Prayer Request for the week of 4/23 - 4/28

Praise:

Praise the Lord for His continued Grace. Praise the Lord for a great time of worship this past Sunday what an amazing service. Praise the Lord for the overwhelming blessings that I have been hearing about from all of you. Praise the Lord for the financial gifts that have already begun to come in. Praise the Lord for our district leadership and their willingness to journey with us. Gang we all have a ton of stuff to praise God about please make sure we are doing this and adding to this list.


Prayer:

Pray for Laurie and Lauren Johnson as they travel to Washington D.C.
Pray for Matthew as he begins to work through the fundraising part of the process. Direct his path to the right people and pray that God will raise up some that we do not even know about.
Pray for unity amongest the churches in Grant County.
Pray for Lakeview Church as the building is finished and for unity amongest the people.
Pray for the lost people here in the city of Marion that desperately need a church to love them.
Pray for those that will join our launch team in the coming days.
Pray for unity amongest the launch team.
Pray for our district leadership as we process through all of this with them.
Pray for the people of the Nelson Street Church.
Pray for physical health of all involved along with spiritual health. That God might instill in each of our hearts an unwielding desire for the lost people in our midst.

Gang it is key that we stay vigilent in our prayers God is moving and we simply need to continue to seek His face daily and allow Him to direct our paths. We are living and moving closer towards the sweetspot of God's Success.

Matthew

We made it

By now many of you already know this but Nicole and I made it through the assessment center without to many awful scars. Actually it was an amazing week and I cannot tell you how excited we are to be on this journey with each other and all of you. For the first time in our ministry life I feel like Nicole and I are on the same page and sensing the very samethings. As I drove down the bypass this morning I thought of all of the rich traditions that the city of Marion has experienced from all of those Basketball titles to the Easter Productions of the past. And I couldn't help but look at a few of the churches I drove by and see the fact that it seems like their days have past. As I saw and thought these thoughts my heart was stirred to build a missional minded church to reach into the life's of these precious people. I can hardly wait ot experience all that God has in store for all of us as we add to our number and ultimately add to the work of the Kingdom. Let's continue to stay of our knees as the enemy is trying to do whatever possible to stop what I believe will be a church that not only helps set a revival fire in Marion and Grant County but one that will be in the business of planting other churches around the County, State and Country. Let's go after it and hey remember to enjoy the journey.


Matthew

Reporting from the Assessment

Hey gang I just wanted to write real quick to let you all know that we are still alive. Go dhas really been doing some cool things while we have been here. More than ever we are sensing His call on our live's to be a part of a movement of churches with a mindset of infiltrating into a culture that so despeately needs to hear and know the love and message of Jesus Christ. Thank You so much for your prayers and please continue to pray for us as we are getting tired and will be up for another late night of writing out a strategy for a mock church plant. Fortunately I had done a ton of leg work for the River so I had some of this done. Please pray for our kids and for Grandma and Grandpa as they are wearing them down. We love you all and look forward to the coming days of building community together to reach into a community with the great Love of Christ.

Matthew

The Bible in 90 Days

Over the past week I have been listening to a local Christian radio station where they have been challenging people to read through the entire scriptures in 90 days. As i thought about this I couldn't help but think what in the world could happen if all of us came together and experienced the scriptures together. So will you join me in a 90 day adventure through scripture? If so go to www.wgnr.fm and download and print off the Bible in 90 days form. And at the start of May we can then begin to journey together through the scriptures.

Matthew

Prayer Request for the Week of 4/8- 4/14

Nothing like a chance to Praise the Lord for all that He has been doing in our midst over the past few weeks. I have just been reading from the book of Psalms and cannot help but think about the amazing grace we have all been offered through Jesus Christ. Here we are reading the cry of Davids heart as he crys out to experience the mercy that he could only experience through God. What day this is then for all of us who much like David are nothing more than sinners saved by Grace. Think about it if David was a man after God's own heart and he had all of the junk in his life there is great hope for each of us. Find sometime this week as you pray and praise the Lord to read the Psalms and reach towards your Savior like David.


Praise's:

1. Kristen Weigand daughter of Greg and Mary Jane had a baby and everyone is healthy.
2. Terry Buhler has fought his allergies and seems to haev won.
3. Mick Manor is recovering at home from his knee surgery.
4. God is continuing to open the doors to make the River a reality.
5. For the unchurched people that I have been hearing some of you share about that are interested in attending the River.
6. That Clay Davis did not have to have his back surgery this past week.

Prayer:

1. For a Spirit of unity amongest the launching families.
2. For Nicole and I as we prepare for the Assessment in Indianapolis.
3. For a Spirit of unity amongest all of the Grant County Churches.
4. For God to direct me towards the proper people in the fund raising process.
5. For God to show us each who we need to be chasing with this great message of Hope and Salvation.
6. For Gabby Davis as she has her tonsils removed.
7. For Mick Manor to continue to heal quickly and as pain free as possible.
8. For the Leadership within our District to continue to embrace what it is we are trying to accomplish.
9. For protection as the enemy attempts to stand against us.

Please continue to experience "War on the Floor" as we lift up these requests. God is moving we must trust Him as we walk through these days please pray. The other day I was reading in a book that prior to church planting most of the people involved had a slim prayer life. But by the time that they reached the end all they could do is pray. Where else do we have to turn well no where so let's turn to the Lord and allow HIm to work out His plan and then we can walk in it. It will be at this very point in time that we will be livign in God's sweet spot of success which is exactly where we all want to be.

Matthew

Prayer Request for the Week of 3/25 - 3/31

1. Praise the Lord for the doors that have been opened for us so far.
2. Praise the Lord for His goodness and the burden that He is putting on each of our hearts to reach a community that so desperatly needs the hope of Salvation.
3. Pray for Mick Manor and his knee replacement surgery on Tuesday.
4. Pray for Greg Whitton as he is traveling this week for work.
5. Pray for the Johnson's onSpring Break in Florida.
6. Pray for continued recovery of Kimm Davis from her surgery and for Clay as he prepares for his back surgery.
7. Pray for Nicole and I as we prepare for the assessment April 17-20 in Indianapolis.
8. Pray that God would burn the vision and the mission of The River on the hearts of our district leadership.
9. Pray for me as I am working on strategies for The River.
10. Pray that in the midst of this time of preparation we will all be vigilent to reach new people for Christ.
11. Pray for unity in the midst of the churches of Grant County.
12. And Praise the Lord for He is so good to us. It is only by His grace that we can reachout into a lost and dying world with the great message of hope that we have.

If you have a prayer request that needs you would like prayed for shoot us an email or mention it in the comments section for this post so we can be praying. It is time for us to experience war on the floor in order that we might win the battle that we are in.

Matthew

Why The River

As our Journey begins together many have asked why the River. Where did that come from and what is it going to say aboout us. As I was praying and really seeking the Lord on what will we call this Church I found myself in the middle of the book of Ezekiel. And has I was reading I came to chapter 47 and the verses simply just jumped of the page at me. You must know that I had prayed that God would give us a name that would encompass everything we will be about. Which will be a place of refreshing from the daily grind of the world, a place to come and find community and what a better picture than an old water hole, a place to find healing, a place to be fed, and finally a place to be the healer and the feeder. With that said the first 12 verses of chapter 47 painted that picture perfectly. Understanding that the church is more than a simple building but the church is the people. Each and everyone of us at the River our the church and in this passage then the River must flow from the sanctuary which would be us. And as the River flows out of us it heads to the banks of the river where it meets up and supplies the nutrients to feed these trees. Where inturn these trees find health and begin the process of producing thier own fruit and leaves that can and will heal the needs of the people that come in contact with them. Now can you imagine a community of Christ followers that have the Spirit of God rolling out of them to a hurting community. I believe that community of believers can and will be found at a place called the River.

Let me challenge you to read that passage through a couple of times. Once you have read it through come back and post your thoughts on the passage and what it is you see when you close your eyes and allow God to begin to shape your dreams for our Great Church and the community that we will be reaching into.

Matthew