UNITED OR UNTIED

One of the first weddings I ever performed was for two of my best friends, Scott and Shannon Streller. I spent hours carefully typing the whole ceremony so it would be just right.

Unfortunately, my spell-checker didn’t catch one of my mistakes. During the phrase, “The two will be united as one flesh… I accidentally typed, “The two will be untied…

united
untied

These words have the exact same letters, but entirely different meanings. The only letter out of place is the “I.” If the “I” is in the right place, it will read united. “I” in the wrong place reads untied.

Uniting churches seems like an impossible task. Although I can’t control the hearts of other leaders, I have committed to keep my heart in the right place.

I will do what I can do.

How about you? What are you doing to unite the Church?

Tags: church, one prayer, Unity

18 comments

One Prayer Pastors: Greg Surratt

We caught wind that Greg and his team from Seacoast Church (one church with multiple locations in the east) were wrapping up their One Prayer message yesterday.

(Don’t forget — the deadline for submitting messages is next Monday, May 12!)

We asked Greg to share his heart about One Prayer.

What are some of the great things God is doing in your church?
God is continuing to give us opportunities to reach more people for Christ, which is encouraging to me as we celebrate our 20th year as a church. This month, we will open our 13th campus and will be using an “all-video” model. This will be our first campus with video worship elements. It’s an experiment that we have wanted to try for a while as it broadens the ability to open campuses in smaller more rural communities. God is also using our study of the book of Luke to really help people become fully-devoted to Him. We have been a largely “topical” church for 19 years, but over the last year I have found that studying a book of the Bible for a concentrated time has really been beneficial to our teaching team as well as our church. We kicked off the new year by joining LifeChurch.tv (via video) and had Craig Groeschel teach on the Authority of the Bible.

Why are you excited about participating in One Prayer?
The multi-site video approach has really changed a lot about how church is done. It has broken down barriers to growth and I think it has been a good thing for the body of Christ. However, one thing that has concerned me is that there could be some unhealthy competitive juices flowing as we see another church as an “opponent” that may could come into “my town”. I think that One Prayer will help in some ways to squash that as we remember that we are all on the same team, serving the same God and using the same resources as effectively as possible to reach more people. I am also just pumped to get to have some of the speakers come to Seacoast for free!!!

What is your one prayer for the Church that you will be teaching on?
“Lord make us obedient.” I’m going to look at the story of Peter’s miserable fishing trip in Luke 5 and what it took for him to come to “but because you say so” obedience. God used a “no fish moment” in his life to teach him the rewards of passionate obedience. I hope it will help all of us to recognize those moments in our lives and make the right call.

Tags: one prayer, Pastors, Unity

5 comments

If I Were the Devil

If I were the devil, my number one strategy to thwart the work of God would be to divide Christ’s church. Satan certainly knows the words of Jesus that a Kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.

Jesus asked God to make all His disciples one (John 17:21). He prayed that we would be brought to complete unity (John 17:23). Paul told us to, “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit…” (Eph. 4:3)

Unity doesn’t mean uniformity.

We shouldn’t be alike in style, philosophy, and personal preferences. We are strengthened in our diversity. We can be unified and diversified!

We don’t have to be alike or agree on minor issues to agree on the Lordship of Christ!

For example, a strong church in my community changed its worship style. Several other churches within the same denomination took out full-page ads against this church, calling them heretics. HEARTBREAKING!

As a parent, I hate when my kids fight. Imagine how God must feel when He looks at His children who can’t get along.

Tags: church, one prayer, Unity

10 comments

One Prayer Pastors: Wayne Cordeiro

This week, I’d like to highlight a couple of pastors who are participating in One Prayer. Today we’ll meet Pastor Wayne Cordeiro from New Hope Christian Fellowship in Oahu, Hawaii.

What are some of the great things God is doing in your church?
God’s hand of revival has been on the church for twelve years. We saw over 250 first-time decisions this month so far, and last weekend we baptized 203 in water. There is a culture of joy and servanthood. Especially in the area of reading the Bible and journaling daily, there is an expectancy in the air.

Why are you excited about participating in One Prayer?
One Prayer communicates that we are one Church, and that the leaders involved are willing to be friends, accountability partners, and fellow learners along the route to equipping the saints. It also gives one message to the Church that will allow for many voices to say one thing. I love it!!

What is your one prayer for the Church that you will be teaching on?
The title of my message, coming from Hawaii, is called “Make Us Wise.” If there’s anything we need in a changing society of optional morals and beliefs, we are offered several worldviews to adopt as our own. Wisdom will be what distinguishes the precious from the worthless, the right from the wrong, the temporal from the eternal.

Make us wise.

Tags: one prayer, Pastors, Unity

9 comments

My Preparation for One Prayer

Amy and I are fasting sweets for 40 days in preparation for the series. (Sounds easy… Man, do I miss chocolate!)

The week before One Prayer starts, we will do a total media fast to spend more time praying.

During One Prayer, we will be devoting several days of total food fasts, drinking water only.

We are:

• Asking God to build bridges between churches in local communities.
• Praying by name for every senior pastor and church involved in One Prayer. (We have about 640 churches participating from 17 countries as of today.)
• Writing notes to pastors in our community to let them know that we love them and that we’re praying for them.
• Continuing to only speak well of other ministries.
• Sending offerings to churches other than LifeChurch.tv.
• Initiating strategic ministry friendships.
• Exposing our church to other great spiritual leaders.
• Teaching a pre-One Prayer message to prepare our church to think about THE Church… instead of “our” church.
• Encouraging pastors around the world to do the same and more.

Please tell me about anything you or your church is doing in preparation for the series!

For those of you preaching, what is your one prayer? Please tell us your church and where you live.

Tags: one prayer, preaching, Unity

13 comments