We have been praying about reaching 100 people with this blog, and as of today we have 96 subscribers! Praise God for all of you who have dedicated yourself to prayer and hearing of what God is doing through this little plant.
In today's update, read about the continued evangelistic efforts in our neighborhoods, the latest about the Clouse House, and the legal side of opening a church.
I requested prayer last week for continued outreach to our neighbors here in Milford. Getting pummeled by snow on Thursday (and as I sit and watch an additional8-14 inches fall), most everyone stays inside except to the shovel their driveway. During snow clean up I talked with Betty as we rested on our shovels, and I shared with her why she needs Jesus and invited her to church.
Thank you for taking the time to look at what God is doing. We can't be more excited or humbled by what God has done in the past week and what we know He is preparing us for in the coming days! This week, we have decided to split our update into two sections: Thanks God, which are the things we want to collectively thank Him for and show off His love and grace through while keeping you updated; and Go God, which are the things we would ask you to pray for this week.
A letter from Sarah: Starting a church seemed like a very far out there idea. Something vague, distant and not at all appealing. As it approaches closer to my doorstep however, my idea has changed. The idea has been growing in Landon’s mind for years. I’d casually shrug it off by saying “Maybe one day?” Recently however, as Landon and I have prayed about the possibility of starting a church, our hearts have become united to move in that direction.
This week's update includes the praises of a new salvation and an opportunity to share Restore Church's vision with Merrimack Valley Baptist Church with requests for prayer concerning selling the Clouse house and crafting a partnership plan.
This is a repost from January 19th. We wanted to share this again so that all of our new subscribers could be on the same page with Prayer At 9. Look for an update and prayer list this Monday, and be ready to pray wherever you are Monday night at 9 o'clock PM.
Let me get you caught up on what has been happening lately with Restore Church, where we are currently in the process, and what you can do to help.
“Following”, though a figurative term, feels all too literal at my current stage of life. The pursuit of an answer to the question of "What should I do with my life?" has led me geographically all over in the last year and a half as I got to serve with a variety churches in musical worship, so the term “following” feels more physical than mental or spiritual. And this led me to refresh my preconceived notions of what Jesus meant when He said “follow Me.”
I was in South Africa this summer on a mission trip when I began to feel I what I call “holy unrest.” I experience it routinely, and it causes me to press deeper into my relationship with God and others. This time as I dug in deeper the unrest grew heavier, there was no relief. At that point I began journaling and going back to the basic college student struggle of, “what should I do with my life?”
If you have been a Christian for any length of time undoubtedly you have heard much on the topic of prayer. My experience has been the same with many impassioned messages, conferences, books, articles, and blogs on the topic. All these things are great, but if we are honest with ourselves the amount of time actually spent in prayer privately and with others does not even come close to the total amount of time spent learning about prayer.
The church at Antioch was setup for success, they had a couple of the most well known prophets and teachers in the New Testament, Barnabas and Saul. The story in Acts explains that they were spending time together “serving the Lord and fasting,” when the Holy Spirit said it was time for them to start planting churches. What they do in response to the Spirits leading is what we want to do, pray!
