Days of Hope

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. In liturgical churches, Ash Wednesday is a day of repentence that begins a 46 day period, not including Sundays, of preparation for Easter. Easter is a day of Celebration of the life and redemption we find in Christ our crucified and risen Lord. Though we are not a liturgical church, I encourage you to be sensitive to the God-Given spiritual climate you might find in those you love and care for during the time of Lent. It's a great time to talk about Jesus and the life he wants us all to experience.

What I am saying is use this time to be redemptive in your conversations. I believe there is a great spiritual hunger in our society that will never be quenched without people seeing Jesus for who he really is. You might be all someone sees of Jesus so Pray that God's Spirit uses you as part of his redemptive plan. I will remind you of our Pray and Watch Prayer at the end of the blog.

Last week in I told you one of the ways to experience the presence of God throughout the day is a Catholic Tradition called the Divine Hours. Phyllis Tickle has written several books that give you scripture prompts and prayers throughout the day. I find them helpful to remind me all day of God's presence in my life. A church in Michigan hosts Tickle's writings online. Add this link to your favorites and go there often.

I encourage each of you to experiment to see what different spiritual disciples work best for you to create space in your life to conform to the image of Christ.

As we begin preparation for this Easter season, I encourage you to begin praying for those in your life you might want to invite to an Easter service. I know this will be a great joy for you and I will be praying for you as you invite.

What a joy for us to serve our Lord together. I am constantly amazed at the stories I hear of how God places each of you for his purposes. You are a great blessing to our community.

I look forward to seeing you all as we worship our Lord together this weekend. I just got new glasses so, I am literally looking forward to seeing you this weekend.

God Bless

Pastor Randy

Pray and Watch--Father, please send your Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of these people. Draw them to Jesus and make them kingdom workers.

Our lives can be all about the kingdom all the time. It's the privilege of His Presence.

Prayer Outage

Let's all admit how challenging it is to pray. I have met few believers who are satisfied with their prayer life, who have not in some way felt inadequate in their praying. I know I often feel that way. I get discouraged thinking I could have , I should have prayed more or with more energy. It's often our first way of dealing with a spiritual discipline. We feel guilt so we try harder, that doesn't work and we get frustrated and we try again, harder this time. Eventually we lose motivation and quit.

John Ortberg asks a good question. How do we do spiritual practices and devotion so the Pharisees can't win??? Good question and I pray as we study the Lord's prayer we will learn the secret of being in secret with God.

How are you doing this week?? Have you designated a secret place to meet with God? I encourage you to do it then simply ask God as did his disciples, "Lord Teach Me to Pray."

Many questions may come to your mind. Do I have enough time to pray; I don't know what to pray; Can I pray in a wrong way; Whatever your question I encourage you not to hesitate just start praying-Whatever, whenever, however.

This weekend we will focus on Mt. 6:5-8 with the theme of "Find God In Prayer." I have been blessed as I have studied-I know God will speak to you as well.

Remember to invite a friend- See you this weekend!

God Bless

Pastor Randy

Deeper

Luther once said it is a fearful thing for a sinner to come into the presence of a Holy God. Truth is a sinner can't come into the presence of a Holy God without the covering of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We have full access as believers to the presence of God. It is for every believer to know and be known by God. What a joy.

As we begin this new series it's my prayer that you will desire and crave being in God's presence . It is a great privilege. Beginning this week we will discuss the privilege of coming into God's presence by prayer.

I encourage you to invite a friend. The Lord's Prayer is known by many people. Was it meant to be recited as a prayer or does it point to a greater reality we are to experience in prayer. I truthfully don't believe when the disciples begged Jesus to teach them to pray they were looking for another memorized prayer. I have enjoyed digging into the Lord's Prayer again and I pray you will come with an expectant heart as we ask the Lord to reveal himself to us anew this weekend.

Most of you know I love the writings of AW Tozer. His writings challenge me to go deeper in my expereince with Christ. You can recieve a daily devotional by AW Tozer @ http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer

Enjoy and See you this weekend!

Pastor Randy