Pastor Angie's In-Spire-ations August 2017

 Trinity is an exciting place to be right now.  Just in the past year, we have renovated long-time ministries, made our building and worship more accessible and inclusive, and brought on new staff with new ideas and a desire to involve more of you in ministry.  Our Bishop is calling all UM churches in Indiana to become more missional.  To be missional means that we stop thinking about mission as a trip somewhere or a program we support and begin to look at everything we do through the lens of mission.  That might mean we take a trip or support a program along the way, but it also means we look at the way we do everyday things so that a new person coming in our doors won’t get lost in the crowd wondering what to do or where to go next.  Hospitality is key to being missional.

However, “Prayer is the engine of transformational churches,” as I just read in the book Transformational Church by Thom S. Rainer and Ed Stetzer.  They say, “Transformational Churches are humbly dependent on God for the vitality of the church.  Prayer is not a program…prayer undergirds everything [they] do. Prayer is our link to receive understanding from God and His Word and move forward in obedience to His mission.”   In Acts 2:42, the apostles in “the church devoted themselves to teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”  In one verse, we are given the keys to a vital, missional church. Rainer and Stetzer point out some things that happen in a praying church:

 Praying churches experience breakthroughs.  (When we intentionally invite God into our lives, amazing things can happen.)

Praying churches have praying leaders.  (Your leaders are praying for you every day and for what God can and will do in our church as we invite God into our life together.)

Praying churches commonly experience answers to prayer.  (I come out of a church that had a very strong prayer team and prayer life.  Many times we saw answered prayers for our church and for the people in it.  The same is true of what happens at Common Grace Ministries.  We are a team of prayer warriors both in private and together and prayers are answered routinely.)

Praying churches pray for members by name.  (Even though Chris and I are no longer at Ligonier, they consider us part of their family that has followed God into ministry.  Every now and then we receive a card that says the staff prayed for us.  I cannot tell you what it feels like to know they still pray for us.)

Praying churches have systems and processes. (At any given time at Ligonier, a person can walk into the prayer chapel and find a list of people in need of prayer or ministries of the church or other ways of being in prayer.  Prayer ministries keep prayer tangible to the church.)

Praying churches value corporate prayer. (Prayer is about being in relationship with God and each other.  We may not always hear the answer we want, but together we understand that prayer is about God…not us…and God is faithful.)

Praying churches engage their communities through prayer. (“Prayerfulness should lead to a greater desire to act.”  How might we engage our community in prayer?)

Praying churches have big prayer events. (Prayer vigils, prayer walks, prayer summits, etc...)

I am excited about the rebuilding of a prayer ministry at Trinity.  Prayer is one thing anyone and

Everyone can do.  I hope you will join us as we rebuild the engine room of Trinity.  I can’t imagine what God will do here when we intentionally extend God a prayerful invitation to work through us!!

In Christ and in prayer for YOU!          ~ Pastor Angie ~