“‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’
Heal the sick. Raise the dead.
Cleanse lepers. Drive out demons.
Freely you have received; freely give.”
(Matthew 10:7-8 EHV)
Last weekend I attended a graduation open house that was held in the downstairs Fellowship Hall of a small-town United Methodist Church. In design and character, this physical building reminded me of many of the United Methodist Churches I’d seen in small-town Midwestern communities while I was growing up. It reminded me of the massive influence John and Charles Wesley, the founders of the Methodist Movement, had on their generation and generations to come. Flowing out of their passionate preaching of the Gospel and the desire for sanctification, many circuit riders in the United States in the late 1700’s and 1800’s planted what became the Methodist churches that are still sprinkled into many, many towns. I was reminded that once-upon-a-time someone(s) started each of those churches. Some itinerant preacher came to town to preach and convert the local people to the faith. Some group of families wanted a local church. Someone did the hard work to establish and pastor God’s people in each community.
Our current church was started in the early 1980’s by a (very) young couple who met with a small group of believers. Through the years, through many ups and downs in ministry, as the church has grown they have continued to pastor the people God has brought to them. They continue to preach the Good News, heal the sick, comfort the grieving, cast out demons, and work to influence the community with the love and hope of God.
Today, let us pray for all those who are starting churches or pastoring churches they have started.
Calling God,
Praise be to you, Lord, who has given callings, livelihoods, challenges, and rest to your people just as you promised. Not one word of all your good promises has failed. Today we pray for those who are or have planted churches and are pastoring those churches. We pray for your deep Holy Spirit’s flow to be within their spirits. May they always seek first your Kingdom, obediently listen to your Voice, and faithfully perform all the works of ministry you have called them to do. We pray for the people they lead. May you be with each congregation as you have been with all those who came before us in the faith; may you never leave nor forsake your people. When there is struggle or strife in a congregation, turn hearts to you, and cause the people to walk in unity and obedience. May the preaching of the Gospel, healings of the sick and demon possessed, and other signs, wonders, and miracles be experienced in your people so that ALL people will see your Glory and know you are God. May all the prayers of your people be ever near you. And may the hearts of your church planters, pastors, and lay people be fully committed to the Lord our God and live by your Word and Spirit, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.” (1 Kings 8:56-61 NIV)
This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:3-4 NIV)
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27-28 NIV)
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Joshua 31:6 NIV)
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent meand have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23 NIV)