The Real Problem

I know that many times we go to church, worship God, interact with the family then go home [or to lunch].  

End of the weekend and back to work.

You may not often think about the role of church leadership, the next stages of church life, goals for personal and corporate spiritual growth or other broad stroke type thinking that comes with leading a spiritual family. These are things that we wrestle with all the time!

In recent weeks, there have been a few things that have happened that remind me that the life we live is so much more than just the day to day.   It is a spiritually supercharged life with so much interaction on levels we rarely take the time to acknowledge. 

• Jesus said that sometimes spiritual looking people are heavily influenced by the “father of lies”, Satan. [John 8:44]
• Paul reminded us to put on the armor of God each day and to pray always on all occasions for all of the people of God. [Eph. 6:12-20]
• Peter reminded us that the evil one is stalking us and seeks to devour us like a roaring lion. [1 Peter 5:8]
• John told us that we are swayed by the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life distracts us from the love of God. [1 John 2:16]

Knowing that challenges will find us, I am reminded of the importance of prayer and refocusing our hearts and our trust on the One who can protect us, guide us and give us wisdom to act. 

There is an account in the life of Elisha (2 Kings 6:8-23) of a time when the King of Aram, a sworn enemy of Israel, was foiled each time he tried to trap the King of Israel.

It turned out that every time he made a plan, God would reveal it to Elisha, who would warn the king of Israel. 

When the King of Aram finally discovered the cause, here is what happened:

2 Kings 6:14-17 14  Then he [the king of Aram] sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. 15  When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. 16  "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17  And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 

• Oh how I wish we could ask God to reveal to us the mighty force of spiritual beings that surround us each and every day to protect us from the evil one.  
• I so wish we could see the plan that God has for us.  
• I wish that we could understand the way God works.  

Even though we only get a glimpse, at times, we have to trust God.   We KNOW that NOTHING is a surprise to Him.  

We BELIEVE He is working for His glory and we are a part of making His plan unfold.  

In the same way in which God protected Elisha and his servant, God also protects us.  He is the same God.  He has the same love for us.   He has a plan to use us to accomplish His will. 

Let’s pray.  

Let’s remember this “battle is not against flesh and blood [each other], but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” - Eph. 6:12

Leading and setting direction may have its challenges but when we get to serve people like the people of Grace Church, who are praying and focused, it is a joy and thrilling adventure! 

A Vision for Building Children’s Ministry – Pt 4 of 4

The Building Team sent DJ Construction off to try some new looks and come back to tell us that it could be done, it was a prudent and effective means of moving forward and it would take more money.

It could be done but not in the current budget.  

• It also took a while for the team to warm to the idea of removing everything that was currently being used in ministry space.  

• It took a while to warm to the idea that the section that was only 17 years old would come down, too. 

• It took a while to warm to the idea that this was a good use of funds and an efficient direction to set up the Osceola Grace Family for the future without a lot of maintenance and improvement projects.

Another meeting happened.  Not around dinner, but at the church and the promise was made.  Another $1 million was committed to this project and suddenly it looked like this new idea could actually work and become a reality. 

The Building team revised the scope of the project and walked it through with everyone on the team. It was approved and presented to the rest of the Elder Board. After a number of questions and great deal of discussion the Elder Board also signed the approval for this new direction. 

That brings us to today.  

The new direction involves two new wings; one to the north and one to the south of the main auditorium.  At the same time the auditorium will be renovated and the interior space divided up into two sections. 

First, a smaller auditorium [100’ x 60’] which will:

• accommodate 400 chairs

• incorporate a sports floor for future sports ministry

• be rotated 90° for the audience to face the west wall and enter from a new east wall which becomes the dividing wall to the new Gathering Area. 

Second, the remainder of the existing space [100’ x 40’] becomes a common Gathering Area which will:

• be the main entry into the church and office areas

• be the main access hub to the other areas of ministry to the north, south and renovated auditorium

• include an indoor play area for young families to enjoy throughout the week

• include a coffee bar and soft seating for people to gather before or after services.

It seems a little outrageous, however, this direction and new scope of the project allows Osceola Grace to be able to overcome so many of the current challenges while actually giving a face lift or new space to virtually every area of the building.

On Sunday, November 29 during the morning service, Pastor Greg will present much of this history in a concise format while DJ Construction’s Enis Yoder will be there to give a visual 3D fly over and fly through of the plans as they are currently laid out.  This is not the final version but will provide a framework for our subcommittees to work from to develop the actual blueprint and layout. You won’t want to mist November 29! Small scale plans will be distributed that day at the Welcome Center for each person to take and peruse for a while and warm to the idea and propose any questions that may arise.

There will be a follow up Question/Answer time in small groups on Sunday night, December 6^th at 6:30PM after the Christmas Tree lighting and caroling event [5:45PM]at the Osceola Town Hall!

God truly has doubly blessed our Osceola Grace church Family!  Praise God for this blessing and pray for unity, wisdom and direction as this family moves forward into the future!

A Vision for Building Children’s Ministry – Pt 3 of 4

The projected cost came in well above the funds that were available for each of the three plans being reviewed by the team.  Even the very generous gift that was give would not cover these costs.

It became apparent that the best possibility was to simply renovate some current areas and forego the idea of a new Children’s Wing.  Instead they would utilize existing space and make some major changes to the flow of people.  The goals remained the same: this project needed to stay in budget, the church still needed a large gathering area that was centrally located and the church needs an improved space for Children’s ministry.  It was looking like the team was facing a scaling back in some form of the whole project.

Some things they ran into in the process:

• They learned that renovation is much cheaper per square foot than new buildings
• They learned that to do what they were hoping to do would require a major realignment of roof lines to fix existing leaks and to avoid more in the future.
• They learned that when they start adjusting roof lines in order to make things look cohesive and not like an afterthought that it gets expensive (even to renovate)
• They learned that the more they moved toward some solutions to fit our original scope that the renovation costs began to rise per square foot.
• They also ALL agreed that they did not want to leave the next generation with a bunch of maintenance headaches or without the ability to easily reassign space or expand the building.
• Even if it could be made to work, it left us with a follow up renovation of the current youth room and café and the “soon to be” Michiana Biblical Counseling Center” area because both section on the north and south side of the building had excessive leaks and were developing a mold problem. 
• In other words, the $1.2 million dollars (of the larger gift) allocated to the new building was not enough and would not solve those other problems.

So.   Someone joked in one of the meetings and said, “It would almost be cheaper and fit better in our budget if we just tore it all down and started from scratch!” 

That was a joke. 

However, as the team looked at a few possibilities regarding this idea, they realized that there may be some merit to this idea.  

So, here is what happened.  At the next meeting with DJ Construction’s leaders, the idea was floated out there like this, “What would it look like if we removed everything except the 100’ x 100’ area that is the current worship space? We could renovate the worship space to include a gathering area while adding a Children’s wing to the south as new construction and offices, youth ministry space and Adult Bible Fellowship classes to the south as new construction.  If we did, it would solve all of these other issues of rooflines, other leaks, inefficient buildings, heating and cooling, etc. Additionally, it would set up the next generation for expansion in almost any direction or a reassigning of the current space as ministry needs change in the future.” 

As that was taking place, God also had been moving in someone’s heart regarding what it might take to accomplish this financially. 

Seriously, stay tuned for the last part!

A Vision for Building Children’s Ministry – Pt 2 of 4

As the Building Team began to work, they did a number of things to prepare.  First, they spent some time creating a “scope” for the type of work to be done.  That Scope listed what was “in” the building project and what was “outside of” the building project.   What they specifically agreed to was that we would build space for Children’s Ministry and space for a common gathering area before and after services. 

Ultimately, the goal was to have that gathering area as a “hub” to the rest of the ministry.  If it could be centrally located, then people would pass each other and encounter each other as they entered and exited ministry areas and the building.  The goal with that area was to cause people to intentionally encounter each other in a comfortable setting that would foster conversations. 

The team read a book together about building projects for churches and tried to grasp the massive responsibility that was on their shoulders to lead this endeavor.  Throughout the process, they interviewed multiple construction firms and saw some “concept” drawings of what “could be”.  It was quite exciting to see the ideas flowing and also quite intimidating to see what it would take to get the project accomplished. 

What became clear throughout this process was it would take a lot of people to speak into the design, flow and needs of this project in order to accomplish it well.  There were a couple of whole church meetings to unpack some of the process and let people in on where the team was on the timeline.  All along the elders were being kept in the loop in order to make sure the team were still on task and that the project stayed focused. 

Eventually, the team decided upon the construction firm that would lead our church family through the rest of the way, DJ Construction.   It was very clear that DJ’s goal was to discover HOW ministry was CURRENTLY happening and to design a building that would enhance, improve and support Children’s ministry rather than build something which forces Osceola Grace into a mold with which we are not familiar.

As the team began to work with DJ there were three different conceptual drawing that were presented as a “starting point” for discussion.  DJ is extremely experienced with church building projects, so when they presented each of the conceptual plans, they also were able to give “ball park” numbers that showed a range of cost for each plan.  Keep in mind, these were estimates not actual quotes but they were estimates based upon actual data from their vast experience.

Those numbers were slightly discouraging to the building team.   So they kept praying and kept working toward a plan that would work.  The more they talked, prayed and met with DJ, the more they realized they might need to look at things differently.

Here is why:     Stay tuned…

A Vision for Building Children’s Ministry –Pt 1 of 4

 In the next several posts you will read the narrative of how Osceola Grace leadership has arrived at this point right now in the building program.   It is going to take a few posts so please be patient and read these thoroughly over the next few days and you will be amazed at the way that God has doubly blessed Osceola Grace! 

Almost exactly one year ago, the Lord laid it on Pastor Greg’s heart to share with you all as a church that our next step in 2015 would be the hiring of a Family and Children’s Pastor to begin the process of rebuilding the solid foundation of Children’s ministry for which Osceola Grace Church has been known for so many years.  It was not as though what was happening was bad or ineffective, the leadership simply felt that the best way to grow this entire ministry was to focus from the youngest to the oldest.  

Therefore, our focus was going to begin with ministries from cradle to the upper elementary ages.   If you recall, Pastor Greg’s challenge was to see what could be done to increase the weekly giving in order to hire that Pastor sometime in 2015. 

Within two weeks a couple from the church contacted Pastor Greg to go out to dinner together. This dinner proved to be a turning point on the timeline and a reassurance of the current direction.   As talk surrounded the vision that was shared previously, this couple shared what God had laid upon their heart. 

When Pastor Greg had shared the vision, it confirmed to them something that they had already been thinking.  As a result, this dinner was to share that they were donating almost $2 million for a number of things! 

• The bulk of the gift was to go toward building a new Children’s Wing for the next generation of ministry and toward a Commons Area for the body of believers to gather in since the current lobby space is more of a large hallway than a gathering area. 
• Part of the gift was directed toward the General Fund and a couple of other areas
• Another part of that gift went toward the salary and benefit package for the very pastor toward which vision had been set! (ENOUGH TO COVER 3 YEARS!)

At the start of December 2014, the announcement was made about this gift and the process was set in motion to do two things:

1. Search for and hire an active and successful Family and Children’s Pastor (a committee was formed to accomplish this)
2. Create and empower a Building team to guide through this monumental task

Both teams began their work early in 2015 and on October 25, Pastor John Contreras joined the church staff and began his ministry here as our new Family Pastor!   Isn’t it exciting to see him at work and building relationships already?  As the Building Team began rolling along they were very deliberate in their process in order to try to avoid many of the common mistakes that churches make in building projects!  The next post will have more about the process they went through!

Stay tuned…

Communion - Why We Do It!

Job 19:25-27 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

There is no HOPE that is greater than to recognize and acknowledge that the One in whom we place all of our hope is the One who paid for our sins, overcame death and is now actively involved in our lives while waiting for that day when we join Him in heaven.  Communion is a chance to REMEMBER that and to REFLECT upon that TRUTH!   This service is truly a celebration! 

Each of our Communion services includes three aspects of celebration.  We celebrate the past ministry of Christ through the bread and the cup, the present ministry of Christ by doing foot washing and the future ministry of Jesus Christ around a meal together.  Here are explanation of each aspect.  

The Love Feast (Matthew 26:17-30)

We will begin with a meal which represents the future ministry of Christ to the believer.  This simple meal represents the Marriage Supper of the Lamb that will take place when Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, redeems us and takes us to heaven to be with Him.  This is time where the church – known in Scripture as the BRIDE OF CHRIST – is brought together with the Groom – Jesus Christ – and we have a Marriage Feast together.  Ours is a simple meal but we have a great time around the table talking about what we think Heaven will be like!  You can read more about this in Revelation 19.

 Foot Washing (John 13:1-20)

Next we celebrate the present ministry of Jesus Christ in our lives as believers.  This present ministry involves the ongoing process of being clean before God.  We have a time during the service to spend time quietly confessing sin and experiencing that daily forgiveness with God.  This is a time of individual prayer to ask God to forgive us of any sin that may be in our lives at this time.  We then dismiss for the men go to one area and the women meet in the Joy Fellowship Room.  At this time we wash each other’s feet.  It is not a scrub down washing or power washing, it is simply a symbolic splashing of a little water over each other’s feet and then drying them off.  We have a good time singing and sharing together as we do this.  This practice comes straight out of John 13 where Jesus did it as an example for us to follow regularly each time we share in communion.

The Bread and Cup (Matthew 26:26-28)

The final part of our service is when we share in the Bread and the Cup – This is a celebration of the past ministry of Christ and represents His great sacrifice for our sins and the payment that was made so that we could experience eternity in heaven with Him if we just acknowledge Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives.  

We enjoy doing this together as a family of believers a Osceola Grace and would invite you, as a follower of Jesus Christ, to join us this Sunday, November 22 right after our worship service.   Our kids can join us for the meal and then will be dismissed to childcare during the foot washing and bread and cup portions of the service.    

Expecting the Best Requires Reflection

In our current series "Expect the Best" we looked at the challenge behind these verses yesterday:

Haggai 1:5-6 
⁵ Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.
⁶ You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."

In the little book of Haggai in the Old Testament of the Bible, God says five times "Give careful thought to your ways." In this first mention of the phrase above, God wants us to think about why we never seem to have enough and we never seem to get ahead.  The people in this account seem to work really hard and yet are barely staying afloat.  

Do you ever feel that way?

Later in the passage, the Lord tells them that if they chose to put God FIRST in their lives that He would meet their needs.  This is something that we all struggle with, myself included, because there is always something pulling our attention away - sometimes really good things and sometimes really bad things  -  We seem to be well aware of the "bad" things that do this but even the good things can keep us from moving forward in our journey with God. 

God want us to all choose the best and Expect the Best from Him as we intentionally decide to give Him our best. 

Join us on Sunday at 10:30 at 58343 S. Apple Road, Osceola to learn more about how we can live these truths out together!

Expecting the Best!
Pastor Greg 

"Just Jesus" Reminders

We just completed the series "just Jesus" where we studied the power of Jesus in the seven sign miracles in the Gospel of John. 

John only shares 7 of the many miracles of Jesus (before the resurrection) in his gospel.  I believe that he does that for a purpose.   

His purpose: to show us the true power and authority of Jesus as God!  We often need to be reminded that we have a lot of distractions from what is really important - our real focus: "just Jesus"!

As a result, we spent seven weeks seeing that Jesus has power over:

• creation (he turned water to wine instantaneously)
• space and distance (he healed a kid from 15 miles away)
• time (he healed an invalid after 38 years)
• our resources (he fed over 15-20,000 people with 2 loaves of bread and 5 fish)
• the elements and our fears (he walked on water and he assured the disciples of his presence)
• any human limitation (he healed a man who was born blind)
• death - both physical and spiritual (he raised a man that was dead for 4 days)

Yesterday, one of our elders, Kevin Schreck, challenged us to live this journey of our spiritual lives being completely aware that Jesus wants to transform us and expects to transform us but we have a role in this - what do you want the fruit of your life to look like?  What do you want to be known for?  

In order for this to happen - Jesus expects you to begin NOW planting the right seeds of truth in your heart and mind in order for you to be transformed in you heart and thinking. 

Do you want to be more loving?   You start by beginning to understand the love that Jesus had for you and that God the Father had for you in sending his only Son to pay for your sins.  Read and memorize Scripture that helps you understand this.  John 3:16, Philippians 2:1-11, Romans 5:8.  This explains some of the depth of the love of God and can lead you to further passages - then begin praying about how this should affect your heart.

As you pray - ask God to show you how to love Him more and then how to love those around you more.   And then listen to His prompting and don't ignore the opportunities to love like Jesus would have loved - by serving others from a pure and loving heart! 

You can do this with any area in which you want to produce better and healthier fruit!  But as Kevin said - we have to have a soft heart - one that is willing to receive advice and instruction from others and from the Word of God!

• If you want more wisdom - then read Proverbs and listen to those who have been there before you.  Maybe read James 1:2-8.
• If you want patience - Look at examples of patience in the Bible - do a word search and find where to learn more about the patience and plan of God.
• If you want to manage your money better - then read through Proverbs and mark all the "money" verses.  Work on your understanding of whose it all is anyway and study what Jesus said about your money and things!  

Check out the Fruit of the Spirit (what we should look like) in Galatians 5:22-23 and see how you stack up - then start working on what to plant TODAY to improve the fruit LATER!

Remember - it is ALL about Jesus and just Jesus in our lives!!

A Survey to Which You Can Honestly Respond!

 Serving others.   

How do you feel about this?

Really, I am curious. 

Comment below as to what your immediate thought is about “SERVING OTHERS”. 

• Christ commanded it – but that does not mean we have to like it.
• Christ DID it – but, truth be told, we do not always REALLY want to model what Christ modeled.
•  Christ lived it out because it was a large part of his purpose for his arrival on the planet. (Philippians 2:6-7)

Regardless of all of that.  How do you feel about serving other people?  Seriously.

There are several approaches to this question so consider where you stand and who are you serving…

1. If you ARE NOT a Christ Follower and you have a chance to serve people that are non-church goers – How do you feel about serving them?
2. If you ARE NOT a Christ Follower and you a chance to serve people that are church goers and call themselves Christ followers – How do you feel about serving them?
3. If you ARE a Christ follower and you a chance to serve people that are non-church goers – How do you feel about serving them?
4. If you ARE a Christ follower and you a chance to serve people that are church goers and call themselves fellow Christ followers – How do you feel about serving them?

Answer the two questions above that are true of you and relate to people whom you could be serving.

I want to remind myself and my readers of what the Word of God says about “Serving Others”  but I am interested in your responses first!

I know how I feel about it and I know how I have felt about it.  

I want to hear from you.

Does God Answer Prayer (Part 3)

I feel the need to answer two common reasons why people don't pray:  

• I feel like prayer is not for me
• I don't have time to pray - I am so busy

For those who feel like prayer is not for them - I simply have to say that Jesus Christ spent a great deal of time in prayer (you can see this as you read through the gospels - especially Mark and John) and Jesus was God in the flesh!  

He felt compelled to pray to stay in a close relationship with His Heavenly Father.   So as imitators of Jesus - this should be a large part of our lives and should help us to stay in tune with our Heavenly Father!  

Additionally, the Word of God teaches us that our prayer is a fragrant and pleasant aroma to God.  He enjoys them as he would enjoy a pleasant smelling candle!

In answer to the idea that you are too busy to pray - I want to propose that maybe you just see no value in it therefore you choose not to do it.  

I find a principle to be so true in my life and in the lives of those I spend much time around.  This is the principle:

You find time, in fact, you MAKE time, for what is important to you!

When something seems to be of value to me or seems to be important. I make time to see it happen. My wife is important to me - therefore, I make time to spend time with her.  I put many things of lesser value aside to be with my bride!  I say "NO" to many things in order for Cari and I to be together and enjoy activities together!

I thoroughly enjoy hunting and being outdoors.  When the right seasons come around. I adjust my schedules as much as possible to spend time in the woods enjoying the beauty of the creation of God while hunting for food!

I completely love that I actually get paid to spend time leading the Osceola Grace family.  I know that ministry has its struggles but it has so many more rewards as we grow together and see others come to faith in Jesus and choose to follow Him with their lives! 

Therefore - I want to make time in my schedule for people.  To pour into them and to encourage them and to do life together with them!

We have time for what is important to us.

Sometimes when my son, Clint, hears someone say something that he thinks may not be completely true or an exaggeration he says, 

"I am callin' Shenanigans!"  

That means that he is saying that he does not believe you and there is more to the story or you are just not being honest.  It is sort of like saying - "Prove it!"  Because if he calls "Shenanigans" on you he then expects you to do what you say.

So, if you say that you are not praying because you are too busy then I want to call "Shenanigans" on you.  

I would like you to prove to me that you are too busy - that you do not have any time in your schedule to spend some time praying.  Because if we look at your schedule and find that there are not extra minutes in the day for you to pray - I will help you say "NO" to a few things so that you can say "YES" to a personal conversation with the God of the Universe - Your Heavenly Father - who wants to hear from you. In fact, He longs to hear from you!

Don't waste time doing all of the busy work - get to your knees and pray to God!

Does God Answer Prayer (Part 2)

"I don't know how to pray"

I have heard some people describe their reason for not praying in that sentence.  Some, in a group setting, will also say, "I do not know how to pray out loud."

I believe that there are a couple of solutions to this:

• Read some prayers of the Bible and use them as a template for learning how to pray.
• The first time you are praying out loud in a group or alone - read a prayer from the Bible and then re-frame or rephrase it to communicate your personal thoughts to God.
•  Write out your thoughts:
• like how you are feeling toward God, (psalm 31)
• a praise to Him, (Ps. 19, Ps.145-150)
• a request of Him, (Ps 54, 130, 143)
• a thankful statement to Him, (Ps 107, 136)
• a confession to Him, (Ps 51) 
• a fear that you want to admit to Him, (Ps 13)
• a characteristic of Him that you know to be true (Ps 111) 
• something that you read in His Word you want to affirm to Him (Ps 108)
• THEN read those to Him aloud.  

No one said that this is easy but what I have found is that when I talk to God, (and yes, I talk out loud to Him a lot) I find that it is like talking to someone that I really trust who will hear what I say and what I MEAN to say.  I try to speak with respect toward Him as I pray to Him.  I want to honor Him with my words and my heart as I pray.

What about if I am angry at Him for something that happened that I do not understand or agree with?

I have shouted at God in my frustration before - I have been mad about some things that have happened that I thought were unfair.   I have felt like He could have fixed it or at least controlled it and yet the outcome was not according to my expectations.   So I told Him.  Honestly, it did not make me feel any better. But  I was able to vocalize what was really on my heart and after I said it aloud to Him, I began to let it go. 

I truly believe that we must speak out loud to God  - it helps me to hear what I am saying.  It helps me to understand my heart a little more.  It sometimes sounds really silly or outrageous once I have said it out loud and then I realize that my mind has been holding me captive on some crazy, wrong thinking. 

What I love about praying out loud to God (in a group or alone) is that I get to articulate what is in my heart and then I get to let God sort out the right from the wrong. 

Try it.  

Today.

Right now.

Take a minute and tell God something out loud that you have wanted to say for a long time.  

How does it sound?

Probably not as crazy as you once thought! Right?

Next week - Part 3 "Does God Answer Prayer?" 

I want to share with you some examples of Bible prayers - you can read them and pray them back to God!

Does God answer prayer? (part 1)

Is your prayer life filled with POWER and EFFECTIVENESS?  

James said that "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective".  

Things I hear from people about prayer:

• I do not know how to pray - I ask God for things and they do not happen
• I read the Bible but praying isn't for me.
• I do not have time to pray because I am too busy with life.
• I don't pray because I don't feel like God is listening. 

This is the first of several blogs to address these issues from the experience of many people that have gone on before and from the Word of God. 

But first:

Can I share with you about a group of people that are wrestling in prayer each week for Osceola Grace and our community?

Each Wednesday night in the church office after the Driven Student Ministry and Highway 180 begin, a group of us meets to look at a principle of prayer from the Word of God and then we spend time praying.  

We don't take a lot of time collecting prayer requests - we spend time praying for what is on our hearts and whatever God has laid upon our hearts that week  - we pray and pray and pray.  

We want to see God move and praying together has helped us to catch the vision for what God can do!  

We have seen God moving!

• We prayed for visitors and we have seen more people that need more of Jesus in their life 
• We prayed for community and we are seeing relationships develop
• We pray for lives to be changed and I just heard of someone turning over their life to Jesus Christ for real last week and I hear many stories of people that are planting seeds of the gospel in their fields each week.
• We ask God for joy and contentment while we wait upon him and he gives it!
• We ask him for more passion to pray and we experience it.
• We ask for forgiveness and he grants it
• We ask for more people to pray and he has been bringing more in.  

God is in the business of answering prayer - If you want to be a part of the prayer movement at Osceola Grace then join us at 7pm.

• I have found that my heart is changed as we pray for others.
• I have found that I experience a humility and brokenness before God as we pray together and I hear others share their hearts with God.
• I have found that I am more sensitive to the sin in my life 
• I have discovered a more compassionate place in my heart for others. 

God is changing me as I have the chance to pray for others - it just reminds me that it is not about me at all!

Wrestle with us - Wednesdays at 7PM.

Stay tuned for the the rest of this series "Does God Answer Prayer?" 

Blogging With Purpose

I am not a consistent blogger.
There - I said it and for the nine of you that read my blog - you already know this!
However, I am committed to changing that pattern because I want to increase the impact of sharing how God works in our lives as believers.
 
It is my hope and prayer that God will use my musings to motivate people to be:

• more fervent in their personal prayer life
• more passionate to serve others - in and out of the church
• more intense in their "farming" efforts to plant seeds of the gospel and see a harvest 

So - I will schedule this into my routine - like I am scheduling the above items into it also!

I have discovered that my prayer life is the key to seeing God move.  Truthfully, it is not so much the key to seeing Him move but it is the motivating and driving force in my life to watch Him move and to know when and where He is moving! 

 

I do not pretend to think that by my prayer - God decides to act.  But I do know that the more that I intentionally pray and the more that I let God speak to my heart through listening to His Spirit, I tend to find myself in the right places at the right time to be His instrument!

Second - I have also discovered that I get a great joy out of serving others.  I have found that those that I know who follow God the closest and most wholeheartedly also serve others and lift them up before themselves!

Third - When the first two things are happening - I find that I am more bold in noticing opportunities and speaking into people's hearts about what an amazing God I get to serve.  In other words: When I pray regularly and stay in tune with God's Spirit in me AND when I look for ways to serve others first, I run head long into chances to share about God and to plant the seeds of the gospel.  Lately, it has happened more and more often.

Rather than sit and regret what could have been - I am excited about what is!

I hope to share with you the importance of building your schedule around prayer, service and farming!

What can you do today?

• Start praying and asking God to open your eyes to what He has for you (every day)
• Start looking for people that you could help (invest some time)
• Start thinking about what God has accomplished in you and think about how to verbalize that to others!

Train like you want some results other than what you have always been getting!

Praying the Prayers of the Bible

I like reading through the Word of God and discovering how many recorded prayers there are and then looking how I could pray them today.  

I ask - what effect would these have on life today if we approached it this way?

For instance, Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel all prayed prayers of confession for their nation.  They did not exclude themselves from the confession but included themselves in it.  In other words - they took responsibility for the condition of their community as well as the sins of their community.  

Ezra 9:6-7 (NIV) ⁶ and prayed: "O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. ⁷ From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.

Nehemiah 1:6-7 (NIV) ⁶ let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. ⁷ We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

Daniel 9:4-11 (NIV) ⁴ I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. ⁷ "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame--the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. ⁸ O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. ⁹ The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; ¹⁰ we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. "Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.

We can learn so much from prayers like this and the many others in Scripture. 

I enjoy Wednesday nights in my office looking at these kinds of prayers and asking how we can pray them together for our families, our church, our community, our city, our state and our country. At 6:45 PM we meet to briefly talk and then to pray together.  Just pray. 

• No lists
• No agenda except to read a prayer, talk about it and pray it.

Pray is the process of fighting the daily battles of a war already won!

Is This In Your Nature?

Watch this video first.  Click below and let it open in a new window then come back here.

Are Your Eyes Open and Your Heart Willing To Act?

Sometimes I think that I am so caught up in my own world, my own agenda, my own friends and my own thoughts that I miss what God wants me to do.  
Not so with my wife!

• We will sit in a restaurant and she will see an older man or woman sitting alone and wonder what their story is. Then she bats her beautiful eyes as she asks if we can anonymously pay for their dinner.  How do you refuse that sort of generosity (or those eyes)?
• We will be leaving Aldi's and she walks the cart over to someone just arriving and gives them the cart (and the quarter) and says, "Have a great day - I just wanted to pass a blessing on to you."
• We will be leaving a parking lot and she will see someone struggling to get something in the trunk of their car and ask me to help them.  
• She will see someone digging in their purse for a few coins at a checkout counter and will offer to help them with her grocery money.
• She wants me to pay for the people behind us at toll booths just because its fun to bless someone without them knowing it is coming.

All of the things in that video - are in my wife's nature.  

Why can't we all be that way?

Why can't each of us walk around with our eyes open and our heart willing to see the need and meet the need?

I love the heart that my wife has for seeing needs and willingly, immediately, without hesitation meeting that need - sometimes at great sacrifice to her own desires and needs.
What if we actually lived out each day the love that we claim to have toward God by "loving our neighbors as we love ourselves"? Matt 22:37-40
What would this world look like then? 

Read It Yourself... For Crying Out Loud!

I once heard an illustration that I now regularly use... it goes something like this: 

A man walks into the most amazing FREE buffet in the world and is greeted by the maitre de' (at a buffet, yes) who introduces the man to his own "buffet guide".  This guide's sole responsibility is to make sure that the guests see everything available and get the best and choicest of the foods on the buffet.  Mind you, this buffet is a killer buffet! (and it is all FREE!)

Nothing like it in the world.  

Fresh Maine lobster each day, King crab legs, prime rib and luscious steaks.  Amazing vegetables and salads prepared by the best chefs. Incredible desserts that would knock the socks off of any Iron Chef you encounter!  

The guide shows you around and then fills your plate(s) with the best fare that you select!  He then walks you to your table where you sit with linen tablecloths and napkins, beautiful goblets from which to drink and hefty true silverware!

You cannot believe what you are experiencing!  This is so "over the top, knock your socks off" spectacular that you realize that you will come back here as often as possible!  

As you sit down and your plate(s) are placed before you the most incredible thing happens.  Your "buffet guide" removes the Lobster tail from the shell for you and slices it into bite-sized pieces.  He then proceeds to place a bit in his mouth, chew it fully and then remove it from his mouth with his spoon and offer the spoon to you to eat.  Are you appalled?  Would you eat it?  Certainly it can still hold some nourishment, right? Well of course but that is so unacceptable that most Americans (even though it was FREE) would never think of eating food that was "processed" by someone else!

However, when it comes to our own spiritual nourishment - the reading of God's Word - for some reason that is the only meal we get each week (and sometimes not even weekly).  We get someone else's processed spiritual food from the Word of God!  King David of the Old Testament felt this way about God's Word...

Psalm 119:97-105 (NIV)
⁹⁷ Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
⁹⁸ Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
⁹⁹ I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
¹⁰⁰ I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
¹⁰¹ I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.
¹⁰² I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.
¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴ I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.
¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

I love verse 103... The Message says it this way:

Psalm 119:103 (MSG)
¹⁰³ Your words are so choice, so tasty; I prefer them to the best home cooking.

Why don't you begin feeding yourself today?  Begin "chewing" your own food!  Begin letting its savory flavor melt in your mouth and linger in your memory of something that is flavorful and will keep you on the right path!  Did I say it is FREE?  You have before you a FREE buffet of life altering principles and values that you can feast upon yourself and will be so satisfying to your soul!

I find that I have to intentionally work at this in my life - because I preach each week I spend hours reading, researching and preparing lessons to teach.  Yet there are times, if I am not careful, that even when I am doing that it sometimes seems like I am the "buffet guide" - I am chewing it up and spitting it out for others without really being nourished myself.
Every time I open the Word to read, I pray first, "God, speak to me through your Word today - do not let me forget that You are speaking to me as I prepare to share with others." 

Will you do the same - will you commit to a daily "meal" (not a snack) - of God's Word?

Try this:

For the next five days read Galatians all the way through each day.  If you have a Study Bible, use the first day to read about the book - its setting, audience, author, purpose, etc and then read it through. Keep a notepad and write out the significant points that you see each time through.  Make a list of words or phrases that you need to ask about or research.  Make notes about what it is saying to you.

The next week - pick another short book and try the same process with that book.  Here is a proposed list to get you through the next few months!

Bible Reading List:

• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Esther
• Philippians
• Colossians
• Malachi
• 1 Timothy
• 2 Timothy
• Haggai
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessalonians
• Habbakuk
• Titus and Philemon together
• 1 John
• Ruth
• 2 and 3 John and Jude together
• James
• Lamentations

Once you get this habit down you can start on the longer books and break them up into two or three sections and spread them over a two week time frame!

In just four months you will have read over half of the New Testament and have a great working knowledge of what God desires for you and you will have a great set of principles from the Old Testament under your belt also!

As I recently said to my own family of believers, "Read it for yourself, for crying out loud!"