We are pumped to announce our plans for Easter 2012.  We will be gathering at the Frank Jones Center on the Rt 1 Bypass in Portsmouth. And we'll be meeting at 10am - which means you may actually have to set your alarm to get there on time!  We are having a join celebration with our sister church, Christ the King, and we will actually be sending invitations to thousands of homes around the seacoast. Check out FinallyAlive.org for more information!

On a mission

We felt that coming off of the 40 days of prayer and fasting, this is an opportune time for mission. Jesus spent 40 days praying and fasting before he began his public ministry. So we're going to be inviting thousands of people to join us to celebrate his resurrection.  Then in May we will be intentionally and sacrificially serving the city - from opening up the underground for Children's Day to getting our hands dirty at REBUILD, physically blessing the city that we love. We'll also be picking up trash and praying for people on Market Square Day.  It's going to be a great Spring at Harbor Church!

Definition is key

What does it mean to pray?  It seems for people in general, prayer means to ask God for something and many pray only when they need something.  But actually prayer is much more than that.  It is the opportunity to meet with God and to interact with Him.  Take a moment to really reflect on this....to meet with God (God of heaven and earth!) and to interact with Him.  Isn't that amazing! We should be thrilled and excited that God Almighty has given us access directly to Him.  He graciously encourages us to come before His throne. He says we will find Him if we seek Him and furthermore that He will listen and He will answer.  Prayer is not a one way communication.  God is actively listening which makes prayer very effective!  When we pray for others we are participating with God in His Kingdom purposes.  When we pray for our neighborhood, government, nations we are making spiritual impact because God is listening….and He will answer.  So when we start our conversation with God how can we not start but with thanksgiving and praises!

Before anything God deserves to be acknowledged for who He is and all He does for us.  It would be the opportune moment to tell Him thanks for His blessing in our personal life (the sun that rises every morning, the air we breathe, grace that is renewed every morning, our daily provision, family etc.).  Personalize it to you and how good God is to you. Give Jesus thanksgiving for taking our sins away and allowing us to enter the Most Holy place.  Eph 2:6 says we were raised up with Jesus and seated with Him in the heavenly places.  Thank Him for the Cross and His resurrection.  Thank Him for calling you by name and pulling you out of darkness into light.  We should give thanksgiving until our soul bursts out in praises and heart is filled with joy.  To worship and exalt God is what we were created for!  Can you not imagine the smile on His face?  Then feel His presence sweep in.   Scripture says that as we behold Him we are transformed (2Cor3:18).  When your eyes are set on Him and your vision of God widens, your faith increases, then offer your petitions.  I guarantee you will be seeing your needs differently from when you first started.   Reading scripture is a great way to come to Him boldly and ask because it is His words that you will claim.  And always take a few moments to listen for Him too.  He may surprise you.

Let's get praying!

Let prayer flow from the depths of your heart not by duty or guilt but by a desire to meet with God.  Terry Virgo recommends not to start prayer by confessing or worries because it will keep you focused on yourself and your problems and you will never meet with God.  I will agree with him because I have done it many times in the past.  If you need to confess do after your spirit is lifted up and do it with thanksgiving because when we confess we are forgiven!  Phil 4:6 says,  "Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God".  Have peace knowing that God already knows your needs as written in Matthew 6:8, your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.   Have you ever wondered what was Jesus doing when He went off to pray in solitude.  I cannot imagine He was doing anything less than exalting, worshipping, glorifying God, giving thanksgiving and interceeding in our behalf.

So enter His gates with thanksgiving and joy then present your supplications.  1 Thes 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  Believe in the power of prayer.  God will answer because He is exalted through answered prayers and it’s His desire to lavish His grace on us when we humble ourselves and look to Him for help.

We exalt you O Lord, Creator of heaven and earth and everything in it.  You are so much bigger than all the galaxies known to man and you know each star by name. Nothing can compare to you, nothing can contain you.  By your word you create and you give life.  And you, O Lord, created us for your glory.  You called us each by name, you know how many hairs we have on our head, you know us individually, and you incline your ears towards me.  Thank you Jesus that for the joy set before you, while we were still sinners, You endured the Cross.

Thank you Jesus for taking our sins and nailing them on the cross so that we can be forgiven and by your blood, we are now righteous children in the eyes of our Father.  Thank you for your blessings and your promises that we can cling on to because you are forever faithful and your love abounds.  Thank you that I have everything I need for today.  Thank you that I can come boldly before you and meet with You.

You are an amazing God. There is nothing you cannot do.  You are in control of everything and everything has a plan and a purpose that is for good.  Thank you that you lavish your grace upon us.  Holy Spirit open our eyes wider to see how deep, how wide, how high is our Fathers love for me.  Help me to believe that I have authority to move mountains, to heal the sick and set captives free to bring glory to our Father.  Bring us to complete unity so that the world may know You.  Protect us from the enemy, keep us from temptation, sanctify us with your truth.

Thank you that we are in You and You in us, nothing can separate us, nothing can come against us.  For your name's sake Oh God be glorified and let nations know that you are God the one and only true living God.  Be glorified, Oh God, be glorified!

Awesome promises from Jesus:

Mark 11:24  "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

James 5:16b  "The prayer of a righteous person has great power.

John 14:12-14  "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; a greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.  Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

1 John 5:13-15  "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.  And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him."

"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." (Luke 24:27 ESV)

Last weekend, January 27-28, Harbor Church and Christ the King Church had the pleasure of having Sam Poe come from Tacoma Washington to teach on Chronological Bible Storying (CBS). Sam has had great results using this method to teach the Bible to oral learners all around the world, including in the USA.

Prior to the story being told, Sam established some ground rules in regards to the telling of the story and the discussion to take place after. Once setting into place these rules, Sam began to tell the story of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4. For the record I was rather skeptical as to how well CBS would work, but right from the start I was hooked into the story. As the story unfolded, Sam kept me, and the rest of the group, engaged with what he was saying without adding to or elaborating the story.

Upon finishing the story Sam asked simple questions to get the group talking such as:

What does this story tell us about God?

How do you relate to the story?

Is there any area of confusion?

By asking pointed questions, after establishing the ground rules, I was amazed at how simple of a method CBS is. What was even more surprising to me was the amount of knowledge that I was able to retain in such a short period of time. I am incredibly encouraged to see how the Lord could use CBS to lay a solid a foundation for equipping disciples to make disciples here is the USA.

Prior to Sam’s coming, I was encouraged by church leadership to read Avery T. Willis Jr. and Mark Snowden’s book, Truth that Sticks: How to Communicate Velcro Truth in a Teflon World. This book gives helpful insight into the shift within the USA from a country of literate learns to oral learners.

Next week, Feb 1 is the start of our corporate 40 days of prayer and fasting. Of course there is no pressure to have to do this, though as a church I hope we can all enter into this season of prayer together, setting aside time personally and also in our community groups.

The Harbor leadership are committed to fasting during this period and are inviting you to join them if you are able. We are doing this, not because we are trying to get something from God, like we have to twist his arm to bless us! Rather, we believe that God is inviting us to draw near to him, that he wants to prepare us for what he is going to do among us. So, we are responding to his grace, giving ourselves to this season of prayer and fasting to meet with him, engage with him and hear from him. Fasting, while not commanded in the bible, was practiced by the early church (Acts 13:2) and assumed by Jesus (Mt 6:16, 9:15). While people may often fast in times of great need or when seeking direction, we should not think that we earn anything from fasting, rather it is a gift of God given for our benefit and so that he might be glorified through it.

If you are thinking about fasting, what kind of fast? Some are planning to do a partial fast as Daniel and his friends did in the Old Testament – just vegetables and fruit. Some may prefer to fast on a particular day each week, or to skip a meal every day in order to pray. Some may want to do an extended fast drinking just juice or water for all or part of the time, though not advised for pregnant women and anyone with medical conditions.

It has been asked whether fasting from television or social media is acceptable. My response would be that if these things are taking up lots of your time and you plan to set this aside for a season in order to pray, then that is a good thing. Whenever we make God and prayer the priority in our lives it is a good thing! And so if that's what you want to do for these 40 days, then of course that is totally acceptable. However, I would say, that a true fast involves food, because we can do without media, but not food. When fast from food, it is an expression of our hunger for God, that he is more important and we are more dependent on him than even the food we eat.

Here is a quote from John Piper’s book, 'A Hunger for God' that may provoke you:

“If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God…it is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast: ‘This much, O God, I want you.’”