One of the things I am believing for our region is that prayer…and answered prayer will become a hallmark of this place.
I am seeing such an increase of the corporate prayer space and it is very encouraging.
The churches of our region are beginning to come together more and more in corporate prayer. Our church has just completed 21 days of fasting and prayer and now two other churches are walking through the lenten fasting season. In addition we now have daily prayer time established in our town through THE WORSHIP ROOM HOUSE OF PRAYER
You can click that icon for more information.
That’s not all. People are gathering in churches throughout our region for congregational prayer several times a week. We are going to be taking out an ad in the local paper to make the community aware of how much prayer is going on. And we have built a web page to promote those times of prayer.
Click that icon to get more info.
In the days ahead we will see many answers to prayer and great encouragement of faith in our region.
I am sitting in the cafe at church right now on my writing day (that would be Monday). This is the day I write my sermon, pre-write a few blogs, create the worship services I am going to sing for the week, and layout plans for my upcoming weekly meetings. It’s a busy administrative/creative day which always finishes up with three hours of prayer at The Worship Room House of Prayer in downtown Winchendon
I started this morning by driving to our church treasurer’s house to get some checks signed so we could pay our contractor for a plumbing project slated to begin at the church in a few weeks. I met the contractor at the church handed him the check and after he went on to another project I sat down to finish the sermon for next Sunday.
We are in a series now entitled THE DLT REFRESHER.
Next Sunday I will be preaching on Meeting Needs which is one of five pillars in our Doing Life Together ethos. Doing Life Together has become our church’s mantra over the course of the last five years. It encapsulates the purpose for which we do everything we do.
Ministry here at Cornerstone is based around the idea of of doing life TOGETHER. This last weekend, for instance, the men off Cornerstone and several from other churches met together for a day of AWAKENING. That was the theme of our men’s conference this Spring.During the course of the day,on Saturday, we shared two meals together and talked in large and small groups about what it means to AWAKEN: AWAKEN TO THE CHERISH/ AWAKEN TO THE TRANSFORMATION PROCESS/ AWAKEN TO THE BATTLE IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD/ AND AWAKEN TO YOUR CONNECTION WITH GOD. It was an awesome day!
Then yesterday we had church service. You can watch the service below
While having lunch together we went through deacon nominations and a discussion about a proposed solar field on the church property. Then, we chatted about spiritual matters regarding discipleship and church growth. We planned and updated over several building projects for the church and finished up in a conversation about community involvement.
The weekend was very full. Monday has been very full. But I have gotten to spend these last days with some wonderful people accomplishing some amazing things.
There is no doubt that the end of winter is near. The air has become increasingly unstable. Our temperatures are fluctuating between 3 degrees Fahrenheit and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Our New England atmosphere is full of small snowstorms that finish as bothersome ice storms making the shoveling this time of year rather nasty.
We have had two days of shoveling this week and I am thinking that by tomorrow morning we will have another five to seven inches of snow to shovel from the drive.
This is the time of year when I am itching to get out into the garden and yet all I can manage is to stay somewhat even with the everyday chores: Walking the dogs, feeding the chickens, mucking the chicken runs and coops, feeding the wild birds and wild rabbits.
This is the time of year when winter stores are running out for the forest critters and so bird seed and scraps for the bunnies and squirrels become essential for life.
Still we all know Spring is just around the corner and the outside jobs will soon want doing. I am looking forward to the earth thawing out and getting my hands into garden soil again.
In January our church held its annual congregational fast. For 21 days we prayed together, fasted together and meditated on 1 John . Here are my thoughts from those times of devotion in 1 John.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete. 1 JOHN 1:1-4
MEDITATIONAL THOUGHT:
Sharing your personal encounter with Jesus brings complete joy to the community of faith.
MY THOUGHTS:
One of the things I am working on in the new year is in collaborating with people in my congregation to share stories about how God is showing up in their lives. I realize my role in the Sunday morning service is to bring the “rightly divided Word of truth” from the Scripture, but the part of sharing testimony can and even should come from the congregation. The body of Christ needs to see how the “rightly divided Word of truth” works out in personal circumstances. I need to see that in my own life and the lives of those around me so that I can be encouraged all the more as I see the day of Lord drawing near. That day is close now I think.
WHAT STORIES ARE YOU SHARING TO ENCOURAGE YOURSELF TOWARDS FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE LATELY?
Notes From the Vicarage 