In The Wilderness

"The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God." - Isaiah 35:1-2

Usually the Sierras or the desert come to mind as we think of the word, wilderness. Meanwhile, there are plenty of people around us who can be living in a spiritual wilderness even when they are in a busy and prosperous city. The verse above is a promise of hope which refers to the end times, but can we give hope to people now?

Our Thursday small group has been following the theme, "In The Wilderness". This is a theme throughout the Bible as we look at the various things that weigh on the human soul making us despair, including the sin that weighs us down. Jesus gives us a promise - "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" - Matthew 5:4. And so it is with us, but we hope to be a congregation that will offer hope to those around us.

HIGHLIGHTED PRAYER

Pray that God would give us ideas into how we can reach out to the community around us. May we be able to connect with others and proclaim the gospel clearly and effectively.

PRAY FOR OUR CONGREGATION

Praise God for a very meaningful retreat. We not only learned about the Psalms, but we also shared poems that we wrote over the weekend. The honesty and vulnerability was immense, but it opened us up to God and each other in a very new way. Please pray that, as a result we will be able to converse and pray with each other about the things that are truly in our hearts and minds; that we will move beyond mere nice-ness and engage in deep friendships with each other.

Praise God that he's connected us with a few other congregations for a multi-cultural Good Friday celebration. Please pray that the planning and execution will go through smoothly and that it will be a meaningful time of reflection and celebration.

Please pray that we will reach out and bring to Christ both non-Christians and new believers this year.

Please pray for those among us who are being negatively affected by the economic downturn. Pray that they will have faith in God and that God would provide for them. This pray is for all three congregations.

PRAY FOR THE REST OF OUR CHURCH

A few weeks from now - March 29th - the Mandarin congregation is scheduled to move into the new facility. Pray that our remodeling will complete on schedule.

On March 14th, we will have a meeting at the prayer mountain in Scotts Valley. Pray that our brothers and sisters will have the heart and time to attend.

Pray that God will continue to raise up leaders for the Cantonese congregation's small groups.

PRAY ABOUT HOW GOD IS LEADING YOU ON HIS MISSION

PRAY FOR THREE(3) OF YOUR UNCHURCHED FRIENDS/FAMILY

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Amen