Last week we started a new series called Full Engagement! God wants us to be fully engaged in making disciples who worship Him, grow in Him, serve Him, and reach others for Him!
For the last eight months I have been praying with many of you in our church and asking God the question, “What will it take for us to go to the next level as a disciple-making church?”
The first and most important step is prayer. The Bible says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer…” Colossians 4:2
Why is prayer so important?
Unless God is at work in us, all of our labor is vain. Our very best efforts are meaningless without His blessing.
But the kind of prayer that God blesses, isn’t just an occasional plea to Him to “bless our church.” The Scripture says that we are to “continue steadfastly in prayer.”
What does it mean to “continue steadfastly?”
It means to be fully engaged! We are to be diligent. We are to never give up. If prayer falls off our radar or we lose focus, we must recommit ourselves to the work at hand.
We need to “continue steadfastly in prayer” because it is a great work that we do when we ask God to do what only He can do!
What would happen in and through the ministries of our church, if we had 150 people praying daily with this kind of full engagement? How might God work? Wouldn’t it be exciting to see!
I would like to encourage you to take ten minutes right now to walk away from your email and pray! Ask God to make you into a man or woman of prayer! Ask God to raise up a company of people in our church who “continue steadfastly in prayer!” Ask God to prepare our hearts to do whatever is necessary to go to the next level as a disciple-making church!
Warmly in Christ,
Pastor Gary
Acts 20:24
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Immanuel - God Is With Us!
On Saturday morning we had a special Christmas celebration as a family with my parents and sister who were visiting from Little Rock. As much as we enjoyed giving and receiving gifts, the greatest joy was just being able to be together!
The message of Christmas is a joyful message of togetherness ...
"Immanuel" means "God is with us!"
God the Son - infinite in every way with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit - crossed the threshold of eternity and took on the fullness of our humanity, except without sin.
It is because Christ is fully God, fully man, and without sin, that He is also the perfect sacrifice for our sin. And it is because of His sacrifice that we can have the joy of togetherness with God.
I hope that you will come and join us as we celebrate together the birth of Christ on Sunday, December 21, at 10:00 a.m. and again on Wednesday, December 24, at 6:00 p.m.
Warmly in Christ,
Pastor Gary
Acts 20:24
The message of Christmas is a joyful message of togetherness ...
"Immanuel" means "God is with us!"
God the Son - infinite in every way with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit - crossed the threshold of eternity and took on the fullness of our humanity, except without sin.
It is because Christ is fully God, fully man, and without sin, that He is also the perfect sacrifice for our sin. And it is because of His sacrifice that we can have the joy of togetherness with God.
I hope that you will come and join us as we celebrate together the birth of Christ on Sunday, December 21, at 10:00 a.m. and again on Wednesday, December 24, at 6:00 p.m.
Warmly in Christ,
Pastor Gary
Acts 20:24
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Reach Others For Him!
God wants us to worship Him, grow in Him, serve Him, and reach others for Him!
On Tuesday night some of the women of our church hosted our annual Ladies Christmas Tea. This year's speaker, Sharon Allen, told her story of how she became a Christian. She then shared with the women present about how they could make the same decision to follow Christ.
Seven women indicated that they made the decision to follow Christ, and one other woman said that she wanted to talk with someone further about committing her life to Christ!
Tomorrow night about 100 people will gather at our church for the Solano Warrior's (my son's football team) end of the year party. We will be giving away about 50 New Testaments published by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and 33 copies of Facing the Giants - an evangelistic film about football. Pray that God will use the gifts of New Testaments and DVDs to reach at least one of these young men for Christ!
Thanks to all of you who are serving with us to help reach others for Christ!
Warmly in Christ,
Pastor Gary
Acts 20:24
On Tuesday night some of the women of our church hosted our annual Ladies Christmas Tea. This year's speaker, Sharon Allen, told her story of how she became a Christian. She then shared with the women present about how they could make the same decision to follow Christ.
Seven women indicated that they made the decision to follow Christ, and one other woman said that she wanted to talk with someone further about committing her life to Christ!
Tomorrow night about 100 people will gather at our church for the Solano Warrior's (my son's football team) end of the year party. We will be giving away about 50 New Testaments published by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and 33 copies of Facing the Giants - an evangelistic film about football. Pray that God will use the gifts of New Testaments and DVDs to reach at least one of these young men for Christ!
Thanks to all of you who are serving with us to help reach others for Christ!
Warmly in Christ,
Pastor Gary
Acts 20:24
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