Prayer Service

We have a prayer service on the first Sunday evening of most months.  I say “most” rather than “every” because there is flexibility when vacations, special events or calendar vagaries come along.   But once a month, a Sunday evening is dedicated to prayer.

Whereas the Tuesday morning prayer Meeting is devoted exclusively to prayer, the Sunday evening time is a worship service where prayer is the main focus.  We sing, usually hymns.  A short sermon is presented, often from a scriptural emphasis on prayer.  For example, during the year when Sunday evening sermons were based on the Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Days, it was natural for the November and December prayer service sermons cover parts of the Lord’s Prayer.

The format and sequence for the prayer time varies.  Some is done in small self-organized groups; this is a little less comfortable in the pews of our new sanctuary than it was when we could move chairs around.  Sometimes individuals will say a written-out prayer.  Sometimes, prayer requests are taken from those assembled; one person volunteers to pray for each request raised.

Each service will have a theme or main topic. As examples, we have prayed for Youth and Sunday School, specific individuals facing an illness or other crisis, for our denomination, church finances, the MSU campus, the ministries of the church.  The leader will explain specific areas for prayer; often specifics are displayed by the projector to remind everyone.

One thing we might add would be keeping  track of the prayer requests.  We do see answers to prayer and are certain that the Lord is with us (Matthew 18.20).

Who’s Counting?

A man came into a restaurant and warned the waiter, “I like bread.  I don’t care about the rest of the meal, but I have to have lots of bread. The waiter left and returned with an appetizer and two slices of bread.

The customer gulped it all down, so the waiter served four slices of bread with the salad.  The customer ate it all.  The waiter served eight slices of bread with the soup.  Once again, all devoured.  The waiter found a foot long loaf of bread , sliced it lengthwise and served it with the main course.

The customer asks, “What’s with going back to two slices?”

Righteous Or WIcked

Psalm 1 gives just two options  for  people – they are either righteous or wicked.  The list of blessings and characteristics of the righteous:

– Does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

– Does not stand in the way of sinners

– Does not sit in the seat of scoffers

– Delights in the law of the Lord

– Is like a tree planted well and yielding fruit

– In all that he does, he prospers

– The LORD knows him

The list for the wicked is very different.  They

– Are like chaff that the wind drives away

– Will not stand in the judgment

– Will not stand in the congregation of the righteous

– Will perish

Better to be righteous than wicked.  What is the difference?  Gospel tells us it is believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Modeling Fear The LORD

The personality of Job is introduced in the first sentence of the book with his name on it: he “was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”  The first two chapters help us understand what all that means.

In the first paragraph we learn that he prayed and made burnt offerings regularly; he was concerned for his family.  The rest of the first chapter is about the tragic, complete catastrophes visited on him by Satan. His livestock is stolen or destroyed, and all his children are killed in a freak windstorm.  His reaction is to worship God with this famous quote: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.  The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”  He did not sin or charge God with wrong

Things get even worse in chapter 2.  Satan causes revolting open sores all over Job, and he ends up in a dust heap scraping himself with a piece of broken pottery.  This is nasty on the level of Lamentations 3.16 – “He has made my teeth grind on gravel.” Job’s wife implores him to curse God and die.  But the man who fears the LORD responds, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”  In all this, he did not sin.

Job knows the authority and providence of his sovereign God are all encompassing.  He will not sin in his despair and anger, he will not curse the name of the LORD, he will not kill himself, he worships.   The fear of the LORD includes continuing, as best as we can, to trust and believe in all circumstances and know that this God is with us.

Cool Number Dates – 1/4/15-1/10/15

The first cool date of the year is coming up on Thursday – 1/8/15 is a sequence of 7’s:

1 + 7 = 8;  8 + 7 = 15   OR

15 – 8 = 8 – 1 = 7

A sequence of one’s we recognize easily; you probably heard that 12/13/14 was the last “one” of those until next century. Take heart, there are more than thirty years of various sequences upcoming before we run out this century!

Bacon Compilation

I’d grow my own food if I could only find bacon seeds

Bacon is the answer.  What was the question?

Bacon is like meat candy

Either you like bacon or you’re wrong

Come to the Dark Side – we have bacon

Full Gospel Witness

In Acts 26, the Apostle Paul does a masterful job of being a gospel witness, teaching us many potential aspects of being an evangelist:

– His introduction (vs 2-3) makes it clear that he knows his audience; King Agrippa is “familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews.”

– After a quick rebuttal of the charges against him (vs 4-8), Paul continues his personal testimony of the change Jesus brought to his heart and mind (vs 4-18).

– He claims support for his arguments from the scriptures (vs 7, 22).

– He acknowledges that his help comes from the LORD (vs 22).

– He tells the work that Jesus has done, providing forgiveness of sins (vs 18) and proclaiming salvation to all the nations (vs 23).

– He tells the miraculous work that God has done, raising Jesus from the dead (vs 8, 23).

– He states the response required, that men should repent and turn to God (vs 20).

– He prays to God for the salvation of all who hear his words (vs 29).

Since Luke, the author of Acts, did not have a tape recording device, the content of chapter 26 is likely not the exact words that Paul used.  But Luke does a masterful job of weaving in the important points Paul strived to include in all his teaching – desiring to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2.2) and to include the things of most importance (1 Corinthian 15.3-11).

2014 In Review

It is funny how the perceived value of certain events changes over time, but it is still worth reflecting a bit on the year gone by.  These things, in no particular order, seem important today:

– During prayer times, there was a recurring theme of thankfulness for knowing Jesus.  It can be called by a number of names: born again, called by the Spirit, given faith to believe; but the bottom line is an assurance of receiving wisdom and understanding so that I can know God better.  I also know that some people don’t comprehend this, and I continue to pray for friends and family who have not yet responded.

– Frisbee is always a wonderful Sunday evening activity from May to August when the days are long.  Playing on the grass makes it less hurtful to run or fall, and others will pick you up.  A few  14-year olds came this summer, so I was 4 times older than some participants.

– Diane and I reached a milestone – we reached the point(s) where we have been married twice as long as we were not married.

– Our Michigan Knapp Family Book Reading times have been serious for prayer and study and hilarious for discussion.  We finished A Praying Life and Taking God at His Word, and started Show Them Jesus.

– I learned a lot by participating in the church task force petitioning to change denominations.  There are important things to know about orthodoxy, acting out what your documents say, and what I truly believe. I also learned more about the blessing of working with strong brothers in the process.

– Diane’s position change – she is now a focus teacher at the same school she taught in last year– has been a wonderful thing.  She is as skilled at helping other teachers plan as she was at teaching the kids herself. And she doesn’t bring home as many papers or prepare grade cards or have parent conferences!

– I worked more than full time for the first six months of the year, with two clients.  I learned that was too much.  I am grateful for the work and grateful to have just one regular client for now.

– We had a delightful Knapp family reunion in July in St Louis, arranged by sister Cindy.  The events included a Cardinal game, Grants Farm tour, two different nights of fireworks, and lots of time to visit.