• Give thanks for those who have laid down their lives for the gospel, following the example of our Saviour Jesus.
• Pray that we would honour the persecuted church by using our freedom to advance the gospel.
• Remember those facing opposition for their faith and pray for strength and courage to remain faithful to Jesus and that they would experience his peace and joy.
• Pray that we would resist the temptations that the devil used on Jesus. That we would surrender to the Father's will and reject the seduction of immediacy, glory and power.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to lead us into new opportunities to witness and for his great power to fill our hearts.
• Repent from any attitudes that have sought safety and comfort as the goal of faith, and turn back in surrender to following Jesus into sharing the good news.
• Pray that the evil one would be defeated wherever he attempts to hinder the work of the gospel through his church.
• Pray for The Grove, that God would empower us and enable us to have victory over opposition and to find strength and courage to press on. 
• Pray that we would grow in our faith through the opposition we encounter. Pray for a deeper dependence and experience of Jesus.

As the first half of the kids and youth centre slab was poured this week, we give thanks to God that up until this point the project has been funded by our cash savings. This is due to the generous giving of so many over the years in response to the Holy Spirit's call. It is also another sign of God's soveriegn reign, that now COVID19 restrictions are being lifted, its his time to begin drawing down from our building loan. The next progress payment in June will come from our Baplink loan. So this is the moment when the rubber hits the road in many ways, but we also know that our great God who has brought us this far, will totally provide all we need as we continue to trust in him.

Call to Prayer QB Churches – Prayer focus 1st-7th June 2020

I think it is significant that this year Pentecost Sunday falls on the same week that we commence our annual QB Movement-wide week of prayer. Reading the account in the book of Acts of the Holy Spirit coming with power upon the followers of Jesus, one word jumped out at me; together!

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.…. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Acts 1:14 & 2:1

In obedience to Jesus’ command in Acts 1:4-5 the disciples were not just physically together. Rather, with expectant faith they were prayerfully collaborating with one heart and one mind to lay hold of a new and powerful move of God, the coming of the Holy Spirit. It seems to me that there is an obvious connection throughout the book of Acts and indeed in church history between the unified corporate prayer of the church and significant moves of God.

Just like the early church did, we long to see a fresh and powerful move of God and for spiritual renewal to breakout in our communities. As we approach Queensland day (6th June) I am asking every Baptist pastor and every Baptist church to commit to a week of collaborative faith-filled prayer to see God work powerfully and for revival come to our State.

While restrictions on gatherings and social distancing measures prevent us from physical gatherings, we can still utilise technology to come together with one heart and one mind to prayerful seek God.

May God move powerfully in our midst as we come together with one heart and one mind united in prayer for our State.

Stewart Pieper (QB Director of Ministries)

HOW WILL THE GROVE BE PRAYING

• We will be holding daily prayer meetings
• We will join in the regional zoom prayer meeting QB arranges
• We will jon the State wide online prayer on Sunday night, 7pm on the 7th of June
• We will use the daily prayer guide put out from QB

ISAIAH 44:3-5

For I will pour out water to quench your thirst
    and to irrigate your parched fields.
And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants,
    and my blessing on your children.
4 They will thrive like watered grass,
    like willows on a riverbank.
5 Some will proudly claim, ‘I belong to the Lord.’
    Others will say, ‘I am a descendant of Jacob.’
Some will write the Lord’s name on their hands
    and will take the name of Israel as their own.”

• Give thanks for the next generation of our church and community. Praise the Lord for the joy they bring us, and for the gift they are to our families. Acknowledge how sacred every young life is from conception to adulthood and for the whole of their lives. 
• Thank God for answering prayers for our nation and for the flattening of the COVID19 curve, and for the ability to start lifting restrictions. Pray for protection over us and that no new outbreaks would take place. 
• Pray for the kids and youth of The Grove. Give thanks for Leigh and Bek, and their teams as they lead. Pray that every ZOOM connection would be blessed by God and our next generation would encounter Jesus. Pray for Youth Alpha that's starting up.
• Pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our young people and the next generation of our community. Ask God that we wold see a major turning to Jesus as 2020 continues to unfold. May living water break the spiritual drought in our nation.
• Pray that the next generation in our church would grow in their faith, and learn to love and serve God from a young age. Pray for the fruits of the Spirit to sprout and thrive as they become a generation marked by love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and kindness.
• May many children and teenagers make new decisions to follow Jesus and say they belong to God and experience the confidence that comes from an identity formed in Christ.
• Pray for those young people who are struggling emotionally and mentally, that Jesus would touch their hearts and minds and release them from fear and fill them with faith and hope and love. May we see much joy in families as young lives are set free and receive fresh vision and purpose for their lives.
• Give thanks for mums and for parents and pray they would be strengthened and God would provide all they need to care for and influence their children towards Jesus. Pray for the healing of relationships and the restoration of families. 
• Pray for our building project and that we would rejoice at the pouring of the slab for our Kids and Youth Centre. May God provide all the finances we need to complete the work. 

As we come to Mothers Day, what is likely to be the big prayer of Christian mums? We could imagine it would be for their children to receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, to grow in love with God and fulfill the great purpose he has for their lives. Well that prayer expresses not only the heart of mothers who follow Jesus, but the heart of The Grove and our calling to the next generation. 

In the next couple of weeks, a huge concrete slab will be poured for the children's and youth centre floor of the new building (see pictures below). Central to the call to build is very much the call to share the love, life and hope of Jesus with young people. That space will enable us to grow our next generation ministries and to offer high quality spaces and programs for preschoolers, primary aged kids and teenagers. Its hard to believe that in 2021 we will have that facility fully operational. 

Over the back fence of the church property is a 2000 student High School. We can only imagine the opportunities we will have to connect with many local youth in the years ahead. God chose the property so he must have mighty plans for the next generation of our community. 

So this Mothers Day weekend, let's remember again the heart of a mother and be faith filled about all God will do in the lives of the next generation as we pray, serve and invest finanically in this important vision and mission. Let's continue to give generously knowing that we are sowing into the future of young lives in our church and community. 

For Encounter with God readers, our Joshua readings concluded this week with words from the old leader to the people. 'Choose this day whom you will serve...but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord' (Joshua 24:15). May that be the heart and response from all families and people this very day. God bless.