by Rich Fry

On Wednesday, 12 men from West Seattle joined in fellowship and prayer, and contemplation of the scriptures. After sharing a few stories of encouraging encounters with non-believers or new attendees of Mars Hill and the conversations that were had through the opportunities God provided, we turned our focus to begin a new study of 1 Thessalonians.

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:1-3 ESV)

We discussed some personal reflections on the passage, including the Apostle Paul’s consistent focus on praying for the people of the churches he wrote to, so that he not only wrote to them with correction in mind, but also back that up with regular (seemingly unceasing) prayer. Pastor Cliff gave us some additional observations to consider.

OBSERVATIONS:

• It is God who ultimately produces faith, love and hope in us.
• Paul’s heart is constantly on the spiritual health of the believers rather than their happiness.
• Paul is constantly in prayer for the Saints.
• Paul sees the Saint’s through the eyes of God and rejoices in that work (evidences of God’s grace).

We then discussed some questions of application and committed to considering them more during the rest of our week.

QUESTIONS:

• What is our heart towards other believers in our community?
• Do we pray like Paul giving thanks for evidences of God’s grace?
• Are you experiencing faith, love and hope despite different circumstances?

In addition to personal confessions and prayer requests, we set to group prayer with specific items before us.

AS YOU READ THIS, PLEASE JOIN US IN THESE PRAYERS AS ONE BODY OF CHRIST:

• Pray for the Advent season that many non-believers would decide to come to Mars Hill. Pray that many would invite non-believers to the Christmas Eve Service.
• Pray for the Elders that they would be unified and walk not in their own efforts but the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Pray for those who are in need during this Christmas Season especially those who are suffering and those who are alone.
• Pray that each person at Mars Hill will catch take time to reflect on what Christ’s birth means to them this Christmas.
• Pray for the Adopt-a-Family program. Pray that the believers of Mars Hill would show the love of Jesus through the sacrificial giving of their time, talents, and treasure to those that are in need.
• Pray for the strengthening of families this Christmas and for the men that they would lead with faithfulness, love and hope
• Pray for the single people at Mars Hill as the holidays can be a time of struggle. Pray that they would find joy in their circumstances.

We men gather at 6:30am each Wednesday at the West Seattle Campus. Please join us!