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Freedom Family Update
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Feeling social? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using the links below!
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You are receiving the newsletter early this week for several reasons including:
More time to review the replay/notes of the sermon from Sunday* in preparation for our 21 Days of Prayer beginning Sunday.
An opportunity to fill in more of the 24-hours-of-prayer slots (see below.)
A reminder that all end-of-year gifts need to be given online or postmarked by December 31 in order to be included on your 2020 giving statement.
*I (Beth) apologize for any confusion caused by the newsletter last week. I missed seeing an email requesting an update in information before it went out on Friday.
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Last week, for our Sunday at Home, the online service included Nate's message, Listen, Abide and Pray Big Prayers. It had been decided that as we enter into a season of prayer in January, a replay of Nate's message would prepare us to enter the year 2021 with great expectancy, knowing as we listen and abide in Him that big prayers are going to be answered.
Here are the review notes from Nate's sermon:
James asks: Is anyone suffering (going through something difficult/troubling)? Pray - have a conversation with God about these troubles.
James asks: Is anyone cheerful? Praise - let it out!
James asks: Is anyone sick? We should have a regular practice of praying for the sick. Sometimes we aren't sure what to pray. Ask God what to pray and pray in a specific way. Sometimes, a spiritual need will be exposed when praying for an illness.
Our affections will often affect our prayers, as will sin that persists in our life. That's why we are encouraged to confess our sins to one another, which helps us seek to align our will with God's more than trying to get what we want.
Three ways to align with God's will:
Effective prayers is listening prayer. God, what do you want to do?
Effective prayer is abiding prayer. Am I growing more familiar with Jesus' words? (abiding, not advising.)
Effective prayer is big prayer. Expect a big God to do big things! My "ask" is proportional to how I see Him.
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Miss a recent message? Visit our YouTube page (Freedom Church Upstate). The most recent two video messages are also available on the front page of our website.
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What's Next? The Lord's Prayer
This Sunday, we will begin our series on the Lord's prayer. We will continue to provide summary notes each week, in addition to the following study tools:
Passage Links
Reviewing: James 5:13-18.
Preparing: John 5:19
Manuscript Version: We are happy to provide a manuscript version of each week's passage to assist you in further study. If you have taken the Reading Scripture class through The River, you will be familiar with making notes and marking the Scriptures in a meaningful way on a printed version of Scripture. Each week we add the latest passage to the document, building as the series goes on, to make this easier for you. Click here to print your manuscript version.
FC Family Facebook Group Sermon Discussion: We plan to add a question each week to facilitate discussion/prompt thinking about the sermon on our private church Facebook group for those who would like to interact there during the week. Please participate if you can! If you are not on Facebook, and would like to receive the question by email, please reply to let us know. If enough people are interested, we may facilitate an email discussion group as well.
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2021 - 24 Hours/21 Days of Prayer
January 3-4, 2021 then through January 23, 2021
The following slots have been claimed for the 24 hours of prayer (from home.) You may sign up for any other hour using this link OR reply to this email to claim a slot:
Jan 3 - 3:00pm -4:00pm
Jan 3 - 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Jan 3 - 9:00pm-10:00pm,
Jan 4 - 6:00am-7:00am
- We encourage you to fast in the way God leads you. Some fast from food completely, others temporarily suspend social media, coffee, sugar, or some other routine habit/activity in order to focus that energy on prayer.
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Visit our website and click on "connect" to connect or send a prayer request card online; click on "newsletter" to see the latest issue/archives or to subscribe, or "watch online" to easily transfer to the YouTube channel for the online services.
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