There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread. -Mother Teresa
Please keep Lorna Sabbatini in prayer. She has been fighting the flu for a couple of weeks now.
Yolanda says that her back is doing much better and she is hoping to return to work on Monday – let’s hope that her doctor agrees.
Awana had a great kick off for their new year by enrolling 31 kids and several new leaders. Care Fresno also had a great start enrolling 33 kids, and 20 leaders. Pray for the leaders and volunteers of these ministries – we need lots of prayer.
On Sonday Pastor Gene Wright was not only in services – he was teaching his Sonday class! This is a “both hands in the air and shout to the LORD” type praise. Welcome home, Pastor, we have missed you!
On Sonday, September 17th the Nigeria Missions team will be hosting a “spoonfest.” Lots of food - $1.00 a spoonful (and they are not small spoons.) Contact Joy Nolte or Norm Baird if you can help provide food. Be sure to mark your calendars to attend and help support our team. Let’s see – good food & a GREAT cause – I love being a Baptist!
We continue to pray for the following: Chuck Alstrom, Michael Ferris, Dennis Galloway, Yolanda’s sister. Bonnie Mendoza, Sharleen Ferree, Bob Molander, Roy Rahn, Lance Corporal Eric Hamilton in Iraq, Jacob Filpala in Iraq, Willie serving in Iraq, Carol Simmerman and the two disks affecting her hip, Dorothy Wajckus, my young friend down at juvenile hall, Ivy Huff as she job hunts, Matthew & Lisa as they raise funds for Nigeria, Megan Dineen as she prepares to go to Mexico this month, Khamla & arm pains, Jonathan Rumsey, serving in Bagdad, Mike Abbott in Afghanistan, Walt Couch & prostrate cancer, John Rodgers with cancer.
Pray for our missionaries - Judy, Faye & Miisaw at the New Life Center in Thailand, Jan & Larry Martin in Thailand, The Reaching Hand Society in India, Bounkham & Khamla’s mission to Laos, Gospel for Asia, Biana Grogg with The Faith Alive Clinic in Jos, Nigeria, Laurie Bethall in Prague, and all the missionaries worldwide.
Pray for our pastors our leadership, our ministries, and Father’s provision for His Church. Pray that we recognize opportunities to share our faith with others
Pray for our country, her leadership and our military.
Great and Glorious God,
How we love this time when we are privileged to come into Your very Presence. In this quiet time with You, LORD God, we realize anew that there is nothing this world can offer that compares to You. We give up fortune, fame, power – we give up everything – to feel Your touch in our lives and to hear You say, “My child.” Your love is better than life.
LORD God, we ask that You forgive us for the times when we have ignored You, when we have turned away from You, when through our thoughts and deeds we have denied You. I am sorry, LORD, for the times when I have failed You. Search our hearts and see that our desire is to follow You completely – but our minds and bodies are weak. Help us to be stronger and to follow You more closely.
We pray, Father, for Lorna and ask that You heal her of this persistent flu bug.
LORD Jesus, You give us so many reasons to praise You! I could go on for a couple of pages and barely scratch the surface of how grateful I am for Your grace and mercy. We praise You for restored health! Thank You that Yolanda is doing better with her back, continue to be with her. On our knees before You we thank You and praise You for bringing our beloved Pastor Wright back to us and for allowing him to be able to continue to teach his class. Continue to strengthen him!
We praise You, Holy Spirit, for the hand of Life that You place on our ministries. We lift up the leaders of Awana and Care Fresno and ask that You bless them with a fresh vision of what You are going to do in these children’s lives. Continue to bless these ministries with growth and with new lives. Yesu yanna so mu yarra (Jesus loves the little children) is Your promise.
We praise You for Your team that is going to Nigeria. Build a stronghold of protection around them so that satan, that liar, cannot come against them. We pray for that one member of this team that needs Your special touch upon their lives.
Theotes, Triune God, we lift our hands before You. Your love has captured us – it is like nothing we have ever experienced. We try to find something that compares to Your love but we can’t. The love of our parents, the love of our spouses, the love of our children, the love of our friends – they are wonderful, but they simply do not compare to Your love. You bridged time and space to hang Your Love on a cross so that we could see and know how much You love us. Somehow Your love found us worthy of Your sacrifice. You reached out and saved us. Thank You forever.
Abba, Your ways are always good. Every thought You have, every action You take is good. Sometimes in the confusion of our lives, we just need to hear Your voice so that we can be reminded that no matter where we are in our life – You are good. We ask that You speak to those that remain on our prayer chain so that they can hear You in the midst of the trouble that is around them.
Jesu Mapru, we lift up Your missionaries before You and ask that You grant them strength and courage as they serve You.
Beautiful God, we cannot thank You or praise You enough for our pastors. We ask that You bless them beyond their needs. We pray for the leadership and the ministries of our church, that in everything we do we honor You. You are our heart.
God of the Angel Armies, this week has been hard for our country, as we have looked back five years ago to the day when the towers fell. The pain still runs deep. We pray for the loved ones of those who lost their lives, we pray for the survivors, we pray for the police and fire units who lost heroes on that day. We pray for our country – that the healing will continue.
Open our eyes LORD so that we may see You more clearly. Open our hearts so we may love You more completely. Strengthen our spirit so that we may follow You more closely. We love You so much.