THEVINEYARDCHURCH

SUMMER 2014

PRAYER

GROWINGFAMILYCAMPAIGN

DIARY

SUMMER 2014

PRAYER Welcome to Vineyard’s

Growing Family Summer Prayer Diary!

This year we’ve been learning about intercessory prayer - both on a Sunday morning and at our evening Call to Prayer services. We’ve learnt what intercession is and what it isn’t, its importance and our calling as Christians to intercede, as well as intercession’s ‘prayer language’.

This summer we are going to put all that into practice! And what better opportunity than to pray for Vineyard’s Growing Family! We’ll be praying that God will lead His Church into deeper unity with one another as we intercede for His kingdom to come.

The entire church will be praying for a specific ‘theme’ each week over the summer. You can pray individually, as a family or meet up with friends to pray. Whether you’re on holiday, working or travelling abroad, you will know that you are praying alongside your brothers and sisters as a church community.

Intercession involves praying the scriptures; we are called to ‘re-mind the Lord’ of His promises. We’ve therefore suggested some scriptures you can use for each week. These are by no means limited - but rather are intended to just get you started! Do read around the scriptures; it’s important to understand their context as you pray.

Keep an eye out for further scriptures and updates on our Facebook Page, Twitter & the website. We’d be delighted to hear any prophetic words or pictures God gives you as you pray, so that we can feed these back to the rest of the church. Please do contact us through Facebook or email office@thevineyardchurch.co.uk.

You may want to refresh your memory with some of the talks and teachings we’ve heard this year - these are listed on the back of this booklet.

DIARY

First and foremost, we want to pray for God’s Kingdom to come. This is the very first point Jesus makes when outlining his ‘prayer blueprint’ in Matthew 6: “Father, may your name be honoured upon the earth, and may your rule and reign be established here.”

We want Christ and His gospel to be received and honoured. We welcome and actively pray for the reign and rule of Jesus Christ to be established in ourselves, our friends and families, and within our communities. We want to model God’s Kingdom to others; to provide a glimpse of what this looks and feels like.

We pray that God would lead and help us to take hold of the ‘promised land’ that is filled with His freedom, peace, joy and healing. Acquiring another building is a visible sign that God’s kingdom is expanding!

We pray that God uses us to bring His Kingdom into people’s lives and enable the lost to come home.

LUKE 4:18-19The Spirit of the Lord is on Me. He has put His hand on Me to preach the Good News to poor people. He has sent Me to heal those with a sad heart. He has sent Me to tell those who are being held that they can go free. He has sent Me to make the blind to see and to free those who are held because of trouble. He sent Me to tell of the time when men can receive favour with the Lord.

www.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/summer-prayer

WEEK 1 27Jul-02 Aug

THEKINGDOMOFGOD

Money - one of Jesus’ favourite subjects! When we read the gospels we discover that, after the Kingdom of God, Jesus spoke most about money and wealth. Jesus constantly called His disciples’ attention to their use of money and never shied away from challenging their attitude towards it.

Jesus calls us also, as His disciples, to consider our attitude and our stewardship of the money and resources we’ve been given. To many of us, money represents security. The inward journey of choosing to give up control of our money can often be something that hinders us from joining the outward journey of faith.

Please pray that God would use this opportunity (for His people to give to His Growing Family) to address any fears that would keep us from giving - and to free us from them. We pray that God would cause His people to give freely, gladly and generously, and that He would release those finances needed for the church to expand and play our part in building His Kingdom.

www.facebook.com/VineyardStA

2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-9Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”

THEKINGDOMOFGOD FORFINANCES

WEEK 2 03-09 Aug

WEEK 3 10-16 Aug

www.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/growing-family-update

FORWORKERS

We believe God is calling us to make space for His Growing Family. If we’re expecting to welcome new family members then we’re going to need more help running the ‘family business’! We look to God for help to recruit workers so that we, as a church, can respond to everything He is calling us to do.

There is so much happening at Vineyard - which means there are already plenty of opportunities to serve. But with another building we can be sure there will be lots more to come! Whether leading, coordinating, supporting or helping - these are all opportunities to serve in God’s Kingdom.

God calls us to serve where we are and with what we have. We pray that God would continue to stir and call those He’s chosen to help build His kingdom - in whatever capacity that is. We pray that God would affirm our talents and help us to take courage and step out to serve Him, wherever we are.

MATTHEW 9:37-38Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

ROMANS 12:1I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

VINEYARDMINISTRIES

WEEK 4 17-23 Aug

www.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/call-to-prayer

Healthy things grow. We thank God for bringing health and growth to His church! We want to embrace and celebrate what God has already done and pray that He brings more.

We’ve said before that our youth is not the church of tomorrow but the church of today. We need to honour and empower them to lead change and influence. We’ve said that our kids’ ministry on a Sunday morning is not a babysitting service but is essential in introducing children to the person of Jesus. Our FEED ministry is not just about providing food to the poor but making a way for people to experience God’s love and hear His gospel.

The Growing Family Campaign was born out of the obvious need for more space to allow our thriving FEED, Kids & Youth ministries to expand - but we believe there are still plenty of other ministries that God has for us and wants to release! We are praying that God gives us vision for these, and that He will make them healthy ministries that grow His Kingdom.

EPHESIANS 4:11-12So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

1 PETER 4:10As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace... in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

WEEK 5 24-30 Aug

www.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/growing-family

THEBUILDING

We believe that God is calling us to follow Him and ‘cross the Jordan’ in order to provide us with a second building. Like God led the Israelites through Joshua, we believe God is directing us to ‘take the land’.

And like Nehemiah who asked King Artaxerxes to allow him to rebuild Jerusalem, we too ask for Divine permission and favour to build God’s Kingdom.

We pray for God to bless all the agencies involved in our journey to buy a building - whether estate agents, building owners, mortgage lenders or planning departments. We pray that God would give us favour with them.

We ask God to give us wisdom in all our consultations. We pray that He would establish good relationships between us and the agencies and that He will lead us in successful negotiations.

PSALM 89:17Our power is based on Your favour!

NEHEMIAH 2:4-6The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it”... It pleased the king to send me.

CHURCHUNITY

WEEK 6 31 Aug-06 Sep

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THEBUILDING

Jesus prayed that we, His followers, would experience such perfect unity that the entire world would be able to see that God had sent Jesus - His son whom He loves. John 17:20-26.

We therefore pray that God would unite us and give us the same vision and same heart to see His Kingdom come. We ask that the Holy Spirit would convict us of anything which allows any disunity, disharmony or division to be established in His church.

We pray that God would allow us to see how our different gifting and personalities do not work against one another, but are purposely designed to complement one another and show the fullness of Christ’s Kingdom.

We pray that God would use the Growing Family Campaign to further foster good relationships and unity with other local churches and the wider church.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

EPHESIANS 4:3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

PRAYER NOTES

Please do write down any prophetic words or pictures God gives you as you pray. We’d be very interested to hear these! You can send them to the Vineyard office or through our Facebook Page.

office@thevineyardchurch.co.ukwww.facebook.com/VineyardStA

www.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/summer-prayer

www.facebook.com/VineyardStA

SUMMER PRAYER DIARY www.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/summer-prayer

INTERCESSORY PRAYER TEACHINGwww.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/call-to-prayer (download notes)DAY + NIGHT UNTIL.... TALK SERIESwww.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/podcasts www.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/talk-videoswww.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/the-app

FEEDBACK YOUR PRAYERSwww.facebook.com/VineyardStAoffice@thevineyardchurch.co.uk

GROWING FAMILY SUMMER UPDATEwww.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/growing-family-update

GROWING FAMILY SPRING LAUNCHwww.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/growing-familywww.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/podcastswww.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/talk-videoswww.thevineyardchurch.co.uk/the-app

TWEET ABOUT OUR GROWING FAMILYwww.twitter.com/VineyardStA

THEVINEYARDCHURCH | 7 BRICK KNOLL PARK | ST ALBANS | AL1 5UG01727 812765 | www.thevineyardchurch.co.ukCharity No. 1066846 Company No. 3445897