Today we gloriously welcomed seven members into the Midtown Church family. Together we act as one body. None of us can fulfill God’s purpose alone; we do it in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
God’s family is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. – 1 Timothy 3:15B
C.S. Lewis taught us that the word membershiphas Christian origin. Member is from the Latin membrum, meaning ‘limb.’ As Woody Johnson opined at service today, we function better as a church when we work together, like a body with all of its limbs intact.
Together, not separated, we are His body. – 1 Corinthians 12:27
Today’s teaching was the third part in a series about the culture of Midtown Church. Pastor Todd enlightened us with three critical components of understanding prayer, summarized here.
Gravity of prayer. (Revelations 5: 6-9)
Because of Christ’s great sacrifice, we are connected to God and have been granted the gift of being able to pray to Him, converse with Him. In Revelations 5, Jesus is a sacrificial lamb. When he retrieves the scroll, he is agreeing to take on the job of being everyone’s savior. At that point, the living creatures fall down in worship and offer up their prayers to our Lord.
Heart of prayer. (Mark 11: 24-26)
What is at the heart of prayer? Forgiveness. Our relationship with God was bought by His forgiveness of us. We must both experience and embrace forgiveness. Before God can forgive us, we must forgive those who have hurt us. Our forgiveness must come first. This daunting task requires active forgiveness. Our model for doing that is Jesus Christ himself. It is by God’s grace that we are able to forgive.
Direction for prayer in your life. (Matthew 6: 6-8)
Pray the Bible. By making scripture the foundation of our prayer, we infuse God’s will and His word into our prayer. Read scripture. Say it out loud. Understand its meaning. Imagine yourself at the scene. Contemplate what is happening at the scene. Repeat the words. Sing the Psalms! God wants us to pray in his Word–it is the perfect guidebook to praying and to living God’s will.
