Midweek: Wednesday, July 13th, 2022

 

Midweek 7/13/22

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Faith Circle Meeting Today
• Celebrate Samuel Lee’s birthday!
• Your Contact Information
• Birthdays & Anniversaries
• Prayers are welcome
• Worship Planning Team
• Church Website Renovation
• The Power of Prayer

“. . . that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” Romans 1:12

Faith Circle Meets Today in the church library at 1:30.

Celebrate Samuel Lee’s Birthday! Pastor Je’s son Samuel celebrates his fourth birthday on Monday, July 18th. Hannah Lee will be bringing a cake on Sunday the 17th to share with the church in the fellowship time after the service. Come to worship with our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ through scripture, music, and the sharing of God’s message and then stay to have some yummy cake!

Your contact information: Contact information continues to come in. Good job and thank you!

“Happy Birthday to you! We celebrate with you! Please know that we love you, and God loves you too!” Happy birthday to: Ella Boll - 7/13, Janet Self - 7/16, David Mangold - 7/17, Meghan Farris -7/18, Eric Goodnight - 7/18, Lisa Hutcheson – 7/18, Judy Walburn – 7/18. Happy Anniversary to Kendra and Steve Whipkey – 7/15.

Prayers are welcome: Please continue to keep the FPC church family in prayer, as there has been much need of late: The family of John Reed, including Donna Bevington’s family. The family of Byron Loveless, including Cynthia and Eric Goodnight. Carolyn Dunham and her family. Casey and Craig Reynolds and their family. Please continue to keep Pastor Je, Hannah, and Samuel Lee in your prayers as they continue to transition to life here in Boone County. “The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16b)

Worship Planning Team: There is a worship planning team forming, to contribute ideas and suggestions to improve the worship experience for everyone at FPC. Interested in joining the group? Contact Pastor Je, je@lebanonfpc.org or Lisa Hutcheson, lisahutcheson@yahoo.com.

Church Website Renovation: Pastor Je would like to improve and renovate the church website. Pastor Je would appreciate any opinions, suggestions, and help you can offer. Contact Pastor Je, je@lebanonfpc.org, or Neal Crouse, neal@lebanonfpc.org, to join the group.

The Power of Prayer. I really enjoy a good story. Do you? Because my name comes from a fairy tale, I have always liked fairy tales. There is one story, however, that is my favourite of all time, and that is God’s Story as recorded in the Word of God. It is, among other things, a story of love, devotion, sacrifice, salvation, pain, heartbreak, challenge, miracles, rescue, the persistent pursuit of truth, and the enduring love of God for His creation. I think it is a bit tricky using the word “story” in reference to the Bible, because the word “story” makes the Bible sound like fiction. And it’s not fiction. It is a true story – a true account. Included in God’s Story as recorded in the Bible is an account that reads much like a fairy tale. It has all the elements of a fairy tale, though it is entirely and completely true. There’s a palace, a king, a queen – 2 actually, a villain, a despicably evil plan, a rescue needed at impossible odds, a hero, a hero’s helper, and even a happy ending. Can you guess what book in the Bible I am referring to? Esther.

    Are you familiar with this story? To cut to the chase, I will skip to the evil plan set in place by the villain Haman. Haman has planned to wipe out the entire Jewish race. One Jewish man does something that angers Haman, so Haman decides to commit genocide against the rest of the Jewish people. The man who angered him is Mordecai, who simply chose to put his God first above Haman. Mordecia is the queen’s uncle/cousin (depending on how you interpret the family connection ). Esther is the queen to King Ahasuerus, who rules the Persian empire. When news of the Jews’ imminent destruction comes to Mordecai’s attention, he grieves greatly and ultimately presents Queen Esther with a challenge: Put God first before all else; trust Him for deliverance for the Jewish people; be willing to risk everything for the salvation of God’s people. Why should she do this? “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14)

    How does Esther respond to the challenge? In a word: prayer. But she does not pray alone. She asks Mordecai to gather the Jews in their community to fast for three days. At the end of three days she would approach the king – which, as she said, “is against the law”. (Esther 4:16) For the Jews, to fast meant to pray. It meant Esther was going to set herself apart, lay aside all distractions, and focus solely on one goal. What was her goal? I believe Esther’s goal was to seek the Lord. Esther needed direction, assurance, strength, and courage. She needed more than what she had. She heard Mordecai and agreed with Mordecai. Her conscience, her heart, and her head were all moved by his words to her. At the same time, she realised that she could not possibly accomplish what was needed on her own without any preparation or help of any kind. She needed more. Ever been there, needing more? That’s a daunting place to be. Scary, intimidating, maybe motivating – maybe just terrifying. I believe that is where Esther was when she agreed to step out in faith and do more. I believe she agreed to do more, even though she knew she needed more. How would she get the more that she needed? Prayer. She may not have known how to help the Jews or how to even approach the king, but she knew God had the answer. She knew God could make a way. So she prayed. Let us do the same. Let us approach our God with the same degree of faith and resolution. The book of Hebrews tells us that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15,16) Jesus knows, Jesus cares, Jesus loves, and Jesus can help. The Word of God is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12a), and prayer is an offensive weapon in our arsenal: “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication.” (Ephesians 6:18a) Let us pray alone and pray together. Let us take up the challenge Mordecia presented to Esther and put God first, trust God, and be willing.

Interested in joining the prayer chain? Contact Phyllis Duff at (765)482-1485/ raduff2@att.net. 

Heavenly Father, We come to You believing that You hear, help, heal, and are more than able. Amen!