Collective Church

Part 2 of the Messy Spirituality series:
Four Messy Questions About Spiritual Transformation...
1. Why does Jesus sometimes make us wait when we seem to need Him the most?
2.  What tombs are you failing to face?
3. Why do you run from the stench of transformation?
4. Have you allowed God to lighten the load of your "grave-clothes"?

Everything we do, our serving, giving, day to day life, should be seasoned and bathed in prayer. As we work our way through the key passage in Matthew 6, we conclude this series in verse 13, "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  Where do you need protection from temptation today?  Where do you need protection today from the evil one?  Before we answer that question, we'll talk about temptation and the evil one and then how to pray against The Tempter, or the evil one.

Our God is a god of details.  He cares about the details of our lives.  He wants us to talk to him!  That talk or communication is called prayer.  Jesus teaches us how to enter into prayer and how to pray.  When we pray we should ask and allow God to assess us and reveal to us what he wants us to recognize and change.  In today's message we identify a few things that God reveals to us and how to deal with it once He's revealed it to us.

“To live a prayer-less life is to live your spiritual life on fumes.” - Tony Evans 
Prayer is oxygen to the disciple of Jesus Christ.  We can't know God and have the intimate relationship with him that He desires if we're not praying.  God cares about every part of you and has the capabilities to meet your every need. But you must choose to allow Him access and must choose to let Him in.  As we continue through Matthew 6 today we see two words in verse 11 to highlight that help us depend on him.

Have you been guilty of neglecting prayer or twisting prayer?  Have you ever prayed to God to unload on him but didn't listen for His response?  Warren Wiersbe says, "The purpose of prayer is to glorify God's name and to ask for help to accomplish His will on earth."
When we follow the pattern set out in Matthew 6:10 we are doing just that.  We are praying, 1) Father, I align with Your kingdom and 2) Father, I align with Your plans and purposes.

Today we're looking at Matthew 6:9-13.  It's commonly known as the Lord's Prayer, the Model Prayer, or the Disciples Prayer.  "The disciples' prayer is not a prayer necessarily to be recited, but instead a pattern to be followed." D.L. Moody.  Today our sermon is centered around verse 9, "so pray this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored..." (NET), and three things we gather about honoring God in our prayer in this one verse.

Jesus gave us a very practical training on prayer in Matthew 6:5-15.  Something we often overlook in this passage is that Jesus spent more time instructing us about how to enter into prayer than He did about telling us how to pray.  In today's message we're looking at the ways Jesus instructed us to enter into prayer.

We wrap up our series this week with a guest speaker, Montana Jones, from Summit Church Saline.  He brought us a message on the importance and power behind community among the church.   As well as some thought-provoking questions like  "Would our community feel the loss of our churches if we closed our doors tomorrow?"

What does obedience in prayer lead to?  "Scripture shows obedience to prayer leads to the fulfillment of the Gospel."  As we continue our study through the first two chapters of acts we since a common theme.  Jesus' followers were devoted to prayer.

 Our church's mission is the basis for this sermon series, Knowing God and Making Him Known.   In the first few chapters of Acts, we see the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer.  Today what we want to learn from these original church members is how the power of scripture works in our lives to Know Him and Make Him Known.