Coming Up Sunday, January 10

This Sunday we continue our S.P.I.R.I.T. sermon series, coinciding with the introduction of our new strategic ministry plan. (Remember that SPIRIT is an acronym for key parts of our ministry together.) Last week, we focused on "S" - Share the Gospel. This week we move on to "P" - Pray without Ceasing.

The title refers to a bit of Paul's advice to the Thessalonian church. At the end of this letter (1 Thessalonians) he gives several suggestions of how the Christians should live. In this list is "Pray without ceasing."

During our 2009 Lenten series on prayer, we spoke a few times about how we might approach this seemingly impossible task. As we were focusing on the "how" of prayer -- at least in the sermons -- we imagined how we might live into unceasing prayer.

This week, we will focus on a related but different aspect of "Pray without ceasing" -- why? Why does Paul mention this task? How can unceasing prayer benefit us and our Christian community? The short answer, which we will consider Sunday, is that prayer is the single most active means of strengthening our relationships with God. We are constantly aware of, and thus more open to, God's presence in our lives. We can be more open with God, and we can be more aware of God's continual effort to nudge us to make better choices in our lives.

If you missed last week's sermon, you can listen to it here. (Reminder: All recent sermons are available on the right sidebar of this blog.)