Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I write this to you today after a delightful evening of prayer with our Elders Team. Under the leadership of Phil Seagrove, the new chair of our Elders for 2021, the Elders spent Thursday night together on ZOOM praying through all of the requests in the 21 for 2021 Prayer Guide. I was greatly encouraged to be part of this and to hear our Elders praying from their hearts for the church family and for God to work powerfully during these COVID days.

This ZOOM prayer meeting is just one of many meetings that are occurring during these 21 days we have set aside for concerted prayer. At the conclusion of the Elders Prayer time, Jeff Thiessen shared that this was the third prayer meeting he was in this week! In a recent conversation with one of our deacons, Sharon Weir, I heard about others who have joined the Thursday afternoon and Saturday evening ZOOM prayer meetings that she leads. All of the Pastors and Ministry Directors have also organized prayer gatherings for the people they serve within all of our church’s ministries. Every morning this week our pastors have led Devotions and prayer on our church’s Facebook page.

Last Sunday morning I reminded us all that “the prayers of the saints” are returned to the earth with immense force. When prayer goes up power comes down. This is why I want to encourage you again to take time personally and with your family to devote yourselves to prayer from now until the end of January. Make sure to use the Prayer Guide and the Family Prayer Calendar on our website. These are great resources that you can use to cultivate a culture of prayer in your homes.

I hope you will be able to join us for online worship this Sunday at 11:00 A.M. I will be speaking for the next three Sundays from the book of Habakkuk. He was a prophet that was filled with questions about God and his ways and he continually prayed and brought his concerns and complaints to God. I believe these messages will be very helpful to us as a church during these days when we are struggling with all that surrounds us and we are devoting ourselves to prayer.

May God keep you all firm in his grip,

John Mahaffey
Lead Pastor