Council Reflections from Mike Pelle

Central Family,

This coming Sunday is REFORMATION DAY! I hope you are planning on participating at one of our five Sunday worship opportunities. Worship at Central is at 8:15AM, 9:30AM, 11:00AM and 6:00PM. Worship at the YMCA is at 9:30AM.  In addition to your regular weekly worship,  I invite you to join 58 young men and women for the Rite of Confirmation at 2:00 in the Sanctuary!  Please pray that each of these young men and women will grow as Christ followers throughout their earthly life!

This week we are privileged to hear from Council member, Mike Pelle,  share some thoughts about Ephesians 3:14-21 and lead us in prayer.  Thank you Mike!

Ephesians 3: 14-21 A Call to Prayer

There are a couple of things in this passage that really stand out to me.

The first is what an awesome prayer this is. Who wouldn’t want to have this prayer prayed for them? To have someone who is walking with God and has experienced his love, asking God to pour out the same love and blessings on us is all we could ask for. These are people Paul cares about deeply. Have you ever seen or experienced something really awesome and wished that someone you care about was there to see or experience what you did? I think that is what led Paul to pray as he did. Paul knows the love of Christ. He tells in verses 2-6 how the mystery of Christ was revealed to him by grace, so he prays in verses 16-19 that God would pour out his grace on the Ephesian believers so that they might understand the mystery as well. What a privilege to know that you are being prayed for like that.

The second thing is, what can I learn from this passage? What can we all learn from this passage? During 2011 we have been seeking to discern Gods design for the body of Central. Could it be that we are being called to follow Paul’s example and pray this prayer into the lives of those in our sphere? Most of us don’t have a problem praying for someone’s physical needs if they are sick or hurt. If we care enough to pray for a person’s physical needs, how much more should we be praying for their spiritual needs? Jesus told us all to go and make disciples, but we can’t do it alone. Yes we need to be obedient and do what he has called us to do, but we also know that he is the one who can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, so we need to pray that his power would be displayed in the lives of those we are discipling.

I have a message for the men. Several years ago, by the grace of God I came to realize that it was my responsibility to be the spiritual leader of my family. I can’t do that on my own, but I can call upon the power of God when I bring my family before Him in prayer each day. There are many statistics available detailing the impact of an engaged husband and father on his family. Unfortunately there are many negative statistics detailing what happens when fathers don’t fulfill the roles God designed for them. This is what the movie Courageous displayed so powerfully. What can we do to change the negative statistics of divorce and children growing up without a father in the home? It starts with us. This should start at home. We should make sure that we are fulfilling our roles in our own families. We can speak the truth to the men in our sphere who have never heard about the role God has called us to fulfill in our family’s lives. More importantly, we can follow Paul’s example and pray for the power of God to work in the hearts and minds of those in our sphere. Like I mentioned in my own case, it was by God’s grace that this truth was revealed to me and there are many others out there who need that grace. Please pray with me.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for being a God of grace. Thank you for your provision of grace to me. Thank you for your word and for the saints who have gone before us like the Apostle Paul who have shared your mysteries with us. I know that there are many others who need to know your saving grace. I pray that you would send forth your spirit into families in this country, that they would know your love for them and would know your plan for their lives. I pray that you would use the movie courageous to stir a revival of family in this country.  I pray in the name of your beloved son Jesus. Amen.