Ministries:
Adult | Teens | Children

Pastor's Pen's:
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001

Sermon Series:
Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2003

Grace Church of Burlington March 23, 2003 "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”  Alfred Lord Tennyson In 1980, as the famous French atheist existentialist philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, was sick and approaching death, he wrote, "Despair returns to tempt me.... The world seems ugly, bad, and without hope. There, that’s the cry of despair of an old man who will die in despair. But that’s exactly what I resist. I know I shall die in hope. But that hope needs a foundation." In a world filled with unrest, violence and war, it would be easy to succumb to hopelessness and despair. Tragically, as far as we know, Sartre never discovered that foundation that he knew that he needed. As believers, we are so blessed. We know what that sure foundation is. The prophet Isaiah alludes to it, "So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed’" (Isaiah 28:16). Jesus Christ is our hope and foundation. In a world gone mad, He’s our only hope.             Perhaps you are like me – I’m a doer. As I watch our nation going through this current crisis, it is frustrating to me because I feel that I cannot do something. But, there is something I can do and so can you...we can pray.             In 1 Timothy 2, the Apostle Paul commands believers to pray for their leaders, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority..." It’s our responsibility to continually be praying for our leaders but even more so during this time of crisis. And please don’t be partisan in your prayers. All of our leaders need our prayer support, both those that we agree with and those that we don’t.             Something else that we can do is pray for those in the armed forces we personally know. We have two church families; the Rodmans and the Cannons who have children in the military. And Jenny Hoppe has a brother who is serving his country. Jenny Rodman, Lisa Cannon and John Tamblyn could use our prayer support.             Then, you can pray for our military leaders and our troops.  A friend recently shared a wonderful way to pray for a specific soldier. Go to the web site listed below and adopt a member of the military to take to the Lord in prayer daily. Your family might adopt this soldier to remember in prayer at family meal times. Perhaps you might choose a field of service in which you or some family member served. This is a fantastic opportunity to pray specifically for one of our military personnel who is serving our country and laying it all on the line.             During times of great conflict a country needs warriors. But during times of great conflict what a country needs most of all are prayer warriors. That’s something that we all can do. We can serve our country on our knees. If you’re interested, the web site is: www.presidentialprayerteam.org/troopsadopt.htm             Many years ago Robert E. Lee insightfully said, "Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today, I pleadingly urge our people everywhere to pray. Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution that our people can make in this critical hour, I humbly urge that we take time to pray–to really pray. Let there be prayer at sunup, at noonday, at sundown, at midnight–all through the day. Let us all pray for our children, our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes. Let us pray for our churches. Let us pray for ourselves, that we may not lose the word ‘concern’ out of our Christian vocabulary. Let us pray for our nation. Let us pray for those who have never known Jesus Christ and redeeming love, for moral forces everywhere, for our national leaders. Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice." By God’s grace may prayer truly be our practice!