SERMON NOTES:

PRAYER REQUESTS
JULY 10, 2011
Y Pray for Amys brother-in-law, Bill Scott, whose father Jerry Henning died this week. Y Pray for Paul and Amys friends Katie & Greg Hansen. Y Praise to God for the new life of Jonathan Weismann, son of Jodie and Evan Weismann, grandson of John & Juanita Thiessen. Jonathan was born this past Thursday morning. Everyone is doing well. Y Pray for Hannah Moore to have a great week at Clearwater Forest Presbyterian Camp.

Y Pray for Angelica Van Iperens friends, Paula and Ruben, and they struggle with infertility and limited resources to treat it. Y Donna Mc Cullen, Ken Mc Cullen's wife as she goes through more intense chemotherapy treatment.

DEVOTION
For the month of July were reading through the book of Acts. July is one of the hardest months to have a group of people at worship because many people are traveling and many people are at cabins. Its easy to get disconnected from each other. One way we can connect is by reading through the book of Acts in July. Many new churches start out their ministry by studying Acts. We can connect through using this devotion. As youre reading this, know that many others at Chain of Lakes are doing the same thing. Comments about the devotion can be emailed to pastor@colpres.org. Monday, July 18 Read Acts 7 Just like Acts 2 and Acts 3 this is a foundational story in the book of Acts. Stephen stood up and shared in a sermon about the early history of the Old Testament. He then blamed the high priest and other leaders for resisting the Holy Spirit. This enraged the people and led to the stoning of Stephen. Stephen became a martyrmuch like Jesus.

Y For John & Glorias grandchildren. Nick

will be entering basic training for the Navy, and Elle for her summer work assignment in a Japanese language immersion camp as a nurse. Y Pray for persons and process involved in property purchase for COL. Y Pray for Dean Morins Grandpa, Roger Page, who has entered hospice care. Y Pray for Tiffany Chopra to have the strength and faith to know that God knows what He is doing with her life. Y Pray for Ben Simmer, a young man just graduated from college and has MS with worsening side effects. Pray for new treatments to become available and a cure. Y Pray for all whom at Chain of Lakes who look for jobs, in particular, Lee Bliss and Gary Wassam. Y Jane Zech (Barb & Lee Bliss cousin), and her family. Jane is suffering from brain cancer and is in hospice care.

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The forgiveness of Stephen for the people who killed him was remarkable. Look at verses 59-60: While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. When he had said this, he died. None of us can appreciate forgiving someone who is killing us. However all of us have experiences of having to forgive someone who has wronged us or hurt us. Of course this isnt easy. Forgiving someone who has wronged us takes prayer, counsel from others, and extraordinary strength. This type of forgiveness can change the world. Imagine if we at Chain of Lakes could practice this type of forgiveness. This doesnt mean we tolerate people who harm us, but it does mean we can let go of the pain they have caused us. Pray today that all of us can take one step towards this type of forgiveness. Tuesday, July 19 Read Acts 8 This chapter begins a new portion of Acts. The persecution of the church actually helped the church grow and expand. People were scattered to different locations. They would then speak about Jesus and a community would form. On July 31, Pastor Paul will preach about the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. In the story Philip was willing to reach out to someone who was different. The Ethiopian Eunuch was a different skin

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color than Philip and by definition was castrated. Imagine if we at Chain of Lakes were a group of people who frequently and naturally reached out to people who were different. Imagine if this was part of what made us unique. Today as you pray that the people of Chain of Lakes can reach out to people who were different. Pray that our culture can be one where differences are celebrated and embraced and not seen as a source of divide. Wednesday, July 20 Read Acts 9 The conversion of Saul was one of the most important stories in the New Testament. God was willing to confront the man who was persecuting the church and and thus turn him into one of the greatest evangelists in the history of the world. Without this story none of the letters of Paul would exist. Its hard to find a modern day analogy for what happened. Imagine someone who was evil suddenly becoming a prime evangelist for God! If anything this story shares that God is willing to use anyone to build Gods kingdom and church. No one can fall outside of the possibility of Gods desire. Today as you pray, reflect with God about the story of an evil persecutor of people of faith and of the church becoming one of the most successful evangelists in history. Thursday, July 21 Read Acts 10

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The Holy Spirit had been talking to Cornelius and to Peter and suddenly they all came together. One idea we can take from this story is the one of confirmation. Many times when people get an idea or thought or impulse that they believe is from God, they are unsure if the idea, thought or impulse is really from God. To be assured if the idea, thought, or impulse is from God we can ask others to pray over it. Ask them to honestly and earnestly pray whether this is Gods idea. In doing this we have to be open to whether to hearing news that we dont want to hear. Who do you know at Chain of Lakes who could pray with you? Who could serve as a person who could discern whether God is guiding you? This person would be like a spiritual friend. Pray that God will reveal someone to you? Pray that you can reach out to this person and ask for spiritual friendship. Friday, July 22 Read Acts 11 God was orchestrating the events that were happening in this chapter. God had worked in Peters life in the previous chapterand now Peter was sharing what he experienced with the people in Jerusalem. The hand of the Lord was with the people who were starting the church in Antioch. At Chain of Lakes one of our Core Values is Gods Church. We understand that to mean that In every decision we seek to discern Gods desire. No leader, ministry,

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or person is more important than what God wants. This is a mighty value that takes much time to accomplish. But we can take steps towards living out this value by committing ourselves to prayer. Imagine what would happen if every person prayed that Chain of Lakes would be Gods church, that God was at the center of every decision we made. The results could be astoundingthey are shared in this chapter of Acts. As you pray today, pray that we at Chain of Lakes can be Gods church. Saturday, July 23 Read Acts 12 God continued to do amazing things in this chapter. Peter was released from prison and Herod died. The story of Rhoda is one of the more humorous stories in the Bible. Rhoda saw Peter at the outer gate. She was so overjoyed she ran in and announced to the rest of the group that Peter was present. She totally forgot that Peter was at the door! We dont want to forget the humor of the Scriptures sometimes. Even us serious and laid-back Midwesterners can appreciate this humor! Pray that we at Chain of Lakes can be a place where we dont take ourselves too seriously.