Prayer

A Litany of Remembrance, Penitence and Hope We light a candle in remembrance for all those who suffered and died on September 11, 2001, in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. We light a candle to remember those who still live and who suffer because of the events of that day. ________________________________________ Remembrance begins with deep, personal identification. It begins with remembering the affliction of our brothers and sisters, and marking their pain as our own.

Friends, At our common life gatherings the topic of how we pray and read Scripture throughout the week has been an important part of our conversations. Some among us are drawn to the idea of a covenant, or commitment to pray and the reading of Scripture daily. All who feel called are invited to commit to the covenant below throughout the summer of 2011. Hopwood Christian Church Summer (May-August) 2011 Covenant • We commit to daily prayer at 9am, 12noon, and 6pm daily. Praying the Lord's Prayer and praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ at these times is encouraged.

Join a Small Group!
New groups are forming for prayer and study, worship and the goodness of life together.  If you'd like to join a small group, let the church office know (926-1194) or contact us at hopwood@hopwoodcc.org.  Here's a partial list of group leaders and groups:

Prayer and Share Group Leaders
1. Tim Ross/Tyler Selby (weekly)
2. Vance Davis/Peter Moen
3. Mel Farmer/Alan Gallivan (bi-weekly)

Service-focused Groups
1. Perry/Perez (monthly)

Prayer begins with the inhale.  Before we are able to utter anything with our lips we must first draw through them the air that fills us, enabling not only our speech but also our life.  And we must remember that humanity did not take the first breath but that it was given to us.  God’s exhale became humanity’s first inhale, filling us not only with life, but the ability to participate in the creative power of breathing.  For it was God’s breath that uttered the world into existence, and God’s breath that filled humanity with life.

And so before we gather words to give to our God, we must first realize that this activity of prayer is itself a gift from God.  It is the very breath that God breathed into humanity that we in turn direct back to God.  Taking in and breathing out this breath of God is no trifling matter. “This is not an enterprise to be entered into lightly,” Eugene Peterson notes. “When we pray we are using words that bring us into proximity with words that break cedars, shake the wilderness, make the oaks whirl, and strip forests bare (Ps. 29:5-9).”

     Adoration services are underway at 9:00PM on Tuesdays. This service consists of an hour of singing, prayer, preaching, meditation, Communion, ministry to those with needs, and fellowship. It’s completely understandable that many at Hopwood have only heard tales of these Tuesday nights when our little church is filled with worshipers from neighboring campuses and churches. Some of us look back on our college years and wonder how it was we were able to cram all sorts of study and activities into the late watches of the night, and still get up for class the next morning! Ah, Youth!

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Upon coming home to our tiny village of Kosikiria the last week of January, Katy and I were not feeling the zeal and romantic fervor for missions and living in Africa we first felt when we arrived in Turkana in 1999. Nope. We were feeling the heat, the dusty wind; the pressures of a community that expects too much from us. No matter what we give or how we help, more is always expected from us. We could feel the lightness of the last couple weeks of vacation time with visiting family quickly evaporating. The burdens of the community and of living in the desert were returning, uncomfortably hot and dirty, on our backs.