God

Encouragement and Prayer: Loving Those You Pass By! (09/19/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Loving Those You Pass By! (09/19/22)

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This is the audio from the September 19, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.”
Luke 19:2-3 (NIV)

This week’s prayer emphasis will begin a series about being loved by Jesus so we can love like Jesus.  We’ll begin with a look at Zacchaeus and pray about how to love the overlooked . . . even when the overlooked just might be you.  Whether you feel overlooked because of your physical characteristics or the labels you wear, Jesus notices you and loves you.  When we love like Jesus, we pay attention to those that the world overlooks.  As you pray this week, ask God to help you know just how much you are noticed and loved by Him.  Pray that you would pay attention to the people around you who feel like the world has passed them by.  Pray that your eyes would always be open to the opportunities to share God’s love with others.  Pray for a heart that loves people in the same way that God loves you.

“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.”
Luke 19:1 (NIV)

Pray that you would not be so focused on your destination that you miss the people who are along the way.  Pray that you would see your journey in life as a series of opportunities to love people.  Pray for a heart that loves people in all places where you encounter them.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Loving the Overlooked! (Sermon Audio)
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Loving the Overlooked! (Sermon Audio)

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This is the audio from the September 18, 2022 sermon, “Loving the Overlooked!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text:  Luke 19:1-10

As I begin a new sermon series which will look at various gospel stories of Jesus loving people, we look at a trait that is common in most of the Bible characters we will look at during this series — the difficulty of being overlooked.  Because understanding how to love the overlooked is foundational to loving like Jesus, I decided to use an old-school outline of the three “R’s”.

  • A Loving Realization.  Luke 19:1-4
    • When this encounter with Zacchaeus takes place, Jesus is simply passing through.  We begin to love the overlooked when we begin to realize they exist all around us, and perhaps even are us, as we journey through life.  Jesus realized that people were seeking Him and some, like Zacchaeus, were having great difficulty.  We love the overlooked when we become more like Jesus and look to where they are rather than being like the crowd whose very presence made it impossible for Jesus to be seen.  We live with a loving realization when we see everyone we encounter as a person who Jesus would notice.
  • A Loving Request.  Luke 19:5-7
    • I always find it interesting that Jesus invited Himself to the home of Zacchaeus.  While I suspect it would be rather strange, and perhaps not very appropriate, to invite ourselves to have dinner in the homes of strangers, we can make a loving request to enter their life in ways that would be helpful.  When we ask a person how we can pray for them, we invite ourselves into their life as a representative of Jesus.  When we invite conversation and are willing to listen, we make a loving request that can help people see Jesus in us.  We live with a loving request when we ask God and the people we encounter how we can help them see Jesus more clearly.
  • A Loving Result.  Luke 19:8-10
    • I suspect the easy thing to do is to consider the giving of half his wealth and the promise to repay four times over anyone he had cheated to be the loving result of this encounter Zacchaeus had with Jesus.  I don’t think that is the real result, rather that is part of the fruit of the real result.  The loving result of being loved by Jesus is found in the statement of Jesus that salvation had come to the house today!  When we are willing to humble our self and let go of every selfish and ulterior motive, we find God’s desire is still to seek and save the lost.  We live with a loving result when we carry a message of salvation to all, and especially to those who are overlooked.

Today, how will you love those who are overlooked?

Encouragement and Prayer: Finish With Obedience! (09/16/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Finish With Obedience! (09/16/22)

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This is the audio from the September 16, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.”
Revelation 3:2 (NIV)

This week’s prayer emphasis will focus on having the courage to finish well!  Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of counting the costs of following Him so that we would complete the journey of life with Him.  While starting is important, beginning without finishing will accomplish very little.  Sometimes the finishing can be about us staying with a task without giving up, but often it has more to do with us staying connected to God so that He can finish His work in us.

“And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.”
2 Corinthians 10:6 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you see any areas of life where He would consider your deeds to be incomplete.  Pray that you would continually grow in Christ with a desire to be completely obedient to Him.  Pray that your complete obedience would be even more of a priority to you before you would start to address the obedience of others.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Finish With Confidence! (09/15/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Finish With Confidence! (09/15/22)

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This is the audio from the September 15, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.”
Revelation 3:2 (NIV)

This week’s prayer emphasis will focus on having the courage to finish well!  Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of counting the costs of following Him so that we would complete the journey of life with Him.  While starting is important, beginning without finishing will accomplish very little.  Sometimes the finishing can be about us staying with a task without giving up, but often it has more to do with us staying connected to God so that He can finish His work in us.

“I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.”
2 Corinthians 7:16 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you see any areas of life where He would consider your deeds to be incomplete.  Pray that you would live in such a way that others would have complete confidence in you even as you are confident in them.  Pray that your life and faith would be based on being completely confident in God and the work Jesus accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Finish With Knowledge! (09/14/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Finish With Knowledge! (09/14/22)

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This is the audio from the September 14, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.”
Revelation 3:2 (NIV)

This week’s prayer emphasis will focus on having the courage to finish well!  Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of counting the costs of following Him so that we would complete the journey of life with Him.  While starting is important, beginning without finishing will accomplish very little.  Sometimes the finishing can be about us staying with a task without giving up, but often it has more to do with us staying connected to God so that He can finish His work in us.

“I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.”
Romans 15:14 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you see any areas of life where He would consider your deeds to be incomplete.  Pray that the goodness of God within you would help you to be complete in a knowledge that is helpful to others.  Pray that you would see yourself and others as being competent to instruct because of a knowledge that comes from God.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Finish With Unity! (09/13/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Finish With Unity! (09/13/22)

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This is the audio from the September 13, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.”
Revelation 3:2 (NIV)

This week’s prayer emphasis will focus on having the courage to finish well!  Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of counting the costs of following Him so that we would complete the journey of life with Him.  While starting is important, beginning without finishing will accomplish very little.  Sometimes the finishing can be about us staying with a task without giving up, but often it has more to do with us staying connected to God so that He can finish His work in us.

“I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
John 17:23 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you see any areas of life where He would consider your deeds to be incomplete.  Pray that the presence of Jesus in your life would bring you to a unity in Him that would produce unity within the body of Christ.  Pray that the love of Jesus expressed to you would lead you to love others in a way that promotes greater unity.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Finish With Joy! (09/12/22)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Finish With Joy! (09/12/22)

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This is the audio from the September 12, 2022 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.”
Revelation 3:2 (NIV)

This week’s prayer emphasis will focus on having the courage to finish well!  Jesus taught His disciples about the importance of counting the costs of following Him so that we would complete the journey of life with Him.  While starting is important, beginning without finishing will accomplish very little.  Sometimes the finishing can be about us staying with a task without giving up, but often it has more to do with us staying connected to God so that He can finish His work in us.  As you pray this week, ask God to help you see any areas of life where He would consider your deeds to be incomplete.  Pray that you would count the costs of being a disciple and ask for God’s help to complete your journey with Christ.  Pray that God’s Spirit would continually make you complete as you serve God and people.  Pray that you would be strengthened, and that God would use you to help strengthen others, so that the body of Christ would be made more complete because of your presence.

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
John 15:11 (NIV)

Pray that you would follow Jesus in a way that His teachings would fill you with a joy that is complete.  Pray that you would hold fast to the teachings of Jesus in order to share them with others so that their joy would also be made complete.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

The Courage to Finish WELL! (Sermon Audio)
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The Courage to Finish WELL! (Sermon Audio)

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This is the audio from the September 11, 2022 sermon, “The Courage to Finish Well!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text:  Joshua 23 & 24, 2 Timothy 3:10 – 4:8

When it comes to living out a time for courage, how you finish is of utmost importance.  God promises the crown of life to those who persevere and are faithful to the end.  When we examine the life of Joshua, we learn to live with the courage to finish . . .

  • Wisely.  Joshua 23:1-5, 2 Timothy 3:10-11
    • Finishing well requires a recognition of both how we got to where we are and how we will get to where we are going.  Joshua showed great wisdom in making God the hero of the story of the nation of Israel and their entrance to the promised land.  When we accept the fear of the Lord being the beginning of wisdom, we are able to submit to His ways and plans regardless of how comfortable or uncomfortable they make us feel.  Living with the courage to finish wisely means that we will consistently give God the credit for His faithfulness and for anything good in our life.
  • Enlisting.  Joshua 23:6-8, 2 Timothy 3:14-17
    • Finishing well requires that we are actively involved in enlisting others to be full participants in the kingdom of God.  Just as our learning and equipping should be never-ending, our teaching and training of others should continue all of our life.  As Joshua advanced in years, he understood the need to enlist others to not just belong to a nation but to be a people of God.  Living with the courage to finish enlisting means that we will always seek to make God known and lift up Jesus in ways that He can draw others to Himself.
  • Loving.  Joshua 23:9-11, 2 Timothy 4:2-5
    • Finishing well requires that we are loving God and loving others to the very end.  Just as God’s love for us calls us into full obedience, our love for others should direct them to a life lived in obedience to God.  Joshua’s love for God and for the people of Israel directed that he be honest with the people in regard to what would happen if they obeyed God and what would happen if they disobeyed.  Living with the courage to finish loving means that we will love people enough to be honest about their real need for Jesus.
  • a Legacy.  Joshua 24:15-16, 2 Timothy 4:6-8
    • Finishing well not only requires that we leave a godly legacy for others to follow, it creates that legacy.  The Bible tells us that the people of Israel obeyed God throughout the lifetime of Joshua and throughout the lifetime of those who had been taught by Joshua.  The legacy of instruction and of life left by Joshua was incredible.  Living with the courage to finish a legacy means that we pass along to others all that we have received from God.

Today, how will you prepare to finish WELL?