We have often prayed that God would bring renewal and revival to America. What you might not know is God has been wonderfully moving in Africa in recent years. Christianity is alive and growing and exciting things are taking place. Our Mo Arthur is in Mozambique right now working with Heidi and Roland Baker, returning to Laguna soon. Can’t wait to hear her stories. I saw flashes of God’s Spirit when I was in Zambia a few years ago. Below is a picture that captures the beautiful spirit of worship of Africa. I witnessed tremendous heartfelt adoration of God in a small church located in the outskirts of Lusaka and will always remember the women dancing in the most colorful dresses imaginable.
Youth Sunday: A couple of times a year we turn our Sunday morning service over to Pastor Sam and the youth and it always turns out to be special – exciting, refreshing and touching. A week ago Sunday, the theme was “fear” and Eden Young, Lilia Amini, and Frankie Cotinola wonderfully challenged the church to trust God in each and every circumstance and to resist our tendency to fear. They spoke with confidence and authority. I loved it. To conclude the service, the congregation was asked to write their fears down, bring them to the altar, place them in a basket and yield all their fears to God, asking to be set free. Almost everyone in two services responded and during the week I went through them to see what were some of the fears. Here are a few…
“Can I provide enough for my family? Can I take care of everyone, keep us together?”
“Being alone, unloved, feeling nobody really cares; it terrifies me”
“I’m beginning to fear mortality, getting older, becoming frail, declining in health”
“I sometimes fear God is not with me; why would He be with some of the failures I’ve had?”
“Succumbing to the gnawing temptation of alcohol or drugs; self-medicating”
“Alone during the holidays”
“Not living up to God’s expectations; I don’t know if I can do it”
“Where am I going in life; what should I do; am I going to succeed?”
“Anxiety, insecurity, that I am not enough; the fear of man”
“Not getting my health back, not getting my joy back, not being loved for who I am”
“Losing my hair”
“Not knowing my future; do I have a destiny? Did I miss it?”
“Having to put a loved one in a nursing facility; that’s going to be a tough day”
“Raising my kids well, trusting God that nothing really bad will happen to them”
“Standing for what is right, against the evil this culture is calling good, even at a personal cost to me.”
“Feeling suffocated and overwhelmed by life”
And then this one:”That I’ll be in California forever and wither up and cease to exist because it’s so hot and dry”
Pray that all of these will be able to trust God in their challenges and overcome every fear.
Main Prayer Focus This Week – I’d especially like to pray for Dorrie Skadal this week. Dorrie, who went with me to Thailand last year with her daughter Dascia, is fighting Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Today she starts two weeks of chemotherapy followed by a bone-marrow transplant. Please pray all of this goes extraordinarily well.
Reminders: Hospitality Night this Friday; Sunday Evening Advent Services on the 6th, 13th, 20th; Family Entertainment Night on Saturday the 12th; Two Christmas Eve Services on the 24th at 4:30 and 7 pm.
Pastor Jay