Hello Praying Friends,
What a beautiful day the Lord has given to us! Let’s all rejoice in the goodness of our God. Almost daily at least one of my friends on Facebook posts an awesome picture of the sun, the sky, or some other spectacular scene the Lord ordered for the day. These remind me that our God created it all and that every molecule from His hand offers praise unto His name. So, let’s join in!!! Reflect for a moment on Psalm 24:1 (KJV) The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Earlier today we had our first Men’s Fellowship Breakfast in some time. Four of our men served us. They did a great job. I presented a devotional highlighting that fact that we are to be light in a dark world. Then we all had a much focused prayer time centered on our 2021 ENGAGE MISSIONS CONFERENCE. We missed this special emphasis last year, but not this year! Praise the Lord! We began hosting ENGAGE back in 2014. Typically, some of our foreign missionaries are able to be with us. This year our goal is to use the internet to bring them to Grace Church. You can pray with us about this. It will be a first, but certainly not the last time we use technology to travel thousands of miles for a visit.
Tomorrow we will be devoting much of our service to prayer. We will worship the Lord through music, fellowship, giving and through the Word. Our church was blessed by our last Sunday prayer service. With ENGAGE just days away, we will focus on praying for our speaker, Dr. Ron Barnes, Jr., our church vision and upon those missionaries attending the conference. The Lord is teaching us how to be prayerful over His work. Without the work of the Spirit all forms of worship are fruitless and meaningless. I will post the names of our guests and you can join us in praying for them. I have assured every speaker that we are praying for them. Please join us! ENGAGE is not about us; it’s all about the Lord and His work all around us here in the states and in our world as well. Your prayers mean so much… please make a note or set up some form of a reminder to pray. We believe in prayer and will not do anything without praying over it.
My message in the morning will focus on Peter and Paul’s ministries in Luke’s Book of Acts. I will encourage everyone attending to refocus their attention on the stated mission of our Lord Jesus for His church. Paul’s missionary efforts and communications will be front and center. Typically, Paul’s conversion draws most of our attention. But Paul was a diehard missionary if anyone was. His “no quit” spirit is always inspiring. I encourage you to watch our FBLive service on our Facebook Page if you cannot attend. You will be blessed and challenged by the message. You can go to our Grace Church Facebook Page, like the page, and view the service. Our website address is: gracechurchnc.com. Check out The Pastor’s Blog for more information.
These truly are days of opportunity!!! Opportunities are always accompanied by adversaries. In Paul’s first century there were always adversaries and opposition to his mission endeavors. It’s no different today. Yet, our God is an awesome God. We can always trust Him. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Yes, knowing what we know, we can always without hesitation trust the Lord!!!
In closing, be praying for Pastor Chuck’s family in the home going of his dear mother, Faye Barber. The Barber family invites you to attend Mrs. Barber’s Memorial Service here at Grace Church tomorrow at 3:00PM. Also, continue praying for Pat Hoffman, Richard Cox, Eddie Hilliard and others. Some of our friends are doing much better. We rejoice in that good news!
Love and prayers for you and yours,
PM <><