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Pastor's Points - March 2019

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Dear Church Family,

In the month of March, we are providing to our church a prayer guide that focuses on North American Missions.  Our church participates with our North American Mission Board in supporting mission work in North America.  We are asking for our church family to pray for the leadership of NAMB, new church plants, church revitalizations, and compassion ministries which encompasses things such as disaster relief, foster care, adoption, and ministering to those struggling against poverty.  But one request I have is for us to pray for our own Hispanic Church Plant.  Our church planter, Leonid Marsan and his family are here with us and is excited to begin his new work here in Evansville.  Please be praying about how you can help support this new Hispanic church plant, and his family.  Leonid and his family will be worshipping with us as they get the ministry going in Evansville.  We are asking for God to bless this new work because a solid bible believing church plant for Hispanics is desperately needed in our area.

Also, I want to strongly urge you to come out for our Family Night of Worship on March 17th at 6:00 pm. Our worship ministry will lead us through a wonderful night of worship with the emphasis throughout the night being that of prayer. This will be a family night of prayer. We will be praying for our church family as well as for the individual families that make up our church.  You will not want to miss this awesome night of worship and prayer!!  If ever there was a time that we need to pray for families and our collective church family, it is now.  I love this quote by R.A. Torrey which states… When the devil sees a man or woman who really believes in prayer, who knows how to pray, and who really does pray, and, above all, when he sees a whole church on its face before God in prayer, he trembles as much as he ever did, for he knows that his day in that church or community is at an end.  Now is the time to pray for our church and families!  Now is the time to make Satan tremble as much as he ever has!  Now is the time to put Satan on notice that his day is coming to an end in our families, church, and community!!  Let us worship and pray to our great God like never before!!


I love you and I love being your pastor,

 

Posted by Alan Scott with
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Pastor's Points February 2019

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Dear Church Family,
Throughout my years of ministry, I have been puzzled at why so many people have an aversion to the spiritual discipline of prayer.  Most all believers believe in the importance of prayer.  They believe that communication to our God is important.  They believe in the power of prayer.  They believe that God hears and that prayer matters.  But there is a disconnect somewhere along the way because so many believers do not have a vibrant regular prayer life.

I am reading a book called Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church by John Onwuchekwa. In it the author shares a quote about the importance of prayer.  “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” This quote reminds us that prayer is essential for our very existence.  The author goes on to share… “breathing is necessary for everything we do. It enables every activity.  Likewise, prayer is basic and vital.  It is tied to our present existence and perpetual endurance.  Prayer is breathing.  There’s no better metaphor of what prayer should be for the Christian.”

I am convinced that we as a church family need to be “breathing” prayer on a much more regular and consistent basis.  Yes, we need to “breathe” individually, but as the body of Christ we need to “breathe” together in the spiritual discipline of prayer.  Prayer is the oxygen that we need to sustain us in all that God has planned for us as a local body of believers.

But for us to “breathe” together in prayer, we have got to know how to pray.  The simple acrostic A.C.T.S. helps us to understand four types of prayer found in scripture.   Adoration, Confession,    Thanksgiving, and Supplication.  Adoration is a prayer of praise to the God whom we cry out to.  By praising Him we show that we understand that it is an honor to be able to cry out to God prayer.  We recognize in our prayer of adoration who God is in all His perfection and greatness. Adoration is foundational to our prayer life because it helps remind us who we are praying to, and the great privilege that it is.  Confession is a prayer that should naturally come from us if we take the time to praise God for who He is and all He has done for us.  As we reflect on God’s grace and forgiveness through Christ, we’re led to confess.  Prayers of Thanksgiving should easily flow from our lips after considering all the greatness and goodness of God and his willingness to forgive us of all our sin.  We have so much to be thankful for, especially if we keep in mind that all that we have comes from God and not ourselves. And finally, Supplication is that prayer that we offer to God that declares our absolute need for Him. As we cry out to God to intercede in our lives or in the lives of others, we are recognizing His care for those that make him their refuge.

Over the course of this year we are going to “breathe” out these prayers together as the body of Christ.  I know that God will be glorified, and we will be edified if we prioritize prayer in our church family.  I am excited to see how God moves among us as we heighten the sense of urgency to pray together in our church!  I desire for our church to be alive, and to be alive we must “breathe” out these prayers to our great God!!

I love you and I love being your pastor

 

Posted by Alan Scott with

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