Keep Praying

I was helped by last evening’s meeting.  There were some very good ideas offered and thoughtful questions asked.  The spirit of unity and cooperation was a blessing.  The thing that came through loud and clear was a common sense of conviction regarding our own faithfulness to the Great Commission.  Person after person expressed a deep desire to see people come to Christ.  None of us want to build more rooms simply to manage numeric growth.  That is a road to nowhere.

What encouraged me was that it was so clear that God was working on our hearts.  I had been praying for answers about buildings.  But it appears God is giving us something infinitely better.  He is changing our hearts.  We are certainly going to need to make some decisions regarding buildings.  But I am convinced that it would be a mistake to rush anything at this point.  If it pleases God to begin growing Metro East through new conversions to Christ then we will find the room.  That will not be a problem. 

Keep praying.  This evening the Church Council will gather to “unpack” last evening’s meeting.  I am excited to share my thoughts.  I will update you all tommorrow. 

 

- todd

Continue Praying for June 1

Our next congregational meeting is THIS Sunday evening.  It is a kind of follow up to our last congregational meeting when we unanimously approved a master plan concept for our current location.  But we still have many questions to answer.  We have been praying that God would guide us regarding when to build and what to build first.  What are our most pressing space needs?  We have also been praying for wisdom regarding our financial stewardship.  How much debt is acceptable?  How should we raise funds when the time comes?  Part and parcel with all these prayers is the question of why we have buildings in the first place.  Certainly we need a place to gather for corporate worship and biblical instruction.  But I have also been wondering lately if our current facilities are conducive to being a place of ministry and hospitality to our community.  Brothers and sisters, we have much to pray about and much to consider. 

 

Pray that on June 1st God will…

1. Bless us with unity.

2. Bless us with guidance and wisdom.

3. Bless us with a high level of congregational participation. 

Also, please be in prayer for the pastoral staff.  We are feeling the stress of these days.  Personally, I can tell you that the pressure of these decisions and the care for those in the MEBC flock feels very, very heavy these days. 

blessings

todd

The Church’s One Foundation

- – - – (V1) – - – -

The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord;

She is His new creation by Spirit and the Word.

From heav’n He came and sought her to be His holy bride;

With His own blood He bought her and for her life He died.

- – - – (V4) – - – -

The church shall never perish! Her dear Lord to defend,

To guide, sustain, and cherish, is with her to the end!

Though there be those that hate her, and false sons in her pale,

against or for or traitor she ever shall prevail!

- – - -

Words & Music by Samuel J. Stone, 1866

 

-J. Jolly

 

Guidance from God’s Word

“There is much that is mysterious about the way God guides us.  What is plain to Him is frequently obscure to us.  But we are not called by God to make the mysterious, the unusual, the inexplicable the rule of our lives, but His Word.  Further, it should be noted that very often these experiences, in which we begin to sense or understand what God’s will for us is, fit in perfectly with the conviction that the Word of God is a living, active guide to us…We should not be surprised to discover that God brings special pressures to bear even on our subconscious thoughts by its deep application to the whole of our lives.”

 

Sinclair Ferguson from Discovering God’s Will

 

Daily Repentance

I have been thinking the last few days about repentance as a daily discipline.  The Puritans made much of this.  Thomas Watson wrote a wonderful book on the subject.  I am convinced that repentance has a lot to do with our willingness to be guided by God.  As a sinful man I am prone to wander daily.  We all have wandering eyes and divided hearts.  We all tend to see what we want most engraved in stone by the finger of God.  It becomes a kind of baptized wish-fulfillment. 

Anyway, this is a tendency I must recognize within myself and repent from daily.  My heart is deceptive and only God can navigate me safely through the labrynth.  The chief means by which He does this is His Word accompanied by the faithful witness of godly brothers and sisters (the church). 

Please join me this week in daily repentance from: personal agendas, selfish ambitions, desires to retaliate, lust for recognition, jealousy, and all other community destroying impulses.  Repent with me daily that we might be sensative to the leadership of God; that we might go His way rather than wandering off on our own.

- todd 

Almighty Guidance

“How precious also are Your thoughts unto me, O God!”

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go

—I will guide you with My eye. Psalm 32:8

“No more precious assurance can I have, than this—that I am under the constant, loving guidance of my heavenly Father—that He appoints the bounds of my habitation, and overrules all events for my good—that my whole life is a plan arranged by Him. Every little apparent contingency, as well as every momentous turn and crisis-hour, forms part of that plan—a ‘thought of God.’ “God examines every path a man takes.” “A man’s heart devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”

“I will instruct you and teach you.”

How patiently does this almighty Preceptor train, and with what infinite wisdom and tenderness does He adapt His varied teachings to the needs and requirements of His people! It is “line upon line;”—or if need be, cross upon cross—trial upon trial. Or it may be that startling providences are no longer required—the gentle indications of His will are enough—”I will guide you with My eye.” The earthquake—the hurricane—the wind—the fire, may now have fulfilled their mission. “The still, small voice” is now sufficient.

And how does He promise to teach and to guide? Not in the way that we would like to go—the way of our own choosing, but “the way which you shall go.” Often we would decide on pursuing the sunny highway. But God says, ‘the rough mountain-track is best for you.’ Often we would, like Israel, take the near and smooth road to Canaan by the land of the Philistines. But God’s pillar-cloud decides otherwise, and takes us by a circuitous route “by the way of the wilderness.” Often we would prefer, like the disciples at Tiberias, the safe path by the seashore, so as to avoid the gathering storm, “for the wind is contrary.” But God says, “No.” He constrains us to get into the ship.”

- John MacDuff 1864

Guidance as we go

“As we collect and survey all the available facts that are relevant for making a decision; as we search the Scriptures for the relevant principles and parameters of decision and action; as we ask fellow Christians for words of wisdom and advice on the matter in hand; as we come to terms with the limitations and non-negotiable alternatives, working out the likely consequences of each possibility open to us so as to make sure we will not unwittingly choose the merely good in place of the best, we should constantly ask God to judge, correct, and direct our thinking – heading us off from deciding badly and granting us the Spirit-wrought reality of His peace in our hearts as we move into what we see to be the wise way into which He is leading us.  We should be willing, and (like the psalmists) tell God we are willing, to wait on Him patiently till the desired discernment comes.”

 

From Guard Us, Guide Us by J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom

 

todd

How are you praying this week?

According to the blog stats on the left we have had many folks visit this blog during the past couple of weeks. We are encouraged by this. The main purpose behind this blog is provide a place where the people of Metro East can share their prayers, thoughts, and words of encouragement as we earnestly seek God’s guidance for the future. We want to hear from you! So here is a question to encourage you to participate: “How are you praying this week?”

- Jason

Jesus, With Thy Church Abide

Jesus, with Thy church abide,

be her Savior, Lord, and Guide,

while on earth her faith is tried:

we beseech Thee, hear us.

- – - -

Keep her life and doctrine pure;

grant her patience to endure,

trusting in Thy promise sure:

we beseech Thee, hear us.

- – - -

May she one in doctrine be,

one in truth and charity,

winning all to faith in Thee:

we beseech Thee, hear us.

- – - -

May she guide the poor and blind,

seek the lost until she find,

and the brokenhearted bind:

we beseech Thee, hear us.

- – - -

Words by Thomas Benson Pollock, 1871

Music by John Henry Gower, 1891

- J Jolly

Progressing in Prayer

“All progress in prayer is an answer to prayer – our own or another’s.  And all true prayer promotes its own progress and increases our power to pray.”

 

- P.T. Forsyth