Please read and pray a portion of this prayer each day. -Update May 8th
" Managing Our Spiritual Life"
"The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. You've been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you'll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear
of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. Then people will all see you mature right before their eyes! Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don't be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and
1 Timothy 4:1, 6-7, 15-16 (The Message)
"I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. So a crown will be given to me or pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly,
2 Timothy 4:7-8 (CEV) GOD DOESN'T WANT ANOTHER CHURCH ...
HE WANTS A MOVEMENT!
PRAYER IS POWERFUL ... PRAYER IS EFFECTIVE !!!
God's POWER is unleased when God's people PRAY. - Max Lucado
“It [is] necessary for [us] to pray consistently and never quit.”(Luke 18:1 MSG) WHO KNOWS? GOD MIGHT BE GRACIOUS TO US!!!
Lord, thank you for the gift of faith. Help us to take more personal ownership and responsibility for growing it and sharing it. Thank you for Core Value #3, "Being transformed by God's word." You are in the life change business, and it is through Your word and working that You want to shape us into better people. Help us to readily embrace the process, rather than revolt against it. May Jesus be the pointe of hope in our lives.
Father God, help us to remember that our faith in Jesus is like any growing relationship which requires time and energy to become competent in the basic essentials. Challenge us to be diligent in making room for You in our daily life by keeping the personal practices of daily devotions, regular Bible reading, prayer, reflection and meditation so that we can hear what You are saying and follow where You are leading us. Keep us vitally connected to You, we pray.
Continued praise to our great and tremendous God for another successful Consecrated Stewards emphasis. Thank you for the 14% increase over last year. May we continue to freely, joyfully, and generously respond .to the commitments each one of us made to give from what the Lord faithfully continues to give each one of us. May we remember that every good thing we have ever received has come from You.
Praise and thanksgiving to our great God who has given each of us a mission, and our target is to touch the whole world who does not know Him one person at a time, one event at a time, one meeting at a time, one encounter at a time. May He stir us to be Mission Seizers!
May we receive God's awesome blessing of success on our endeavor to POINT PEOPLE TO JESUS. May the Lord receive all the glory, honor and praise for He is the One ultimately in control and leading!!!
Challenge us, Lord, to be faithful, joyful, and passionate in our serving so that we are Your pointes of hope to our brothers and sisters who so desperately need to know You. Thank you for being our Pointe of Hope.
Praise and thanksgiving to our great God who has given Pointe of Hope an unique mission and ministry to the broken, misfit people of this world.
Praise and thanksgiving to our awesome God who has brought Pointe of Hope from simply being a flickering light to becoming a bright spotlight of God's grace, love, and mercy.
Praise and thanksgiving for the amazing privilege of prayer. May we ask "boldly, believingly, without second thought" (James 1:6 The Message) for things which only God can provide .... specifically that He would double the number of people who will be baptized in 2008 (32 more to go!!!) ... that He would bring 100 kids to the VBS program, POWER LAB, in June ... that He would provide a Children's Minister to lead the program.
Praise and thanksgiving for the caring community God provides at Pointe of Hope so that we can be His source of fellowship, support, comfort, strength, and encouragement to those in our midst who find themselves overwhelmed by life's difficult times of crisis.
Prayers for the Ablaze! mission movement and the Fan into Flame! campaign that Pointe of Hope will be involved in.
Prayers for God's wise counsel, perseverance, great strength and patience for Pastor Brian as he continues to serve as vacancy Pastor at Shepherd of the Valley, leads Pointe of Hope, and serves in his role of Circuit Counselor. May he continue to be remembered in prayer on a regular basis. Prayers for the Joint Mission Council as they continue to discuss the future of Shepherd of the Valley. Prayers for wisdom, guidance and direction for Shepherd of the Valley.
Prayers for our sister circuit churches, Immanuel, Ascension, St. Paul's, Messiah, Timothy, Our Redeemer, Jesus El Buen Pastor, and Shepherd of the Valley.
Praise and thanksgiving to our great and tremendous God for His awesome continuing work of "filling this place with another face" ... for 150 in attendance on Sunday !!! ... for 39 visitors ... for 20 kids in Kid's Pointe !!! God Rocks!!!
Prayers of safety and protection for Shelby Enke and Jeremy Marks in Iraq and for James Cox in Afghanistan.
Prayers for those on the e-mail prayer chain; for those gathering to pray before worship and for those serving as Prayer Partners in The Prayer Room following worship on Sunday mornings
Prayers for the Elders of Pointe of Hope.
Continuing prayers for the Small Group ministry and those who lead that ministry. Prayers for the planning of the Small Group Celebration Party to be held on May 17th.
Praise and thanksgiving for Excene, Megan, Rachael, and Levi, who were confirmed on Sunday. Prayers for Megan and the kids she teaches Confirmation to in Oak Grove, Joe, Sequoia, Aaron, Hunter, Sara, and Troy.
Continuing prayers for the Alpha ministry and the Small Group nearing the end of the Alpha course.
Continuing prayers for the Children's Ministry and for Chuck and his team of teachers and assistants. Continuing prayers for the renewal of the Family Ministry program to minister to the families at Pointe of Hope and make them stronger.
Continuing prayers for the Coffee House Ministry and for Kurt and his team.
Continuing prayers for Rod as he leads the Men's Bible study as they study the book of Romans on Thursday evenings in The Pointe Coffee House.
Continuing prayers for the Marketing Team and for Cassie, Reynold and Gary. Prayers for the makeover the web site will be receiving in May.
Continuing prayers for those in Leadership at Pointe of Hope ... those serving on the Leadership Team and those serving as Ministry Leaders.
Prayers of success for the upcoming events and activities at Pointe of Hope ... Worship Planning meeting on 5/10; Personal Leadership Institute on 5/11; Ministry Leaders Forum and Leadership Team Meeting on 5/15; Eldership Meeting on 5/17; Small Group Celebration on 5/17; Pastor's Pointe Class on 5/18; Networking Class on 5/30; Golf Tournament on 6/7; VBS Meeting, 6/14; Women' Group Outreach event at Mother's Refuge on 6/20; Thrivent Summer Celebration dinner on 6/21;Women's Group Planning Meeting on 6/22; VBS, "Power Lab" on 6/23-6/27.
Continuing prayers for the success of PS-150 ... Getting to 150 in Average Worship Attendance ... marketing push and personal invitation; strengthening the Greeting and Follow Up Ministries; focus on Children and Family Ministry; development of leadership; staffing ministries with gifted and impassioned leaders; testing a classic service format once a month; Going Beyond 150 in Average Worship Attendance ... starting a day care feasibility team; going to two services with a discipleship hour between; creating a new site exploratory team; creating a vision team to determine long-term direction.
May we continue to be a loving, caring community in Christ, united in love, gently nurturing each other in faith, genuinely upholding each other in prayer, and enthusiastically encouraging each other in service to our Lord Jesus Christ. "In the same way, prayer is essential to this spiritual warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes wide open. Keep each other's spirits up so no one falls behind or drops out." (Ephesians 6:17-18 The Message)
Blessings, Jean