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Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church

WINTER 2014 www.ona-arp.org

the word, to declare the mystery of Christ,

also for us, that God may open to us a door for on account of which I am in prison that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to

thanksgiving. At the same time,

Continue steadfastly in being watchful in it with

pray

prayer
newsletter

speak.

~Colossians 4:2-4

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Outreach North America

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Outreach North America

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Pray for Church Planters

If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed... Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. ~ 1 Timothy 4:6, 15-16 In January, Rev. Matt Miller preached about how to pray for pastors from the text of 1 Timothy 4:6-16. Rev. Miller explained the difficulty of ministry in this day and age and how its critical that congregations pray for their ministry, and pray for their ministers. How many church planters have this privilege in their small budding congregations? ONA would like to encourage you to use the following points from Rev. Millers sermon to pray for not only your pastor, but ARP church planters who may not have a congregation full of seasoned prayer warriors behind them. 1. Pray that church planters think of success in terms of faithfulness to Gods Word (v. 6, 11) 2. Pray that church planters have the discernment to avoid fruitless distractions (v. 7) 3. Pray that church planters tend to their own souls (v. 8-9) 4. Pray that church planters work hard for the right reason (v. 10) 5. Pray that church planters live lives worth imitating (v. 12) 6. Pray that church planters exalt the Word in worship (v. 13) 7. Pray that church planters make the most of the gifts God has given them (v. 14) 8. Pray that you will see church planters grow spiritually (v. 15) 9. Pray that church planters are especially watchful in light of their position (v. 16) 10. Pray that you make the most of the imperfect ministry God has given you. Used with permission by Rev. Matt Miller, Greenville ARP Church. Listen to the sermon, How You Can Pray for Your Ministers in 2014 at: www.greenvillearp.com/sermons.php

The Priority of Prayer

By Dr. John Kimmons

From 30 Days of Prayer for Church Renewal

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. ~ Acts 6:1-4 In Acts 6, the disciples were increasing, and, of course, conflict came. There was a problem with the distribution of food to the widows and some thought that there was too much given to the Jews versus the Greeks. The disciples made it very clear that they would give their attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word and elect others to handle the food problem. Notice, it is not the ministry of the Word and prayer, but prayer was first. Prayer is the priority here, and its to be the priority in every church! The priority in our personal life should be that we be men and women of prayer whom God has called to lead His church. It doesnt matter whether youre a nursery worker, a Sunday school teacher, a youth leader, an elder, or a pastor. It is essential that if the church is to become what God desires it to be, its people must be people of prayer. Pray for church leaders to make prayer and the ministry of the Word their highest priority. For an electronic version of the entire 30 Days of Prayer for Church Renewal visit our website: www.ona-arp.org/evangelism/ publications

winter 2014

3
Rev. Bob Hovey SonLife Church, Jacksonville, FL

Prayer Practices
Rev. Walt Shepard Christ Coastal ARP Church, Southport, NC Starting a prayer ministry has been challenging, yet rewarding. It began with an email prayer partner ministry managed by one of our retired folks. Through the email, a number of folks in our congregation were praying, but the corporate prayer was fairly limited to mens and the womens weekly groups. Then we began seeing God answer many personal and community requests. Now our church has a weekly meeting, just for prayer!

One of the things we do during our time of corporate prayer during our service is everyone is encouraged to pray (part of) a favorite Psalm back to God. The folks really seem to like it and participate well. It teaches us: 1) 2) 3) 4) On another front, the Lord has given me favor to work with two different groups of pastors in the area for prayer for His ministry in the area churches, and for the various problems that plague our part of Brunswick county. This area is ravaged with all sorts of problems, and the Church seems to be pitifully anemic. However, our God is mighty, and His resources as well as His powers are great. Hallelujah! what to pray how to pray how to pray out loud gives them confidence in what theyre saying!

Its great! Rev. David Winburne Kings Parish, Dallas, TX

At Kings Parish, we said we never wanted to plant a church without a regular time of corporate prayer. We truly believe that if we can do the work without God, it is not worth doing. Therefore, our community meets every fourth Sunday evening to sing, read the Scriptures and pray. This meeting (what we call evensong) has been revolutionary. Our community prays for our unchurched contacts, for our financial needs, and our growth in Christ-likeness. We recently have seen the Lord answers our prayers through over $25,000 in outside giving, our people opening their homes to the unchurched, and our people in growing in grace. One of the most thrilling blessings for all of us is to see our children lead in our times of prayer, by reading Scripture and pleading with their Father about the churchs kingdom vision and desires. Evensong has become a jewel of our church!

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Bethesda Presbyterian Church in Johnson City, TN is actively recruiting a church planter. Interested parties can contact Randy Foster (rdfoster@carolina.rr.com) or David Corley (6corley@bellsouth.net). Virginia Presbytery is actively recruiting a church planter for a new mission work in Virginia and will work with the mission developer in identifying a target location. Interested parties can contact the chairman, David Vance, at 540-449-3620 or DavidVance@ RedeemerBlacksburg.org. Donate to ONA online at www.ona-arp.org/donate or mail checks to 1 Cleveland St. Ste. 110, Greenville, SC 29601. Outreach Newsletter FREE for your church! Contact the ONA office if you would like this newsletter to be sent in bulk to your church.

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