The Gathering!

The Gathering

An Evening Together with Athens Link, The Awakening, Glory Church, and The Light

Friday, September 10, 6:00 p.m.

Penny Mahoney's Farm

Come join us for fun, fellowship, and worship at this pot-luck style dinner!

Food notes...

If you are from Athens Link please bring a main dish;

If you are from the Awakening please bring a side item;

If you are from Glory Church please bring a dessert; and

If you are from The Light please bring salad/bread.

Fan the Fire

Last night, our prayer night for Athens Link Fellowship shifted into joining another worship group, UGA Wesley, for a beautiful time of praise, worship, and word. It is very encouraging to see over 1000 young people gathering to seek fellowship in the Lord. May our Lord bless Wesley's leadership and use those college students who are seeking Him.
During one of the praise songs, we sang a verse that called upon God to "Fan the Fire".
We really do want His Holy Spirit to have more of us. Without the Holy Spirit living IN us, we are powerless. Jesus left us with a trusting Counselor to walk with us.
Normally, it is natural for us, as humans, to flee fire because it hurts, and it consumes our flesh.
But, in this case, we should desire the fire of the Holy Spirit to consume our worldy sins so that our only thoughts are about our Father.
In Hebrews 12:29, it says "God is a consuming fire." This is the good fire of redemption. To be consumed by the Holy Spirit's fire is to desire to be free of the dross of our sins, our selfishness, our lust, our greed - everything that is not focused on being in true covenant relationship with God.
But, the Holy Spirit's fire must be ever-present in us so that we can agree with Jesus: "Here I am...I have come to do your will, O God" (Hebrews 10:7).
Are we willing to let this fire consume us? Do we seek MORE of the Spirit's fire when our situations in life get overbearing? The Kingdom of God is NOW, so..why are we waiting to enjoy His presence later in Heaven?
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). We are not to pursue our own worldly peace, but to stay in one place: IN the Holy Spirit's fire because that is where we find Him and want to please Him.
May we be consumed by Him today so that we will see more of Him working in our lives.

Wednesday Night Prayer Summary, August 18

Wednesday, August 18 Prayer Summary

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Matthew 8:10

Prayer Requests:

-JOBS for Candace, Christiana, Caren, John R, Grace & David, & Seth

-Mike and Olga C.

-Penny's mother, Peggy--for her SIGHT to be restored

-HEALTH: Paul W., Mike S.

-The downtown prayer room, and a new prayer room opening in Watkinsville; praying for unity and finances

-September 10 gathering

Praises!

-Tommy York got an excellent report from the doctor!

What we opened in worship to...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQTsbSl69O8

Check it out!

What Happened:

After we spent time interceding for the afore mentioned topics, we moved into a lengthy conversation on the authority we have and the impact of our language in prayer. As you read through the New Testament, Jesus and His disciples didn't pray "God will you heal" when praying for healing. Rather, they SPOKE healing into people; they declared it into being. God's will is always to heal. When one prays for healing, you are coming into agreement with God's will. When you pray for peace, you are agreeing with God's will.

Declare peace! Declare joy! Declare healing!

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Matthew 10:1

We can have confidence in Him, because He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. We pray that you will be filled over and over with His spirit this week, and that living supernaturally will become your natural experience.

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

NEXT WEEK!

NO prayer meeting at Penny's; INSTEAD, meet at 7:00 p.m. at the Gaultney's to carpool to go to the Wesley Foundation Service!

Wednesday Night Prayer Summary, August 11

Wednesday Night Prayer Summary, August 11, 2010

Matthew 8:23-26

When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the wave; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing!" He said to them, "why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.

Jesus was with His disciples and the storm still came. Just because He is with us does not mean that storms will not come; rather, HE is the way to overcome the storm. God is glorified by getting us through the storm. Because of Him we have the authority to speak to those storms. The rebuke Jesus said was essentially, "don't you know who I am?" We HAVE to know who He is. We have to have the faith that He is with us in storms, because He is.

Praises!

-Jimmy's friend Jason, who was partially-paralyzed in a car accident, is doing better!

-Tommy's mouth is better.

Prayer requests:

-Mike & Olga Cantrell

-Kim's mother, Lola

-Candace for a job and covering for her family

-Grace and David Oh in their job hunt

-Rhonda's niece Holly (in ER in Orlando)

-Stuart D., Chris' son, who is starting HS

-The September 10 event (details & good weather!)

What happened:

When we came together on Wednesday night at Penny's to pray, addressing needs in our body became the dominant prayer topic. After worshipping the Lord (singing of how GOOD it is to trust in Him), we shared what was going on with us and then moved into prayer for those things. We did not break into smaller groups, but rather prayed as one big group, and prayed for hurting and ill family members and friends, children starting new schools, major-transitions, and the UGA body. After we finished praying, Cindy and Grace both heard Psalm 23 from the Lord, which speaks of the goodness of the Lord and is full of so many promises. It is so special that what is of concern to us is of concern to the Lord. Take your burdens to Him, for He cares for you!

Unity in Christ - I Corinthians 1:10

Though it had only been a short time since Paul founded the church in Corinth, discord and differences of opinion had already raised its ugly head among the people. Satan had moved quickly to bring confusion and dis-unity. We must stay on our guard, because Satan will bring action in the opposite direction to discourage all good work.

Paul is calling us to "be perfectly united in mind and thought". For perfection to pervade in us, we must abide in Christ. In Ephesians 4:23, we are encouraged to "be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness".

Before we look at how to bring unity in Christ, let's look at some things that bring dis-unity in Christ's church. We must take time to consider what needs to be defeated in our lives:
1. Unrepented sins
2. Unforgiving hearts
3. Personal greed and selfishness, not just financially, but with our time and our willingness to serve
4. Interpretation of God's word for selfish purposes
5. Worrying about another person's heart, rather than our own
6. Critical heart, judgment, condemnation

On the "other side of the coin" of life, how do we achieve unity in Christ?
Live the command of Christ to "love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.. and to love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37 and 39.
One example is being willing to look out for each other as the Israelites did in Nehemiah 4:15-23.
By abiding IN HIM we create chains of unbreakable relationships through an atmosphere of TOTAL trust where there is no condemnation, judgment, no lying or deceit.

We are back to Romans 12:1 as we "offer your bodies as living sacrifices (dying to self daily), holy and pleasing to God.." In this place of surrender we give thanksgiving to God for ALL things... having a humble/contrite spirit so that we can be conformed to the mind of Christ.

Lord, may we daily submit ourselves to Your perfect will, with the knowledge that You have your "good, pleasing, and perfect will" in mind for Your children.

Wednesday Night Prayer Summary, August 4

August 4, Wednesday Night Prayer Summary

Romans 8:31-39

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We DO overwhelmingly conquer all things through Him who loves us. We DO have confidence to approach the throne of grace, because of what He has done. Tonight was marked by a confidence to cry out to our Heavenly Father for those things that were on our hearts.

Praises!

Jimmy, who Link prayed over a few weeks ago about recurring headaches, has not had any since! PTL!

Prayer Requests:

Men of the Link meeting with men at the Light starting this week

What happened:

Cindy referenced back to the word that Candace shared on Sunday night from Deuteronomy 7. The word that Candace shared pertained to warnings from Deut. 7 for individuals to be aware of. It is necessary to deal with the interior land, what is inside, before you can move to take the land, so to walk in the authority that is ours.

The group went into a time of annointed worship (led by Kelli M.) and prayer. People followed the promptings of the Holy Spirit to pray for the things on their hearts. We cried out for Israel, the Middle East, our nation, and of course, Athens. Per John, this time was "off the chart." It was a time of sweet intercession marked by confidence and agreement between one another and the Spirit. God is for us, and it is precious to join with His heart.

You are encouraged to be still and listen to those things the Lord is placing on your heart, and intercede for them. You are a child of the most high God and are filled with His spirit, and it is part of your inheritance to join Him with confidence in prayer. And, as you spend time introspectively, really put before the Lord any struggles that you may be having. You do not have to carry around struggles--freedom IS for you.

Samson's Victory

In Judges 16, we read about Samson's failures and inability to move away from his weakness with women. Despite his overwhelming physical strength, Samson could not see his vulnerability as one that could be overtaken.
After losing the evidence of his strength, being overtaken by the Philistines, having his eyes torn out, Samson lost even more: the presence of God.
Without His presence, Samson did not see himself as we should in Romans 12:3 (living sacrifices who die to self daily), but his actions turned Samson from God's presence, and he became powerless to defeat the enemy.
He knew his weaknesses but disregarded them for his own delight/comfort.
Did Samson not know that he would give away his special gift that he had since birth? In his disregard, Samson caused consequences for all.
But, in the end, he turned to God as he chose to become a living sacrifice by pulling down the pillars on himself and kill the enemy also.
Lord, may we be willing to acknowledge our inability to move without you and submit ourselves to Your good will for us. We know that you love a humble spirit and contrite heart. To You, we are thankful for Your lovingkindness.