Hey Everyone!!
Be sure to come to Leadership Prayer this Wednesday night at 7:00. Last week was awesome!
THIS Friday night is Friday Night Fire. It is from 8:00 - 10:00. We'll meet in the prayer chapel. Can't wait to see you all there!
Freely you have received, freely give...
There are NUMEROUS Outreach opportunities!
There are going to be weekly outreaches starting up that you are ALL invited to be a part of! Their theme and goal is to be an extravagant blessing, and to bring the reality of Jesus to the streets. Listen out for these opportunities to join with them!
Current weekly events you can join in with are...
- Athens PB & J on Sundays at 2
- Downtown Sundays at 4:30
- Alps Shopping Center Tuesdays at 5
- To the campus Wednesdays at 12:30 AND Thursdays at 3
Email Laura Phillips at lauraphillips84@gmail.com to get the contact info for the leaders of each outreach, and the place to meet at.
Athens Area Right to Life called us to let us know that they are having a candlelight vigil on January 22 from 7-8 p.m at the arch downtown to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade
The tenth annual MorningStar conference happened this weekend—did you hear about it? Before we launch into a recap, please know that you are more than welcome to talk to any of the directors or your discipler if you have any questions/comments from this weekend.
So…what happened on FRIDAY NIGHT?
On Friday evening Stephen Alls and the team kicked off the theme of the weekend—hunger. Stephen shared that he never wanted to become satisfied with where he was with the Lord—that he wanted to be content in what the Lord did today, and be ever longing for more—vowing to himself never be that far away from Him as he was today. The team really emphasized the verse that if you draw near to God, that you KNOW he is responding by drawing near to you.
A few team members shared testimonies about their hunger for the Lord. One talked about how the Lord’s heart longs to be with him more than he could ever long to be with the Lord. You can’t just “get hungry”, you have to choose to be hungry, and then you press in. He said “discipline brings freedom”; that as you are disciplined in going after the Lord you grow in freedom.
Matthew 15:21-28. This woman was hungry to experience healing, and was even rejected time and time again. But, her hunger moved the heart of God. From this passage, the team said that we have to most past initial disappointment, and press in towards the Lord.
A closing point of Saturday evening is that we can decide how close we want to be to the Lord, and that we can go after it.
SATURDAY MORNING. It was about WAFFLE, not waffles, WAFFLE. It's an acronym that stands for practical ways to get in, stay in, and practice being in the presence of the Lord.
W-A-F-F-L-E-S
W – Waiting on the Lord—locking self away intentionally; giving things to Him, and having your mind set on Him
A – Abiding in His presence; constantly going back to the Lord
F – Fleeing temptation (attention & all), turn the other direction
F – Fasting (declaring dependency on God…food, tithing)
L – Loving people; the Lord is love; if you want to encounter Him then you must love others
E – Eat the Scroll (Bible); getting INTO the Bible; repeating verses and really letting them be yours
S – Submitting to authority; we get accelerated into having authority when we honor authority
SATURDAY NIGHT: An awesome night of worship, prayer, blessing over one another, and dwelling in the presence of God.
SUNDAY MORNING: Each year, the Morningstar students take the opportunity Sunday morning to share prophetic words they have received in regards to the whole Wesley body. We're not going to list them all here, but it seems that there is a great deal of hunger for the Lord amongst you guys. Many of the words were encouraging us to go after that hunger!
You guys are a blessing!
Hey Leaders!!!
*Don't forget about "Eat the Book." We meet every Tuesday afternoon from 3:30 - 4:30 in the main chapel at Wesley. THIS week will be a recap of all that has been taught up until now. So, if you couldn't make it last year but really wanted to, you can come tomorrow and feel all caught up!! It is a wonderful time to dive into, grow in passion for, and learn how to read the Bible!!
*We have Leadership Prayer THIS Wednesday night before the service at 7:00 in the room attached to the Grand Ballroom at Tate (that's the same room as last year). Our very own Clay Kirkland will be leading us in prayer as David will be off to sit in hours upon hours of class. Jealous? I'm not.
*If you have questions about Morning Star, ask your discipler or talk to a director. No question is a bad question!
*Be looking out for more information on the Women's and Men's Retreats. They are at the end of this month. SO, save your money, pack your bags, and get excited!!!
The MorningStar Ministry Weekend is almost here! Woo-hoo!
A few things...
Don't forget about your individual encouragement time that you signed-up for (if you didn't sign-up for a time check the sign-up sheets at Wesley for openings). Please try to be early! Also, it's helpful to bring your discipler or a friend in with you to your personal encouragement time to write what words you receive, so you can just focus on what's being said at the time, and then have a list to be able to go back to later.
The big-group times are as follows:
Session one: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Session two: Saturday, 10 a.m.-noon
Session three: Saturday, 7:00 p.m.
Session four: Sunday, 10 a.m.-noon
All of the large sessions are going to happen at Wesley (on Lumpkin Street) in the big chapel.
Let us know if you have any questions! See you soon!
One of my prayers for our community over the break was that we would be strengthened in the Spirit to persevere in our pursuit of God. With a new semester, a new schedule, new opportunities, we have an open door to move toward the Lord (or not). As a community, we have high hopes for our campus and city--desires to see yet-believers come to know Jesus, to see the broken restored and those that are bound up live in freedom.
And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:11).
But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ (II Corinthians 11:3).
There are so many things that can divide our hearts and make our lives in God complex. My hope for us is that we will lean into God in new ways, trust him in things that have been difficult before and enjoy knowing him better.
Challenge. Pray for us that we would not lose heart or grow distracted and cluttered in our love of God. Ask the Lord how the pattern of your life helps/hurts the simplicity of your own devotion to Christ.
So, I am terrified of many things. They aren't the outward things like spiders or heights or the boogeyman. You will never hear me squealing over a roach or worrying about people breaking into my house. Nope. I am scared of far worse things. I am scared of things that could potentially ruin my life. Actually, I am scared of things that, if I allow them to, have the potential to keep me from ever living at all.
I am scared of...
failure
the unknown
rejection
disobedience
decisions
imperfection
Fear has a paralyzing effect. It keeps us from action. It keeps us from making decisions. It keeps us in our self-protective shells -- where we incorrectly think the world can't harm us if we retreat to them.
My prayer today...God, I want to live. I want to truly live. I don't want what ifs, unknowns, hurts, or any other fears to keep me from the life that you have for me -- the life that is mine in Christ Jesus. Thank you for living and dying so that I might always live.
What are you afraid of? What fear is keeping you from abundance?
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