Announcements:
- Church will begin at 9:00 am on September 26 and there will be no potluck!
Updates:
- Both of our Marys were able to make it to church this week!
- Vivian is feeling better, thanks for your prayers.
Praise Reports:
- Richard has a lot of time off of work, praise the Lord!
- Roy and Shelly have a contract for their new house and are very excited.
- The Young's heating and cooling systems are working.
- The Rogers family had an awesome time at the Camp War Eagle Family Retreat.
- The Youngs, Rogers, and Barbers were blessed with a crop of Macintosh apples!
- The rain is certainly something to thank God for.
- David, Shirley, Paul and Ruby were very close to having a head-on collision, but all was avoided, praise the Lord!
Prayer Requests:
- Hannah went to the doctor with an abscessed tooth, please pray for her and Gavin.
- Frank Sims died early Sunday morning, leaving a wife, Abbey, and a young daughter. Please remember them in your prayers as they recover from this sudden blow.
- Doctors have found a suspicious spot on Shelly's mammogram. She will undergo further testing.
- Christin is back at the Air Force Base after a long absence, please pray grace and knowledge for her and patience for her supervisors.
- Pray for our country as we approach the election
- Ken is having trouble with an ulcerated cornea, but is getting better. Please remember him.
- Keep Richard's health in your prayers also.
- Pray for the finances of the families in our little fellowship.
Sermon Notes:
We are still finding practical ways to increase our capacity for faith.
We can increase each other's capacity with our testimonies and encouragements. 1 Thessalonians 5:10-11. Remember: we are all being watched as examples by others.
Having skeptics challenge us is a way to grow our faith.
Ephesians 6:18 and Jude 1:20 speak of praying in the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 14:11-17 speaks of praying with our spirit by praying in tongues, and how this edifies us (1 Corinthians 14:4). This chapter deals with speaking in tongues in the public arena, and it has a place here, but building up our spirit so we can have more faith can be done in our closets at home.
What is the difference between praying in the Spirit and praying in tongues? Praying in the Spirit is much bigger than just tongues. Just as our spirit is invisible, so praying in the Spirit can be praying inaudibly.
One way to get this spiritual experience is to seek the Lord in utter desperation. Don't just rattle off meaningless syllables and hope it takes effect! We must be desperate for Jesus to fulfill his promise to us (Acts 2:38-39). This is a gift from God, and we should pursue the higher gifts. It may not come easily, but we can train ourselves so that we can benefit and those around us can benefit as well.
"You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."
