…IN CELEBRATING!!!
This past week Michelle and I were able to travel to Florida to be encouraged, worship, pray, & learn alongside tons of other church planters at EXPONENTIAL 2013. While there, we & a large group of Stadia church planters and supporters were challenged to raise $85,000 on the spot to plant a brand new Compassion Int’l Church in a needy village in Ecuador. The response? We raised $170k in ONE 3 HOUR SETTING!!! That’s right! Enough to plant not just one, but two Compassion Churches! AMAZING!!! And what’s more amazing than that??? This…
Thanks to YOU and YOUR GENEROSITY, the Community of SummitLIFE was able to give $3,000 toward planting in Ecuador! Just like every family should make a practice of doing, the family of SummitLIFE commits one-tenth of our offerings & support back into the Kingdom, setting it aside for just the right opportunity! So, if YOU’RE a supporter of SummitLIFE…YOU HELPED TO THAT HAPPEN!!! THANK YOU!
…IN A LIFEgroup!!!
The week of Mother’s Day, May 12th, the Community of SummitLIFE will be kicking off LIFEgroups! “LIFE is better when it’s LIVED TOGETHER!” The groups will gather for 5 weeks throughout our RENEGADE series! CLICK HERE for more info!
…IN PRAYER!!!
I had the privilege of leading the Community of Sedona in prayer for FAMILIES (which was pretty cool, considering the family is a HUGE part of SummitLIFE) at Sedona’s National Day of Prayer event! I’m including my prayer here, and invite and encourage YOU to use it yourself…praying for the families of Sedona!
NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FAMILY PRAYER: 5.2.13
Creator God…in the beginning You created the heavens and the earth. It was You who created all that we see and the beauty of Sedona that each of us has the privilege of waking up to each and every day. And for that we are grateful.
And in the midst of creating all things, it is said that You created humankind in YOUR image…in the image of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—three individuals living in such Community and Oneness that You are recognized as One—the One True God. (Hear, friends and people of Sedona, that the LORD our God, the LORD is One. We are to love the LORD our God with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength! And we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.)
And it’s written, God, that upon creating the man, Adam, You said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” Because we are created in Your image, in the image of the 3-in-1 God…the God who is Community…we too are in need of community. We are incomplete whenever we are alone.
For this reason, You created the woman, proclaiming that, “…the man will leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh,” just as You, God, are a Community that is One…the husband and wife are a community that is one. And you blessed the husband and wife with the ability to procreate, having children of their very own…created in their very own image…and this community we call “Family.”
You stepped back and observed all that You had created and proclaimed, “This is very good.”
Father, because the family is Your design, it is apparent that families are important to you, and so, may families be important to us. Because the union of husband and wife with one another is honored by You, may the union of husband and wife with one another be honored by us. Because You watch out for, love, protect, and provide for us as Your children, may we watch out for, love, protect, and provide for the children that You have, and will, bless us with. Because you care about the single mother and her children…and for the single father and his children…and because you care about their needs and struggles, may we care about the single mother, father, & their children, and assist them in their needs and struggles.
And finally, Father, because You adopt the fatherless & the widow into Your family as Your very own, may we adopt the fatherless and the widow into our families as our very own. May no one in the community of Sedona be found alone, without another to love them, but rather, may we come together as one family, living in recognition of, and under the blessing of You, the One True Creator God.
Lifting these requests to You, in the name of Your Son, Jesus, may our joy be made complete.
~Amen
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