Bold Prayers

Do you pray bold prayers? You have to admit, some prayers are gutsier than others. Bold ones require courage because they beg God to take us out of our comfort zone.

• Lord use me.
• Lord give me patience.
• Lord change me.

I have to admit that for the longest time I avoided bold prayers at all cost because I was afraid how God might answer them. I didn’t want to pray for patience fearing that God would “stick” me with an irritating person. I didn’t want to pray for love lest I experience betrayal. I didn’t want to pray for the salvation of someone because God may ask me to be the one to share with them. Safe prayers were a lot easier. God didn’t have to work in me. He just had to change someone else.

But Jesus did not come to make our life safe, easy and predictable. He invites us into a dynamic adventure with Him. And now I pray more boldly asking the Lord to challenge me, change me and use me. There is nothing like seeing God answer those.

Imagine what it would be like for a church to pray boldly and to mean it. Imagine a church on its knees imploring God to use them. Imagine a church that says we don’t want to be safe or predictable. We want to see the power of God at work in us.

We could be that church.

This August we will be looking at some of the bold prayers in scripture. But we don’t want to simply look and study, we want to pray bold prayers. And not pray them for someone else. We want to pray them for us that the Lord may work boldly through us.

Don’t just join us for this series, pray this series!

www.CalvaryOnline.cc/boldprayers

 

Praying Faithfully

What a great time of prayer and healing we had during our services today. I am so blessed to be a part of what God is doing here at Calvary.

We discovered in our services today that James (James 5:13-20) tells us we should pray when we are in trouble, when we are happy, and when we are sick. He tells us to pray specifically and to pray asking for understanding.

I wanted to give you a couple of things you can be praying for this week:

• We have three separate groups (children, junior highers, and senior highers) totaling 600+ people headed out to camp this week. Would you pray specifically for safety in traveling, that God would move mightily in the lives of those at camp, and that many lives would be changed for eternity?

• Would you pray for our Project 50 goal? Pray specifically that God would help us blow right through our goal of raising $250,000 for updates at all of our campuses in anticipation of Calvary's 50th birthday celebrations next year. Pray that God would provide the funds that allows us to build a dedicated space just for prayer and reflection at the Mid Rivers Campus.

• Pray for our Ruth message series that begins on the weekend of July 10…specifically that God would show us how His will gets done in our lives as we study the life of Ruth.

• Would you pray for the reach of our church; that we would be a place of inspirational worship, transformational growth, and irreplaceable impact in our community?

Thank you for being a praying church! As a reminder, you can send us things to pray about at anytime on our new prayer wall at www.CalvaryOnline.cc/prayer or just text us "PR + Your prayer request" (without the quotes) to 62953 and we'll add it to the wall for you.

Just imagine all that God can do if we just get down on our knees and trust him with our bold prayers!

 

Godly Wisdom

In our worship gatherings today at church, I gave 7 ways that you can test to see if you're wise in how you relate to people and make decisions. In case you missed them, here they are again:

1. Godly wisdom does not compromise your integrity.

2. Godly wisdom does not antagonize others to anger. It is peace loving.

3. Godly wisdom is considerate of the feelings of others.

4. Godly wisdom submits to God.

5. Godly wisdom doesn’t emphasize the mistakes of others.

6. Godly wisdom is impartial.

7. Godly wisdom is sincere.

James chapter 3:17 tells us ""But wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace loving,
considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." In the opening verses of the book of James, he tells us if we need wisdom, just ask for it. If you lack it, talk to God about it. Will you join me in pursuit of Godly wisdom?

Lift

King David’s life is a reminder that God chooses to do the extraordinary through ordinary people who know how to lift up their hearts, hands and voices in praise to Him. When we worship, God is at work. Worship ushers us into the presence of God, it prepares us for the battles of life, it allows us to see God’s perspective, it teaches us just how great He is and it guides us through those desert experiences.  I hope you'll join us as we learn from David’s extraordinary life the power of lifting God’s name in worship.

An invitation is a powerful thing. It means a lot to know that someone wants to include us in a special event. We love to feel a part of things. That is not to say that inviting someone isn’t intimidating. We all struggle with the fear that someone will turn us down. No one likes to be rejected. Every survey I see regarding why people come to church has the same result. Approximately 80 percent of people come to church because of an invitation. A friend or family member say this is important to us why don’t you come along. A high proportion of people accept invitations to church. We believe they will have a meaningful and intimate encounter with God there.

Christmas is a great season to invite someone. Over the last number of months we have worked to create services that are easy to invite someone to and which we believe will have meaningful impact. Our services will be filled with great seasonal music that will be inspiring to everyone. During each service there is a special drama/video uniquely designed so that people can see themselves and that will raise their awareness of a need for Christ. We have designed our messages to specifically address issues that any person would deal with from a biblical perspective. After all, Christmas is the celebration of the arrival of God’s son.

We know that Christmas is a season associated with joy but given life’s circumstances many people struggle to find real joy. Many put on a happy face at Christmas because that is expected but it feels hollow. Authentic joy arrived the night of Jesus birth.

When the future looks bleak it can be hard to find hope. And when the things that we had hoped in don’t materialize it can be disheartening. Lasting hope arrived the night Jesus was placed in the manger.

In the busyness of the season people can be left to feel unimportant, alone or betrayed. We long for relationships but find it difficult to find meaningful friendships. True love arrived the night Jesus was born.

As the year comes to an end people reflect on what has happened there can be lot of regrets. Why did I do that? Why didn’t I say something different? Why didn’t I step in? Why can’t things be better? Jesus was born at Christmas so we can live forgiven lives having made peace with our past.

Do you know someone who has been waiting for love, joy or hope to arrive in their lives? I would encourage you to invite them to one of our services at our various campuses.

We have a number of tools to help you invite. There are invitations made to look like boarding passes for you to distribute. You can use our Facebook page or our website. Or email an invite using our evite tool. These are great tools to share Christmas with others and you can find them here:

www.arrivalchristmas.com

I’m looking forward to celebrating Jesus’ arrival this Christmas.

Ministering for those who are present, not absent

I learned a valuable lesson one year in college. It wasn't a lesson from english, history or psychology; it was a lesson from a Bible Study that I taught. It happened to be one of those evenings when almost all of those who were part of the study were away.  There were only 3 of us present.  I made a quick decision to forgo the study and we ended up doing something else.  A couple weeks later I realized what a big mistake that was.  I found out that one of the people who was present that night really needed to connect with God. She needed people to pray with her about a situation and she needed some strength from God's word. The night she needed it most, we decided to so something else.

That is when I learned it.  I learned that in God's economy we need to  focus on those who are present.  In ministry, like in many other things, it is easy to focus on those who are away for the weekend, on vacation or doing something else.  At times, we are tempted to provide programming that suits those who aren't there rather than those who are present. 

Why talk about this?  There is a big weekend coming up. July 4 is a time to celebrate.  It is a time to remember the country we live in. It is an opportunity to celebrate the freedoms we enjoy. And it is a time to spend with family and to take a break from work.  People should enjoy that.   There is nothing wrong with taking a vacation, or having a long weekend or enjoying family.

What often happens though, is that knowing people will be away, churches plan accordingly. They plan for a small service. They plan for the fact people are away. There will be people though, who need an encounter with God and who need a church who will plan for them.

You will notice at Calvary we have resisted that temptation. We had  several special and unique elements on Memorial Day weekend.  This coming July 4th weekend, we have another amazing service planned. We believe those who are here will have an intimate and holy encounter with God at each of our 3 campuses.   We have prepared a service, like none other here at Calvary to help people see, feel and know the absolute holiness of God.

If you are enjoying vacation and rest this weekend with family and friends, then we pray that you are refreshed. If you are around here, we invite you to come prepared to meet God face to face. Take time to read Exodus 3 before you come. Let your heart and spirit be open to what Jesus has for you this holiday weekend.

Unbelievable Answers to Prayer!

What an exciting week as I continue to hear stories of how God has been answering prayer and bringing healing to the lives of people here at Calvary.

On May 22/23 we prayed for over 250 people at our Calvary campuses. It was an amazing weekend of watching God move.  As the days progress we are hearing more and more stories of what the Lord has done. Here are a few:

• Four people came to the altar to give their lives to Christ. That is the ultimate healing.
• After coming forward to pray for a job, they were hired a couple days later.
• Ironically, someone came for prayer because of frustrations in their job. They were receiving a lot of cultish teaching.  They were released from their job last week and couldn't be happier.
• A woman emailed to say that after being prayed for on Sunday, she was feeling better than she had in a long time.
• Another person asked for prayer in regards to a strained relationship. A few days later those 2 had the best conversation they have had in several years!
• Another woman has been struggling physically for a long time and received prayer.  She was praising God on Sunday because of the improvements in her body. Even her doctor (who was at the prayer service) recognize it was a work of God in her life.
• Another person wrote in this week as said: Thanks for the service on sunday. I am getting answers to my request for healing in amazing & unexpected ways. Life with our Lord requires a seat belt!

If God has been working in your life and answering prayer, we would love to hear about it. And every week, there are people at the altar who would love to pray with you, encourage you, support you and stand with you before our God.  I am always saddened when people who really need the Lord don't take the opportunities to have others stand and pray with them.

Bold prayers!

 

Terry

Reflections on an incredible Prayer Morning

By all accounts, at all our campuses it was an incredibly moving and profound weekend. I hope you found the Lord's presence in our services  palpable in the same way many of us did.  It was a privilege to be able to speak about Jesus, our Great Physician, who longs to heal us and to see people seek the healer through prayer with our leaders.

After spending some time with the family this afternoon, I've got a few minutes to jot down some reflections on this weekend's service.  Here goes:

• I prayed personally  with one person to receive Christ as their saviour. I know of 4 other people who gave their life to Christ this weekend. Seeing people join the family of God never gets old!  Stepping into eternal life is the ultimate healing.

• I am appreciate of the leaders of Calvary and their willingness to pray. I know that they loved ministering spiritually to people, going to the Father on their behalf, and praying boldly for the Holy Spirit's power to work. I am so thankful for each person who prayed.

• Today was a reminder again of the brokenness of our world and of the brokennesss many people live with.  To hear the heart cries of people and the desperate need they have for God to work speaks to humanity's great pain. That is what Jesus died for. He was nailed to a cross to bring healing, hope and freedom to the painful areas of our lives.

• Jesus is all we need.  We sang that this morning and it was at the core of our prayers. We cannot do it on our own and we need Him. He brings us to places where we rely solely on His power.  I am grateful He shares His life and power with us.  I am grateful to that when we surrender to Him, he released His grace so that it truly can be well with our soul.

• I keep asking myself what "coat" am I wearing. What "coat" are you longing for?  We are  driven to seek the coat of human affirmation or to seek the coat of human effort. I know many are you are deeply disappointed and hurting because someone has rejected you or because your effort and hard work was not enough. Wear His coat of grace. He wants to give it to you.  Walk with that coat. Cease striving to please or demand affection. Jesus deeply loves you.

• I don't know what healing God has done this weekend, but he won't let those prayers go unanswered. I know deep healing has taken place. It may not be what we expect, but will be better than what we could imagine. The Great Physician knows what area of healing each person needs.

• We want to know what God does in your life. Please keep us updated and share your story. Let myself or another staff person know so we can encourage the congregation with the ways God is at work.

• Some have already asked if we are going to have another service like that sometime.  Of course we will. We do have people at the end of each service at our various campuses who would love to pray with people every week. But we will certainly plan services where there is an extended time of ministry to people.

Joseph's healing is certainly not the end to Joseph's story. Now God wants to heal his brothers. For twenty years they have been living with unresolved guilt. Guilt they might not be aware of much of the time, but guilt that festers under the surface. Next week we will look at finding God's grace and forgiveness for that guilt.

Have a blessed week.

Do you want to be healed?

Coming Sunday, May 23, 2010.

Also, we will be singing a new song this week.  It is a great song that reminds me very much of that great hymn, Take My Life and Let it Be'.  It speaks of the same readiness to consecrate ourselves for Christ.  Take a listen and be ready for Sunday!

Back on the tractor again!

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