Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Devotional: Joshua

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you.
The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Deuteronomy 31:6, 8
I will give you every place where you set your foot.
Joshua 1:3


How wonderful to know that God has gone before us. He was the one to plant the seed in our hearts about reaching out in our own community with the start of Northridge. It is so easy to look over the events leading up to the start of the church and see God’s hand orchestrating everything. When fears and doubts creep in about beginning this new adventure and leaving my comfort zone, I reflect on this verse (I think Ryan even shared a similar verse with us when we just started on this journey).
I remind myself that:

• Northridge is God’s plan SO I can go forward with strength, courage and boldness
• God has gone before me and has started the path
• God will NOT LEAVE me, but will be with me to guide me along this path
• God wants to reach people, if I am following His lead, He will bring victory every place I set my feet


Prayer Items:
• Thank the Lord that He has gone before us, preparing our steps
• For each team member to feel God’s strength and courage
• In Jesus name come against any fears or doubts that might surface.
• That no fear or doubt will stop us from stepping out of our comfort zone and working effectively
• For each of us to be aware and tuned in to where God is guiding us
• For our eyes to be open to where God has already been preparing the soil

Thursday, July 24, 2008

40 Days of Prayer

On July 30th it will be 40 days until the launch of Northridge. How exciting! We all believe in the power of prayer and know that prayer will play a large part of laying a strong foundation for our church. To encourage all of us as we pray for Northridge, we will be starting:
"40 days of Prayer"

Praying for 40 days occurred many times in the Bible, often before or during a significant event (Noah, spies in the promise land, disciples spent 40 days with Jesus after resurrection). Moses, Elijah and Jesus all fasted and prayed for 40 days. In each circumstance, God was bringing about change or the beginning of a new work.
What a great way to start off God's "new work", here in our community of Maple Ridge. We will begin posting devotionals on July 30th and every Saturday until the launch date. These will have a scripture reference and some prayer suggestions. We also encourage anyone who feels led, to fast something during this time as well.

We would love to have you join in on the process!!! Please feel free to leave comments and share any encouraging words or scriptures that have been meaningful to you during the starting up of Northridge.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ Colossians 4: 2, 3

Let's devote ourselves to prayer and wait expectantly to see what God will do in and around Northridge.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14



Some information from: http://www.bic-church.org/connect/prayer/40days.asp