Praise the Lord church family! God is so wonderful! I am amazed at his grace and
mercy! Before I begin, I again want to say how much I love each and every one of
you and am so honored to be your shepherd. You truly are a blessing to me!
What is on my heart today? Well it’s a need I have been observing in our church
lately. It’s the one thing that is greatly needed and one that the enemy
probably fights harder than any other: prayer. I have been taking this to the
Lord and talking to Him about it and he has moved on my heart to share it with
you. There is a great need for more prayer in this church and in this ministry
as a whole.
I once heard this saying and it’s one that has always stuck with me, “Little
prayer, little faith; much prayer, much faith.” The scripture the Lord keeps
ringing in my spirit is Mark 11:15-17, “On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the
temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He
overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling
doves and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.
And as he taught them, he said, ‘Is it not written: "My house will be called a
house of prayer for all nations' ? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.’”
Jesus was saying that you are trying to use my Father’s house for another
purpose. My Father’s will is that it would be used for prayer, but more directly
that it would produce prayers. If the Lord looked down from heaven right now and
measured the level of our prayer tank, what would he see?
I am a firm believer that for the Lord to do anything in this “house,” it must
come first by being birthed in prayer. The Lord has been giving glimpses of what
is ahead, even in the prophetic words by Don Hightower, revealing the plans of
the Lord for this church and ministry. Our part is to birth it out in prayer.
All my life I have been a studier of military strategy and history. I have
always been fascinated with the art of war. (Why? I don’t know!) But now that I
am a Christian, I have learned we are in a battle daily; a warfare with unseen
powers of darkness. Warfare is always a battle for territory. A good warfare
always involves taking ground, then defending it. Why? Because if you leave
ground undefended the enemy will just move in and reclaim it. We as a church
body have gained a lot of good ground in the city and community; we’ve “held the
line” so to speak. But for a line to be held means soldiers must be vigilant and
alert, always watching, always at attention. Colossians 4:2 says, “Devote
yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Prayer not only births
things in the spirit, it also forms watchfulness and thankfulness. By neglecting
prayer in the church, we are in danger of drifting off to sleep and allowing the
enemy to approach our line. Do you care? Is this important to you? I hope so
because the church is not the building, the church is you! It’s your spouse,
it’s your children, it’s your job, it’s your home, it’s your health, it’s the
person sitting next to you on Sunday and all that they have. It’s me, your
Pastor, and my family, it’s the Elders, the Deacons, the teachers, everything we
hold dear to. And the enemy will not be content until he can possess it or
destroy it! It’s up to us to defend it, fight to protect it, and give God thanks
for it.
The word here in this scripture that stands out to me is “devote” (KJV uses the
word “continue”) It means to be constantly diligent, to continually give self.
Every Thursday night we come together for group prayer, from 7:00 pm to about
8:30 pm, sometimes more or less. The Lord has shown me it is a time to assemble,
take our places on the line and defend it. Listen to these Words of Jesus:
Matthew 18:19-20, "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about
anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For
where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." For the past
several months, there have been three or four of us that have met faithfully to
pray. Last month our church had a monthly average of 120 in attendance. For this
I am grateful, but three defending 120 is not good. Now I know there are many of
you who do pray faithfully in your homes in your devotion time, but if you feel
the Lord moving your heart to come, as Uncle Sam says, “WE NEED YOU!” It’s only
an hour, or an hour and a half of your week. Can you devote it to the Lord and
to this church? Our ranks are growing, and because of this the enemy sees us a
greater threat. We must defend the line and advance the kingdom!
2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal…” Our
greatest weapon is prayer; we must assemble and call on the name of the Lord!
- Pastor Doug
Jesus loves you and so do I!
June’s Schedule of Ministry
Greeters— Denise Reed & John Allen & sons
Janitor: Rita Jones
Special Music—
6/1—Communion—no special music
6/8—William McLaren
6/15—John Wayne Jones
6/22—Alphonso Simpson
6/29—Kate McGruder
Nursery—
6/1—Sunday School: Rita Jones
Worship: Anita & Andrea Swift &
Demonte A.
6/8—Sunday School: Rita Jones
Worship: Joan Maze & Shada’
Splunge
6/15 -Sunday School: Rita Jones
Worship: Rita Jones &
Eboney Chambers
6/22— Sunday School: Rita Jones
Worship:
Anthony Nollen & Kara Hammond
6/29—Sunday School: Rita Jones
Worship: Renee
Simpson & Trisha Kuster
1—James Shirley
2—Kara Hammond
2—Chuck Dilts
3—John Wayne Jones
4—Emmalynn Brown
6—Kalib & Kate McGruder’s Anniversary
7—Dana Hardy
8—Melissa Saffold
9—Brenda Krull
12—Anita Swift
12—Matt & Sara Brown’s Anniversary
16—Dick & Marie Walker’s Anniversary
17—Alphonso & Renee Simpson’s Ann.
17—Camellia Thompson
19—Myrtle Amerine
25—Ron Daniels
25—Randy & Jan Wood’s Anniversary
Mid-Week Fellowship
is on Wednesday Nights at 7:00 p.m. Join us for this exciting series!!Each Thursday at 7:00 p.m. is Prayer Night at the church. We pray for the needs of the church, our communities and surrounding areas. We invite you to join us for the most important night of the week!
Nursery Workers
Janitors
Wednesday Night Children Helpers
If you are interested in becoming involved in a church ministry or you just don’t know what’s available, please talk to Pastor Doug or Trisha. There’s always a place for you!!
The church van
will not be running a regular route during the summer.
If you need a ride, please call Pastor Doug at 331-4072 at we’ll arrange for
the van to pick you up.
(While WIU is in
session)
Corbin & Olson Halls 9:30 a.m.
(In the parking lot behind
the tennis courts)
Lincoln & Washington Halls 9:40 a.m.
(In the
new hall, U-shaped parking lot)
Thompson & Higgins Halls 9:50
a.m.
(In front of Thompson Hall)
Henninger, Bayliss, Wetzel &
Tanner Halls 10:00 a.m.
(In front of Henninger and Bayliss)
Look for
the light blue van with our church magnet!
Bridal Shower
The church is hosting a bridal shower for Bethany Wainwright on Friday, June 6th at 6:30 p.m. This will be held in the church basement and is a potluck so please bring a dish to share. Bethany is marrying A.J. Reed in July.
Celebrate Father’s Day!
Celebrate Father’s Day with us! This is an excellent opportunity to bring your dad, brother, uncle or male friends. We’ll be giving a small gift to all the men in attendance. Father’s Day is on June 15th this year.
1—Registrations due for Camp
4—Mid-Week Fellowship 7:00 p.m.
5—Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m.
6—Shower for Bethany 6:30 p.m.
8—Council Meeting 2:30 p.m.
11—Mid-Week Fellowship 7:00 p.m.
12—Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m.
14—Men’s Fellowship at the church 9:00 a.m.
15—Father’s Day and Mission Sunday
18—Mid-Week Fellowship 7:00 p.m.
19—Prayer Meeting 7:00 p.m.
20—Worship Practice 7:00 p.m.
21—Work Day at the church 9 a.m.—3 p.m.
23-26—Grade School Camp in Decatur
25—Mid-Week Fellowship 7:00 p.m.
26—Prayer Night 7:00 p.m.
Many of you met Stanley Nsofwa when he ministered here. What you may not realize is that Stanley oversees a ministry called Vision for Africa. This includes a school for 100 children, a Bible College, a medical clinic, an orphanage, and a farm. Stanley gets little ongoing support and spends a lot of his time soliciting for help and developing business ideas that would provide a steady income to meet all the needs of the ministry.
If you are interested in helping with Vision for Africa, place your offering in an envelope and mark it "Stanley." These funds will be sent to Groveland, IL monthly and wired to Stanley to support the mission.
We will be providing updates on the ministry as we receive the information.