Join me to pray because...

With so much going well this year as a church, there is still one thing that I find hard - where are the people who are giving their lives to Jesus.  We have seen 10 people commit their lives to Jesus - 2 at the beginning of the year, 7 at Front Edge in May and 1 on the Alpha Day away in May.

I know that it is only God who can give salvation, but I so long to see more.  I am convinced that he has called us to be a church that sees people making responses to follow Jesus and I know we have seen it (would it surprise you to find out that I keep a spreadsheet!!!).  When I look at what is happening in other areas of the world and I read of what has happened in our country in the past, I cannot help but feel that there is more than we are seeing.

There is an element that we have to be taking every opportunity to invite people to hear about Jesus, to investigate his claims and to look at what Christianity is really about.  However I also know that there is a time for crying out to the Lord for him to come and do what only he can do.  Who knows how many the disciples would have seen respond in those early days, but I don't think they would have seen 3000 on the first day without the Spirit coming powerfully, bringing regeneration and faith to believe.

I am believing for days when celebrating spiritual new birth is a regular thing for us - not because we have put on the best events or Alpha courses (although we will endeavour to do that as well), but because we have sought the face of the Lord and have cried out on behalf of the lost in our town, because we have asked, seeked and knocked, expecting that the Spirit of God would come again in mighty convicting and life transforming power.

To this end why don't you come and join me this Tuesday, 21st Sept, 8pm - 9pm at the church offices and for the weeks following. We shall press in together and see what God is going to do.

Prayer

I love praying with others in our church and with brothers and sisters from other churches. There's something about it that just builds my faith and leaves me hungry for more of my King. To that end please see this from Sitho:

We are not far from the launch of the evening meeting, the start of the marriage course, the planting of new life groups and lots more that God has put on our hearts for this year. As with everything else in our own lives, the bible is clear that "by prayer & petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God."

Let's gather together to rejoice for all that the Lord has been doing among us and to boldly come before our Father in heaven as we submit to Him all the challenges before us & ask for breakthrough in all that He has called us to in Reading.

Please decide if you are able to fast, when you will set aside time to do this, and also try to arrange some prayer time with a friend(s) during next week. Corporately, we will meet at the following times :

· WEDNESDAY 3^rd February @ The Church Office, 8pm – 9:30pm

· THURSDAY 4^th February @ The Church Office, 8pm-10pm

· FRIDAY 5^th February @ The Church Office, 8pm - 10pm

* The Thursday meeting will be a combined meeting with our friends from Thameside Church.

May I encourage you to make the prayer meetings a priority next week, there are few things in life that matter more - Jesus said his house would be called a house of prayer.

I don't know what you planned to next week, but make prayer top of your list - it's not going to be convenient, but I know we'll meet with God!

Alpha has started!!!

Two weeks on and Alpha is now in full flow. We have almost as many guests as we have team which is absolutley fantastic, and those that are there are asking excellent questions that keep our minds sharp and help keep our hearts open.

I have already had the joy of meeting with one of the guests on a one to one basis to just talk through some wider issues and am looking forward to meeting with another next week.

In all of this I know that my confidence is not in me but is the One who has called us into His mission of bringing a people to Himself. The Alpha course is not about making people Christians, but it is about helping people have a greater understanding of what Christianity really is.

I do however pray that we will once again, as a church, join with people as they celebrate accepting the invitation to follow Jesus and all that entails. Please join me in prayer that all those on the course will know something more of Jesus and that ultimately they would know the greatest joy of being a child of the living God.

Week of prayer

Next week sees the church embarking on a week of prayer and fasting. There is so much to pray about. Reading, the UK, Amsterdam, Zimbabwe, Russia, Pakistan; we need to pray for Alpha, salvation, growth, both in maturity and in numbers, the marriage course; church finances and the current world wide money market problems are areas we will seek God's face on.

We are prepared for five days of seeking God's face and have organised a few central events to help us focus in on prayer:

Monday - 6 am-7am - Men's prayer meeting
Tuesday - 6 am-7am - Women's prayer meeting
Wednesday - 7:45-9:45 - Cell group prayer walk
Thursday - 7:45-9:45 - Cell group prayer walk
Midnight Thursday - midnight Friday - 24 hours of prayer (watch this space for details)

All the meetings will at least start at the church office!

My prayer this week is that this week would not pass anyone by. That as a church we will all be part of praying and fasting for this term ahead in Reading, the nation and the nations. In Luke chapter 11 v 9-0, Jesus says:

'So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened to.'

Let's gather together, asking, seeking and knocking and let's see glory brought to God the Father as prayers are answered.

It's Good to Pray!

It's great praying with fellow brothers and sisters. Life is so busy and there always seems to be something else to do. That is why I treasure Sunday evening prayer meetings; an hour when we gather together as two or more to worship Jesus and pray hard for the things that he has put on our hearts.

Tonight we prayed predominantly for us as a church as we go into the Summer period. We prayed that:

1. We would not be a church that goes to sleep
2. We would be a church that keeps our focus on Jesus
3. We would be a church that continues to serve by putting Christ and others needs above our own
4. We would be church that are changed by being in a different venue
5. We would be a church that step out of comfort zones and do something new
6. We would be a church that worships in Spirit and in Truth - enjoying the gifts of Spirit as we meet together

God spoke to us through a picture of a rugby scrum whereby we were all scrumming down together and that this period of time would be one where we are all pulling together and that the scrum continued to grow as new people joined from the back and the sides. The sense being that we were all pushing forward together.

I for one am excited about the prospect of being in a different venue for 7 weeks from the 27th July to 7th September. It's a chance for us to meet new people and to step out into new things as individuals - we may even sit in different seats!!!

Whatever we do we know, as Dave Lomath reminded us tonight - that we do it because the one eternal constant - our God - is the one that is ever present. He never changes, He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Our confidence is not in the running of a smooth meeting on a Sunday morning (although we endeavour to do that because He is worthy of our best) but is in the one who said that He will build his church and the gates of Hell will not prevail.

Let's go on this seven week adventure with God and trust Him that it will grow us and shape us for the things that He has ahead of us as a church.