Invitation to Prayer Group

2 Corinthians 1:11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

As I was walking my postal route one day listening to the Bible through my headphones my thoughts turned to prayer, specifically group prayer. I thought about how some of my prayers had come to pass, and how awesome it felt when they came true. That make me think of the time Madeline had testified about her knee and how God had given her strength, and the time Eric told us how our prayers had helped heal his nephew who is now cancer free. Amen! How awesome is it to know He is personally touching and guiding our lives.

I began to wonder if there was more we could do as a church family to pray and learn about prayer, and to share. I thought it would be awesome to have a separate time set aside like Bible study to come together just for this.

While still on my route I called Pastor and told him my thoughts, I was excited. He seemed interested, and I suggested maybe one of the deacons could lead it, he immediately suggested that I do it. I think he it was on my heart, I was excited about it, and maybe I should consider leading it. We prayed about it, and I continue to pray about it.

Yikes! It had only been a few weeks since I had said my first "Grace" at dinner. However I am really excited about this and I could feel God leading me forward. I've been reading .....a lot. And I have been praying ....a lot.

One of my most recent prayers is that most, or all, of you will come and see, and that we will begin a time where we meet as a church family, and pray. This will, at least, be time spent with your church family and at most a powerful prayer experience lifting up God's will.

We are starting next week, at 9:45 and going till 10:15. When we move to summer hours, we will move to 8:45 and run till 9:15. Come, takepart, and join with your brothers and sisters in prayer. Bring your concerns, bring your prayers and remember…Matthew 18:20 ^“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

The Lords Prayer

Most if not all Christians know the Lords Prayer probably by heart. I'm sure many non-Christians know it as well. However when we say we know it what does that mean? Does it mean like a child whose been forced to rehearse their line in the school play? Sure they know the words, and maybe the right inflection, but do they really know they meaning or why they are even saying it? About how many Christians could you say the same sort of thing when it comes to the Lord's Prayer? Are you one of them? I know I was, I knew the Lord's Prayer even before I was a Christian, a result of friends and girlfriends who had been forced to rehearse their lines, but I never knew what it meant. Much like when my Catholic friends would cross themselves I thought it was just some odd ritual.
 I have learned that it is not just some odd ritual, it is the Word of God and should be treated as such and by no means just another ritual. So if we step back and put this prayer graciously given to us what do we learn.
  Approximately halfway through the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is teaching to "great crowds" (Matt 4:25) about a great multitude of things from lust to divorce to anger and fasting and many other things, in the center of all this is how to pray.(Matt 6:9-13) Which is also known as the Lord's Prayer.
Matthew 6:9-13
New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.

Now if we break it down line by line:

"Our Father in heaven..."
God is our Father. This means we can and should come to him with our problems and requests. And being a merciful Father we should not be afraid to ask for anything, He knows what we need.
"..hallowed be your name..."
Holy, sacred, venerated is your name! We pay respect due to God when we pray. He is God Almighty.  Like our earthly father while we can come and ask anything of Him.
"...your kingdom come,..."
All is His!Everything in Heaven and on Earth.  Everything we have, have had and will have comes from and belongs to God. It is His to give or not give as He sees fit.
"...you will be done..."
It is all because of God's will. It is his will that all the stars in the sky shine at night, and the sun shines in the morning. Amen!
"...on earth as it is in heaven."
He rules this world and all the heaven. Forever and everlasting.
""Give us today our daily bread."
He cares for our every need. From putting bread on the table to shifting world events to controlling heavenly bodies. There for nothing is too big or too little when we pray to Him.
"And forgive us our debts,..."
We are sinners, we need to ask Him for forgiveness when we pray.  Recognize, repent and ask Him to forgive your sins which Jesus died for. Ask God to send the Holy Spirit to expose your sins to you.
"...as we also have forgiven our debtors."
We need to forgive those who have sinned against us. Since Jesus is the propitiation for our sins which are forgiven,  should we not forgive others who sin against us?
"And lead us not into temptation,..."
Ask Father God to keep us away from temptation to sin.
"...but deliver us from the evil one."
Ask to keep Satan and all his devils away from us, to not enter our lives.
 
"And when Jesus finished these saying, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as scribes." (Matt 6:28-29) Meaning he was not quoting other teachers, he wasn't stumbling or confused in his teaching, he was confident and interesting. Imagine sitting on that hillside listening to the Word of God, every word feeding you and enlightening you. Imagine God telling you how to pray, and then be thankful that He has.
 Glorify God in your prayer, ask for anything, just ask that it be Gods will! Pray for forgiveness, and be thankful for the One who gave it to you!

Gay Marriage

So North Carolina passed a marriage amendment today making marriage between one man and one woman in that state. Now God had already done this some time ago, so I don't see what the big deal is. That being said in America we have separation of church and state, why any state should be sanctioning any one's marriage these days is beyond me. Marriage should be up to the churches, and civil unions should be up to the state. Marriage is a holy union, something set aside by God to be holy. It has nothing to do with rights or taxes or health proxy's, these are man made things.
 There are certainly churches which sanction gay marriage, I don't see how its allowed under the bible, and I will not attend those churches as is of course my right in America. I happen to attend a church which does not sanction gay marriage, which again is my right as an American. Even if I did not have this right, and it seems to be on the horizon that the freedom OF religion is getting more in jeopardy, I would still hold this belief and attend this church.
 Like many sins homosexuality is a sin, while I am not gay I am too a sinner, does this mean I cannot go to church? Of course not. Should the sick not be allowed to go to the hospital? Does this mean the church should allow, endorse or even encourage my sin? Of course not. We try daily with the help of the Holy Spirit to see, repent and turn from our sin.
  God tells us to love each other, and God does love sinners. So yes I do believe homosexuals should have every right under the law as all people of this country should. Call it civil union, call it what ever you would like, but to me marriage will always be according to God's definition.