To the Congregants and Friends of First Baptist Church of Pittsfield (FBC)—
The Holy Spirit spoke into my heart this past Sunday to continue the message focus on “Living into the Power of Prayer.” I am being led to include prayer requests from people at the end of my message. This is a little scary since I am delving into the unknown here at FBC. Meaning, I don’t know what type of requests will come in…but that’s where I’m trusting God for guidance. I will do my best to make the prayer requests as concise as possible without losing the intent of the person’s request.
I have taught the components of prayer in Bible studies; I have preached on prayer before, and I have tried to create a prayer group here at FBC that wasn’t successful. Sometimes, people are just afraid and uncomfortable to pray in the presence of others. Or, it could be that people don’t want others to know about their problems or suffering. This time I will be doing the praying on behalf of others…this is called intercessory prayer. These are prayers we must conduct on behalf of others.
Now, with these intercessory prayers, I will offer the prayers after an abbreviated sermon. People who choose to have their name associated with the request can do so or names can be confidential, but the prayer request will still be made. The media team will try and do a graphic of the requests on Sunday over the Live Stream. If not, I will still have a copy of your requests in order to do the prayers. If you don’t make a request, I will pray a general prayer for all souls viewing the worship, those in our community, the state, nation, and around the world.
Remember, I am just being obedient to what I believe God is leading me to do. God’s Will be Done on earth as it is in Heaven!!!
We look forward to our time together this coming Sunday, March 14th at 10 am on PCTV – 1301. Also, you can join us by going to FBC Facebook Live Stream (First Baptist Church of Pittsfield, Mass) and “friending us.” As stated, the sermon for this Sunday is Living into the Power of Prayer (Part 2)—I John 5:14-15 and Matthew 6:10b!!!! Contemplate those scriptures in preparation for the sermon, and mainly focus on what you believe when you say, “Thy will be done” as it relates to God’s Will.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Sheila