Church – Page 75

Sunday Scripture

Who do you pray for ? Who do you pray for ? If all of your prayers today were answered by God tomorrow – then how many people other than yourself would experience life-changing miracles ? How about this: Would any of those people be complete strangers ?

But Chris – why would I pray for complete strangers ? I want God to answer the prayers for my loved ones – my family and my friends.

Yeah – same here. But God commanded us to love your neighbor as yourself, and everyone is your neighbor. If you see or hear another person – no matter where you are – then he or she is your neighbor. Your neighbor is everyone in the world.

Pray for your neighbors. If you know what their specific needs are – then ask God to fulfill them. Be intentional when you pray. If you don’t know what their specific needs are – then pray for them anyway. Be genuine when you pray.

And pray for your loved ones. I pray for my family – by name – in Texas. I have family near Dallas and near Wichita Falls. That’s 10 family members – from age 7 to 89 – living within 3 hours of each other in North Texas. I’m going on a road-trip this upcoming week to a neutral location where I’ll visit and spend 4 days / 5 nights with 5 family members. Pray for me – and 1,700 miles on the road (round-trip – between here and there).

I pray for my church family – my current church family – my former (and still) church family – my extended church family. I count each of you reading this blog on a regular basis as part of my extended church family. We are all God’s children.

I pray for each and every one of you. You know I don’t know your specific needs, but God surely does. Pray to Him about them. Expect miracles. Never be discouraged. God sends His miracles in His time – when we least expect them.

I don’t know your specific needs, but that will never stop me from praying to God for you. I will always pray for my brothers and sisters – my friends and coworkers – my neighbors and even strangers – as the Holy Spirit calls on me to do so. That’s the God at work within us.

And church family – pray for me too. Pray for my continued forward momentum on this fantastic journey that God created and customized uniquely for me.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. And pray for me too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. (Ephesians 6:18-19 NLT)

On this 31ST and final day of May of 2020 my church family – the children of the lady – met corporately in our sanctuary for the first time in 77 days – since 11 Sundays ago.

Our Lead Pastor Bob welcomed us and addressed us, and then the Praise, Worship, and Celebration began – led by our Worship Pastor Ben and our sister Shirley. After the first song I greeted my church body with help from the start of the 122ND Psalm:

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” And now here we are …

We continued to sing to our LORD, and then Pastor Bob preached his timely sermon on “The Church Under Attack”.

Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found. Truth stumbles in the streets, and honesty has been outlawed. Yes – truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked. The LORD looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So He Himself stepped in to save them with His strong arm, and His justice sustained him. (Isaiah 59:14-16 NLT)

That Scripture sounds a lot like Sunday May 31ST 2020.

Following service I went to my other family at the workplace. We became an instant church family this afternoon, as we mourned and then celebrated the life of our beloved coworker who suddenly lost his life early this past Saturday morning while driving himself to the local hospital. I preached to my brothers and sisters – my coworkers – on this afternoon – barely keeping it together with sweat and tears covering my face.

God has our brother now. He will take great care of him. And our brother will root us on from up above, as we continue to fix the base and clean it up.

MORRIS ‘THE CAT’ MAXWELL – 29 February 1956 – 30 May 2020