His house would be a house of prayer.
- Prayer time will begin at 6:00 instead of 5:30 Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. This will give folks a chance to eat dinner before coming to prayer. Please consider choosing at least one of these evening to attend. Remember, the house of the Lord is not the building. It is the people. Being a house of prayer then, in my opinion, means the people are a people who pray….a lot.
- I also feel it is time to change the format. I have enjoyed the last 2+ years of silent meditation and seeking the Lord collectively. It has accomplished a great deal in changing me and in empowering the ministry. Now however, I believe it is time for it to be more of a corporate prayer meeting. Therefore, at 6:00 we will begin with a worship chorus followed by a time of mentioning the immediate prayer needs of the church with folks then praying over them as the Spirit leads. We will close at 7:30 with a final song of worship.
Also
Today I will be introducing New Testament giving to the children from the following verses:
- Gen 14:19-20
- Acts 4:34-35
- Luke 6:38
- Luke 21:4
You may ask why I would include an Old Testament passage when talking about New Testament giving. Simply put, Abram is the first record of giving out of acknowledgement of the great work God had done for him and out of simple gratitude and honor. In a word, that is the spirit of New Testament giving. God blessed Abram, Abram responded with giving freely and cheerfully. God blessed more.
Here is where I need your help. The children will want to give to God. However, they do not have an income. I am hoping you would see fit to give your children some work to do so that they can give. Now this needs to be an ongoing week to week activity in your home. A simple chore that earns them a small amount; even a penny is fine. It must be earned rather than simply given however. As the children give, they will then have to decide, as a group, what to do with the offerings. We will be keeping an account with the idea of using the money for Kingdom work somewhere. It might be missions, or it might be helping someone in the congregation. The idea is to keep that account down to zero.
I also want the children to experience the Luke 6:38 principle of God out giving them. No matter what you might think of New Testament giving, God is still the same. He blesses those who put their trust in Him for their finances and who show their gratitude for his blessings by giving from their finances. In fact, He finances a great deal of His Kingdom word from the offerings of it’s citizens although He could do it all without their help.
Your Servant,
Randy