I have been praying for many months now, asking the Holy Spirit to visit our church with "fresh oil and fresh fire" from on high. Churches, like individuals, go through seasons of spiritual malaise and a lukewarm attitude towards the Lord and His Kingdom. These are times when Jesus may seem very far away. You find yourself going through the motions of "churchianity" but an all-consuming zeal for Jesus is only a memory or maybe not even that. It's a dryness of spirit and you find yourself saying to no one in particular, "Is this really all there is to my walk with Christ?" Of course, you know the answer but you may not know how to get out of that "slough of despond" as Christian put it in Pilgrim's Progress.
However, even if your life is riding high right now, there is always the need to more perfectly image Christ in our lives. I pray that you join our elders and pastoral staff in asking the Father to make the coming years the greatest period of Kingdom effectiveness in the life of Westminster. If this is to be the case, it will mean a broken and contrite heart for us all. It will mean a fresh commitment to live for God's glory and not our own agendas. It will mean a rekindled heart that burns for the advancement of the gospel. This is what the leadership of our church desires. This is what we are praying for and we must not and dare not settle for anything less.
Enclosed you'll find a DVD reviewing our upcoming Thirst Conference. This is a 4-day event that is meant to stir your heart and mind in fresh ways. As Nancy Lee DeMoss puts it, this should be a time where "the roof comes off (wherein God moves upon us and we respond to Him) and the walls come down" in relation to one another. We are asking the Lord to bring renewal, restoration, repentance, rejuvenation and rejoicing in our sovereign King.
We are asking you to clear your calendar from April 25-28th. The conference begins on Sunday morning and concludes Wednesday evening. The team will handle everything from childcare to youth ministry to sound so that all of our church family can be present. All that you and your children need do is show up with a heart ready to respond to God's Word whatever that may mean in your life. Help your children get ahead with their schoolwork so they can attend (remember that the vast majority of people who come to Christ do so before the age of eighteen). Please move appointments wherever possible to other dates of your schedule. Ask coaches to allow your son/daughter to attend without penalty. I cannot tell you what our God has in store for us but beseech Him to "open the windows of heaven and pour you (and all of us) out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Malachi 3:10.
Please pray every day for this time together. Pray that the Holy Spirit will anoint the team from Life Action Ministries. Pray for a spirit of prayer and utter dependence upon our God for He alone can provide all that we need. Praise the Lord for what He is going to do as we lay ourselves before Him to "work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure."
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