WEBVTT 00:00.169 --> 00:01.330 [SPEAKER_02]: Good morning, everyone. 00:01.370 --> 00:02.531 [SPEAKER_02]: You can go ahead and have a seat. 00:02.611 --> 00:03.552 [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you, worship team. 00:03.592 --> 00:04.954 [SPEAKER_02]: Great job leading us today. 00:05.734 --> 00:07.136 [SPEAKER_02]: If you're new here, my name is Adam. 00:07.156 --> 00:08.117 [SPEAKER_02]: I'm one of the pastors. 00:08.177 --> 00:09.578 [SPEAKER_02]: We are so glad that you are here. 00:09.698 --> 00:13.021 [SPEAKER_02]: I hope that if you are new, you'll go to e-free.org slash connect. 00:13.122 --> 00:19.528 [SPEAKER_02]: Let us know that you're here would love to get you plugged into a group and involved here in whatever way works best for you. 00:19.928 --> 00:27.570 [SPEAKER_02]: If you've been coming here for a while and haven't started giving yet, you can do that at efree.org slash give, giving is an act of worship for us. 00:27.650 --> 00:29.250 [SPEAKER_02]: It's an act of obedience to God. 00:29.570 --> 00:37.012 [SPEAKER_02]: You know, God doesn't really need our money, but He does use it to grow and build His kingdom to reach more people to do more ministry in this world. 00:37.072 --> 00:41.953 [SPEAKER_02]: And it's a privilege for us to get to be a part of that so you can do all of that at efree.org slash give. 00:42.733 --> 00:52.160 [SPEAKER_02]: As Alec mentioned, this is going to be a different kind of service for us today, and actually it was a few months ago that I asked Alec to put together a special prayer service for us. 00:52.521 --> 00:57.885 [SPEAKER_02]: And so he and I have been working on this for a while now, and this is going to be a guided prayer experience. 00:58.495 --> 01:08.398 [SPEAKER_02]: Now, we've done prayer services a couple, three times a year for a long time and we love them and they're great but we always try to make them different and unique and this will be no different. 01:08.998 --> 01:23.543 [SPEAKER_02]: Some people when they hear prayer service, they think, oh no, I'm gonna have to get together with other people and we're gonna get in those circles and we're gonna pray for stuff and it's just so awkward and uncomfortable and sometimes that's just what you need to stretch you and grow you and get you outside of your comfort zone. 01:24.003 --> 01:25.445 [SPEAKER_02]: But today is not one of those days. 01:25.825 --> 01:29.749 [SPEAKER_02]: So a huge sigh of relief for any of you that were dreading that moment. 01:30.309 --> 01:36.435 [SPEAKER_02]: This is going to be a time of personal and private prayer, a connection with your heavenly father. 01:37.256 --> 01:40.359 [SPEAKER_02]: Sometimes doesn't it just feel like your prayers are kind of bouncing off the ceiling? 01:40.959 --> 01:43.461 [SPEAKER_02]: like you pray to God and you're not sure if He's listening to you. 01:43.921 --> 01:52.208 [SPEAKER_02]: Or other times it just feels like we're so busy and distracted in life that we don't take the time to pray and connect with our Heavenly Father like we should. 01:52.688 --> 02:07.519 [SPEAKER_02]: And that's true in my life a lot of times there's so many things going on in life in the world with kids, with activities, all the different things we have to do, our jobs, all of that, that sometimes we don't take the time to just stop and pause and reflect on our Heavenly Father, our relationship with Him. 02:08.493 --> 02:12.137 [SPEAKER_02]: to communicate with him, to talk with him like he wants us to. 02:12.577 --> 02:20.224 [SPEAKER_02]: And so for the next little over an hour, we're going to guide you through a process of doing just that. 02:20.825 --> 02:24.028 [SPEAKER_02]: This service is called without ceasing. 02:24.048 --> 02:25.249 [SPEAKER_02]: And Alec came up with that title. 02:25.289 --> 02:26.870 [SPEAKER_02]: It comes from First Lessonians five. 02:27.411 --> 02:29.873 [SPEAKER_02]: In the NLTS says this, always be joyful. 02:31.195 --> 02:32.516 [SPEAKER_02]: Never stop praying. 02:33.968 --> 02:35.770 [SPEAKER_02]: Be thankful in all circumstances. 02:36.311 --> 02:40.356 [SPEAKER_02]: For this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 02:41.077 --> 02:45.002 [SPEAKER_02]: Some versions instead of saying never stop praying, they say pray without ceasing. 02:45.042 --> 02:46.904 [SPEAKER_02]: So that is what we're calling this service. 02:46.964 --> 02:49.007 [SPEAKER_02]: It's our without ceasing service. 02:49.938 --> 02:54.201 [SPEAKER_02]: This is meant to be a launch pad, a Kickstarter to a week of prayer for you. 02:54.241 --> 03:03.168 [SPEAKER_02]: Hopefully the things we talk about here will lead to you praying for these same types of things throughout the week based on what we do here today. 03:03.829 --> 03:06.891 [SPEAKER_02]: Praying without ceasing doesn't mean that we can't do anything else. 03:06.931 --> 03:12.716 [SPEAKER_02]: It doesn't mean that we have to drop everything and stop eating, sleeping, working, all the other things, and just being our prayer clause. 03:12.756 --> 03:14.237 [SPEAKER_02]: It's twenty-four-seven every single day. 03:14.917 --> 03:18.981 [SPEAKER_02]: It means that prayer is a constant priority for us. 03:19.661 --> 03:27.127 [SPEAKER_02]: Not just before meals, not just with our small group, not just when we've learned about a big problem and we need to go to God for help with that. 03:27.608 --> 03:34.794 [SPEAKER_02]: It means intentionally involving God in every aspect of our life, every day, not just on Sundays. 03:35.414 --> 03:42.340 [SPEAKER_02]: There are different ways to approach this, but one of the most helpful for me has been to think of prayer more like a walkie-talkie than a phone. 03:43.381 --> 03:44.121 [SPEAKER_02]: Walkie-talkie. 03:44.947 --> 03:50.190 [SPEAKER_02]: gives you quick one button push to talk ability to communicate with someone. 03:50.951 --> 03:57.495 [SPEAKER_02]: With a phone, you've got, well, I've given this analogy a lot and I used to say you have to dial a number, but you don't dial a number anymore, do. 03:57.515 --> 04:01.378 [SPEAKER_02]: You just look in your contacts and you hit the name of that person and you hit the call button. 04:01.898 --> 04:06.501 [SPEAKER_02]: But still, then you're waiting for it to ring and ring and ring. 04:07.081 --> 04:12.925 [SPEAKER_02]: And depending who you're calling, you're either hoping that they'll pick up or not and let it go to voice mail so you can just leave a message. 04:13.584 --> 04:18.268 [SPEAKER_02]: If they pick up, then you talk to them, and you say the pleasant trees and all the different things, whatever you wanted to communicate about. 04:18.808 --> 04:20.830 [SPEAKER_02]: And then you try to find a way to wrap up the conversation. 04:20.930 --> 04:21.631 [SPEAKER_02]: OK, thank you. 04:21.671 --> 04:21.851 [SPEAKER_02]: Yes. 04:21.871 --> 04:22.852 [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, it was great talking with you. 04:23.072 --> 04:23.232 [SPEAKER_02]: Yep. 04:23.352 --> 04:24.073 [SPEAKER_02]: Love you, too, Grandma. 04:24.193 --> 04:24.353 [SPEAKER_02]: Yep. 04:24.473 --> 04:24.773 [SPEAKER_02]: OK. 04:24.813 --> 04:24.973 [SPEAKER_02]: Yep. 04:25.213 --> 04:26.114 [SPEAKER_02]: No, that's very interesting. 04:26.194 --> 04:26.354 [SPEAKER_02]: Yep. 04:26.394 --> 04:26.735 [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you. 04:26.815 --> 04:26.935 [SPEAKER_02]: No. 04:26.995 --> 04:27.655 [SPEAKER_02]: I've got to run now. 04:27.696 --> 04:27.956 [SPEAKER_02]: Love you. 04:28.036 --> 04:28.316 [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you. 04:28.376 --> 04:28.636 [SPEAKER_02]: OK. 04:28.676 --> 04:28.836 [SPEAKER_02]: Yes. 04:29.197 --> 04:29.757 [SPEAKER_02]: And goodbye. 04:30.778 --> 04:34.181 [SPEAKER_02]: Actually, I even did the old school motion for, like, we don't do that. 04:34.261 --> 04:35.202 [SPEAKER_02]: I might as well have done this. 04:35.302 --> 04:38.945 [SPEAKER_02]: You know, you just hit the end button and the phone call ends. 04:39.785 --> 04:41.427 [SPEAKER_02]: And some of us treat our prayer lives that way. 04:42.538 --> 04:43.980 [SPEAKER_02]: Like we dial up God's number. 04:44.060 --> 04:46.443 [SPEAKER_02]: And you have different numbers for God. 04:46.483 --> 04:47.264 [SPEAKER_02]: Some are short of another. 04:47.325 --> 04:48.907 [SPEAKER_02]: My number for God is dear Heavenly Father. 04:49.287 --> 04:50.889 [SPEAKER_02]: And so that's how I dial up God. 04:50.909 --> 04:54.074 [SPEAKER_02]: I just say dear Heavenly Father, and that opens the connection between me and God, of course. 04:54.658 --> 04:59.283 [SPEAKER_02]: And then I talk to him and I share the things that I want to share and when I'm done, I have a way of ending that conversation. 04:59.864 --> 05:02.406 [SPEAKER_02]: You probably do, too, in Jesus' name, Amen. 05:02.987 --> 05:03.167 [SPEAKER_02]: Right? 05:03.207 --> 05:05.029 [SPEAKER_02]: And that's the, okay, conversation over. 05:06.471 --> 05:15.841 [SPEAKER_02]: A lot of us treat our per lives with God that way, but it's helpful to think of it more like a walkie-talkie because with a walkie-talkie, if you serve on our Connections team or a safety team, you know exactly what I'm talking about. 05:16.321 --> 05:17.942 [SPEAKER_02]: because you are very familiar with walkie-talkies. 05:17.962 --> 05:20.263 [SPEAKER_02]: You're well trained in using walkie-talkies. 05:20.283 --> 05:29.929 [SPEAKER_02]: In fact, don't you think that if you serve in the church and you carry a walkie-talkie, that adds fifty cool points to you, just walking around that thing, and then you get a bonus ten if you've got the earpiece. 05:30.229 --> 05:36.012 [SPEAKER_02]: Anyway, if you want to know more about that, you can go to e-free.org slash serve and sign up for our Connection Seymour Safety Team. 05:36.112 --> 05:37.273 [SPEAKER_02]: No one planned that plug. 05:37.333 --> 05:38.473 [SPEAKER_02]: That's just free. 05:39.914 --> 05:42.756 [SPEAKER_02]: But if you use a walkie-talkie, you just press that button and what do you get? 05:43.536 --> 05:44.857 [SPEAKER_02]: Instant communication. 05:45.817 --> 05:49.803 [SPEAKER_02]: You don't have to wait for somebody to pick up and answer the phone. 05:50.724 --> 05:53.228 [SPEAKER_02]: All you do is press the button and you start talking right away. 05:53.428 --> 05:54.810 [SPEAKER_02]: And that's what prayer is for us. 05:55.411 --> 05:58.876 [SPEAKER_02]: We have this access to God that's direct access to instant communication. 05:59.196 --> 06:01.520 [SPEAKER_02]: We don't always take advantage of it like we could. 06:02.448 --> 06:04.709 [SPEAKER_02]: So today, we're going to talk about praying without season. 06:04.729 --> 06:09.491 [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to do it in the context of the different relationships that we have in life. 06:09.551 --> 06:11.552 [SPEAKER_02]: Every time we do this, we try to make it a little bit different. 06:12.072 --> 06:23.937 [SPEAKER_02]: And Alec and I thought, well, what if we were to design this around five levels of relationships that we've talked about many times here in church and talk about what it means to be praying in the context of those relationships? 06:23.957 --> 06:24.878 [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to walk you through it. 06:25.651 --> 06:32.193 [SPEAKER_02]: And as we go, we're going to have times of singing and times of prayer and scripture reading, and I'll be up here back and forth kind of guiding us through the whole thing. 06:32.213 --> 06:34.594 [SPEAKER_02]: We'll have some activities for you to do later. 06:34.614 --> 06:37.895 [SPEAKER_02]: I'm not going to spoil it, but there's some stuff for you to be involved in. 06:38.655 --> 06:48.658 [SPEAKER_02]: And I hope that you will approach this with an open heart and an open mind and just as an opportunity to really spend some focus time connecting with your Heavenly Father. 06:49.408 --> 06:51.829 [SPEAKER_02]: So let me talk about the first level of relationship. 06:51.869 --> 06:55.792 [SPEAKER_02]: These are the five circles of relationship that we see from the life of Jesus. 06:55.812 --> 07:01.815 [SPEAKER_02]: And I've talked about these before, so I won't give the full explanation, but you'll get more and more pieces of it as we go through the service. 07:02.376 --> 07:06.738 [SPEAKER_02]: The closest circle, the inner most circle, is called the divine circle. 07:07.098 --> 07:09.220 [SPEAKER_02]: It's about our relationship with God. 07:09.240 --> 07:10.600 [SPEAKER_02]: This is the most important one. 07:11.401 --> 07:16.604 [SPEAKER_02]: The Bible says in Luke five that Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness to pray. 07:17.464 --> 07:18.185 [SPEAKER_02]: Now think about that. 07:19.341 --> 07:31.910 [SPEAKER_02]: God the Son would go off away from all the distractions of the world, go away from his friends, his disciples, all the other people, often to the wilderness where he could be alone and just connect with God the Father. 07:31.970 --> 07:36.333 [SPEAKER_02]: Now, if God the Son needed that, how much more do you and I need that? 07:37.154 --> 07:40.696 [SPEAKER_02]: To just take some time to connect directly with our Heavenly Father. 07:40.877 --> 07:42.338 [SPEAKER_02]: And the text says that He did this often. 07:43.188 --> 07:46.410 [SPEAKER_02]: This was something he did on a very regular basis. 07:47.371 --> 07:56.536 [SPEAKER_02]: And one of the ways that we can connect with our Heavenly Father is through confessing our sin to him, just being honest and vulnerable and authentic about where we've messed up in life. 07:56.856 --> 08:01.899 [SPEAKER_02]: The Bible says in first John one nine, if we confess our sin, he is faithful to forgive our sins. 08:01.939 --> 08:04.421 [SPEAKER_02]: And so we know that promise that he will forgive us. 08:04.461 --> 08:07.202 [SPEAKER_02]: He is gracious when we come to him and say, God, I've messed up. 08:07.683 --> 08:08.863 [SPEAKER_02]: I confess this sin to you. 08:08.923 --> 08:11.125 [SPEAKER_02]: Please forgive me any promises that he will. 08:12.008 --> 08:15.730 [SPEAKER_02]: We also connect with God when we acknowledge the wonderful things that He's done for us. 08:16.191 --> 08:17.511 [SPEAKER_02]: And we praise Him when we thank Him. 08:17.531 --> 08:26.557 [SPEAKER_02]: And one of the biggest things He's done for us is to send His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for us so we could have our sins forgiven and become part of His family for eternity. 08:27.217 --> 08:28.358 [SPEAKER_02]: And that is what we do. 08:28.418 --> 08:32.160 [SPEAKER_02]: Those two things are what we do through communion, through the Lord's supper. 08:32.661 --> 08:35.182 [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm actually going to invite our communion service to come forward right now. 08:35.662 --> 08:39.905 [SPEAKER_02]: It's earlier than would usually do this in the service, but get used to different because this service will be different. 08:41.053 --> 08:51.976 [SPEAKER_02]: And we are going to have a time of connection and communion with God, thanking Him for what He's done and confessing our sin to Him as well through the process of the Lord's supper. 08:52.657 --> 08:57.198 [SPEAKER_02]: If you're new to first-free church, you may not know how we do this here, so let me walk you through it. 08:58.192 --> 09:02.940 [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to pass trays through the rows, and you're going to take a stack of two cups. 09:02.980 --> 09:04.183 [SPEAKER_02]: The top cup has the juice. 09:04.563 --> 09:05.866 [SPEAKER_02]: The bottom cup has the bread. 09:05.966 --> 09:08.430 [SPEAKER_02]: We will take the bread first so you can go ahead and separate them. 09:08.811 --> 09:11.415 [SPEAKER_02]: And there are gluten-free wafers available in the middle of the tray. 09:12.660 --> 09:16.601 [SPEAKER_02]: If you're not a follower of Jesus by the way, you can just let these pass by you. 09:16.641 --> 09:19.582 [SPEAKER_02]: This is really just for those who have placed their trust in Jesus. 09:20.203 --> 09:22.483 [SPEAKER_02]: But as we do this, some music will play. 09:22.823 --> 09:25.684 [SPEAKER_02]: You'll have a few minutes as we pass out all of the elements. 09:25.984 --> 09:29.546 [SPEAKER_02]: And that is time for you to just spend in prayer with your Heavenly Father. 09:30.086 --> 09:32.647 [SPEAKER_02]: Connect with Him, confess your sin. 09:33.167 --> 09:37.008 [SPEAKER_02]: Thank Him for what He's done for you, especially for what Jesus did for us on the cross. 09:37.548 --> 09:42.310 [SPEAKER_02]: And then when everyone has been served, then we will together take the bread and the cup. 09:42.878 --> 09:45.046 [SPEAKER_02]: and remember the sacrifice of Jesus for us. 10:13.108 --> 10:14.169 [UNKNOWN]: Thank you. 11:34.285 --> 11:34.405 [UNKNOWN]: you 13:27.577 --> 13:34.741 [SPEAKER_02]: All right, I think everyone has been served or almost everyone has been served at this point so you can go ahead and get the bread ready. 13:34.761 --> 13:40.085 [SPEAKER_02]: I want to thank our impromptu community and server who did not anticipate having to handle the tray himself. 13:40.145 --> 13:41.545 [SPEAKER_02]: It got stranded out there, good job. 13:42.286 --> 13:42.926 [SPEAKER_02]: Appreciate that. 13:42.946 --> 13:44.387 [SPEAKER_02]: We'll get you on the regular rotation now. 13:46.328 --> 13:55.654 [SPEAKER_02]: Go ahead and take the bread and I'm going to read from first Corinthians chapter eleven where Paul is giving us instructions on how to do this, how to remember the sacrifice of Jesus. 13:56.413 --> 13:59.395 [SPEAKER_02]: He said, for I pass on to you what I received from the Lord Himself. 14:00.135 --> 14:11.701 [SPEAKER_02]: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it, then He broke it in pieces and said, this is my body, which is given for you do this in remembrance of me. 14:22.647 --> 14:23.267 [SPEAKER_02]: In the same way, 14:24.138 --> 14:34.546 [SPEAKER_02]: He took the cup of wine after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant between God and his people and agreement confirmed with my blood, do this in remembrance of me. 14:38.829 --> 14:41.011 [SPEAKER_02]: Lord, we do remember your sacrifice for us today. 14:42.812 --> 14:53.761 [SPEAKER_02]: That incredible thing you did for us by coming this earth, taking our sin, our punishment on yourself so that we could be forgiven and free. 14:55.104 --> 14:56.425 [SPEAKER_02]: so that we can have life with you. 14:57.987 --> 14:59.388 [SPEAKER_02]: Lord, we don't want to take that for granted. 14:59.408 --> 15:01.470 [SPEAKER_02]: We want to live that out every day. 15:01.490 --> 15:10.079 [SPEAKER_02]: This connection that you have brought between us and you, this ability to just pray to you at any time and to come before you boldly before your throne, Lord. 15:11.160 --> 15:17.666 [SPEAKER_02]: Help us to live that out every day, this week, and may this service be a launching pad for that in our lives and your name would pray. 15:17.686 --> 15:18.367 [SPEAKER_02]: Amen. 15:19.949 --> 15:21.349 [SPEAKER_02]: for the rest of this service. 15:21.569 --> 15:26.370 [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to go back and forth between times of prayer and times of singing and times of reading and scripture. 15:27.131 --> 15:29.711 [SPEAKER_02]: And as we do that, please feel free. 15:30.171 --> 15:35.432 [SPEAKER_02]: If you want to go back and grab a prayer card in the back or maybe you got one on the way in, write a prayer on that. 15:35.492 --> 15:37.473 [SPEAKER_02]: You can put that in one of the baskets up here. 15:37.833 --> 15:41.654 [SPEAKER_02]: One of the baskets is just for our elders and staff and pastors to pray for. 15:42.214 --> 15:46.475 [SPEAKER_02]: One of the baskets is for that and also we'll go on our prayer wall for the rest of the church to pray for. 15:46.495 --> 15:47.735 [SPEAKER_02]: We've done this many times before. 15:48.108 --> 15:51.215 [SPEAKER_02]: feel free anytime during the service during a song during a prayer time whenever. 15:51.787 --> 15:54.989 [SPEAKER_02]: to just come up and drop a prayer note in their or after the service too. 15:55.429 --> 15:56.109 [SPEAKER_02]: Feel free to do that. 15:56.530 --> 16:07.055 [SPEAKER_02]: And then as we sing, you know, a lot of times we just stand up for every song, you can do that if you want, or if you wanna just sit quietly and pray, these songs are more contemplative, contemplative. 16:07.075 --> 16:07.916 [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know how to say that word. 16:08.236 --> 16:15.080 [SPEAKER_02]: They're more just designed where if you wanna sit and pray, the words of the song, or if you wanna stand and shout it out, you can do that too. 16:15.400 --> 16:19.502 [SPEAKER_02]: Whatever you wanna do to worship God and connect with Him during the service, you do that. 16:19.863 --> 16:20.423 [SPEAKER_02]: Let's sing now. 16:22.193 --> 16:30.157 [SPEAKER_02]: Well, next to the divine circle, there's another circle that gets a little bit bigger, and that's a circle that we call the transparent circle. 16:30.637 --> 16:38.180 [SPEAKER_02]: This is typically you and maybe one or up to five other individuals usually, it's different for different people. 16:38.880 --> 16:43.022 [SPEAKER_02]: But these are the people that are really close to you, like you know everything about each other. 16:43.042 --> 16:46.584 [SPEAKER_02]: For Jesus, his inner circle, his transparent circle. 16:47.548 --> 16:54.012 [SPEAKER_02]: Included three guys who he got really close with and he allowed to see stuff that none of the others got to see. 16:54.052 --> 16:55.173 [SPEAKER_02]: Does anybody know who those three were? 16:56.014 --> 16:57.055 [SPEAKER_02]: Shout it out if you know who they are. 16:59.516 --> 17:01.518 [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, Peter, James, and John, right? 17:02.058 --> 17:06.361 [SPEAKER_02]: Those are the three who were allowed to see the transfiguration, the other disciples weren't. 17:07.021 --> 17:11.104 [SPEAKER_02]: They were brought further in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was praying on the night he was betrayed. 17:11.684 --> 17:16.408 [SPEAKER_02]: These are the only three that Jesus brought with him when he went into Gyrus' house to heal his daughter. 17:17.343 --> 17:32.110 [SPEAKER_02]: And so Jesus had this close relationship and you see throughout the gospels as you read them, these interactions that he has with Peter and John and James, and it just shows this intimacy and closeness as friends that they had, they were the closest people to Jesus, as closest confidence. 17:32.550 --> 17:37.613 [SPEAKER_02]: And one of the things that tells us is that it's okay to have different people at different levels of relationship in your life. 17:37.673 --> 17:38.193 [SPEAKER_02]: That's fine. 17:39.022 --> 17:46.246 [SPEAKER_02]: But it also shows us this idea of how do you have those kinds of close relationships with those people and healthy relationships? 17:46.266 --> 17:49.648 [SPEAKER_02]: And we've talked about this in the past, we've had series on this in the past. 17:49.668 --> 17:55.411 [SPEAKER_02]: What we want to do today is talk about how do we pray for those people in our transparent circle? 17:55.451 --> 17:59.513 [SPEAKER_02]: Because you hopefully have one or if you don't, maybe that's a point of prayer for you. 18:00.013 --> 18:02.174 [SPEAKER_02]: to pray that God would bring those people into your life. 18:02.214 --> 18:12.657 [SPEAKER_02]: You can have that closeness with, but these are the people who, when there is something wrong in your life that goes deep and cuts deep and it's a hurt or a regretter, it's pain of some kind of their, the first people that you want to know. 18:13.137 --> 18:17.278 [SPEAKER_02]: They're the people you want to tell about it so they can not only be praying for you, but also support you. 18:17.318 --> 18:23.500 [SPEAKER_02]: These are the people that are there for you right away that you just, you live life together on a very, very deep level. 18:24.260 --> 18:26.880 [SPEAKER_02]: And so we're gonna pray for those relationships. 18:27.781 --> 18:28.581 [SPEAKER_02]: We're gonna pray 18:29.400 --> 18:32.962 [SPEAKER_02]: for transparency and accountability in those relationships. 18:33.783 --> 18:35.744 [SPEAKER_02]: Because these are the people that know you best. 18:36.304 --> 18:37.945 [SPEAKER_02]: These are the people that you know best. 18:38.826 --> 18:51.713 [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe there's a situation in your transparent circle where someone is caught up in some kind of a sinful behavior or an unwise behavior and you have not yet sat down and talked with them and just lovingly shared with them what you think about them. 18:52.394 --> 18:54.695 [SPEAKER_02]: And maybe you need to do that, maybe you need to pray for boldness in that. 18:55.539 --> 19:08.309 [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe there's someone in your transparent circle who's really struggling with something personally and there's more that you could do to support them and point them in a godly way toward what they need to do with whatever that Challenger struggle is. 19:08.349 --> 19:09.690 [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe that's what you need to pray about. 19:10.450 --> 19:18.697 [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe there's somebody in your close transparent circle who is dealing with a serious relational issue or a serious health issue and you need to pray for them. 19:19.097 --> 19:25.302 [SPEAKER_02]: But we're gonna spend a couple of minutes just praying for those people who are in our transparent circle 19:26.513 --> 19:32.615 [SPEAKER_02]: And if you don't have those people praying that God would help you find those people, I'm going to invite Cody to come up. 19:32.635 --> 19:34.116 [SPEAKER_02]: He's going to read some scripture for us. 19:34.876 --> 19:47.260 [SPEAKER_02]: And after he does that pray for transparency and accountability in those relationships, pray for wisdom about whether you have the right people in that transparent circle, pray that God would bring those people into your life if you don't have them already. 19:51.733 --> 19:54.555 [SPEAKER_01]: These verses are from ecclesiasties chapter four. 19:55.595 --> 19:59.918 [SPEAKER_01]: Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 20:00.799 --> 20:04.261 [SPEAKER_01]: If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. 20:05.201 --> 20:07.663 [SPEAKER_01]: But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. 20:08.493 --> 20:15.240 [SPEAKER_01]: Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm, but how can one be warm alone? 20:16.061 --> 20:22.106 [SPEAKER_01]: A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer. 20:22.887 --> 20:24.108 [SPEAKER_01]: Three are even better. 20:24.689 --> 20:27.332 [SPEAKER_01]: For a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. 20:28.212 --> 20:30.415 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's spend time and prayer and reflection now. 20:41.494 --> 20:46.116 [SPEAKER_02]: Let's go one circle bigger, and we're going to talk about the personal circle. 20:47.057 --> 20:50.778 [SPEAKER_02]: Jesus had his relationship with the Father, that's what we call the Divine Circle. 20:50.818 --> 20:58.362 [SPEAKER_02]: Then he had Peter James and John, that's what we call his Transparent Circle, and then the personal circle is made up of the rest of the Twelve. 20:58.882 --> 21:05.425 [SPEAKER_02]: The people that he lived life with, they didn't all know him as well as Peter James and John, but they all knew him really well. 21:05.885 --> 21:06.886 [SPEAKER_02]: They traveled together. 21:06.926 --> 21:08.386 [SPEAKER_02]: They stayed together. 21:08.466 --> 21:09.627 [SPEAKER_02]: They ministered together. 21:09.727 --> 21:11.728 [SPEAKER_02]: They did all sorts of things together. 21:11.768 --> 21:13.669 [SPEAKER_02]: They went through some highs and lows together. 21:13.709 --> 21:16.010 [SPEAKER_02]: They knew what was going on in each other's lives. 21:16.050 --> 21:22.594 [SPEAKER_02]: Again, not to the level of Peter James and John, but still you have a group of people in your personal circle who are good friends. 21:23.393 --> 21:33.758 [SPEAKER_02]: Outside of your inner circle, those one to five people, you have a larger circle, most likely, that is made up of people that you know really well and you care for each other and you're there for each other. 21:33.778 --> 21:39.420 [SPEAKER_02]: And if you're sick, you're visiting, you're bringing the meals, you're doing all sorts of things to just live life together. 21:39.441 --> 21:41.702 [SPEAKER_02]: But you also know about the struggles they have in life. 21:41.742 --> 21:44.023 [SPEAKER_02]: And so now I want you to think about those people. 21:44.663 --> 21:50.586 [SPEAKER_02]: Who are those people in your five to fifteen personal circle who are good friends? 21:51.599 --> 21:53.060 [SPEAKER_02]: And what are they struggling with right now? 21:53.680 --> 21:55.741 [SPEAKER_02]: What are the challenges that they are facing in front of them? 21:55.761 --> 21:59.662 [SPEAKER_02]: It might be health, it might be relationship, it might be job, it could be all sorts of different things. 21:59.722 --> 22:02.423 [SPEAKER_02]: It could be a confusing time in their life, whatever it is. 22:02.804 --> 22:04.464 [SPEAKER_02]: These are the people that you know those things. 22:04.504 --> 22:07.366 [SPEAKER_02]: And so let's take time to pray for them right now. 22:07.466 --> 22:12.628 [SPEAKER_02]: And of course, this is just a model for what we can do throughout the week as we pray without ceasing. 22:13.468 --> 22:19.212 [SPEAKER_02]: For a lot of people, this personal circle is their small group, or that makes it a big part of it. 22:19.613 --> 22:26.257 [SPEAKER_02]: So if you're not part of a group here, and you don't have a good personal circle, this is one way to get that going. 22:26.638 --> 22:40.848 [SPEAKER_02]: It's to get into a small group so that you can build those relationships, that it takes consistency where every week or every other week, some regular basis you're getting together so that you really, really know what's going on in each other's lives and how you can be praying for each other. 22:41.391 --> 22:44.152 [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to invite Emma to come up and read some scripture for us. 22:44.732 --> 22:47.193 [SPEAKER_02]: And as she does, here are the things to think about and pray for. 22:47.233 --> 22:51.454 [SPEAKER_02]: And if you got one of those prayer cards when you came in, it kind of walks you through all of this as well. 22:51.954 --> 22:53.495 [SPEAKER_02]: But pray for your personal circle. 22:54.275 --> 22:59.277 [SPEAKER_02]: Pray for those good friends of yours who are going through a tough time or a confusing or a challenging time. 22:59.757 --> 23:02.118 [SPEAKER_02]: Pray that they will feel the love of God. 23:02.218 --> 23:05.319 [SPEAKER_02]: Pray that you can be God's conduit to show love to them. 23:06.119 --> 23:09.501 [SPEAKER_02]: for their energy and endurance for whatever they're facing right now. 23:09.601 --> 23:12.683 [SPEAKER_02]: Pray for fresh ideas on how you can support them. 23:16.366 --> 23:26.873 [SPEAKER_03]: Philippians two, one through four, is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ, any comfort from His love, any fellowship together in the Spirit? 23:27.893 --> 23:29.915 [SPEAKER_03]: Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 23:30.872 --> 23:38.440 [SPEAKER_03]: Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another and working together with one mind and purpose. 23:39.321 --> 23:45.467 [SPEAKER_03]: Don't be selfish, don't try to impress others, be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 23:46.248 --> 23:50.072 [SPEAKER_03]: Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too. 23:51.233 --> 23:52.835 [SPEAKER_03]: Take a few moments in a time of prayer now. 24:04.463 --> 24:10.785 [SPEAKER_02]: Well, as the circles get bigger, the relationships get a little less close, but there are more of them. 24:11.385 --> 24:13.646 [SPEAKER_02]: The next circle is the social circle. 24:14.226 --> 24:27.430 [SPEAKER_02]: For Jesus, we talk about this being the seventy-two disciples, but there were ultimately many more than that, who he knew them, they knew him, they knew a lot about him, and he knew a lot about them, he knew their names, and they were all connected with each other. 24:27.830 --> 24:32.531 [SPEAKER_02]: But it just wasn't as close as the twelfth, and it wasn't as close as Peter James and John, but they were 24:32.831 --> 24:34.413 [SPEAKER_02]: connected in community together. 24:34.834 --> 24:37.036 [SPEAKER_02]: And you have a social circle as well. 24:37.157 --> 24:42.643 [SPEAKER_02]: These are people that you would consider a friend, but not someone maybe that's super close to you. 24:42.663 --> 24:47.089 [SPEAKER_02]: There are people that you may spend a little less time within the people that you've already been praying for, but. 24:48.358 --> 24:55.544 [SPEAKER_02]: The little bit of time that you have together can have a big impact, especially on what they think about Jesus. 24:55.944 --> 25:04.251 [SPEAKER_02]: Because for some of those people in your circle, you may be the only individual that they have in their life that really is walking closely with God that represents Jesus to them. 25:04.711 --> 25:12.578 [SPEAKER_02]: And so we want to think about the impact that we are having as we live out our faith authentically with those people in our social circle. 25:13.278 --> 25:15.480 [SPEAKER_02]: We want to represent Christ well to them. 25:15.920 --> 25:32.070 [SPEAKER_02]: And so this is a chance for you to pray for those people in your social circle, but also pray for you that God would help you to live out your faith in front of them in a transparent and genuine way so they would see what it looks like to have someone who follows after Jesus in their life. 25:32.551 --> 25:33.832 [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm going to invite Andrew to come up. 25:34.612 --> 25:39.754 [SPEAKER_02]: and read some scripture for us, and we're gonna spend a couple more minutes in prayer for this social circle. 25:40.194 --> 25:47.517 [SPEAKER_02]: Pray that God would show others his love through you, that you would be a steward and a messenger of his love. 25:48.017 --> 26:02.063 [SPEAKER_02]: Pray for wisdom to represent him well in the things that you do throughout the week, the little touches that you have with each other, pasting each other on the sidewalk, interacting with each other at work, whatever it is for those people in that circle, pray that you would represent Christ well. 26:05.939 --> 26:09.101 [SPEAKER_00]: from Colossians three, sixteen through seventeen. 26:09.981 --> 26:14.643 [SPEAKER_00]: Let the message about Christ in all its richness fill your lives. 26:15.424 --> 26:18.485 [SPEAKER_00]: Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. 26:19.285 --> 26:23.928 [SPEAKER_00]: Sing songs and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 26:24.588 --> 26:29.230 [SPEAKER_00]: And whatever you do, or say, do it as a representative of Lord Jesus. 26:29.750 --> 26:31.952 [SPEAKER_00]: Give thanks through him to God the Father. 26:32.732 --> 26:34.933 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's spend some time and mindfulness and prayer. 26:46.382 --> 26:50.847 [SPEAKER_02]: Well, the fifth and the largest circle is what we call the public circle. 26:51.288 --> 26:56.413 [SPEAKER_02]: For Jesus, these were the crowds of people that gathered and they never really got close to him. 26:56.473 --> 26:57.795 [SPEAKER_02]: They came by the thousands. 26:57.855 --> 27:03.281 [SPEAKER_02]: Some of them believed, some of them did not, but they didn't make their way into those closer circles. 27:03.701 --> 27:05.122 [SPEAKER_02]: And you have a public circle too. 27:05.182 --> 27:07.524 [SPEAKER_02]: These are people that you see all the time. 27:08.065 --> 27:09.166 [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe not the same people all the time. 27:09.206 --> 27:11.227 [SPEAKER_02]: These are people that you see as you go out and about. 27:11.287 --> 27:13.229 [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe they happen to be shopping at the same store. 27:13.649 --> 27:15.651 [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe they happen to be stuck in traffic next to you. 27:16.071 --> 27:19.554 [SPEAKER_02]: And you probably don't give them a second thought most of the time. 27:20.035 --> 27:21.136 [SPEAKER_02]: People you don't know their names. 27:21.256 --> 27:22.377 [SPEAKER_02]: You don't know their story. 27:23.524 --> 27:26.726 [SPEAKER_02]: But there are around you in different cases and different scenarios. 27:26.766 --> 27:30.808 [SPEAKER_02]: And how can we be praying for those people in our public circle? 27:31.148 --> 27:33.870 [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, a lot of the people in this room are in your public circle. 27:33.890 --> 27:35.291 [SPEAKER_02]: You don't exactly know who they are. 27:35.351 --> 27:39.213 [SPEAKER_02]: You maybe just recognize a face, but you don't know a name. 27:39.733 --> 27:47.295 [SPEAKER_02]: And this is where I want to encourage us to be on mission in our prayer life, as we seek to pray without ceasing. 27:47.635 --> 27:55.878 [SPEAKER_02]: To be thinking about those people that we may just come across and don't know anything about them, are we willing to just strike up a conversation and say hi and talk to them? 27:56.258 --> 27:59.079 [SPEAKER_02]: Or even if not able to do that, are we willing to just say a quick prayer for them? 27:59.099 --> 28:02.260 [SPEAKER_02]: There are people all around you that need to know about Jesus. 28:02.320 --> 28:03.080 [SPEAKER_02]: And when you see them, 28:03.437 --> 28:04.738 [SPEAKER_02]: You can pray for them. 28:04.778 --> 28:09.462 [SPEAKER_02]: We have that access, that walkie-talkie access, push the button, and talk to God. 28:09.922 --> 28:12.925 [SPEAKER_02]: Are we praying for the people who are around us? 28:13.585 --> 28:26.776 [SPEAKER_02]: I'm gonna ask you to do something right now that's gonna seem a little out of the ordinary, but I want you to trust me and just go with me here because this is something that a couple of weeks ago, all of us pastors were invited to do at the EFCA Convention. 28:26.816 --> 28:28.037 [SPEAKER_02]: I told you about this last week. 28:28.057 --> 28:28.757 [SPEAKER_02]: We showed a video. 28:29.630 --> 28:31.470 [SPEAKER_02]: Our pastors and others went up. 28:31.510 --> 28:36.831 [SPEAKER_02]: We had a thousand pastors and missionaries and other staff at the EFCA National Convention. 28:37.231 --> 28:47.093 [SPEAKER_02]: And our president, Carlton Harris, who's been here to speak, he invited us or challenged us or forced us to go through an exercise that I am now going to ask you to do. 28:47.853 --> 28:48.954 [SPEAKER_02]: So walk with me here. 28:49.814 --> 28:53.134 [SPEAKER_02]: He invited us as pastors then to go back and do this with our churches. 28:53.174 --> 28:54.955 [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm just going to follow his instructions. 28:54.995 --> 28:55.655 [SPEAKER_02]: You can blame him. 28:56.866 --> 28:59.127 [SPEAKER_02]: If you would for a moment, just close your eyes. 29:00.127 --> 29:02.787 [SPEAKER_02]: Close your eyes and think about someone you know. 29:03.547 --> 29:08.348 [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe all you know is their face, maybe you don't even know their name, but you don't think that they're a follower of Jesus. 29:09.089 --> 29:12.229 [SPEAKER_02]: Now, this is in the public circle space, but it can be any circle. 29:12.269 --> 29:19.491 [SPEAKER_02]: If there's somebody else that you know of that maybe they're a friend of yours, maybe a good friend of yours, or a relative of yours, and they don't know Jesus is their savior. 29:19.771 --> 29:22.151 [SPEAKER_02]: I want you to picture the face of that person. 29:23.392 --> 29:24.012 [SPEAKER_02]: Think about 29:25.345 --> 29:30.410 [SPEAKER_02]: The joy it would bring in their life if they had the freedom that comes from knowing Jesus. 29:31.611 --> 29:40.559 [SPEAKER_02]: Think about the freedom that that would bring for them and the healing and the forgiveness that they could have and the different life that they could have if they had the Holy Spirit walking with them through life. 29:41.683 --> 29:43.204 [SPEAKER_02]: and what a difference that's made for you. 29:43.744 --> 30:04.373 [SPEAKER_02]: Now with the eyes still closed, pictureing that person in your mind, I'm gonna ask you to do something all together that's gonna seem a little bit unusual, but I'm gonna ask you if you would to pray for that individual, whether you know their name or not, out loud all together for the next thirty seconds, just pray for that person you're thinking of. 30:05.513 --> 30:06.594 [SPEAKER_02]: Out loud, go ahead, everybody. 30:17.512 --> 30:18.313 [SPEAKER_02]: Are you can open your eyes? 30:19.955 --> 30:25.681 [SPEAKER_02]: The reason I want you to picture their faces is because I want you to think about the difference it would make in their life if they came to Christ. 30:26.062 --> 30:35.032 [SPEAKER_02]: The reason I wanted you to pray out loud and the reason Carlton challenged us to do that is pastors and missionaries to take that back to our churches is because it's not something you will soon forget. 30:36.226 --> 30:41.694 [SPEAKER_02]: If we just said, pray for them quietly in your heart, you would follow along due to flee, and then tomorrow you wouldn't remember it. 30:42.395 --> 30:44.699 [SPEAKER_02]: But we don't usually do this in our church, so it's different. 30:44.719 --> 30:47.623 [SPEAKER_02]: It's unique, and it's something that I want you to hold on to and remember. 30:48.403 --> 30:50.444 [SPEAKER_02]: You prayed for that person out loud. 30:50.484 --> 30:54.346 [SPEAKER_02]: You heard your brothers and sisters in Christ praying for their people out loud. 30:54.386 --> 30:59.488 [SPEAKER_02]: And so continue to do that this week without ceasing this month for the next year. 30:59.808 --> 31:05.451 [SPEAKER_02]: As you encounter people in your life, as you think about the different people that you know that don't know Christ, are you praying for them? 31:05.811 --> 31:10.794 [SPEAKER_02]: Are you seeking opportunities to reach out and be the love of Christ to them and share the gospel with them? 31:11.054 --> 31:14.615 [SPEAKER_02]: Are you on mission with those people in all of those different circles? 31:14.655 --> 31:17.477 [SPEAKER_02]: But even those people in the public circle that you don't know yet? 31:18.197 --> 31:25.400 [SPEAKER_02]: The people that you come across in the restaurant, the people that you come across at the store, the people who may have something going on that day that has wrecked their world. 31:26.361 --> 31:34.964 [SPEAKER_02]: And you have this incredible hope of the message about Jesus Christ that you can share with them at the very least are you praying for them. 31:35.445 --> 31:39.446 [SPEAKER_02]: But then also are you willing to share the love of Jesus with them. 31:40.427 --> 31:45.109 [SPEAKER_02]: Now as we wrap up our service today, the next segment of it is really on you. 31:45.933 --> 31:47.534 [SPEAKER_02]: We already sang our closing song. 31:48.335 --> 31:51.957 [SPEAKER_02]: And these are the last few words that I'm going to say, but the service isn't over yet. 31:52.517 --> 31:53.598 [SPEAKER_02]: The next part is for you. 31:53.818 --> 31:56.860 [SPEAKER_02]: We have a couple of actions we would like you to participate in. 31:57.581 --> 32:02.724 [SPEAKER_02]: One of those are the stations up front where we have these prayer boxes and there are prayer cards of the back. 32:02.764 --> 32:04.165 [SPEAKER_02]: Hopefully you grab one when you came in. 32:04.605 --> 32:08.007 [SPEAKER_02]: I saw some people already during the service come up and drop off a prayer quest. 32:08.027 --> 32:08.548 [SPEAKER_02]: That's great. 32:09.008 --> 32:14.652 [SPEAKER_02]: One of these boxes is for our elders and staff and pastors to pray over you and it will not get posted publicly. 32:15.112 --> 32:25.340 [SPEAKER_02]: Well, the other basket is for not only our elder staff and pastors to pray, but also for it to be posted on our prayer wall in the lobby where anyone can go up and pray for these nine courage you on a regular basis. 32:25.380 --> 32:26.281 [SPEAKER_02]: Go check that wall. 32:26.601 --> 32:27.021 [SPEAKER_02]: Pray for them. 32:27.041 --> 32:34.187 [SPEAKER_02]: There are pens out there where you can mark your initials that you prayed for and just be an encouragement to those people that they were prayed over by lots of people in this church. 32:34.227 --> 32:35.148 [SPEAKER_02]: That's one thing you can do. 32:36.046 --> 32:51.477 [SPEAKER_02]: But the other thing I really want you to do, and this is to remember those people that our church has sent out to be on mission all over the world and share the gospel with people, especially in the public circle, people who are strangers who are all over the place, who we support as a church. 32:51.818 --> 33:05.168 [SPEAKER_02]: We have stations in our main lobby that as soon as I'm done here, I'm gonna read some scripture, and then I'm gonna challenge you to go back and pray for those people, but don't just pray for them, we have cards back there, and you can write a note to them. 33:05.708 --> 33:06.829 [SPEAKER_02]: Write a note of encouragement. 33:06.869 --> 33:07.870 [SPEAKER_02]: Write a note of prayer for them. 33:08.170 --> 33:15.475 [SPEAKER_02]: Stick it in the basket right in front of the missionary that you are praying for and wrote a note for and we will make sure that they get that to be an encouragement to them. 33:15.715 --> 33:24.962 [SPEAKER_02]: This is a practical tangible way that you can be praying for those people right now and also actually share that with them and show them love through that action. 33:25.002 --> 33:25.883 [SPEAKER_02]: Very simple thing. 33:26.363 --> 33:27.764 [SPEAKER_02]: that you can do before you leave today. 33:27.784 --> 33:34.451 [SPEAKER_02]: In fact, I'm going to encourage you and ask that you wait to have your friendly conversations with each other until you've done that. 33:35.031 --> 33:45.281 [SPEAKER_02]: And a lot of times we stick around here for a long time in this room and we talk and we hang out and that's great and you should totally do that next week and you should totally do that after you go back and write a note to a missionary. 33:45.301 --> 33:50.086 [SPEAKER_02]: But so that we all do that just if you want to drop off a prayer and the baskets here feel free to do that. 33:50.666 --> 33:54.890 [SPEAKER_02]: go out and pray for a missionary, write a note to a missionary, get to know who those missionaries are. 33:55.250 --> 33:58.734 [SPEAKER_02]: Some of them, some of the information is redacted because of security reasons. 33:59.074 --> 34:05.760 [SPEAKER_02]: We may even have some missionaries out there by their tables so that you can pray for them in person, or knowing them they may want to pray for you. 34:05.780 --> 34:06.260 [SPEAKER_02]: But either way. 34:06.981 --> 34:09.224 [SPEAKER_02]: This is how we're going to close our service today. 34:09.264 --> 34:12.728 [SPEAKER_02]: So I am going to go ahead and read some scripture for us. 34:13.248 --> 34:21.819 [SPEAKER_02]: And when I am done, I encourage you to get up quietly, go pray for missionary, write them and encourage you note, and that will be the close of our service. 34:23.270 --> 34:26.611 [SPEAKER_02]: We close with second Corinthians and Matthew, second Corinthians five. 34:26.631 --> 34:32.332 [SPEAKER_02]: It says, and all of this is a gift from God who brought us back to Himself through Christ. 34:32.893 --> 34:36.514 [SPEAKER_02]: And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. 34:37.214 --> 34:46.796 [SPEAKER_02]: For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them, and He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 34:47.417 --> 34:48.337 [SPEAKER_02]: And then from Matthew nine. 34:49.247 --> 34:53.675 [SPEAKER_02]: He said to his disciples, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. 34:54.276 --> 35:00.246 [SPEAKER_02]: So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, ask him to send more workers into his fields. 35:00.827 --> 35:02.350 [SPEAKER_02]: Let's go pray for those workers now.