2 Timothy 4:2 "preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."
2 Timothy 4:2 was the verse inscribed on a cake at my ordination. Now, 15 years later, I ask for your prayers that I follow/trust/heed/obey/reflect this verse with even more zeal than I did as a newly called minister.
Please pray for our neighborhood and the church building. As many of you know, we are located right between downtown Minneapolis and the site of the George Floyd memorial. Many businesses around us are still boarded up and crime continues to spike in South Minneapolis. We have had several incidents of vandalism on and near the church building. I wondered if some of the crime was directed at the church, and therefore, that we were a detriment to the area ("Lord, please tell me if we are the reason people are vandalizing the block"). Then, while praying, it struck me that my prayer ought to be, "Lord, may our presence be the reason why people DO NOT commit crime on our block." Please pray for safety, protection, and peace.
On Tuesday December 8 at 3PM CST, we have our annual boiler inspection at the church building. Please pray for everything to go well. Normally, these inspections are done in the summer but this year everything has been pushed back. So, we have to shut it down and drain it during cold weather. Which is all the more reason we need things to go well, otherwise we would not have heat until a repair or replacement is completed (Also, a replacement would be between 13 and 18 thousand dollars, yipes!). Please pray for the boiler and inspection.
During the COVID 19 season we have been relegated to online only services. During this time, God has grown our online audience to over 500,000 people (one of the largest for any church in the world). Most of our followers are in Indonesia, Brazil, and the Philippines. This is all the more reason I ask for prayers for my preaching. Please pray that God would use this technology to reach lost souls and that God would bless the sermons I preach.
