‘He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers … and presented her to them alive.’ Acts 9:41

We need to remember that God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and is just as able to intervene in healing power now as He was in the First Century. If we are honest, we still have a long way to go in seeing God break in with significant healing in answer to our prayers. How great would it be for us to grow in this area in Gateway!

Prayer Points

1. Pray to our God, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, for an increase of healing in Gateway in 2012.
2. Pray also that testimonies of healing will lead to people believing in the Lord, as was the case with Dorcas.
3. Ask God to give you a Scripture to meditate on this week.

Tonight! Celebration at 7.45pm – Another opportunity to come and be fed, inspired, and strengthened through worship and prayer. We will also be praying for anyone who needs healing.

‘…the church… enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.’ Acts 9:31

‘Fear of the Lord is not merely reverence and respect. Neither is it a craven fear of constant cowering before a damning Judge. Nevertheless it is fear. A fear mixed with reverence and awe. A fear that keeps us pure from sin. A fear that encourages us to live a life of worship, with love toward God and the desire to bear righteous fruit for Him and others.’

Prayer Points

1. Pray for a greater understanding of what it means to live in the fear of the Lord.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you respond clearly when others mock your faith.
3. Pray for the power to resist temptation in its many forms and to live lives that glorify God.

Pray for our next Celebration tomorrow evening at 7.45pm – Come and be fed, inspired, and strengthened through worship and prayer. We will also be praying for anyone who needs healing.

‘Ananias!’ ‘Yes, Lord!’ Acts 9: 10

When Ananias visited Saul, he was taking an enormous risk. Saul had been responsible for some serious persecution but Ananias obeyed the Spirit’s prompting and took that risk. When he arrived Ananias had to exercise his faith again when he prayed for Saul to be healed. The result of Ananias’ obedience was the salvation of the most effective apostle to the non-Jewish world.

Prayer Points

1. Pray for God to stretch you further in your faith.
2. Ask God to help you to step out more in the prophetic.
3. Thank God for the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to help us feed on it more and more

‘ ‘‘Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus…” ‘ Acts 9:5

Saul had a spectacular meeting with Jesus that turned his world upside down. God chose the time and place – the man destined to bring the gospel to non-Jews was converted in a non-Jewish area. We should never underestimate God’s sovereign power and his willingness to use anyone to extend his kingdom.

Prayer Points

1. Pray for God to sovereignly meet with many people throughout this coming year.
2. Let this story encourage you to pray for those who seem to be the most unlikely converts to Christ.
3. Pray for Gateway Kid’s and Ignite this Sunday – that the children and young people in our care will know that Jesus gives life in all its fullness.

In this morning’s meeting we will be looking at the theme of  ‘Marked by the Word’ – The importance of the Bible to our lives. 

‘The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”‘ Acts 8:29

Philip was open to the Spirit’s leading and as a result he had a divine appointment with an influential member of a foreign government. The Ethiopian was open to the Spirit’s guiding as he believed and then asked to be baptised. Both these men are great examples for us to follow!

Prayer Points

1. Pray that you would be more sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit and willing to obey them.
2. Pray for lots of baptisms in the coming year.
3. Pray for those who are deaf in our church and for those involved in signing. Thank God for their contribution to our life in God.

In tomorrow’s meeting we will be looking at the theme of ‘Marked by the Word’ – The importance of the Bible to our lives. 

‘…Peter and John placed their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit’  Acts 8:17

This chapter shows that it is possible to be a believer and not be baptised with the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Holy Spirit to the believers changed them – from a frightened and defeated group into a dynamic, world-changing force.

Prayer Points

1. If you need to be baptised with the Spirit begin to ask God to fill you.
2. Ephesians 5:18 tells us to be continually filled with the Spirit so ask the Holy Spirit to fill you freshly today.
3. Pray for all those at Gateway for who are from another nation, or from who English is not their first language. Pray that this will not be a barrier to feeling part of the Gateway family.

The opposition intended to crush the early church resulted in the spread of the gospel as believers left Jerusalem and were scattered further afield. We live in a society with people from many, many different cultures we need to follow their example and be ready to speak of Jesus in every situation.

Prayer Points

1. Pray that God would give you a more robust faith that doesn’t waver under pressure.
2. Ask God to make you increasingly willing to proclaim Christ in a variety of circumstances.
3. Pray for the elders as they continue to seek God’s wisdom and leading for the church as we continue to push through in to all that He has for us.

‘But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit…’ 

Being full of the Holy Spirit does not necessarily produce an easy and trouble-free life. Stephen’s faithful witness in the situation where he found himself resulted in his death. Few of us are called to pay such a price but we are called to live well – and to die well, full of faith and love for Christ.

Prayer Points

1. Ask God to show you if there is anything that is becoming an idol for you. If there is, come to him in repentance.
2. Unless the Lord returns we will all have to go through the gates of death. Pray that we will not only live well but die well, full of faith and love for Christ.
3. Pray that we will continue to learn how to unlock all the potential there is among us as we continue to become a diverse and multi-cultural church.

‘Moses thought that his own people would realise that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.’ Acts 7:25

Sent to rescue his people, they rejected Moses’ leadership and doubted his motives. Stephen spoke in a forceful way in an attempt to pierce the armour of his hearers – his desire was to win them and prevent them making the same error concerning Jesus as their ancestors had made with Moses.

Prayer Points

1. Pray for discernment to know when you should give a bold challenge rather than just an encouraging word. Ask too for the courage to give it.
2. Ask for eyes to see the need in the hearts of those who oppose us and cause us problems.
3. Thank God for all the different types of people who call Gateway their home.

‘

Stephen begins his defence by telling the story of God’s dealings with His people from the start of the Old Testament. His hearers were well-grounded in the Law and the Prophets and considered themselves to be the experts on God’s intervention in history – this did not go down well! At the point where he mentions their great ancestor Joseph he is showing them that like the brothers of old, they have rejected the one who was to save them.

Prayer Points

1. In this time of change and growth for Gateway pray that we keep in step with what God is doing.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to keep you flexible and responsive to where he is leading us as a church and you as an individual.
3. Pray for our Worship, and all involved in the Worship team and the preaching of God’s Word that it would be pleasing to God and empowering for us.