Fervent Prayer: Church Planting
"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles." Acts 2:42-43 ESV
From the birth of the Church in Acts, we see what the new gathered Body of Christ focused on: God’s Word (apostles’ teaching), community (fellowship and breaking of bread), and prayer (communing with God). Thus, from the very beginning of Mercy Hill, these verses have been close to our hearts and has helped define and shape our mission of being the Church. Keeping our focus on the simplicity of the Gospel, as taught in Scripture, and proclaiming that Good News both from the pulpit and through personal relationship, is a big part of what I think makes Mercy Hill Church the amazing community that it is. And it seems that God is stirring the hearts of others all over southeastern Wisconsin who desire to see churches planted that are committed to the beauty and simplicity of the Gospel. God has been building His Church with people ready to be His Church, and because of this, we are excited for what God is doing through the church planting efforts here at Mercy Hill.
Today, let’s focus our prayers on the area of church planting:
- Pray that God would continue to build His Church here and abroad
- Pray for our current church planting efforts/connections:
- Mercy Hill Rock County, Janesville (Josh and Angie Dostal)
- Imago Dei, West Milwaukee (Pete and Kristy Ziolkowski)
- Nuovo Vita, Salerno (Justin and Abbey Valiquette)
- Pray that God would provide to expand His Church:
- Leadership, resources and finances
- Pray that we would continue to train and equip leaders for church planting
- Pray that God would continue to make His mission clear to our churches
- Pray that God would clearly direct our Elders in future church planting efforts
Fervent Prayer: Financial Commitment and Provision
"Hopefully throughout your time at Mercy Hill, you’ve sensed and heard that why we give matters more than what we give. We emphasize this every Sunday during worship. And through the example in Luke 21, the Bible gives us many reasons to be generous. Today I’d like to highlight one of those reasons; to care for others..."
Hopefully throughout your time at Mercy Hill, you’ve sensed and heard that why we give matters more than what we give. We emphasize this every Sunday during worship. And through the example in Luke 21, the Bible gives us many reasons to be generous. Today I’d like to highlight one of those reasons; to care for others.
Matthew 6:33 says to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” “These things” referring to essentials like food, water, clothes. The author, Craig Blomberg in his book Neither Poverty nor Riches states the following:
“As the community of the redeemed seeks first God’s righteousness standards, by definition they will help the need in their midst.”
We see this play out in Acts 4 with the early Christians when it states “ There was not a needy person among them.”
In January, we communicated highlights as to where our finances were for 2016 and the general direction for 2017. What excites me about this year are two things; we will be celebrating 10 years since launching Mercy Hill and our hearts for church planting continues to be a part of who we are. What was written as our mission then still holds true today,
“Mercy Hill is committed to a philosophy of church that values community and focuses on the development of people rather than the expansion of the organization. We are not focused on building a church, but rather, focused on being the church.”
Being the church to our community, sharing and living out the Gospel. This continues to be made possible by God’s gracious provision and your continued submission to gracious giving.
To reiterate what we shared last month; we ask you spend time today in prayer and in discussion with your families to continue to discern where the Holy Spirit is leading you in terms of engagement with the broader church, whether through finances, serving at church, or serving in a community group. Let’s continue to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”
Fervent Prayer: Outreach
"Throughout Holy Scripture, it is clear to us that we have been commissioned by Christ to go forth into the world as his ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20). As we do this, we are to proclaim the Gospel wherever we go, endeavoring to raise up disciples as we ourselves follow after Christ who is with us “to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19,20)."
“... The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest…” (Luke 10:1-2)
Throughout Holy Scripture, it is clear to us that we have been commissioned by Christ to go forth into the world as his ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20). As we do this, we are to proclaim the Gospel wherever we go, endeavoring to raise up disciples as we ourselves follow after Christ who is with us “to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19,20).
Today our prayer focus turns to our efforts as Mercy Hill as we reach out to the local communities of Bayview, Lake Country, and Rock County with the love of Jesus Christ and the message of the Gospel.
Please join us in prayer for local outreach and our 20/20 projects:
That the Holy Spirit would grant wisdom and direction in projects of evangelism and relief care where the need is greatest.
That the financial provision needed would be provided for by God and through his saints.
That many within our church would hear the call of God to action on his behalf and respond as Isaiah did by declaring “Lord, here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)
And please join us in praying that above all, the work would be anointed and blessed by God, for His Glory and the salvation of the lost. Soli Deo Gloria!
Fervent Prayer: Community
"The term community has become a buzzword in our culture. Millennials are said to desire it, employers seek to build it, sociologists bemoan its demise, and churches have rediscovered its value. But as with most buzzwords: when you hear it often enough it gets lost in the noise..."
The term community has become a buzzword in our culture. Millennials are said to desire it, employers seek to build it, sociologists bemoan its demise, and churches have rediscovered its value. But as with most buzzwords: when you hear it often enough it gets lost in the noise.
Some communities form around political affiliation or social activism. Others develop because of ethnic or cultural commonality. Some are built around common interests or hobbies. But no matter what its foundation, what holds a community together is its sense of belonging. That we come from this place, believe this thing and are headed in this direction.
When we define community within the Church, we are talking about the relational unity that is derived from our common salvation in Jesus Christ. It necessitates that those within a particular body have that sense of belonging. But where does that sort of unity come from?
Godly unity is given by the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:3), leads us into deeper faith in Christ (Eph 4:13), stirs us to sacrificially love our church family (Rom 12:10) and demonstrates the glory of God to the world (John 17:23).
This sort of supernatural unity allows for people from all walks of life, all backgrounds and experiences, all races, ethnicities and classes to walk with one another in love. Not because of all the things we have in common, but because of the One person we have in common. It reorients our life and allows us to put aside distractions and agendas for the sake of the Gospel.
So as we pray about the topic of community today, let’s pray that these would be the elements that would be demonstrated at Mercy Hill. That we would see the unity given to us by the Holy Spirit, around Jesus, for the good of the church and as a witness to the world.
Pray for our community groups to dive deep into the Word. Pray that we would be open to deep, challenging, encouraging relationships in our own lives. And pray that we would not sacrifice the gift of unity for the folly of our own agendas.