Baker State Missions Praying( (((((((Giving( (((((((((Sharing( Week of Prayer September 6 13, 2015!
DAY ONE September 6, 2015.praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,. (Ephesians 6:18) This week we place a special emphasis on our Southern Baptist work here in the Dakotas by taking a special offering. This offering is named after John Baker, who served as our Executive Director when our work here was in its infancy and childhood period. This Baker State Missions Offering is best understood as an opportunity to remember and celebrate the God-inspired work of many pastor s and church planters, their spouses, core church leaders and the missionaries who served alongside them. We have a rich heritage of men and women who have given so much of their lives to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ across the Dakotas. It is right for us to take time to remember and thank God, for these men and women who gave so much. It is also right for us to remember those who are laboring in the Dakotas today. If we are to be Dakota Strong, we must practice prayer in our lives every day. On this first day of the Baker State Missions Offering, please remember to: God has placed a strong emphasis in His Word for us to be regularly praying for one another. On this, our first day of our Baker Missions Offering emphasis, please take time right now to pray for our Dakota Baptist churches:! To exalt Christ Jesus by word and deed! To honor God in all they do! To be led by the Holy Spirit! To become disciples of Jesus and to make disciples of Jesus! To share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone in their community! To willingly serve each other in the church body! To joyfully go into their communities and serve so people may see the love of God in action Lord, I pray for our churches to be clothed with humility, to be quickened in your way, to be more devoted to you, to keep the end of our life in view, to be cured of the folly of delay and indecision, to know how frail we are, to number our days and apply our hearts to wisdom. adapted from The Valley of Vision, p.353. And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. (Luke 18:1) Let us never tire of praying for one another! Connecting for the Harvest by praying for and with one another 1
DAY TWO September 7, 2015 As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. 2 Cor. 9:13-14 (NLT) Praying for your pastor during our week of Baker Missions Offering is an important step to take. Over the years, we have been able to help many pastors, their families, and their churches with our gifts to the Baker Missions Offering when an emergency arises in their lives. Your giving allows our pastors to see love for them in action; and these gifts have been received with much gratitude. We need to remember to pray regularly for our pastors and key ministry leaders in our churches. We should shower them with our prayers and encouragement. Here are some suggestions to use when praying for your pastors and key ministry leaders:! Pray they continue to love Jesus with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that their ministry will never diminish their first love! Pray they love and serve their wife and family and may their ministry never steal them from their family! Pray for them to be passionate, deeply convicted, and dedicated to their calling to serve Jesus Christ! Pray their teaching and preaching will be accurate, true, bold, convicting, encouraging, anointed, and Christ-centered! Pray for them to walk in confidence while kneeling in humility as gentle shepherds who care for their sheep! Pray for them to rest spiritually and physically and to know that it is not their ministry they are leading, but God s! Pray God will guard them from burnout and depression! Pray for protection from those who attack them, slander them, seek to harm them or speak evil against them! Pray for their holiness and purity! Pray for God to raise up people around them to assist them, serve them, honor them, encourage them, pray for them, share the truth in love with them, and protect them. Never tire of praying for your pastor and key leaders. They need our prayers and we need the practice! Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Col. 4:2 2 Connecting for the Harvest by praying for and with one another
DAY THREE September 8, 2015 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among your not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. (Romans 12:3-4) While we there is only one body of believers in Jesus Christ here on earth, known as the church, there are many members of this body. One such member is the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), a group of 46,000 +/- churches. One part that makes up the SBC is our Dakota Baptist Convention (DBC). Our DBC is made up of over 90 churches. As you can see, we are part of something much larger than our local church. Through our gifts to the Cooperative Program, we are able to fund over 10,000 missionaries in North America and around the world through our North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the International Mission Board (IMB). Through our partnership with the SBC, we are able to do so much more than we could do alone. Through giving our cooperative giving here in the Dakotas, we are able to help people here in the Dakotas as well as around the world. The Baker Mission s offering is one way we help people and churches here in the Dakotas. Our Baker Missions Offering helps! Pastors with emergencies that come up, such as help with plane tickets to visit family in crisis situations! It also helps with local DBC churches when they have an emergency! It helps churches by providing extra funding for training to help with church health! It helps with special events that arise across the Dakotas As you pray this week, please remember to pray for our Dakota Baptist Convention state staff and key leaders:! Garvin & Cindy Golden DBC Executive Director/Treasurer! Buck & Pam Hill State Missions Director! Morgan & Jan Medford State Church Planter Catalyst! Jeff & Amelia Musgrave Church Health and Leadership Development Director for North Dakota! Paul & Goldie O Dell DBC Office Manager! June & Chuck Highlan Accounting! John & Debbie Flowers Executive Board Chairman! Marion & Lynn Davis Executive Board Vice-Chairman! Doug & Dana Hixson President of the Dakota Baptist Convention Perceiving nothing in ourselves, may we find in Christ wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. adapted from The Valley of Vision, p.67. Connecting for the Harvest by praying for and with one another 3
DAY FOUR September 9, 2015 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. 1 Tim. 2:1 The idea for the Baker Missions Offering came as a result of several of our key leaders desiring to do more on a state convention level to help our pastors and our churches in the Dakotas. Helping other Dakota Baptist Convention churches, pastors, events, and concerns is at the heart of our working cooperatively to do the work of God here in the Dakotas. One of the areas were we join together as the DBC deals with being creative in how we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those in our communities and spheres of influence. As our country, our region and our communities have grown numerically and in diversity, we have and are witnessing the decline of Christianity on our home turf. The numbers of those who do not know Christ as their Savior and Lord are growing rapidly. We must join in prayer and action to push back the darkness in the Dakotas. We need to pray for our families, our friends, our business associates, and our neighbors to come to know Christ.! Pray that God will soften their hearts and make them receptive to hearing God s voice! Pray that God opens their spiritual eyes and ears! Pray that God will give them the faith to believe! Pray that God will give them the will and courage to respond to the truth of Jesus! Pray that God will set them free from spiritual captivity! Pray that God will send people to witness to them! Pray that God will help each of us build caring relationships with them! Pray God will give us opportunities to witness and that we have the courage and willingness to share with them! Pray for God to give you an opportunity to share the love of Jesus this week with one person you know well who is not a Christian! Pray for a holy boldness to share the love of God! Pray for your church to be a bold witness to the love and grace of Jesus Christ Blessed Lord Jesus, no human mind could conceive or invent the gospel. Acting in eternal grace, you are both its messenger and its message, lived out on earth through infinite compassion, applying your life to insult, injury, death, that I might be redeemed, ransomed, freed. The Valley of Vision, p.62 4 Connecting for the Harvest by praying for and with one another
DAY FIVE September 10, 2015 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27 One of the elements of our Baker Missions Offering is designated to help churches become ever healthier. As you take a moment today to pray over our Dakota Baptist Convention, please remember to ask God to help our churches share the Gospel of Jesus and to disciple people in Christlikeness. Key leaders from across our convention, after multiple listening sessions in various Dakota communities, developed a 2020 Plan last year. This plan has the following purpose statement: The Dakota Baptist Convention exists as a network of churches to strengthen one another and work together in starting healthy evangelistic churches. Church health is a major component of our overall plan. Healthy churches and church plants share the love of Jesus with those in their sphere of influence. Evangelism is a strong part of the DNA of a healthy church. The believers who make up these healthy churches are not to be ashamed of sharing with others about Jesus Christ. Healthy churches are disciple-making churches. A large part of each churches ministry is to help their individual members and their corporate body to grow into the image of Christ Jesus. This takes prayer planning time and conscious effort. Please pray for your church and the other DBC churches around our convention to:! Cleary teach the full counsel of the Word of God! To have impactful, God exalting worship! Be passionate about serving the Lord! Be a praying church! Be a disciple-making church! Be a loving and caring church! Be a church that develops leaders! Be a church that is focused on outreach and missions! That follows a clear, God-given vision! That practices faithful stewardship! A church that seeks to give birth to another church May my words and works allure others to the highest walks of faith and love! Cause me to be a mirror of your grace, to show others the joy of your service. The Valley of Vision, p.247-248 Connecting for the Harvest by praying for and with one another 5
DAY SIX September 11, 2015 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. Exodus 17:8-13 Over the years, our Baker Mission Offering has been used to help pastors, churches, and church plants during times of emergency and during times of growth. The Scripture clearly teaches in both Old and New Testaments that believers are to support one another in a multitude of ways. You can rest assured that the simple act of your giving to the Baker Mission Offering will be used to help someone or some church in a time of need; or it may be used to help a church move toward health. You probably know the inadequacies of your own church. You see areas where your church is imperfect. You can waste your time griping about it. However, it is likely, that a pastor, staff, elders, and deacons who genuinely care about the Lord, about the congregation, and about doing church right, serve your church. You are probably right they are missing some things and making mistakes. You can help your church more than you realize. Here are several examples of things you can pray to do and helpful attitudes you can possess:! Pray to be faithful and participate in your church s ministry! Ask God to help you love Him and your brothers and sisters in Christ! Pray for your church, its pastor, elders, and deacons! Pray for God to give you opportunities to shoulder the load of responsibility help hold up the arms of your church! Pray for God to help you get to know your spiritual leaders and to cooperate with them! Ask God to help you apply the teaching and ministry of your church to your life! Seek our and use your spiritual gifts in your church! Ask God to help you be part of the solution and not part of the problem in your church Let those that are united to me in tender ties be precious in your sight and devoted to your glory. Sanctify and prosper my domestic devotion, instruction, discipline, example, that my house may be a nursery for heaven, my church the garden of the Lord, enriched with trees of righteousness of your planting, for your glory. The Valley of Vision, p. 209. 6 Connecting for the Harvest by praying for and with one another
DAY SEVEN September 12, 2015 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. Mark 2:3-5 One way we demonstrate our faith in Christ Jesus is by giving freely to the work of the Lord. Paul told the Corinthian church, The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Cor. 9:6-7) Your giving freely to the Baker Missions Offering confirms your desire to help pastors and churches in their time of need. You may ask, Why would I want to participate in the Baker Mission Offering? There are two main reasons to give. (1) You would give because you are aware of all that God has given to you. (2) You would give because you want to please God. Out of response to God s grace in your life, you find that you want to please God by pursuing various spiritual goals:! You want God to be glorified! You want your heart to be right before God! You want God to be your master! You want your life to be used by God! You want to lay up treasures in heaven! You want your faith to grow! You want to be a compassionate person! You want to be a worshiper of God, giving is a sacrifice that pleases God So, with these spiritual goals in mind, please pray for these things in your life:! Father, please glorify yourself through my cheerful giving to your causes! Father, may my giving help in setting my heart right before you! Father, please be my master even over my money! Father, please use this gift as a demonstration of my giving you my life for your use! Father, may the simple act of giving to the Baker Mission Offering lay up treasure for me in your heaven! Father, may giving to this offering help grow my faith in you! Father, may this offering be a demonstration of my compassion for those who labor for your causes! Father, may this sacrifice be holy and acceptable to you Fill me with an over- flowing ocean of compassion, the reign of love my motive, the law of love my rule. The Valley of Vision, p.327. Connecting for the Harvest by praying for and with one another 7
DAY EIGHT September 13, 2015 And we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 As transformed believers in Christ Jesus, may we recognize our need and ability to help others minister in Jesus Name. The Baker State Missions Offering is one small way you can participate in ministering here in the Dakotas. This offering celebrates the contributions to God s work in the Dakotas by remembering the hundreds of pastors, church planters, their wives, leaders and missionaries who have given sacrificially to the work in the Dakotas. As far as the Baker Missions Offering is concerned, what is given in the Dakotas, stays in the Dakotas. This is the only offering that is given by the people of our Dakota churches with the intention that the resources remain in the Dakotas. If you have not given already, please pray about how much you would like to give to help with pastoral emergencies, church emergencies, church health support, and supporting special events. Today, remember to pray for..! Your pastor and their spouse, for wisdom, encouragement and protection! Your elders and their spouses, for wisdom, encouragement and protection! Your deacons and their spouses, for a passion to serve others! Your churches leadership team / core, ministry leaders and teachers! Your churches health to grow ever more robust in their love of God! Upcoming special events your church has scheduled, may God bless them richly! Your church to have a zeal to share the love of Jesus with your community! Your church to be known in your community as a place where the love of God can be seen in action! Your church to be a community of grace and forgiveness! Your church to be a place of healing wounded hearts and reconciliation! May God take away any strife present in the church body and bring unity I look to a present and personal interest in Christ and say, Surely he has borne my grief s, carried my sorrows, won my peace, healed my soul. Justified by his blood I am saved by his life, glorying in his cross I bow to his scepter, having his Spirit I possess his mind. Lord, grant that my religion may not be occasional and partial, but universal, influential, effective, and may I always continue in your words as well as your works, so that I may reach my end in peace. The Valley of Vision, p. 73. 8 Connecting for the Harvest by praying for and with one another