We've been facing challenges at Grace Church over the past few weeks. In addition to the extra activity surrounding our Easter activities (At the Hop, Easter Egg Hunt, Night of Worship and Easter Sunday), God has been putting us through some additional tests of our reliance and trust in Him. Such tests are common in ministry.
God seems to test us in waves and though we've never studied it, they seem to come in sets of three. Three families will experience some sort of hardship in a matter of a week or three members of the body will pass away in a short period. All in threes. Of the tests of late, I think we're on successive test number seven or eight, far more than we're accustomed to enduring. It's testing us individually and in most cases, further bonding us as a staff. Our leader/Pastor set the tone earlier this week through a fervent prayer study based on Acts 12 and Peter's imprisonment. I'll try to capture the highlights though since I was late for staff meeting and didn't want to disrupt the study, I listened in from the lobby. Fortunately, he projects well so I was able to follow 80% of the content.
The King Herod of Acts 12 was a ruthless guy who beheaded a lot of people
during his reign.
The original Greek word that's translated fervent in Acts 12:5 is a word they
used to describe physically extending a muscle.
Peter was so sound asleep that the bright light didn't even awaken him
requiring the angel to physically strike Peter awake.
My personal commentary on verse 10... this is the first record of an
automated gate system. We like to think that our electronic contraptions are
innovative, but God's been doing this stuff before the beginning of time.
The group gathered at Mary's house had been praying all night.
Though they were praying fervently, they didn't anticipate God to answer.
They didn't believe Rhoda (who, by the way, in her excitement, left Peter
standing outside the gate while she ran in to announce his arrival).
Thomas didn't believe until he saw the nail-scars; several years later the
prayer-warriors didn't believe until they saw Peter; now, over 2,000 years
later, I still struggle to believe - my commentary.
We are praying with exertion for those who are going through hard times at this very moment. We are praying earnestly that through the Easter activities, the people of Lititz would recognize and see who God is. We are stretching our prayer muscles unlike they've been stretched before that God would bind us together in stronger bonds as a staff and as a church.
