Women's Prayer Group

Why is it so easy for Christians to forget the Holy Spirit?
I don’t mean that we forget the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Most of us are grounded enough in a Trinitarian belief system never to do that. We are all aware, at least on a cognitive level, that the Third Person of the Godhead exists.
But, nevertheless, we forget him....

We have an all-church prayer meeting planned for Sunday evening (January 27, 6pm, ACI synagogue). Sometimes knowing how God is working can really empower your prayers. Want to be motivated to pray? There is an amazing article by Tony Carnes, co-director of the Research Institute for New Americans, that documents the ways NYC has changed since the 1970’s & 80’s. Carnes traces this to what he calls “the civilizing effect of Christ on New York City.” Through the planting of new churches and the proclamation of the gospel, our city has truly been transformed. Check out his article at ... http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/december/15.32.html

In anticipation of our all-church prayer meeting (Sunday, January 27, 6pm, ACI synagogue), some of our Fellowship Groups are planning to set aside a time this month to fast. In case you have questions about fasting, here are a few brief thoughts ...

Charles Spurgeon, a Baptist pastor in 19th century London, was renowned for his preaching abilities. Thousands of people flocked to his church on Sundays to listen to him speak. 25,000 copies of his sermons were sold every week. But when visitors came to see Spurgeon’s church building, rather than showing off the pulpit, he would take them down to a room in the basement where a group of people were on their knees praying and say, “This is the powerhouse of the church.”...

An interesting thing happened at the Men’s Prayer Group last Wednesday morning. The group has been reading portions of Luke’s gospel every week before our prayer time. Last week we were reading the story in chapter 6 about the time Jesus healed a man during a worship service in a synagogue. A lot of people got really mad at Jesus because he interrupted their nice service just so he could deal with someone’s needs.

As we were reading the passage, someone knocked on the door.

As I write these words, I can overhear the English as a Second Language (ESL) class that is taking place in the room next to my study. I hear a young man from a Muslim country reading a Bible story to his discussion group. This past year dozens of immigrants, from all over the world, have come to our church office to be trained in English by our volunteers. It has been exciting to see them form solid friendships with members of our church.

Last Saturday, a group of men and women from ACC joined with members of the Astoria Baptist Church to participate in a prayer walk through our neighborhood. We divided into four groups of about 5 people each, and headed off in different directions. For the next hour we walked quietly through Astoria, taking turns praying for God’s work in our community.

In the movie “Nacho Libre,” Jack Black plays the role of Ignacio, a hapless monk who works as a cook in a rural Mexican orphanage. He is secretly torn between the duties of his monastic calling and his burning desire to become a professional wrestler. Hiding his internal conflict, he lectures the children: “O.K. Orphans! Listen to Ignacio. I know it is fun to wrestle ... but you cannot do it. Because it is in the Bible not to wrestle your neighbor.”

Funny, I can’t seem to find that verse. In fact, rather than saying that devoted Christians may not wrestle, the Bible implies that we must. We must wrestle, that is, in prayer.