One Prayer Update

We're a little more than half way through the OnePrayer series and it's been an exciting, fun and Spirit-filled ride so far!
Here's a snippet of what's been happening so far:

• Several people have had some incredible times of prayer throughout. Many have seen God move in ways they weren't looking for and watched as God went above and beyond what they were seeking in prayer.
• Our giving (tithes/offerings) for the month of June has been steady and is running ahead of last years June. We saw a great response Sunday for the call to be the church for 2 families - one in the church and one part of the community - that were behind on rent and in danger of being evicted. WOW! In a 'down economy' we're seeing resources become available to bless others. Kingdom work, people!
• There was mention Sunday of 2 service projects in town that groups could participate in and serve others. As of this note, one home will be mostly taken care of by Tuesday evening (tonight). And here's the really cool part: the family that initiated the work has only been attending for a few months. They just wanted to give back, to serve God and this fit right in with their passion to do so! WOW!
  
• Got a call from one of our college students who is going to join them tonight to finish up what they can and invite others to join her!
  

Waiting to hear from many of you who have seen God move in this series. I know that some have had some good, life-changing conversations with folks about the messages and how that is impacting people's lives. We have truly been blessed in this series, and technology has helped us to introduce the church to what we can do with it. LOVE that part!

OnePrayer is all about serving, sharing and giving. Have you found your niche yet? Has your group found a place to be involved in service? You don't have to wait for the church to 'tell you' what is available. Many of you know of needs. GO MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD! Be prepared to be blessed...be prepared to be a blessing!

Love this place!

Leaders Make Tough Calls

Finished up Ezra, and it doesn't end on a happy note. The people were disobedient and lived - out in the open - in sin. Ezra saw this, was distraught over it and received some tough but accurate counsel on what to do.

The book ends with families, to not too fine a point on it, being separated. They had intermarried, against God's direction, from other tribes of the land they occupied. They went DIRECTLY against God. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like the smart thing to do!

As a result, the men were instructed to "Separate yourselves from the people's around you and from your foreign wives." (10:11) WOW! That's a really tough decision. In short, God told these men to leave their families - all because of SIN! Is that fair? Is this the kind of God we serve?

It's not a question of fair - it's a matter of justice. God is a JUST God. God is a JEALOUS God. God is truly a LOVING God. All He desires is the VERY BEST for His people. When your kids are disobedient, you deal with them, right? You don't look the other way and wait for things to blow over. You deal with it and mete out the consequences.

That was what Ezra did for the people that God called him to lead. And it TORE HIM UP! (Read chapter 9) He could have found a way to 'justify' their actions. He could have pleaded with God to 'look the other way' or have pity on the people. He could have just ignored it and walked away.

When God calls a leader, He calls us to step into the hard choices. He calls us to lead through the hard choices. He calls us to lead like He would lead. Which means we have to make the tough calls. Will there be hurt feelings? Yes. Will people leave the church because of our choices? Probably. Will everyone like it? No. And that can't be a deciding factor in the call.

What is that tough call you need to make but are afraid to? What is the real fear that is holding you back? Is it clear from God what you are to do? If so, why haven't you done it?

Find someone (s) in your life that you can receive wise, Biblical counsel from. Listen to them. Don't listen for the answer YOU want. Listen for God's direction, wisdom and understanding. Then, in full confidence of God, make the call. Won't always be easy, but ALWAYS worth honoring and glorifying God.

One Prayer

In full swing now with One Prayer

What is it? Why are we doing it? What are we expecting out of this? Great questions that have some simple answers.

In John 17, Jesus prayed that we, His followers and His church, would be ONE. SO THAT the world may believe! He continued to pray for us to be IN the world, going in His glory and His power - "I in them and you in me." He continues to call for UNITY in the body of Christ, so the world may see Him glorified. ONE PRAYER is an answer to this prayer that Jesus prayed. The church, globally, unifying in prayer, giving and service at the same time to impact the global church. He talks of the love of the Father, the GIVING Father that God is.

The goal for us here at FBC is to be united through prayer and service with other churches around the globe, and for us to join together as a body in prayer throughout the series. As scripture reminds us, there is power when 2 or more gather in HIS name. A couple of hundred people praying the same prayer, studying the same scripture verse daily, lifting the will and name of Jesus - that is an UNSTOPPABLE force! We also want to SERVE together and GIVE together through this event.

And that's the theme this year - UNSTOPPABLE! What can His church look like if WE, His church, lived out Jesus' prayer - united, going into the world in the power and glory of God? It would be something that NOTHING on earth could stop!

Each week in June, we will have a 'guest speaker' that will share (via video) a message that focuses directly on this theme of unstoppable. We've already heard from Craig Groeschel, and will soon hear from Ray Johnston, Perry Noble and Scott Harness. What will we, the teaching staff be doing in the meantime? Great question. This will allow us to focus on finalizing the rest of the summer and preparing fall series. In addition, I will be available to work with the elders on leadership, governance, vision issues and work with on developing other leaders for ministry.

• Is it scary? Probably. We don't know how it will all turn out - but He does.
• Is it predictable? Nope. "To be Spirit filled is to be unpredictable and yet completely reliable!" (Perry Noble)
• How will it impact our church? Don't know. My HOPE is that we will answer the call that JESUS puts out in the prayer - be one, be united, be serving IN the world, be an unstoppable force for God, give like Jesus gave.

1. If you haven't already, pick up a copy of the Fasting and Prayer Guide in the back of the Worship Center. EVERY TUESDAY is fast day, so pick either a meal or all meals, a form of media or tv or something else to abstain from that day. Spend that time in prayer on the issue that coincides with the Bible verses for the day.
   
2. This culminates on the weekend of July 4th, our parade weekend. Coincidence? I think not! We will worship together on Saturday, July 3rd (5 p.m.) and then SERVE together on the 4th. YES, it's Sunday. The parade runs RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH! Talk about the fish jumping into the boat!!!
3. We will also take an offering at the end of the event for either a local agency that we work with or one of our national/international missions groups (Samaritan's Purse for example).

HANG ON for what God will do through us and IN us during this event. May God receive all the glory for what happens next!