Dear team leaders,

Tomorrow is the first Christmas at The Grove in our new church home. How absolutely exciting. A moment of heightened visibility for the church to shine with the light of Jesus, and point to his love and life through our acts of love to one another. 

Thankyou for serving our Saviour King, and giving of your time and energy to make him known to all he brings along. Thankyou for the great heart you have for our church family, the teams you lead, and for the love that motivates you to offer your service as an offering of worship. You guys are amazing!

I feel so expectant about what God is going to do. So many words from God have come, people keep telling me stories, and the enemy is trying to rob our joy and be a nuisance. These are all signs of God at work and planning to reach people. 

One story was shared from a person in our church who tried calling a friend, and accidently rang a lost family member by the same name. It turned out the conversation encouraged them so deeply, and this person from The Grove was able to send them an invitation to Christmas in The Grove. How cool is that? How many more people is Jesus preparing to reach this year? Many we pray. We can be sure God is playing his part!

I have performed around 30 weddings in my twenty years of pastoral ministry. Those are big days people prepare for. But the weddings that I remember as being the most wonderful and joy filled, were not the ones that went perfectly, or had the best weather, décor or even views (although we have those things at The Grove in spades!). But they were the weddings where love was the focus, where things didn’t always go perfectly, but where people laughed and didn’t let anything get in the way of why they were there.  

My prayer for our first Christmas in our church home, after a massive year like no other, is a Christmas where love is totally the focus. Love for Jesus, love for all those we work with and lead, and love for our community. No matter what issues arise, love will enable us to smile and not sweat the small stuff - and there will be stuff to deal with because this is the first time we have done this in our new building! 

Yet with peace as our theme, and the Prince of peace reigning, it’s not fear but the unfailing love of God within our hearts that will enable us to be a non-anxious presence among people who live in fear everyday.    

Jesus knew exactly what he was saying when he said in John 13:34-35, 

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

In two verses he said it three times; “love one another”. It’s the most powerful, attractive characteristic of the follower of Jesus. It’s the red-letter key to effective mission, and how ‘everyone knows Jesus is among us’. 

Love is a defining characteristic of The Grove, of which I have been so grateful. May it just pour out of us today as we prepare, and tomorrow as we lead and serve. God bless you all. God is with you, loves you and will work mightily through you. Marty

Praise and Thanks:

Philippians 4:7
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Praise and Thanks:

• Praise God for the blessing of the Christmas season
• Praise God for his faithfulness to us this year
• Thanks for all our volunteers who give up their time and resources
• Praise God for the financial provision during this year
• Praise God for the stories coming out of Red Frogs and for the lives changed during that week
• Praise God for the peace he brings, even in the midst of chaos

Prayer Points:

• Pray for the Christmas season ahead
• Pray the peace of God will fall on all those in our community this Christmas season 
• Pray that God would bring many to the Christmas event not just for numbers, but to bring them into a relationship with Jesus
• Pray for all our volunteers serving and giving up time to come and be a part of God’s call to reach the lost in our community
• Pray for our creative team and those leading our carols service
• Pray for our event coordinators in organising volunteers and teams
• Pray for our catering team that they will be a blessing to so many on the weekend
• Ask God that his Holy Spirit will fill the church
• Ask God that during this event many would begin to open their hearts to God
• Ask God to bless those stepping foot on the property
• Pray that through all of this the name of Jesus is made known and all glory is given to God
• Pray that God moves in the hearts of the community and in our hearts as we serve him

Praise and Thanks:

Ephesians 4:29
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Praise and Thanks:

• Praise God for the blessing of grandparents
• Thanks for His continued blessing over us as a church
• Praise God for the next generation and the salvation stories we are hearing
• For God’s continued provision in the area of finance 
• For all those who volunteer and serve here at The Grove

Prayer Points:

• Pray that all grandparents would continue to be a blessing to those around them
• Pray that God’s Word rests on our hearts this week as we spend quiet time with Him
• Ask for forgiveness when we have used our tongues to tear down rather than build-up
• Pray that God would continue to give us opportunities to speak life into other people
• Pray God uses our words to encourage others and build them up
• Ask that God would raise up more leaders to come and serve in this place
• Ask that God would equip those he has called to serve here at The Grove
• Pray for the next generation, that they would hear the encouraging words God speaks over them
• Pray that all would hear God’s encouragement and voice through his Word and Spirit
• Pray that God uses all of us this week to be a blessing to others through our spoken words and actions 
   

PRAISE AND THANKS...

• Give thanks that God loves everyone. That all people are made in his image and are equal in his sight. 
• Think about worship in heaven right now from people of every nation, tribe and tongue. Praise God that we are part of a global family, saved purely by the grace of God through Christ.
• Thank God for his vision of the church to reflect the heart of Jesus to welcome all people without prejudice.  

PRAYER POINTS

• Ask forgiveness for the times we have shown favouritism to one over another because they benefit us more
• Pray for the Lord to work in all our hearts to see each person through God's eyes
• Pray that The Grove would be a safe and welcoming place for people to come from different backgrounds and cultures
• Ask the Lord to weed out any judgemental spirit within us, and fill our hearts with mercy and grace towards all
• Give us wisdom Lord to recognize the motivations of our words and actions towards others. Grow us in our love for one another, as you have loved us.
• Help us Lord to develop humilty, not by thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less and others more. 
• Pray that many lives would be transformed by the love of Jesus in the last months of 2021. Pray that people would be awakened to truth of God's love and rescued from the lies that tell them that God has favourites. 
• Pray for the opportunity to show love to someone this week who we might avoid, find difficult or is unlikley to give us anything in return. 
• Pray for our church family to find joy in others being blessed ahead of us.  

PRAYER NOTES - LISTEN AND OBEY

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

PRAISE AND THANKS

• For the word of God that he speaks through to teach us about God's charcter, his will and about our true selves. 
• That obedience to God's word leads to freedom for us, and blessing through what we do. 
• For the scriptures that have come to mind to encourage and lead us in difficult times. 

PRAYER NOTES

• For a posture of obedience each time we come to read God's word. 
• That we would hear clearly what the Lord is saying to us individually and as a church.
• For courage to step out in obedience in all areas of our lives as God calls. 
• That we would allow the word to be a mirror, reading us as we read it. May we humbly recieve the truth.
• Forgive us for the times we have ignored God's word, and forgotten to follow through on his direction.
• May we perververe in the directions God gives us, and hold onto the promises that bring us hope. 
• For a revival of reading God's word as a practice in our church community. Pray for those who neglect the word, and pray for victory over the enemy who tempts us to be busy and distracted on other things. 
• That God would grow our confidence in the truth of scripture in a time when false messages flood the airwaves.
• For the word of God preached and taught at The Grove to cut deep into the minds and hearts of hearers and that many would respond and be saved and changed. 
• Pray for our children and teenagers to be lovers of the word, and responsive to God's call.