Staff-Led Prayer & Worship: This Thursday

 

Just a reminder that THIS THURSDAY morning we are hosting our monthly "Staff-Led Prayer and Worship". 

Prayer and worship are inextricably linked, but we are used to practicing them as separate activities. Staff led prayer and worship is the 1st Thursday of every month from 6am - 7am. This is an incredibly powerful time for us to gather as a family to combine worship and prayer into an hour long encounter with God's presence.

Join us as we approach God in faith, guided by the Holy Spirit, asking Him to release more of His glory throughout our region. Come to worship, pray, and discover the prayer warrior that resides within you!

Location and Time
Beverly Church of the Nazarene.
556 Cabot St. Beverly, MA 01915
6:00am - 7:00am

Because I cannot....Colossians 1:9

Colossians 1:9 says it all.

As I am getting very close to moving to Beverly, MA; I am just overwhelmed with both joy and anxiety as I seek to begin to do what the Lord is calling me to do. If you would have asked me 2 years ago as we were starting to think through the church plant and all that we envisioned, my thoughts about this would have been totally different. I honestly used to think that I could do this. I used to think that, "if I just preach good enough" or "if I am just funny enough" or "if our music is just anointed enough" or "if our welcome team is just nice enough".........etc etc etc; then we will have a great church plant. I now recognize that I am nothing; just a pawn in the hands of a loving and gracious God.

The past 2 years of my life have literally been life altering. I want to thank dudes like Wagoner, Gene, Dave P, TJ, Pearce, my team and board, my A29 assessment team, and the many others who have come around me to both encourage me and rebuke me. Most importantly I want to thank my wife and kids who have loved me so well though all of the transition and have modeled Christs love so well through this.

As I was with the Lord this morning, I came across a verse that I have probably read 100 times, but today it hit me hard. Colossians 1:9 says "since he day we heard of you we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding."

Paul gets it and sadly I have not gotten it. Theologically I understood it, but my heart was deceived to think that I was more than I am.

As I am moving to a dark area of our world, where sin and paganism, idolatry and wickedness, unbelief and doubt, are all the norm; the only way to fight this is prayer that "God" not "Matt", will fill people with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. So, today I am praying as I type, as I read and as I drink my coffee. Lord, for those who I meet in Greater Boston and have an opportunity to love and tell about Christ; fill them with the knowledge of your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.....because I cannot.

Amen.

First on the scene of an Accident

So there has been some really neat conversation going on under my previous blog. This is a different type of post. Something that happened to us yesterday.

We were on our way home from chilling with the in-laws and we noticed a bad accident ahead of us. There was a women about 400lbs lying in the middle of the road. I hopped out of the car and ran ahead only to see that a SUV T-boned a van. The Mexican in the van was fine but the people in the SUV were in bad shape. One lady most likely broke her leg. The really big lady in the road fell out of the far upon impact and seemed to be in pretty bad shape. She was saying that she couldn't feel her legs. I got up close to her and began asking her some questions. She was responding fine. The Cops were not there yet and by this time there was a nice gathering of people by now.

The lady asked if I was a doctor and I informed her no but I was a Christian. I said all I can do is pray for you. Then some black women said, "Yes, that's why I ran up here as well." So, we together began to pray that the accident want worse than it was, we prayed for healing, restoration, and that God would make his name great through this." Then the paramedics got there and told us to move out of the way.

Isn't it cool how in this particular moment, God's people were first on the scene. I started to wonder, Isn't that our job? We hold the keys to life. We have access to the ultimate healer, the King who created life and rose his body from death. This was just another time, where God wanted to show off so he sent 2 believers who never met before and will probably never meet again to be first on the scene of a crisis.

To God be the Glory. I am grateful to be a tool.

Please Pray for Donna.

Hi Everyone.

There is someone who is very special to our family who needs our prayers. She is a teacher at our kids preschool and has taught both Daniel and Abby. She was probably their favorite teacher at the school in their 3 years attending. Shhhhh, don’t tell the other teachers.

Anyway, here is her note to us. Her name is Donna.

I would like to ask you and Beth to keep me in your prayers. On June 3rd, I am having a small tumor removed from my pancreas. It is cancer....but NOT pancreatic cancer. I am not expected to need chemo or radiation. I am thankful that this has been caught very early!!! So, we have been on a bit of a scary medical journey the last couple of months.

Pray that the Lord will do a miracle in her body. That she would have a supernatural, God Ordained, recovery and even that she would be healed. I believe in the Holy Spirits ability to heal on the spot. It is OK to pray for that. I know a good amount of people blog stalk and keep up to date on what's going on, so if you would be so kind and ask Jesus to move on behalf Donna and her family, it would be awesome

Love you guys, Matt

Feel free to post your comments to her as well.

Spending March w/ Jesus 3-26-09 "Jesus Prays; YOUR WILL BE DONE"

Jesus wins the battle of prayer.

Read Matthew 26

Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done." And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. "Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand."

Could you not watch with Me one hour? Jesus valued and desired the help of His friends in this battle. But even without their help, He endured in prayer until the battle was won.

Prayed the third time, saying the same words: This shows us that it is not unspiritual to make the same request to God several times. Some hyper-spiritual people believe that if we ask for something more than once, it shows we don’t have faith. But Jesus shows us that repeated prayer is completely consistent with steadfast faith.

Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand: Jesus knew Judas and the those who would arrest Him were on the way. He could have run, and escaped the agony waiting at the cross. But Jesus rose to meet Judas. He is in complete control of all events.

My favorite part of this scripture text is when Jesus gives his request to the Father and then says; None the less, not my will but your will be done. Not only is he giving his will over to the Father but he is also doing exactly what he taught the disciples to do in Matthew 6. (Pray that "Your will be done.") To many people do not practice what they preach. This is an awesome testimony of a man who not just taught the will of God, but also did the will of God.

Spending March w/ Jesus 3-11-09 "Jesus is able."

Jesus Overrides Nature and Physics

Read Mark 6:45-56 and Luke 8:22-25

For the past 6 years I have been in the Office Interiors industry and business has been pretty good. I typically deal with a high level sale, working with major players in Corporate America. My job is to go into companies and help them design space so that business flows in a way that is more productive and efficient. In other words, I am directly tied to a companies business objective and am considered to be a key part to helping the business succeed.

In my job there is a lot that I can control. Relationships, Pricing, Products, Space Planning, Process, Time Frame, etc. With that being said, there are a lot of things that I don't control. I cannot control the clients budget, attitude, purchasing process, terms, and final decision.

Over time technology has allowed us to overcome many things. We have walked on the moon (Why? I'm not sure.) , discovered other galaxies (woop-de-doo) , created electricity (Thank God) , built cell phones (I am still confused on how a person can hear me without a wire) , and the i-pod is just amazing to me (What would I do without 7000 songs, 250 movies, 500 podcasts, and pictures; while driving 15 minutes to work everyday?). All that being said, and we still have not found a way to walk on water and dictate weather. That is just crazy to me.

In these passages, Jesus shows us his absolute control over ALL things. Here we are 2000 years after Jesus walks on water and tells a storm to "Go Away" and we have yet to be able to duplicate his effort. Personally I do not think this was by accident. He choose this because we will never be able to do these things. It's a matter of physics and mother nature. Healing people, yeah, we all know people who have seen or experienced the miracle of supernatural healing. But find me a guy who walks on water and shuts up a storm; and I'll probably have a freak out moment.

This is the point. Jesus wants us to know beyond a shadow of doubt that "He is able." Regardless of your situation, "He is able." Regardless of how crazy it seems, "He is able." Regardless of how it looks today, "He is able."

There are a few things that I am praying about right now. In which I need to believe that "He is able." I'll share it with my blogging world.

1. Church Plant. Currently we need to raise a butt load of money to make the move and start the process. We also need some strong and mature people to join us on the journey. I need for God to do this. I can''t do it without him. However, I know that "He is able."

2. My Kids. I know that apart from God drawing my kids to him, they will only rebel. I pray that the Lord will draw my kids close, give them a heart for Jesus, and that they would receive salvation. "He is able."

3. My Marriage. Putting 2 sinful and selfish people under one roof can be very difficult at times. Then add 3 (almost 4) sinful kids to the mix and you got a scary situation. I am praying for God's continued grace over my home. "He is able."

4. Work. I am a full commission sales person and the economy is effecting us. I literally have not made much money in about 4 months. However, activity has picked up and I know that "He is able."

5. My sister-in-law. Her marriage is almost over. She is one of the strongest women of God I know. I have seen her absolutely flourish over the years. She married a good man but he neglected to pursue her and love her they way that he should. I pray that God would have his will in their lives.

6. Family Health. I have a fear that God will take away someone who I love prematurely. I have always carried this, so I am praying that the Lord will keep us safe. "He is able."

Mark 6:49 "But when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out in fear."

Luke 8:25 "In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

Fear is a natural reaction when we realize that we are standing before one who is able to do anything. However, Jesus reaction to those who had fear, was always love. I have to keep that in mind when I think of the infinite power of Christ. I am his child and he loves me more than I love myself.

Road Trip (Boston Friends - Please Read!!)

Beth and I are planning a trip to Boston the weekend of February 20-22. During this trip we would like to have some of our friends visit the area with us to see what we are getting ourselves into. This will be a time of prayer for our ministry, a time to connect with each other, and a time to seek God about our roles (if any) in this church plant.

If you are in Greensboro, we will look to get a 15 passenger van to drive. We'll leave Friday somewhere between 3 and 5pm. We will drive through the night taking turns in the cockpit and sleeping. We'll spend some time in the city and on the North Shore. Then on Saturday night, I would like to all get together at a church to just spend some time praying together. I am inviting some people who are in the Boston area and will be supporting us in some way or form to join us.

We have friends and family in the area so sleeping arrangements will not be much of a problem. I am sure there will be an aspect of Ghettoness to it, but ain't nothing wrong with a little ghetto. Remember Jesus said, "Foxes have holes and Birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. We're just tryin to be Christ Like!!

Get excited. It's gonna be fun!!!

If your interested in going with us, please let me know. Also, if you can be there on Saturday night, let me know. I would love it if you could!! Just leave me a comment on this blog or shoot me an e-mail at mwchewning@yahoo.com I will update the details as I work them out.