Church Family - We need to step up to the Plate!

Good morning Friends,

The time is upon us for the School of Prayer. Things have gotten really busy lately and not much time to do some finalizing of plans as a Host Church for this event. J.W. Tharp had mentioned that we should have a time of fellowship following each evening of the School of Prayer where we can break bread together and discuss what we have learned. The list for "finger foods" that was placed in the foyer on Sunday had very few signed up to bring food each evening. I have had MANY calls from people coming from a distance to attend these sessions, so I'm confident we will have a large crowd each evening and we as the host Church need to step up and be sure we have enough food to cover each evening. I realize this is a stretch of our already busy lives to add this to our agenda, but if you could just sacrifice some time to make or provide something to help out Sharon, it would be greatly appreciated. We certainly would not want to be short on food to break bread together. In the New Testament Church, that was very much a part of their gatherings and this event is a reflection of what they did in those days.

I have been disappointed that so many of our people have stayed away from services lately and I am in hopes that we will all "step up to plate" again in this area for this coming event. If you miss this, you will miss out on a great opportunity for some great ministry that has Eternal Consequences. Please pass the word and remind people that all of this starts this Sunday morning and continues on until Wednesday evening, the 15th. J.W. Tharp will bring this Sunday's message to get us prepared for the School of Prayer. I pray that the Lord will tug on all of our hearts to realize the importance of this with our attendance. We have planned this for a long time, and I for one am really looking forward to getting fed spiritually speaking. Tonight is sort of a kick off of this by meeting together in the Sanctuary at 6:30 for a time of Fasting and Prayer. There will be nothing formal about it all - just a time of us gathering and praying together. The fasting is private between you and the Lord and you don't have to say anything to anyone or even feel accountable to me for that. If you decide to accept the call to fasting along with your praying, I guarantee that the Lord will reward you for being faithful and sincere as we submit to Him. That is His promise to us! I have been and continue to be in prayer for this and looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us as a congregation. I pray that we will all be more committed in all areas of our attachment as the body of Christ. Sometimes we just get tired and become a bit lazy in our committment (I do too!!!), but I know the rewards for being faithful and putting Him first will be life changing for us all. Just pouring my heart out this morning and pleading with us all (including me) to "Step up to the Plate" for the Lord!