Thanks for the Prayers!

Dear Congregation,

I have to tell you that I’m so pleased with the first month of 2009, and it’s not just because of the attendance, attitudes, and positive movement in all sorts of arenas here at Main Street. I am so excited because (for whatever reason) prayer seems to be a growing focus. I certainly have appreciated the nearly fifty people who have expressed their intention to personally pray with me on a monthly basis, and I appreciate the amount of prayer that is happening all of the time on an individual basis and in the context of ABFs, homefires, and other church-related gatherings.

The prayer going on around here is both empowering and humbling. Obviously, church-wide prayer is empowering because it is God who does the work, and without God’s blessing nothing worth doing is ever accomplished. Less obviously, church-wide prayer is also humbling because when any one person or group within the church “succeeds” there must be the humble recognition that without the prayer support of the whole family there would be no victories.

I love the story involving Denzel Washington that came out in Parade magazine about a year ago. Everybody needs somebody who's willing to deflate their egos from time to time—even movie stars like Denzel Washington. While promoting 2007's The Great Debaters, Washington was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. Midway through their conversation, Washington noted the encouragement his mother had given him throughout his life. He also shared this story of his mother's reproof over his budding pride:

I walked in the house one day and—feeling full of myself, a movie star—I said to my mother, "Did you ever think this was all going to happen?" She was like, "Please. First of all, go wash the windows for me. You have no idea how many people have been praying for you when you were being a knucklehead."

When we pray together for one another not only are our victories more numerous and greater, but they are also shared. Nothing moves a church forward in unity like prayer. So, thank you for praying, and keep it up!

Your Pastor,
Ernest Jones