Lakeview Christian Center

On Mondays, the targets from the corporate prayer gathering on Saturday at 9a will be posted here. Here are this past weekend’s targets:

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“Thanksgiving & Testimony”

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil. 4.6).

The ministry of intercession is a vital, non-negotiable means through which God has chosen to accomplish his purposes. But this must be done with thanksgiving. We don’t want to be like the nine lepers who received the blessing of God but failed to respond accordingly. Sometimes it is appropriate to set our requests aside for a moment and simply take the time to offer up our gratitude to the Father. This morning, as we get into small groups, share a testimony from the categories below, but do so as a prayer of thanksgiving to God. After each section, we’ll have someone come forward to thank God on behalf of all of us.

Recounting His Grace

“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 4.15).

-Saving grace – redemption & reconciliation
-Transforming grace – how our lives have changed!
…“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2.11-12).
-Sustaining grace – sufficient in times of trial (2 Cor. 12.9).
-Preserving grace – keeping us ‘til the end

Recounting His Blessings upon Your Life

“From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another” (John 1.16)

-How has the Lord blessed you recently?
…Fresh experiences of the presence of his Spirit?
…Victory over sin and freedom from bondage?
…Financial provision?
…Physical healing?
…Restoration in your home?

Recounting His Kindness upon our church

-Souls saved through Alpha
-Needy cared for through Operation Replant & Mercy Ministry
-Relationships strengthened through Covenant Groups
-Vision of God increased through the preaching of the Word
…The list goes on!

On Mondays, the targets from the corporate prayer gathering on Saturday at 9a will be posted here. Here are this past weekend’s targets:

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“Praying John 1:1-34”

Glory of God

-A God-centered community (v. 1)
…Our lives oriented around the glory of God (v. 14)
…Spreading a passion for the supremacy of Christ (v. 3)
…Finding our purpose & satisfaction in exalting his name (v. 4)
-Fresh revelation of the character of God as displayed in Christ (v. 18)
-Proper reverence for both the written Word (v. 1) and the Incarnate Word (v. 14)

Mission of Christ

-Light of Christ to shine into the darkness of our city (v. 5)
-Souls trapped in false religion to come to know Christ as the true “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (v. 29)
-Establishing a witnessing community (v. 15)
…That displays the fruit of the Gospel to one another
…That proclaims the message of the Gospel to the lost (v. 7)
-A church that “prepares the way” for the kingdom of God and the salvation of souls (v. 23)

Ministry of the Spirit

-Experience of the baptism of the Spirit (v. 33)
…Not occasional, one-time events but an ongoing lifestyle for every individual in our church
…Evangelism, personal & corporate prayer, & fellowship all to be Spirit-saturated
-Evidence of the fruit of the Spirit
…Inexplicable love, joy, peace, patience…
-Expression of the gifts of the Spirit
…At the services, in Covenant Groups, at home…

Over the month of November, please dedicate some of your prayer times to focus on this month’s mission emphasis (Zimbabwe). (Information excerpted from Operation World, calendar targets).

Targets for Prayer:

Vision for the 21st Century. The Target 2000 vision was a great boost to the Church, but new initiatives and visions are now needed for the coming decade. Pray that the Lord might reveal His will in this. Missions vision is relatively small, with only about 50 missionaries sent out by 3 million Evangelicals. Pray that the Lord might envision the Church for training, sending and supporting hundreds of workers. Zimbabwean missionaries have had significant impact on Mozambique.

Young people brought up on the idealistic visions of independence have been disillusioned by empty political slogans, the greed of the powerful, and the dearth of jobs. They have become the most receptive section of the population, half of which is under 15 years of age.

The less-evangelized. Zimbabwe has been extensively evangelized, but areas of need remain:

a) The rural areas. In many districts churches are few and full-time workers even fewer. Pray for the calling of pastors and evangelists willing to serve in rural areas. Pray also for evangelistic outreaches and suitable literature distribution specifically to these areas.
b) The burgeoning cities, swollen with hundreds of thousands of rural migrants looking for non-existent jobs. Squatter settlements are multiplying and crime is on the increase. Outreach to the unemployed is a major challenge.
c) Less-reached peoples. There are congregations in every indigenous people, but relatively fewer among the Tonga, Nambya and Dombe of the Hwange-Kariba area in the northwest (where the AoG have made a significant impact with many new churches planted in the 1990s), the Kunda in the northeast, and the Ndau (SIM) in the east. The Kalanga and Ndebele have been exposed to the gospel for 130 years, but have been less responsive than the Shona peoples.
d) Farming areas. Nearly 2 million laborers and their dependants live on 4,200 commercial farms, many owned by whites. Over half these laborers are from Malawi and Mozambique. The CCAP (NGK), Salvation Army, and others maintain an extensive ministry to these communities — especially to the Malawian Chewa-Nyanja speakers — but many farm communities are without an evangelical congregation of believers.
e) Muslims. They are a small minority but wield disproportionate influence on the country through foreign aid ‘with strings’, mosque-building and scholarships in Muslim universities. Little Christian outreach has been made to win them, and churches are ill-equipped to do so.

Over the month of November, please dedicate some of your prayer times to focus on this month’s mission emphasis (Zimbabwe). (Information excerpted from Operation World, calendar targets).

Targets for Prayer:

Zimbabwe needs a government that will serve the nation rather than those who govern. Pray for early, non-violent change and for this land to be brought back from the brink of a social and economic abyss. Malnutrition, threat of food shortages, and unemployment are growing rapidly and the country is becoming a time bomb.

The AIDS calamity in Zimbabwe is one of the world’s worst cases. A combination of government neglect, lack of healthcare resources, promiscuity and social reluctance to face up to the drastic measures required are the root causes. Over 25% of all adults carried the virus by 2000; the number of orphans had risen to nearly 1 million (9% of the population). Deaths rose to 700 a week and the economy and life expectancy has plummeted. Pray for:

a) A radical change in hearts and attitudes to sex and to AIDS itself.
b) Effective government, NGO and church action to stop the spread of the infection.
c) Specific programs run by Christian agencies to address the issue. Pray that all churches might face up to the moral, spiritual, and economic implications of the pandemic for their ministry.

The Church has grown, but so have the challenges. Pray for:

a) A multiplication of mature leaders. Praise the Lord for godly men in leadership today, but their numbers must increase to cope with the rapid growth.
b) The Bible schools and seminaries. In 1992 there were 22 such institutions. There are an increasing number of church-based and TEE programs being set up. Pray for effective teaching and discipling of those called to serve the Lord.
c) Spiritual unity. The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe links together over 160 churches and organizations, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Zimbabwe has brought together ten denominations and Fambidzano links other African Independent Churches for fellowship and theological instruction. Target 2000 helped to unite many denominations in a common goal for saturation church planting.
d) A prophetic voice for the Church. Politics has been left to the politicians. Christians are divided on how to cope with the burgeoning political crisis, and often remain silent when a clear moral stand is required.
e) A clear stand against witchcraft and demonic powers or veneration of ancestors in the guise of nationalism. Pray that Christians may not compromise, but know power in the name of Jesus to both protect and deliver from fear and bondage.