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Showing posts from August, 2020

Praying the Psalms Conclusion, Book Recommendations, New Bible Study Series (Pastoral Emphasis for 8/30)

Today, we concluded our series,  Praying the Psalms.  I hope everyone has enjoyed it. If you will pray the psalms, you will find that your prayers will be more God-centered, you will pray about things that you would not normally pray about, you will pray about things that you normally pray about but in new ways, and you will never run out of things to say. I want to recommend a couple of books to you that were very helpful to me during this series:  Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney  Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament by Mark Vroegop  We're starting a new Virtual Bible Study series, A Call to Repentance , on the book of Micah, on Wednesday, September 2nd, at 7:00pm. Everyone is invited to join us.

Prayer Rally, Preaching at Rooted Church, Back to School Prayer (Pastoral Emphasis for 8/16)

Our next Virtual Church-Wide Prayer Rally is 8/18 from 7 to 8pm. Make a  plan to join us so we can pray together as a House of Prayer . Next Sunday is our Youth Sunday. Also, I'll be preaching at Rooted  Church at their 10:30 am service which is being held outdoors at the Apex Community Park . School is starting on Monday (some have already started). We pray at the beginning of every school year but this year it is especially important. This start of the school year has parents trying to decide what is best for their children and family...do they do online virtual academy or let their kids go to school in person? Some parents may not want to send their children but they may not have any other options because they have to work.  This is why we should be praying for wisdom...for the parents, caregivers, children, school teachers, and staff. Here's my Back to School Prayer ... Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches

Praying Imprecatory Psalms, Church-wide Prayer Rally (Pastoral Emphasis for 8/9)

Today, we tackled the hard topic of how to pray imprecatory psalms .  My message was on Psalm 109 . An imprecation is a curse that invokes destruction or mishap upon one's enemies. The author of imprecatory psalms calls down calamity and God's anger and judgment on his enemies. One thing we must understand is that imprecatory psalms are not written to be vindictive or for personal vengeance. But they are prayers for God's justice. So as New Covenant believers, we SHOULD NOT pray imprecations against specific people (no matter how tempting it is). We are not to call down curses for our own personal vendettas. Rather, we can pray these types of psalms against our spiritual enemies such as Satan, our sinful nature, world systems of corruption and oppression, and God's enemies. Download the Home Study Guide for today's sermon to discuss and apply the sermon. Our next time church-wide prayer rally is 8/18 from 7 to 8pm on WebEx . Make a plan to join us so we can pray

August's Prayer Topic, A Psalm of Lament, Baby Announcement (Pastoral Emphasis for 8/2)

With our theme of Being a House of Prayer, we're having a pastoral prayer every Sunday. We'll have a different topic to pray for each month led by an elder. August's prayer topic is Suffering (physical, mental, depression). Today, Elder Wayne Bullock read Job 1:6-12  and led us in prayer regarding suffering. I resumed our series, Praying the Psalms , with a sermon called "A Psalm of Lament" based on Psalm 77 . You can download the Home Study Guide for today's sermon.  Congratulations to Donnell & Jenae Fordham on their birth of their son Weston Alexander . He was born on July 19th weighing 7 lbs, 7 oz.