Prayer

Sometimes God places things on my heart that don't go away until I have responded. This was the case in 2007 when he began placing upon my heart the conviction to go back to Russia and adopt children one more time which came to happen in 2009. Well... God has been placing something upon my heart for a number of months, a conviction that we as the Sugar Grove church need to be praying far more than we are. He has placed upon my heart that we need to be praying about where we are going as a church as well as praying about one another. 

Often when God is trying to get my attention he does so by giving me an unsettled feeling and I have had this feeling for a number of months now. What is frustrating is that I recognize God is up to something but I still don't completely understand what it is that God is trying to tell me. All I know is that it has been strongly upon my heart that we need to pray. 

We need to pray for one another because members at Sugar Grove are facing a seemingly unprecedented number of challenges. In fact I have been startled how it has seemed for the last 18 or so months that our members have been facing far more than the normal level of unforeseen problems. It is as if a spiritual battle has been unleashed against us. We need to be praying for and over and with each other. 

We need to pray for the church as a whole and where God is taking us. God has been leading a portion of the Sugar Grove leadership to begin to recognize that church is more than just attendance at an event on a Sunday morning.  

A few weeks ago it popped in my head that it would be cool to reverse how we do an invitation on a Sunday morning. Instead of having a few people wait down front for anyone that might decide to come down for prayers we ought to have teams of people that allow the Holy Spirit to guide them during the 'invitation' to seek out people to pray with. 

I understand that before my time Wednesday nights were prayer meetings- times that the church would get together simply to pray. Maybe we need times together where in an unplanned fashion we simply pray allowing whomever the Spirit leads to lift up prayers to God and pray over people and pray for God's guidance as a church. 

The bottom line is that we (I, you, us) are not spending enough time in prayer!

What Is Church?

We tend to live a significantly compartmentalized life. We have school, family, recreation, work, and church. We don't bring work home. We do our homework so we can go play. When we go play we leave everything else behind. Where does church fall in all of this? It's what we do when we aren't in school, with family, playing, or working. 

To be a better Christian we go to church every Sunday and find something the church is doing to participate in. Many of us grew up learning that the highlight of what the church does is focused on Sunday morning where we worship and learn about God. We have been taught that to be a good Christian we show up and participate in a worship service or a class or a potluck. If we really want to be a super good Christian we will lead in a worship service or teach or organize a potluck. Every so often we will even go out on mission to serve or tell others about Jesus or to be the ultimate Christian we will lead a mission effort. 

We have figured out ways to be more focused in worship and to increase the depth of our learning. In fact some churches have so highly perfected their worship services and learning about God that people flock from all around to go to church there. 

We have even spent the last few years perfecting small groups meeting over the hills and through the woods learning to care for one another. These have provided Christ centered relationships that have sustained us through life. We have learned to care and connect with one another.

But... something seems to be missing. 

We thought for a while that if we would simply do more and more church things we would achieve perfection but we realized this was simply our American addiction to activity and action being interpreted as spirituality. 

We have thought that if we would build it they would come, if we develop the most amazing programs and get our name out in the community the crowds of people would come, and they did, but something is still missing. 

Could it be that church is more and different than we have imagined? Could it be that church is not simply a place you go to participate? Could it be that church is not simply about us and we? Could it be that church is not supposed to be religious? Could it be that the focus of church is not simply to worship God and learn more about him?  Could it be that church is not supposed to match a specific pattern and look the same everywhere you go? 

Could it be that church should be associated with radical life transformation- discipleship? 

Could it be that church should be dynamically led by the Holy Spirit so that it played itself out differently in every community and people group around the globe? Could it be that church should be about being the light of God in every community and people group around the globe? 

Could it be that church should be going to people instead of waiting for people to come to church? Could it be that the mission of the church involves every moment of every person's life? Could it be that church and Christianity one in the same simply describe people living the entirety of their ever changing life led by the Holy Spirit to be an ambassador for God in all that they do and say? Could it be that it is far more important to connect with the people around us on a daily basis for God instead of organizing special occasional events to reach out to people? 

What would happen if we weighed every encounter with another human being by asking God if this is a person He led us to be a light toward? How might that change how we treat our coworkers, our neighbors, our friends, and the other people we interact with every day? 

What would happen if instead of assuming we know what we are supposed to do and say to be a messenger for God when we encounter another human being we started by asking the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and actions and feelings? 

One of the things that weighs heavy upon my heart is how arrogant we are. We think we have figured out God, we think have figured out church, and we think we have figured out the Bible. Instead of teaching people to be reliant upon God and the leading of His Holy Spirit we teach people to be confident that we know what to and what to say and what to think and how to act. We plan and act and speak and think and feel without seeking God's counsel. 

Perhaps being church and a Christian means we quiet down and humbly seek God's guidance and stay quiet so we can hear the gentle voice of His Holy Spirit. 

Church is without a doubt changing, that is good, because maybe we are learning, again, to let God be in charge by ceding power on our part. 

Church is a group of people on a journey together toward a promised land reaching out along the way to help as many as possible to join this journey toward the land God has promised.