— THE RIVER JOURNAL —
The River is our worship-based prayer rally on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall. However, this is like no Wednesday night prayer meeting you have ever been to! With no set agenda, members and visitors alike gather to seek the Lord through worship, prayer, the reading of Scriptures and ministry to those with special needs and requests. Below are journal entries from The River. Come and join us! You will be blessed.
PASTORAL CHALLENGE FOR 2007: Give corporate prayer a priority and seek God together in The River. The early church devoted themselves to prayer…it's got to be move beyond "convenient prayer" and there are things He won't do until we're devoted to Him in prayer. In The River, that we would decrease and God would increase.
Share Your Story: Has the Lord ministered to you in a special way as a result of your participation in The River? We encourage you to share your experience with us. Paul said, “speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). Click here to use the "Count Me In" form to tell your story.
Note: These summaries capture how the Lord has moved corporately in The River. This journal doesn’t list the many ways in which the Lord ministers and speaks personally to those who come.
04/23/08 —
Main Themes: Praising God and confessing our sins were paramount tonight. God is seeking to do a deep work in us. May we let Him!
04/16/08 —
Main Themes: Strong sense of God’s leading us to be alert to what we see and hear in the days to come. We will need to use discernment, operate as one, and actively stand upon the promises of God. Praise reports of how we see God working around us to bring people to relationship with Christ. He truly is!
04/09/08 —
Main Themes: Discipleship and praying for our neighbors continued to dominate our time in The River.
04/02/08 —
Main Themes: Exalting the name of the Lord; showering Him with praise and adoration in order for His fullness to enter our lives. Don brought a word that God wants us to "give Him permission" to activate divine appointments in our lives. Finished with prayers of healing for those among us who are ill.
03/26/08 —
Main Themes: "More Lord" and "discipleship" were tonight’s themes. Some gave testimonies and we cried out to the Lord for those who will disciple the ones who entered a relationship with Christ at Easter. We continued praying for our neighbors, surrounding neighborhoods, and for visitors who came to LAC for our Easter services.
03/19/08 —
Main Themes: Powerful time in prayer and worship “lifting on high” the name of Jesus. Bathed ourselves in Scriptures having to do with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Prayed extensively for those in our community who are seeking Truth and testimonies from many of how God is drawing many people into relationship with Him.
03/12/08 —
Main Themes: Praying for the lost dominated our prayer time tonight as well as praying healing for those among us who are sick. We also focused on praising God for His various attributes—faithfulness, majesty, glory, intimacy, etc.
03/05/08 —
Main Themes: The song "I Need Thee Every Hour" set the stage for revealing how much we need to rely on God and not ourselves...how dangerous self-sufficiency is. Prayer for so many in our congregation who are ill right now. We also heard from C&MA missionary to Thailand, Steve Strong, and had the chance to pray for his family and their ministry.
02/27/08 —
Main Themes: Asking the Lord to search our hearts was the central theme tonight. It’s a continuation from Sunday’s powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. Beginning to pray toward Easter in March.
02/20/08 —
Main Themes: Began praying for the upcoming missions festival and for God to work in individuals, families, and the lives of our children. The big theme tonight was trusting the Lord and taking hold of His hand. Lord, may it be so!
02/13/08 —
Main Themes: Many were in town for the College of Prayer (4 continents represented). Restore and Christ as our Redeemer was the emphasis tonight. We also prayed for deeper unity among people.
02/06/08 —
Main Themes: God led us to the theme of submission tonight. He can’t do everything in our lives He desires until we submit in total trust to Him. Prayer for our international brothers and sisters who are ministering around Lilburn.
01/30/08 —
Main Themes: Restore was a huge theme tonight, especially in the area of healing. We prayed for the physical, emotional, and spiritual healing of many who were there. Many outside the church are also calling asking elders to come and pray for them. God is on the move in Lilburn!!
01/23/08 —
Main Themes: The holiness of God. We truly remained and lingered on the topic. Seeing God afresh in this light gave us deep perspective of who we are... are not... and where God is taking us. Declarations about His holiness and glory, for us to walk by faith, and under His authority.
01/16/08 —
Main Themes: Focused prayer on discipleship, corporately and in small group prayer time. God continues to release His vision into our hearts about what discipleship should look like at LAC. One attendee, Chris, shared how God had recently led her to releasing pride and walking in transparency. A powerful time of testimony and prayer tonight.
01/09/08 —
Main Themes: The nearness of God was strong tonight. A theme emerged of God’s desire for faith, forgiveness, filling, fire and the building of a fortress of praise in our lives. This is in light of us emerging as more intentional disciple-makers this year.
01/02/08 —
Main Themes: Our yearly theme is "You are great in 2008." Tonight healing came strong — spiritual healing, in relationships, and beyond. Prayer for humility among the body of Christ to receive the healing God wants to give. There were testimonies of God’s provision in recent days as well as a powerful time of prayer over our worship leader.
12/26/07 —
Main Themes: No River on December 26.
12/19/07 —
Main Themes: The incarnation of Christ came strong tonight as we centered our minds and thoughts on Christmas. Many led out singing carols and we shared communion as well.
12/12/07 —
Main Themes: The glory of God filling our lives filled The River tonight. A man came for the elders to pray over him. He’s in the advanced stages of liver cancer. It was a powerful time of intercession, encouragement, and pouring out of God’s heart for him and his wife. Update from the All Nations Christmas Celebration: a number indicated a desire to have a relationship with the Lord, including an influential man in the Hindu community. Praise God!
12/05/07 —
Main Themes: A number of testimonies of God’s provision in trying circumstances. Thankful for His timing! Concentrated prayer for the upcoming All Nations Celebration Sunday. The Lord led us to pray over certain ones in need of healing and empowerment during this season.
11/28/07 —
Main Themes: Report from the Waveland, MS mission trip from Thanksgiving. Many from the community were reached, some children received Christ, and a 5-year partnership with the church down there was officially established. Continuing to see God create a structure for us to receive, nurture and impact our neighbors with the love of Christ. We must engage and obey!!!
11/21/07 —
Main Themes: Thanksgiving Eve Service filled with testimonies of God’s work amongst us in 2007. Father, THANK YOU most for who you are. We love you!!
11/14/07 —
Main Themes: Healing for families on a variety of levels came forth tonight. Many gave testimonies of opportunities to minister to family, friends, and strangers in recent days. We prayed for the team heading to Mississippi over Thanksgiving to hand out meals to Katrina survivors and minister to families.
11/07/07 —
Main Themes: "Breakthrough" will be our theme for 2008 so we took time to pray through seven various areas in need of breakthrough — in relationships, repentance, baptisms, prayer and worship, freedom, evangelism, and discipleship.
10/24/07 —
Main Themes: God will give us courage and faith because there will be battles that will be given to us to minister to the land. Asking God to open our eyes and ears to see Him at work this week. Prayer for various parts of the city experiencing high crimes rates right now, Clarkston in particular.
10/17/07 —
Main Themes: The love of God, especially His "tough love" call to get rid of hidden sins that are keeping us from walking in the fullness He has for us in these days. Had a time of individual and corporate repentance. Praise reports of people in jail giving their lives to Christ and report from team that went to MS for Katrina MegaBuild.
10/10/07 —
Main Themes: Answered Prayer! Prayers of protection over schools last week answered in Ohio school shooting case where no victims were killed today. Thank you Lord! The Lord is calling us to praise and worship Him in deeper ways, acknowledging His presence in ALL areas of our lives. A call from Don M. to sincerely build relationships with newcomers to LAC.
10/03/07 —
Main Themes: The power of God coming forth as "Redeemer" was strong tonight. Also prayer concerning schools, school systems, and protection over preschoolers to college students. God revealing just how much He wants people to walk in freedom—from the past, religious spirits, etc. God is moving in Lilburn!!
09/26/07 —
Main Themes: Accessing God as our Healer came strong tonight as a youth named Kevin came forward to ask for healing for an eating condition; prayer for a missionary overseas in need of healing and many in our midst came for prayer to be healed by Jesus. Sought God in releasing His fullness into all areas of church life.
09/19/07 —
Main Themes: All of us understanding the depth of family life and intimacy as a body of believers at LAC; God desires to bring greater unity in all of us and expose those things that are keeping us from the unity. Prayer for AWANA Children’s Ministry as it began tonight—for children and workers to impact the kingdom for Christ; prayer for upcoming Stones of Remembrance campaign.
09/12/07 —
Main Themes: A picture of the Lord in our presence bringing healing, releasing people from fears, speaking and touching individual lives. Reports from the team that went to Angola Prison in Louisiana for family day. They brought back word that the same Christian prison-based strategy might be coming to Georgia. Report that Pastor Fred’s mission to Uganda was successful. Many shared praise reports of answered prayer.
09/05/07 —
Main Themes: Prayers for people to come to Christ; prayer for the team heading to Angola prison to be used of God and to have protection; prayer for Fred who will be speaking to the Ugandan parliament, being part of an evangelistic crusade and a College of Prayer.
08/29/07 —
Main Themes: Freedom! We tapped in strong to the Lord wanting His people to walk onto the path of freedom available to each of us. Prayers also centered on freedom from entanglements, bondages, materialism, and for reconciliation to be brought forth. Also a report of 250 professions of faith now recorded in the Book of Life. Praise God!!
08/22/07 —
Main Themes: A time of powerful testimonies of how God is working in people’s personal lives, in neighborhoods, marketplace and beyond. Teachers also shared how God has blessed them in their schools this year—a direct answer to prayers from a few weeks ago. Continued prayer in declaring God as the one true God in Lilburn and for meaningful ways to reach our neighbors with the love and mercy of Christ.
08/15/07 —
Main Themes: Prayers centered on impacting neighbors and reaching out to them in significant ways. Asking God to make Lawrenceville Highway a river of life in our community.
08/08/07 —
Main Themes: Concentrated prayer for school workers and students heading back to school. Susan Bliss explained an exciting transition of her handing over the reigns as pastor of Children’s Ministry to Susana Jaruczyk. Prayer for Ebbetts who are heading out on home-side missions tour as well as prayer for our missionary partners around the world.
08/01/07 —
Main Themes: Sitting still in God’s lap, receiving and being filled by Him in a season of preparation. Repentance for not sharing and reaching out as He commands in the area of discipleship. To be still and stay satisfied in His presence so biblical discipleship can go forth in the days to come.
07/25/07 —
Main Themes: As a group, we thanked God for LAC — for the various things that He is doing in our church body. We went on to pray for those who are returning from missions trips to the Bahamas and Spain, as well as for those who are still in the field. We gathered as a group to pray for the upcoming visit of the McDonald family to China to adopt another baby. Finally, the time culminated in prayers of blessing over those who were visiting, as well as those who were returning to The River for a time of refreshing
07/11/07 —
Main Themes: A powerful night of praying conversationally through The Lord’s Prayer. Those struggling with fear in the area of finances were given the chance to walk in freedom in that area. We also prayed a blessing over all the children in The River who accepted Christ at Bible Camp this summer.
07/04/07 —
Main Themes: A big emphasis praying for our nation and government seeing that it is the 4th of July. We also prayed for our soldiers to fight out of a spirit of love and not anger. We lifted up missionaries from around the world by name and for bridges to continue to be strengthened to the neighborhoods around the church.
Next Week: Remember to bring homemade pie to share after The River!
06/27/07 —
Main Themes: Soaking in God’s presence, holiness, a release of His mercy and grace, and continued surrender were big themes from tonight. A powerful time of silence, listening to God in response to His holiness. Prayer for the team returning from Africa and the upcoming youth mission trip to the Bahamas. Asking God to release strategy as families from last week’s Bible camp are contacted.
06/20/07 —
Main Themes: "Surrender" was the big theme of the night. God is calling us to trust and totally surrender it all to Him. Concentrated prayer for our team in Senegal and rejoicing over the 40 children who decided to have a relationship with Jesus through our Vacation Bible Camp this week! We prayed for a fruitful time at Friday night’s family carnival as well.
Remember that next week is "cookie night." Bring your favorite batch of homemade cookies to share after The River.
06/13/07 —
Main Themes: "Receive" was a big theme tonight—men receiving from God at the men’s retreat, us receiving the Father’s love, and Senegal receiving Jesus Christ as Lord. Targetted prayer for the Adult Learning Expo next week as well. The River expanded tonight with the addition of the children who will be with us during the summer.
06/06/07 —
Main Themes: A stream of freedom ran strong from the beginning tonight...Freedom in worship, in the lives of our children, families, and finances. There was a powerful time of reflecting on God as our Daddy. Many testimonies were shared about how God is working in people’s lives. We had specific prayer for Vacation Bible Camp and the Adult Learning Expo coming up.
