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A message from the series “With Christ in the School of Prayer.” I hope and pray that you and your loved ones are well in every sense of the word. We come to this Palm Sunday without the children walking the center isle and waving palm branches while proclaiming…

“Hosanna!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the King of Israel.”

While we are so thankful for the countless people who are working tirelessly to do battle with this disease, we are reminded that Jesus is the promised, present, and victorious King. Welcome to our time of worship, apart but together, as the body of Christ. We are also reminded that His Church is meeting in a similar way, all over the world today. To God be the Glory in Christ and in His Church.

A message from the series “With Christ in the School of Prayer.” It all started with a sincere question, “One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’” Over the past few weeks, we have enrolled ourselves in his school of prayer. Luke 11:1-13 is filled with his amazing response to their request; he gave them prayer principles in a model prayer (vs. 2-4); he urged them to ask, seek and knock, reminding them that their Father in heaven will give them the ultimate answer to prayer, the Holy Spirit, who will lead them in prayer. We continue to circle around his immediate response to their quest as today he tells us to intercede shamelessly

A message from the series “With Christ in the School of Prayer.”

A message from the series “With Christ in the School of Prayer.” What do you do when you feel you need to ask someone for something, but you are afraid it’s not going to go your way? Asking anything can be full of risks. What do you do if your request is mocked, rejected, spurned, or ignored? Do you remember going back and forth between your parents trying to work them independently, and then they discovered your devious scheme? On a far more unsettling level, what’s the risk factor for you when you ask God for something in prayer? Didn’t Jesus urge His disciples to just ask?

A message from the series “With Christ in the School of Prayer.” Many of us grew up praying this prayer in the course of a worship service. The pastor may have led in a pastoral prayer and concluded it saying, “ We pray all this in the Name of the one who taught us to pray, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.’”
A friend recently told me that he prays this prayer every day. Whether we pray it often, or as a formal part of a worship service, remember, Jesus said, “Pray, then, in this way:”

A message from the series “With Christ in the School of Prayer.” Jesus was talking to his disciples about God’s desires for his own when he said, “And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have received their reward [in full]. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father, who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” (vs 5-6, NKJV)

A message from the series “With Christ in the School of Prayer.” How do you feel knowing that God is always listening? What’s your understanding about his interest in listening to you when you pray? What turns his ear to toward you?
I am reassured to know that “he bends down to listen,” to “my prayer for mercy” (NLT), and that he seeks those who, “worship the Father in spirit and truth,” as they pray.

A message from the series “With Christ in the School of Prayer.” “If you abide in me…ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you.” We must be aware of the place and power of prayer in the Christian life.

A message from the series “Colossians.” The body of Christ, the church, is His amazing idea and creation. Its very existence encourages and humbles us. It reminds us of His grace and gives opportunity for us to express that grace in many ways. God gives to each one of us gifts so that as we use them, He is glorified among us and in the eyes of those who have yet come to know Him. The apostle Paul said, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Cor. 12: 4-7, NASB)

A message from the series “Missionary Speakers.” Retired missionary Tine Hardeman shares his testimony