(Sam Tillery)
Welcome to City Reach Prayer. We are meeting here at the business of Shook and Waller Construction and we will be praying blessing for this company and those who work here in the second portion of our night.
We are going to begin by reading Romans chapter 18. If you have your Bibles, you can read with me. Otherwise, you can just listen. I have chosen this passage, so you need to listen, because this is going to be direction for prayer tonight.
"You who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good to build him up." Tonight we are gathering to build up those in the marketplace. To build up those to bring forth the light of the gospel and the integrity of how business is done and such so each of us should please his neighbor for his good to build him up. Verse three... "For even Christ did not please himself. But as it is written, the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope."
So there is a hope as we come together in regards of God moving in the marketplace. Verse five... "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus." There is the key, unity as we follow Christ, not as we follow my church or your church, but as we follow Christ. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement, and tonight we want to pray that God would give endurance to those who are in the marketplace, endeavoring to labor in the Lord's name in a system that is so different than the principles for which God teaches.
Endurance and encouragement. There are many who are laboring in the marketplace as a light and thought of the gospel and need to be encouraged, because it is difficult to swim upstream or against the current in a system which seems to just swallow up Christian business individuals. So you want to pray encouragement and endurance for these individuals. That God would do as a spirit of unity among ourselves as we follow Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify God our father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another then just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God. Nothing about that. When we accept one another in our diversity and differences it brings glory to God and praise to the father. We accept one another. When we pray for one another, the Scripture teaches that it brings praise to the Father. We are to stop judging.
You all are here because you are part of a movement in that, but a large segment of Christianity and a large segment of even the marketplace does not function in that, so we need to pray," God help us. God would you take away fear and would you instill in the hearts and the minds of the marketplace leaders and the sphere of what makes a community: government, education, public works, treasury etc., the heart to love and not to judge and to share in the truth of Christ's love".
So, as we come together as diverse and different instruments to bring for the Lord, his heart and he's put it in you. You have passions and desires, but you are going to focus it tonight. Under the conducting of the fact that our focus is the marketplace, and those things. Does that make sense?
... So, back to Romans, "Accept one another then just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."
The very fact that we gather here tonight and we come from different congregations, that have different expressions of worship and different strokes of theology with different areas of emphasis, yet we come together in common like this, we are accepting one another and same of come before the Lord together. That in itself brings praise to God. Your presence here amongst diverse expressions of the body of Christ brings praise to God.
Your assignment is to pass that message on to others. You are to pass it on to those in your congregation. You can go back to your congregations and inform your pastors and your leadership about what happened here this Friday night, so that there is a broadening of the body of Christ.
Now, just so you know, Harry and I kind of tagteam this, so we will be doing that here tonight and I'm going to turn it over to Harry, who will be leading us into some specific areas of prayer.
(Harry Skandera)
Okay, we've kind of filled up since we started, that's great. We have been doing this here now for eight years, so those of you who have been here have heard this often, but I think part of what we're about is intentionally coming together as the body of Christ all over Sonoma County, where we are invited, both to different cities and to different ministries and to different spheres that God has ordained in our community. Here tonight, we are in a business, but last month we were at Free Will Baptist Church in Petaluma and the month before that we were at Santa Rosa Christian school; the month before that we were at Community Baptist Church, so over the past eight years we have been to a lot of different places. We say that because for us to come together like this and needing to pray for in this case our city, I'm just curious how many cities are represented here tonight? We have Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Sonoma, so we have three cities represented, praise God.
We want look at the first line of Scripture to guide us in prayer, which is at Jeremiah 29, verse seven. I know that there are a lot of different ways we consider how to pray for our city and I think we are going to touch a couple of those, but Jeremiah 29:7 reads, "Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it; if it prospers you too will prosper."
I think the principle here first of all is that the Israelites, the people of God, were not really in a place where they wanted to be and their surroundings were not ideal. They were concerned, and I know that we could say that about all of our cities. Most of our cities are not ideal. We have not seen the manifest presence of the Lord in the City Hall or in the city plazas, maybe not even in many of our churches. We can even say we are in Babylon perhaps. The point that I want to say is that we still carry something of light and salt in representing our Lord, and in praying for the prosperity of our city and even know it doesn't totally line up with everything we want.
Is it that God only cares about the Christians? Are we the only ones that He wants to bless? You know, if you remember, the city of Nineveh, and the story of Jonah. Jonah didn't want to go Nineveh, because he wanted to see them all fry. They were the hated enemies of the Israelites and probably not many Baptists in that crew, but God wanted Jonah to go and to preach to them that they would repent. Jonah did not have a good attitude about that and my point in this is that God said, you know, how can you have such an attitude? Don't you care about all the people in that city that don't even know their right hands from their left? And what about animals?
So, God's heart was for some saying, besides just the people of God, and we need to see that too. His heart is for all of His creation, and there is a time for sure, for us to fall on our face in repentance. Although we do want to pray for the prosperity of our city, so we are going to take a few moments tonight and break up into smaller groups and take a few moments within your groups to pray for the prosperity of our city.
(prayer)
(Harry Skandera)
You know, we have to be careful about the things that we say about our city. I know you have heard comments like," I hate this dump, I just want to get out of here, there is nothing good going on here...," different comments that you have heard about the city in which you live. It is easy for us to fall into the criticism of the place to which God has called us to, but we as salt and light, we should be a will to speak life and say things that are reflecting Him. After all, this is a place to which he has called us. We need to actually have habitual work on changing our language about the place where we live. If we don't then, who is going to do it? It's got to be us.
Psalm 85:10-13 reads, "Love and faithfulness meet together. Righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth and righteousness looks down from heaven. The Lord will indeed do what is good, and our land will yield it's harvest. Righteousness goes before a man who prepares the way for his steps."
I chose the Scripture because the point to me, and what spoke to me as far as where we are, is that for the land to yield its harvest and for its resources to come forward there is an exchange between heaven and earth. There is another variable here, it is not just as simple as well, we are sitting here passibly with our hands open to receive what the Lord is giving. No, there is a response and a faithfulness that the Lord is looking for upon the earth, and so there is a connection here between the land, yielding its harvest, and God's righteousness being poured out on us from heaven, because we do not have a righteousness of our own. Our righteousness is in Christ, and we know and understand that it is not anything good that we have done, but because we are reflecting him and a righteousness that he gives to us. Our calling is to be faithful and how much we receive of what God gives us is going to determine how much he is going to decide to show up amongst us.
Are we welcoming him? Are we welcoming those whom he sends in the name of the Lord? Or are we rejecting Him by rejecting those He sends in? So, that requires a posture of humility and also a responsibility. If we are called to a certain place and city, it requires more than just getting are take it out of here, but it requires things that we are meant to be doing as his people until He comes. So, what does that look like? How to pray into that? How do we begin to seek the Lord for our responsibilities in this place? Had he done that lately? If we are going to pray for the Lord to release the resources from the place where he has called us, then he is calling us to be faithful. Faithful stewards over this place. So, I would like is to, as an exercise in faithfulness, I would like us to get into our groups again, and begin to bless our city and to ask the Lord what is it that is on His heart to be spoken over your city? Ask the Lord what it is that he would have you speak, that is his heart to be proclaimed for this city.
So, let's be quiet for just a minute and then as the Lord puts on your heart what to speak, just go ahead and speak it out loud so that we can all join together.
(Prayer, speaking blessing into the cities)
(Harry)
Psalm 127:1,2 reads, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city. The watchmen stands guard in vain".
There are a lot of things that have been said about this verse and the rest of the Psalm, but a couple of things that I just wanted to mention tonight. They are talking about a city takes builders and watchmen, and that both builders and watchmen must have the Lord at the foundation of the calling. For those of us who are builders, and those of us who are watchmen. Sometimes we can get so busy, and are calling that we forget the caller. You know, you get into it and pretty soon you're called becomes your focus so much that you miss the connection.
Right now it's interesting that we are meeting in a builders office tonight and I know that there are a lot of different kinds of builders. I know that there are four different business owners here tonight and I would like is to pray for them and for anyone else that I may have overlooked here that owns a business, if you would go right up there to the head of his table. Okay, we would like for those of you who are standing up to share a least one or two needs that we can pray into for your business and also what you may see as a need for this community, because they would like to pray into that too.
(Monty Fortcamp - Telecommunications)
The significant thing that came to my mind Harry when you said that, is that we so easily lose focus. We want to be more purposeful with our time in the day, especially with the media, and we feel really good about serving people and we really have a heart to do that, because that not only benefits us, but it makes us profitable to others. It is rewarding to do it God's way. At the same time I can see how we can so quickly become consumed with the immediate, with taking care of a problem, it's like when you miss the window of opportunity for that person before you and that may be the only opportunity to speak into their life, so I want to pray for us and our business and all businesses as a whole that we would just be purposeful with the contacts that we have for each day, that those are anointed for that day. I want to be more purposeful with those opportunities, not so much business opportunities, but eternal opportunities.
(Shook and Waller)
I would have to agree with Monty. I think that the greatest challenge is to always keep in mind, that we are to be salt and light in everything that we do. Whether it is our employees or the people that we work for that we want to love them, because it is easy to get frustrated when things aren't going well. I think one saying on the practical side that has been coming up is the problem of fear. It is very clear that the housing market is not booming right now and the majority of the men that we work with are in that business of building houses, so there is a lot of fear in our industry right now with employees not having much work. So I think that that is probably our challenge to displace that fear with faith and hope in God providing each day.
(Melick's roofing)
I think for us, we want to transfer our business, so we want young men to come into our business so that we can train them up to carry on the legacy of this company. Right now Greg has about four clones, and he wants four more, because we want to just keep it going. And in this community, there are a lot of restrictions and codes and red tape to get through, and it seems like we are getting more and more of that, so we would like prayer for favor with the County and the city. I know that I have gotten pretty good with getting permits from the County and the city and I see them doing things for me that shows that I do have favor. I just go in with humility and ask them what is it that I need to do and they bless me, so I just really believe that God has that for us and for all his people.
Pray for Peggy too, because the Lord has given us a new product line. We are in construction, but we are a corporation of Melick Enterprises Inc. and we have another product line. Peggy, she is culinary, in the food industry, and so the Lord has given us an idea for a product and we need wisdom and knowledge and understanding from the Lord's Spirit. She needs practical time for the development of the product and in the marketing of the product, so I would like your prayers for Peggy.
Then, in our community, let's pray for God to arrest unrighteousness in the marketplace, and that he would exalt the righteous, both for the believer and a nonbeliever. Especially in the area of the way we have handled the immigrants who have moved here. We have a lot of under the table payments going on at a terrible amount of unrighteousness, especially in the trades. We can pray that the government officials would step in and step up and take responsibility for solutions in this very needful situation.
(Lawrence Lehr - Insurance)
I would like to say amen to everything that has been said. I think that what I I would like us to pray for is... You know, it is really a blessing to be in the marketplace. The church by nature is inbred with an inside focus and the marketplace is all about the outside focus, where there is always an expansion in a relationship, and that is how the dynamic works in the marketplace. I would like to pray that we all and those that represent Christ in the marketplace would be blessed in our ability to build relationships outside the wall. To be out in the community, because that is really what God has called us to be and do and it is a unique and wonderful thing, but we need God's grace in order to do that. Also, if we could be praying for my son, who has terminal cancer and will not be with us for very much longer, unless the Lord intervenes.
(Prayer)
(Speaking about the developement of S.R.C.S. at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts)
We have yet to see the Christian community come into relationship with people like this developer who wants to come in to the downtown area and actually follow through with developing it. Many have come in before and did not stick to the task and that is why it is not developed differently yet. If Mac developer would be like a Cyrus. These people that are in key positions God wants to bless them. God wants to bless the city. I really believe that God wants the school back there. The enemy wants to thwart it through unrighteousness, and I do not want to get too preachy. So I am just going to pray into this, and I pray," Lord, we want to ask you relative to this prayer request, in relationships. God, we say here are we, send us. We want relationship with these key individuals.
I do not think Shook and Waller is going to develop the downtown. Lord, I don't think Jim Murphy and Associates is going to develop the downtown, God, but we can go and communicate with them. We as priests can cover them and speak wisdom to them. Monty can go and speak to them concerning communications and organization. Lord, whatever their needs are, we can meet them. Whatever their needs are for gaining wisdom and understanding, Lord we can counsel and pray them through it.
Lord, we ask that you would open the door for these key relationships for people in the marketplace, government, education, commerce, the arts, that you would raise up these leaders. And you would bring us into relationship with these ones and to help them develop how you want to develop this city. For the purpose of the growth of your kingdom. Lord, we put ourselves in humility, broken and willing to serve them. God, we ask that you would give us favor for this kind of relationship and connection. Open the door Jesus, you have the key to the house of favor. Amen.
(Sam Tillery)
Speaking on behalf of our relationship with the city, we have been praying and God has been answering, I mean we are talking for years. Ultimately, we pray and then we forget and don't acknowledge what God is already doing. I presume that most of you have already heard of Spring Clean, well God has used that serving event as a major catalyst and a display of the Scriptures that states that they will know we are Christians by our love for one another. That we are not a city hidden, but the body of Christ is being known for our good works in the name of our Father.
Last year we saw some 1600 people gather for Spring Clean. It has gained so much momentum and we need not drop it now, so in your churches, we need to speak about it. I mentioned this before, but I meet monthly with the officials and leaders in the city in regards to Spring Clean 2008, which will be May 3rd and 4th. Today I was in another meeting and we were downtown and various other organizations were coming into Spring Clean and announced to me in the midst of the different leaders and areas that were talking, and the conversation was about how excited they were that Spring Clean was a catalyst to bring conversation and relationship amongst people within the community that never knew each other.
Last month there were two individuals that were nonprofit organizations, and they were individuals working in a particular area with youth in the Roseland area. Although they had been doing that for 10 years. They were all of a sudden together gather around talking about Spring Clean and and when one began to speak of a particular need, the other realize that they had the same need and they discover that they had been working in the same realm, but do not know each other, and all of a sudden this synergy of them beginning to help each other to what they both individually you were called to (these are both un-believers). The venue of relationships and needs are starting to come across the table within the community.
In the midst of this communication, we were talking about the details of Spring Clean and this is going to be huge this year, because Spring Clean is in the morning and then at noon their role be a kids Festival going on, a disaster preparedness with the fire department and people out with their displays, and then the rest of the afternoon is going to be the community celebration with the bands, food and other good things after we have serve together. This is beyond what we ever could have imagined in terms of the involvement of people.
Anyways, as we were talking about these things a woman had slipped in that I didn't know who she was but she was one of the city counsel members and her name was Susan. She sat there and all of a sudden she was so excited that she said," this is one of the most exciting things I am going to take back to the city Council", as I said they had never sat on any of this level. And now they are coming into these meetings, so I went up to her afterwards and I introduced myself and as we began to chat I talked to her about Hinge.
You may not have heard of Hinge before, but it is a Christian leadership alliance, the rallying and pulling together of community and church leaders to look at ways in which we can release the body of Christ and to engage in resolving problems in our community, all of us as leaders. So, as I was talking to her, she goes," I never heard anything about that, but that sounds so great", and so that is opening doors. The doors of open ended because you have prayed. For years we have prayed, yet we have been a lazy people.
We pray, and we pray, and we pray, but now we are a community that is praying and we are caring for the community. When we stepped into walking out those prayers. God has been busting open the doors of opportunities to share the gospel and to display the character of Christ and to speak into and influence people who may not even ever come to Christ, but they will open doors for the gospel, just as our mayor open doors for us. Even though she may not claim Christ, God is using the Godly and the unGodly, the indifferent for the advancement of His kingdom, but it is because the church postures herself to step out of the safety a cone and the fortresses of our local churches into the marketplace and into the places of need within the community.
We are then able to share the gospel, and so I wanted to connect those dots for us, that it is because we gather likeness, and God hears the prayers. You are in are praying as an individual only, but, but you are here representing different congregations and people groups, i.e., a local church, a business or whatever you may be representing. You are delegates for something much bigger that we could even get our hands on, so I want to encourage you with that and to realize that that is a part of what God is doing as we step into these things.
So, when we hear about United events, we cannot look at them. And you cannot let people around you think," oh, that's just one more thing that I have to do", it is strategic and our obedience to Christ, that we walk in this collectively as they see the United front of the church. It has not been our individual work that has caught any of the city's attention.
Here is what they had told me in the past about the churches," all you care about is preaching Jesus to us and getting as into your local churches", I mean these are quotes from people in the city, citizens within the community. They may not care directly about your church or mine, but they are embracing the greater, United body of Christ, and they will listen to us talk about it. So, that is why we have changed our name to "Together in Christ Sonoma County". Why are we together? Because we are United in Christ, as as we exalt him he will draw all under himself. We are endeavoring to exalt Christ and naturally our individual venues will grow and flourish for Christ, whether that is in the marketplace or in the church that we are attending.
I just want to share something that has come out of Santa Rosa that is impacting Sonoma. In sonoma the gang problem is really escalating and hope works have come to Sonoma and have been holding a meeting once a week, and they have brought our whole community together. We had everybody, we had the city Council, the principles of the school and other people in the community including nonprofit leaders and nearly every thing in our community is represented in the meeting. They are meeting the needs and they are guiding us into how to go about bringing a resolution to the gang problem, so that is an outgrowth of Hope Works from Santa Rosa. It is really bringing us all together to work as a team I mean the churches or their everybody is there.
One of the ways that we can pray into this is not only the priestly prayers for our cities, but they kingly prayers, where we actually call forth and proclaim, "Now, come forth", you see, because Paul tells us as an apostle that we will be able to punish disobedience when your obedience is complete, and so when we come in as the body of Christ those of us who are praying need to walk out our prayers. We do not suggest prayer walk, but we walk out our prayers in obedience. We can take the keys of the kingdom and ask that doors be open into the heart of individuals. We do that in our business, we make proclamations as we walk out our prayers.
(Sam Tillery)
So, God is posturing his church. You all know what leverage is? The church has not been very strategic and levering itself and posturing itself with the different parts of it, so that big objects can be moved, and then will he try to move something we don't stay long enough, we give up. I was told a story about a young man who was walking along with his father along the wharf, this is a true story. They had come across a battleship. It was a huge ship and had been there for a long time. The father asked," Hey, do you think I could move this battleship"? And the son was like,"there is no way that you can move it."
So the dad went over to the edge of the dock near the ship and he put his hands on the ship and just rest of his weight against the ship. The dad then said," you watch and wait, the ship will move", and the son was thinking that his dad was crazy and that there was no way that that ship was going to move by his dad leaning his weight up against it. Well, sure enough that battleship began to move, in fact it moved so much that the father had to pull his hands off in order not to fall into the water. And another dynamic about this is that once he takes his hands off it keeps on moving.
On happens to the church, and is that we pray five or 10 minutes.
For eight years, this group has been meeting the first Friday of every month. I believe that as we stay with it and continue to pray and we leverage our prayer, that we don't act like shotguns and throwing up what ever we think, but specifically targeting in prayer areas and will put that little piece somewhere in just the right way that we can, without a whole lot of effort, move a large object what we are strategic and we leverage. Our prayer and our carrying allows us to share the gospel and we are going to see the ship, this battleship, these barriers in Sonoma County begin to move, in fact they are moving. It's not like some day they will, I am telling you that they are moving, for example the story that I just told you about the city Council member that happened this morning at 10:15.
As we stay with it with our local ministries and with city reach prayer and as we become strategic and leverage, things are moving but we have got to stay with it, because things are going to get tough and the enemy is starting to get a little nervous. We usually want the quick and easy way, but I'm urging us to stay with it. I want to thank you so much for being here and for staying with it. The representation that you bring is vital. It doesn't take the masses gathering to prayer to make this successful. If you can come to pray that you can influence someone else to come. If you pastor doesn't get it, which a lot don't get it, so what, you come. You influence others, because God may not have called them to be here on Friday, but you're here and you are constantly leaning against of these issues, they will move. Does that make sense?
We are going to pray into another area now.
Recently I have stepped out in a step of faith, believing God is going to do something. This is a step of faith and a leverage point, but it also needs resources. The body of Christ needs resources of leadership, so I believe the Lord has asked me to step down as senior pastor of Foothills Community Church, where I have been for 20 years, I have been pastoring for 30 years. I have taken a step of faith and somewhat being a missionary on a leverage leadership point in leading the body of Christ as they move together for the transformation of this community.
I've been doing this just on a part-time basis, a volunteer basis, and I believe it's time for this to change. For one, it's not healthy for me as some of you know my recent health issues, which related to me trying to do two full-time jobs, so I have stepped out by faith and and trusting for God to provide the resources. God has certainly set it on my heart to continue to move in what I have been walking in with many others who make this all possible, but from a standpoint of leverage it's been said that everything rises or falls on leadership and we are endeavoring to mobilize leaders. The community and church leaders, Christian and non-Christian alike.
How are we going to influence the non-Christian? You've got to rub shoulders with them. You've got to be interested in the things that they are interested in, and they will be interested in the things that we are interested in. So, I need your prayers as I have stepped out in faith, because there is nothing established outside of a dream and the vision, so there is a need for resources and for the church to resource leadership as a leverage, so I have sort of said I would be a guinea pig and here I am. Will the church and the body of Christ rise up to support the position of leadership that will help to mobilize the rest of the body of Christ? Does that make sense? So, I need your prayers as I have stepped out in faith, and some of you may be thinking that that is a little foolish, but we'll see.
I don't want to spend a whole lot of time praying into this tonight, but I do recognize that this is something that could move us to a whole different level in regards to this whole movement of the unification of the body of Christ in order to exalt Christ and to advance the gospel and to bring forth the kingdom of God. We know that is not always measured in how many people are saved, but it is a transformation of every fiber of the community that reflects the presence of Christ and as his sons and daughters, as salt and pepper and light of the community. So, I am in the process of stepping out into that role and need your prayers.
Foothills is in the process of releasing me and supports this, although there is some mixed feelings and such, I am not leaving the church so to speak, that is my home church and I will still function there, but not as senior pastor.
If you do want to support the alliance and my moving in this direction, it's not about me, but it's about the move of pastors prayer and Ministry alliance and that's where the support would go.
(Harry Skandera)
Okay, now there is a little bit of tension here in that this meeting goes from 7 - 9pm and we have only just touched Shook and Waller Construction in prayer and we are committed to praying for this business, so what I am going to ask is that we are going to pray into resources and then we are going to turn to Shook and Waller. Some of you are going to have to leave at nine o'clock, and if you do that is completely fine, but we are here to bless Shook and Waller as well, so if you are free to stay and do that please do.
Okay, resources. In some ways what Sam has expressed is just the tip of the iceberg, but what we are really talking about here is not merely raising funds. The spiritual motivation and in-giftment of this County, Sonoma County is that it is a giver and one of resource. Even in its history it has been a place of abundance and a place that was seen by those who came, even after the Native Americans, as a place of resource. We don't seem to be tapping into that. There is a destiny here that is mutated, and I am sure that there are tons of reasons. We are not here to try and uncover all of that, but we are here to begin to cry out to God for a release of the destiny of this place in which we live and for us to be able to see it for what is in his heart towards it.
We appreciate its beauty. We appreciate that it is prosperous and all of that, but I don't think we have formed the surface of what it means to be a resource, a place that is meant to be a resource and not just about cash, but a resource that will go all over the world in terms of destiny of God for this place. That could cover a lot of ground, but we need to begin to uncover that and really pray into it.
So, this is what I would like us to do, we are looking for resources for this stepping out and what's going on with Sam as a leader. There is a lot that is attached all of that, but like I said that is just the tip of the iceberg. We are trying to call forth the destiny of this place where we live. What does that look like? Well, who knows what that looks like, but God certainly does. There is definitely something there which we have yet to come into, but by God's grace we are going to release and move forward into, so I am sure we could talk about this all night, but we are going to break up into our prayer groups again.
Public you take just a little bit of time to be quiet first, and then begin to pray into the release of the destiny of this County as a resource and the resources of this place. If you were moved to pray for what Sam has shared about very specifically about resources and those things applying to him, then pray that way. Again, I say to consider him as a symptom, the beginning or first fruit of something that is a much bigger thing... Let's get into your groups.
(Prayer)
There is a certain amount of frustration often that comes when you are at city reach, e-mail because it is just like you are touching the tip of the iceberg, but the reason why that happens is because of our Sunday mentality, like our whole Christianity has to happen within that one hour. It is not like our prayer is supposed to be all done. What we are doing is opening the door. There is nothing that says that next month we are not going to bring up all of these things and keep rolling and just keep with the whole program, so I know that there are many things that some of you would like to pray and keep on praying. Don't let this short time stop you, but let us pray without ceasing.
(Sam Tillery)
Just before we move to pray for Shook and Waller, and how are going to do that is we are going to depart in groups and disperse in the building to pray around this place, and if that's okay with you Steve after we get some direction from you as to how to pray here. Will be praying for all the different people that work here in the different purposes of this place to come forth.
Another thing that I what to share with you that we are going to pray more about in depth next month at city reach prayer, which will be and Rohnert Park at the brand-new pregnancy counseling center. That is an answer to prayer that they have a new center opening up and Rohnert Park, and so you'll have to go to the website in order to get the directions. The new website address is www.togetherinChrist.net, on or www.United prayer.org, both of those sites will take you to the same place. When you do go to the website, you will notice that there is a whole new look and we are still working on that. If you have some input we would love to hear from you about that. We are wanting that to be the central mode of communication and all the sphere's of the move of Christ in its various areas throughout the County. It is still in the works, but there are a lot of new and exciting things happening there.
(Harry Skandera)
Let me just say one thing, don't come next month without having a little bit of time before the Lord. Just think about it. There are some serious issues that we need to repent of on a national basis and we are going to be touching that very very directly. I just recommend that you do not come unprepared, because it is going to be a little heavy, so that is not to scare anybody it's just to say get your boots on.
(Sam Tillery)
One thing that we have been working on and is happening is that we have began a process of selecting key senior pastors and community leaders and marketplace leaders to travel together specifically as a leadership, high-level influencers in our area, to Israel.
We are wanting to build a strong bond of a team of individuals who are laboring, have been laboring in the trenches of the unity of the body of Christ, whether in the marketplace or the church leaders and we want to go together on a retreat/summit type atmosphere to Israel. We want to build a bond here and also God to give us a strategy and direction, but also as an avenue of hearing God's heart for Israel and the power we are to play if we are going to reach our city and see transformation.
We believe that there is something that God has for us to understand about Israel and how we are to partner with her and hear what God house for eyes and what they have to give to us. So, we are going to be meeting with leaders throughout Israel, leaders with leaders seeking out the Lord together. That will be happening February 12-21. It is interesting, because we are all leaders, the government of Israel is paying for each of our airfares, which is a gift of about $1500 each. The total is probably close to about $45,000 or $50,000 as a gift to us to go. In the midst of that, as we have been putting this team together through special invitation, the Lord led me to some others City Reachers or transformation groups that are in the trenches that we can mesh together and learn from one another as we travel together and hear what God has for us in regards to Israel.
You may not know this, but recent surveys within our country across every state and every denominational line, the church in America is declining. If you heard, there is only one state in the United States that it is not declining, and that is Hawaii. The reason is, because they have been praying like we've been praying and there are specific track records. I have been in meetings where I have dialogue with them and other various occasions and we have been able to recognize that there is an incredible transformation and awakening happening in the Hawaiian Islands. It is phenomenal, and I ministered there for 14 years, so I understand its culture somewhat.
I go back every year usually several times and my folks live there. I just came back from their and I met with the transformation Hawaii leadership team. I thought it would be helpful for some of those individuals to come along and mix with us, because God has put in their hearts, in a strong emphasis in the marketplace of prayer, and so I have invited a select few of those from Hawaii to come and join us in the trip to Israel. We can learn from them and they can learn from us.
To give you an idea of the kind of people, one of the ones coming from Hawaii is the senior senator of the state of Hawaii and that Lt. Governor of Hawaii, and they both are born again believers and a result of the prayer movement. These top leaders that run that state, are passionate about seeing that Hawaii is the first state, the first real Christians state. There are multiple mega Christian churches that never were in existence before, throughout the islands. It is a phenomenal what has happened really in the past six years.
Those are things to pray about, but I am saying this to encourage you that God is raising up a whole new level of us very strategically moving through the land and getting leadership, so we need your prayers as we prepare to go. God has opened the doors, but with this is a whole different level of warfare and attack against leaders and such, so our next city reach prayer we will take a little bit of time to pray into this. These pictures behind me were created a few years back in regards to Israel and came from some prophetic words for us in regards to Israel and our County, and so we will be bringing your attention to that and provide some copies for you.
Let's shift gears here. Steve, I'll have you come here now and share with us a little bit on how to pray for your construction business here, Shook and Waller and also specifically for you. We are then going to break up in groups and cover the building to pray for various things that God has placed on our hearts in regards to this business and you and your family.
(Steve-owner of Shook and Waller construction)
I am really wanting to be more concerned about being salt and light and like I said, I think it is easy to get comfortable and kickback and not be doing what we are to be about doing eternally. I think it could be a real testimony to God as we deal with business in a godly way and we are light to those that we work for, that it could be a real testimony to those that are here and also on the outside, to bring glory to God. I would really like to pray that we would not shrink back and that we would have that mindset to serve in such an excellent way that we have opportunity to share about God.
The downstairs it is payroll and administration and the upstairs is the development crew and construction. Obviously, development has slowed down which affects construction and I want to see that these men have worked, so that is definitely something to be praying about, because we are at a slower season now.
I have been in this business now for 35 years, so that's quite a while.
We have had Bible studies in here for the guys caught usually couple times a year so we can be doing that for more. The ladies have used this for various Bible studies in the past. A lot of the men have come to Christ as a result of the relationships here.
(Comments)
so maybe you could think about that this season as it is a little bit slower to take some time to speak into these men's lives and offer some more time to bring God's Word into this place. Whatever that might look like for you in this season.
(Steve)
I think God is already answering that in that we have a lot of for-men who are interested in that and when I shared what would be happening here tonight they seemed very pleased and supportive of it, so I think that God is showing up in that Monday they can see that," wow, there really is a difference here".
(Comments)
I keep hearing the word creativity and I feel like the Lord is wanting to encourage you to look for his creativity outside the normal box of what you are used to doing here. In other words, you know where it talks about the pegs being set out farther, well look maybe to stretch yourself beyond normalcy. God can be very creative in the situation that you are in right now and that is exciting. There may be new resources and it may look a little different.
(Steve)
We actually have had some opportunities that are outside of what we are used to already, so God really is doing that.
(Prayer walk in the building)
(Sam Tillery)
When you are finished with prayer just go ahead and leave and we hope to see you at city prayer next month. Lord bless you!
Special Thanks to Christelle Eddy
who transcribed this document. |
