An Invitation to Our Evening Service

Brothers and Sisters,

On the heels of last week’s sermon from Amos 7-9 – and particularly the encouragement to prayer that we find in Amos himself, displayed in the opening verses of that passage – I am compelled to reach out and specifically encourage and exhort you to join us this Sunday evening for our monthly prayer service. If (as I also referenced in last week’s sermon) a general characteristic of American churches is a “Shocking, Abysmal, and Embarrassing Failure of Churches to Pray,” then it’s my sincere hope that this failure would not characterize our congregation. I want to commend to you our evening service as a regular way in which I believe the Lord wants to grow our church in love, unity and corporate dependence on Him for every good thing.

Having participated in many of these services over the last few years, I can testify that they are a significant encouragement to my soul, and I long to see more of us sharing in the spiritual good that we taste in these gatherings. I believe it is a regular way that we can practice some of the commitments we have made to Jesus and to one another as members of this congregation:

“We will diligently strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, walking together in brotherly love, as becomes the members of a local church: we will pray for and serve one another, exercise an affectionate and watchful care for each other…”

These words – unity, peace, brotherly love, affection, care – come to mind as I think about the good I have experienced through my attendance at the evening service. So, although I know that this is a busy season for vacations, the timing of last week’s sermon seemed to warrant a fresh invitation for you to join us this Sunday night, and regularly on the first Sunday of each month.

We’ll start at 6 with some book giveaways, have a short (5 minutes) reflection from the Word to motivate us in prayer, hear testimonies and updates from individuals in the Body, and then spend 20-30 minutes praying together for the requests that have been shared, along with some other specific areas of need.  Since I know it is a concern for some, you will not be put on the spot to pray for something! Only those who have volunteered will pray for the matters we have before us.

Thanks for your prayerful consideration of this invitation to pray! Feel free to reach out to me if you have any other questions that I’ve not addressed in this email.

Serving Christ together with you,

Larry