Identity: Needing Christ through our prayer

This past Sunday at Vintage Church we began a new series for the month of July called Identity. We are discussing who we are as a church family.

Our Plan

• July 3rd - Needing Christ through our prayer.
• July 9th/10th - Pursuing Christ through our study.
• July 16th/17th - Reflecting Christ through our relationships.
• July 23rd/24th - Serving Christ through our mission.
• July 30th/31st - Being Christ through our campus.

Our interns helped organize a time of corporate prayer during this first week of Identity. Cam Hyde and Rob Russell have rocked it out this summer hosting the outside volunteer teams. I have enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with these two young studs this summer. They have set a high bar for our future summer internships.

The guide created led us to pray individually, in groups and corporately for ourselves, our city, other churches and the lost. The emphasis points would be a great outline for you to use in your personal time with Christ.

-Individual Reflection - The question: "Who is Christ in your life?"

-Adoration (Matt 6:9)

• Take five minutes to adore God.
• Praise Him for who He is.
• Use this time to set your affections on Him.

-Submission (Matt 6:10)
• Pray that we would be Submitted to God’s will.
• Pray His concerns would be our concerns.
• Ask for focus to be His servants rather than being concerned about what we can get from Him.

-Desperation (Matt 6:11)

• Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you recognize your complete dependence on Him.
• Pray He will increase your love for Christ and give you a greater desperation to know Him intimately.
• Ask for boldness and faith to attempt things for Christ so impossible that only God can get the glory for showing up.

I'd encourage you to make time this week as an individual, couple and Community Group to use this guide. For some of us we need to get up early, others need to print this out and put on our bathroom mirror, others need to take an intentional coffee break and others need to redeem their commutes.

Biblical promises on prayer:

-James 5:16 "the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

-1 John 5:14-15 "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."

Live the Gospel, Love the City, BE the Church....

World Changer: One Man

Ever had a great day? Wednesday October 29, 2008 was one of those days for me. Many things happened, but I would like to share one. I hope this one encourages and challenges you in your journey with Christ.

NOBTS has many international students, many of them from South Korea. The simple fact that they have moved half way around the world to study should challenge us in our lazy American Christian lives. [Another sermon for another post. HA!]

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to have lunch with a man named Seongjin Park, a God called man that can really preach. (both in English and Korean) I won’t go into all the details but simply say that this Christian brother’s walk with the Lord rocked my socks off. He spent 20+ years as a Financial Planner in Korea advising people on financial matters, mostly planning for retirement. God convicted and called him to throw aside the pursuit of earthly treasures to begin to invest in heavenly treasures. (Matt 6:19-21)

Translation: Beginning to make disciples of all nations for the Glory of God (Matt 28:19-20)

BUT, the most humbling and life-changing thing was as he shared with me his passion for this calling. He stated that God had given him a vision for his calling. The goal was to reach and impact 100,000 people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's Neyland Stadium packed!
What a glorious site!

STOP!!!!!

Ponder that for a minute….

• You think that is a big vision? I would say “yes.”


• You think that is an impossible vision to accomplish? I would say “No.”

If we truly believe that we serve a God who is all about doing the impossible, then why do we not live everyday with God-Sized visions for our life?

The “To-Do”: Blow up your picture of God and allow the new picture to totally change the way you live, work, volunteer, study, serve and minister.

God has a specific mission for your life. You might be the only Christian that a person in your city interacts with.

“You are ‘the very one man!’” --Seongjin Park

Prayer: God, give me a bigger picture of you and your desire to see all people know you as the Lord of all and Savior of mankind. Make me that “very one man.” Declare your Glory through me, your human vessel and mouthpiece.

Confident Action

It’s been a while since I posted last. To be honest, I have enjoyed clicking up on my blog page and seeing Sarah kissing my cheek.

But now I’m back and I would like to invite you to think about prayer with me. Our HimnI community has been wrapping our hearts around this issue over the past two months as we have been studying the theme: “When you pray, Move your feet.” http://himni.org/


14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. - 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV)

I seek confidence in every area of my life. I want people to like me, talk to me and laugh when I share a stupid joke. The last one usually doesn’t happen, because I’m just not very funny. I desire to do what I should be doing each day, I don’t want to waste my life. I want to hear God say “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I want to be confident that the life I’m living is the one that God’s has planned for me to live.

If you were to think about your own life, I’m sure you would say that you strive for the exact same thing. John states in this passage that our confidence comes as we continuously approach God asks for any and everything according to His will. The emphasis here is on God’s will not our will.

As we have learned this semester at HimnI, prayer drives us to act. A lack of action shows a lack of prayer.

Our discussion with God about what He really wants (prayer), He reveals His heart to us. This heart is one that is broken for people that do not know him. He desires above all else for people to come to him and enter into a relationship with him. As we continually pray, our heart will become aligned with his. We will see people the way he does and then get off our behinds and get to work! Statics show you come across thousands of people that are not in a relationship with him daily. Knowing this fact should drive us to our knees and then lead us to go engage with them.

“Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.”

• God, give us a heart like yours for the people in our community, workplaces, schools, neighborhoods and apartment complexes. Show us ways to reach these people.