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EPHESUS PRAYER LIST, FEBRUARY 17, 2022
Good Morning Ephesus Family,
We had two heart-felt corporate prayer gatherings yesterday as the church came together to pray at 1:30pm and 6:00pm for a special time of prayer during our Forty Day Prayer Journey: Seeking God’s Will Together. Our prayer warriors roamed around the sanctuary praying for every person and seat that the Holy Spirit laid on their heart. It was a moving time of prayer. I hope you will join us next week.
Some of the prayer requests aren’t listed from that time because of potential sensitivities (You must be present to be privy to those). Also missing from this list are the tremendous praise reports and testimonies of how God is working and moving around us and the great fellowship that was had by everyone during our gathered prayer. (Again, you must be present to be privy to those).
If you have additional prayer concerns, feel free to post them in the comments below this information on either Faithlife or Facebook. You can also email your requests to prayer.ephesusnc@gmail.com. If you have updates on these requests please post or email those as well.
Below are the requests for prayer that have been shared. Please note: PTL means praise the Lord. We have much to be thankful for as you can see below.
Prayer Requests from Wednesday’s 1:30pm and 6:00pm Prayer Gatherings. Please add these to your prayer list. Hopefully, I recorded everything correctly, pray for me as the list keeps growing as we seek to be a praying church.
· Pray for the Ephesus Baptist Church to become all that God would have her to become according to His Will. Please continue to pray fervently for our worship services and other times of gathered ministry. Travail in prayer together!
· Please continue to be in prayer for the family, friends, and church family of Madison Nelms, Karen Hendrick’s cousin’s daughter, as they celebrate her young life and grieve her death. Pray for comfort, grace, and wisdom in the days ahead.
· Pray for Kimberly Kerivel’s son, Hunter. Due to the increasing tensions in the Black Sea involving the Russia/Ukraine issue, many of our troops are being deployed to areas near that front. Hunter is possibly about to be deployed on a vessel that will serve at least nine months in that region. She asked for us to be in prayer for him and all of our troops.
· Glen Tyson’s nephew’s wife’s daughter, Savannah, a teenager, was found unresponsive Tuesday, apparently Covid related. She is in the ICU in Smithfield. She is septic with a UTI infection and pneumonia. She is on a ventilator at this time. Pray for her healing and for her family. Update: Praise the Lord, she is off of the ventilator and showing signs of improvement. She still has some high hurdles to overcome, but she is improving. Please continue to pray. PTL
· Pray for Glen Tyson. She was battling a vertigo attack over the weekend. Pray for increased health.
· Please continue praying for Craig Johnson’s family as they said goodbye to his brother, Kenneth. Pray for the family as they grieve his departure.
· Ike Davis has asked us to pray for a friend’s mother who is battling Covid.
· Pray for our new Barnabas Initiative to take root and grow and cultivate a culture that values loving encouragement within our church family.
· Pray for our Pray and Go Ministry and Ministry Team Leaders. We have prayed for many homes and the response has been very favorable at this point. PTL
· Wayne Taylor, owner of Taylor’s Exxon in Nashville, is sick with COVID. Wayne is no longer on the ventilator, but is on oxygen and recovering, so please continue to pray for him, his family, and especially his son, Dane (sp?). PTL
· Pam Peele wants us to thank God for the faithful witness and encouragement of our church family each time we gather together. PTL.
· Janelle Kirkpatrick, relative of Pam Peele - bladder cancer, awaiting surgery and chemo which was delayed due to having COVID. Update: She has gone back to teaching and will have her first treatment procedure performed on February 18th. Please continue praying and pray for the possibility of assistance with caregiving for their family.
· Pat Montgomery, a teacher friend of Sue Staton, is recovering from a stroke. Pray for encouragers to come around her as she recovers.
· Ron Taylor, Sue Staton’s friend – Cancer
· Michael Valentine, Sue Staton’s Son-in-Law - Recovery from elbow surgery. Having pain due to his Neuropathy issues. Update: Michael had a sinus infection last week and is feeling better, but please continue praying for relief from his pain and for healing.
· Debbie Perry’s cousin Barbara is continuing to recover from surgery for breast cancer. Update: Things keep looking better each week. PTL
· Pray for Debbie Perry’s cousins Gail and Bert Joyner. Bert (84 yrs old) had surgery last year for having a twisted intestinal issue. He has been in the hospital with complications since November 2nd, 2021. He is growing very frail with each passing day. Gail is also very fatigued from caring for him daily. Please pray for healing and rest for them both.
· Debbie Peace’s aunt, Sandra LaBlanche’, non-cancerous brain tumor, will require surgery. She also asked us to be in prayer for a friend named Bret how has Covid.
· Covid crisis in general.
· Tom May’s Aunt, Linda Roser, who has been battling Covid is now at home recovering. PTL
· Toni Hughes – Kim May’s friend hospitalized with Covid. Update: Toni had gotten out of the hospital, but she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Praise the Lord for the improvements she has seen. PTL
· Kim May would like to ask us to pray for both her Daughter-in-laws, that they would have healthy pregnancies.
· Dale Harper family, especially his son.
· Linda McLaurin wants us to pray for Pastors everywhere and that we would all have an intense hunger for the reaching those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
· Continue to keep Dougald and Linda in your prayers for energy and health. Update: Linda McLaurin had a really tough battle with Vertigo this past week. It has been very physically and emotionally draining on them both. Please pray for relief and healing! Update: Linda is feeling better this week and hopeful for improvement in her health.
· Pray for the McLaurin’s daughter, Lisa. She is traveling from Pennsylvania to North Carolina today. Pray for safe travels. Also pray for her as she lost a dear friend and neighbor this week.
· Emily Kicklighter, Crystal’s best friend, please pray for her as she continues to recover from Bone Marrow Transplant.
· Judy Denton has asked for prayer for her back. Update: Judy is continuing to see some relief to her back pain from the physical therapy and exercise. Praise the Lord and continue to pray for full recovery. PTL
· Phil Peele asked a special prayer for his sister, Barbara Sharpe. She has Alzheimer’s and the family is concerned for her safety, especially while driving.
· Phil Peele would also like us to remember his nephew, Jonathan Marshall, in our prayers. He is a 38 year old, living in California who needs prayers for health and for salvation.
· Pray for Josephine Lamm as she recovers from her Hip injury. Update: Mrs. Jo had an outpatient procedure yesterday, please be in prayer for her and her family as they continue to deal with multiple health issues.
· Pray for David Harper and Joy Harper as they take care of Mrs. Jo and Wayne daily. Pray for energy and safety as they minister to their needs. Update: Joy is feeling better this week. Yet, they continue to need our prayers and encouragement. We are also praying specifically that God would provide a Caregiver or two to come and give them some relief on a regular basis. God knows the need, He will provide.
· Pray for David Harper, he had a procedure performed on his foot Tuesday and should be released from the hospital today. Pray for increased health in the days to come.
· Pray for Pastor Wayne, Crystal, Abigail, & Elizabeth.
· Debbie Perry asked us to be in prayer for our Deacons as they seek to serve our church during this season. David Harper and Phil Peele.
· Sue Staton asked that we pray for her neighbor, Ann Richardson and her family. Her husband passed away on December 20th and she is having a hard time coping. Update: Ann is growing stronger by the day and coping with things very well, but could use continued. PTL
· Pray for Rhonda Faulkner’s Father-in-Law, Pete Faulkner. He has been fighting Covid. Rhonda’s Mother-in -Law has Pneumonia in the middle of all this and is not resting well herself. Update: Pete and his wife are both doing better, Pete is still having issues with hydration and pain in his abdomen, so keep praying. PTL
· Rhonda’s husband David, along with his brother Glen and wife Rebecca. Update: Rhonda and Beth both have Covid now as well. So, continue to pray for this family as they cope with all these struggles in the midst of the pandemic. Update: Everyone is continuing to recover, but David is still having a lot of long-term lingering issues and is undergoing tests. Keep them all in your prayers, but PTL, He has brought them this far.
· Pray for Jill and Ken Olson. Pray that Ken’s health would continue to improve and God would be praised as a result. Update: Ken continues to improve. PTL Update: Jill’s back is feeling better. PTL
· Pray for Cindy Joslin’s daughter, Jessica Hellwege and her family. Her father is in ICU on a ventilator and he’s not doing very well. No more information is known at this time. Update: Jessica’s father passed away last week. Please continue to pray for her and her family. Pray for them to have the grace and wisdom to handle all of the estate issues that come up in these situations and the grief of their loss, all the while having to do so from Colorado.
· Pray for Meredith and Besweri Walujjo, missionaries in Uganda. They are having difficulties with their housing situation.
· Pray for the family of Bill Wallace as they celebrate his life and mourn their loss two weeks ago.
· Pray for the family of Claiborn Wood as he passed away at the age of 101 two weeks ago. Pray for especially for his wife, Mary Wood.
· Pray for Scott and Connie Skinner as they continue to seek to recover from their house fire and juggle all that that entails. They have been working hard!
· Dawn Stanco fell and broke her arm and wrist and had surgery last week. She is at home recovering.
· Patrick Snipes is asking us to pray for his newborn son Jackson. Jackson has a condition known as Hirschsprung’s disease. He will require surgery when he is around 14-15 lbs. Pray for Jackson and for mommy, Kathryn, big-sister, Avery, and daddy.
· Paula and Ronnie Proctor have asked us to pray for a friend of theirs, Randy Burnette, who fell last week and broke his hip. His recovery is tougher than most because he was recently the recipient of a liver and kidney transplant in 2015. Pray for Randy and family.
· Please also be in prayer for Helen Kennedy’s sister, Evelyn. She fell and broke two ribs and is very weak overall. She has not walked in days. Pray for her healing.
· Judy Murray asked us to be in prayer for Scott Cook a friend of Leslie and Brian Poythress. Scott, a cancer survivor, is fighting another battle with cancer.
· Also be in prayer for Jr. Bullock, his wife Amy Case Bullock and their 3 boys. Jr. has had a rough time with Covid and his lungs continue to need a lot of healing. Update: Jr. Bullock passed away last week, please be in prayer for his wife and family.
· Pray for Colton Kennedy.
· Pray for the family of Junior Matthews who passed away from Parkinson’s with Covid complications.
· Helen Kennedy asked us to pray for her business as she is having a hard time keeping employees willing to work.
· Pray for our widows and widowers. Pray for how we, as a church, can better encourage and minister to them and their specific needs.
· Pray for the family of Brenda and Floyd Yde. Floyd passed into eternity yesterday morning. Pray for wisdom and gracious comfort. They have other health related prayer concerns as well. Please keep them lifted up in your prayers.
· Margie Collie’s brother, Preston Sherrod, who we’ve been praying for concerning heart-related issues, passed away in the ICU at Rex Hospital overnight. Please pray for Margie and her family as they grieve the passing of her brother, but also as they celebrate his life together.
· Sue Staton has an unspoken prayer request.
· Pray for Chris McElroy, Kimberly Kerivel, and family as they prepare to move to Florida. They will be greatly missed.
· We are hosting an Aging Well Conference on March 10. North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministry will be facilitating the Conference. Please be in prayer for this wonderful opportunity to minister to our Senior Saints.
· Sunday, March 13th is our Gideon Sunday. We will have a Gideon sharing with us an update on their ministry worldwide. Please be in prayer for the Gideons and pray about how we can support them both financially and otherwise.
· Sunday, April 10th, we will be hosting a special Night of Worship to kick off Holy Week. We will have as our special guests, The GloryWay Quartet. Please be in prayer for that evening of worship.
· Thursday, April 14th, we will have a traditional Seder presentation and Communion Service. Guest Speaker, Rabbi Howard Taylor from Beth Emet Messianic Synagogue. Be in prayer for this special presentation.
· Friday, April 15th, we will be having a special Good Friday Noon Pray Gathering. Be in prayer for our time together.
· Pray for the people in Ukraine. Pray for the soldiers on both sides of the line. Pray also for the Belarus people who are closely connected to Russia.
· Pray for the Tar River Baptist Association.
· United States of America and our World: So much is going on, we must be in prayer for our national and world representatives as they govern. May they learn to govern well and to govern for the people.
Remember:
If you have additional prayer concerns, feel free to post them in the comments below this information on either Faithlife or Facebook. You can also email your requests to prayer.ephesusnc@gmail.com. If you have updates on these requests please post or email those as well.
Prayers for Biblical Revival and Revitalization
(Adapted from Gregory Reed Frizzell’s book, “Forty Days of Seeking God: Embracing a True Return to God.”p.7-8)
1. Pray for our Church family to have an immense deepening desire to seek to renew our First Love toward Jesus Christ.
(Rev. 2:1-4; Matt. 5:6, 44, 22:37-39; Phil. 2:13; 1 John 4:7-11, 20; Rev. 3:15)
2. Cry out for a deep brokenness, God-seeking reverential fear, and humble repentance too sweep our church family as a whole.
(Ps. 51:17; Prov. 28:13; John 14:15; 2 Cor. 7:1, 10; Eph. 5:26-27; Hebrews 12:14)
3. Plead with God’s powerful manifest presence for a restraining of evil, discord, disunity brought about by sinful hearts and a great misuse of the tongue, as well as for a mighty outpouring of His Holy Spirit power.
(Ex. 33:15; 1 Kings 8:11; Isa. 58:1-7; Isa. 59:19; Zech. 4:6; Acts 1:8, 2:1-2, 4:31; 1 Tim. 5:13)
4. Beg God for a Supernatural Love and Unity to sweep across our families, our church family, our sister churches, and our denomination.
(John 13:34-35, 15:12, 17:20-22; Acts 2:1, 42-47, 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:29-32)
5. Pray for a zealous, burning, passionate pursuit of outreach, discipleship, and missions to sweep across each true believer on our church roll.
(Matt 24:14, 28:18-20; Luke 19:10; Acts 1:8; Rom. 9:1-3)
6. Pray for our church leaders to be filled with a sense of joy in their work, boldness in their preaching, ferventness in their prayer life, spiritual power in their personal interactions, and a strong reliance on the truth of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
(Heb. 13:17; 1 Cor. 2:4; 1 Tim. 3:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:6-7)
7. Pray for God to transform the hearts of those who are continuing to walk in sin, pursuing personal preferences, living in the nostalgia of the past, unable to embrace a new movement of the Spirit.
(Mark 1:14-15, 2:17, 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 3:1-9)
As you can see there is much work to be done in prayer this week. I hope you all have a wonderful remainder of your week. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday! God bless you all,
Joyfully His,
Pastor Wayne
Pray for Madison’s Family
Update from Pastor Currie and Karen Hendricks:
Please keep this hurting family in prayer!
EPHESUS PRAYER LIST FEBRUARY 10th, 2022
Good Afternoon Ephesus Family,
We had two very active corporate prayer gatherings yesterday as the church came together to pray at 1:30pm and 6:00pm for a special time of prayer during our Forty Day Prayer Journey: Seeking God’s Will Together. Our prayer warriors roamed around the sanctuary praying for every person and seat that the Holy Spirit laid on their heart to pray for. It was a powerful time of prayer. I hope you will join us next week as we are seeking to be more than just a church that prays! We want to be a praying church!
Some of the prayer requests aren’t listed from that time because of potential sensitivities (You must be present to be privy to those). Also missing from this list are the tremendous praise reports and testimonies of how God is working and moving around us and the great fellowship that was had by everyone during our gathered prayer. (Again, you must be present to be privy to those).
If you have additional prayer concerns, feel free to post them in the comments below this information on either Faithlife or Facebook. You can also email your requests to prayer.ephesusnc@gmail.com. If you have updates on these requests please post or email those as well.
Below are the requests for prayer that have been shared. Please note: PTL means praise the Lord. We have much to be thankful for as you can see below.
Prayer Requests from Wednesday’s 1:30pm and 6:00pm Prayer Gatherings. Please add these to your prayer list. Hopefully, I recorded everything correctly.
· Please be in prayer for a youth from one of our sister churches. She was in an accident involving a school bus this morning and has been life-flighted to Wake Med. She is in intensive care. Please pray for all involved.
· Pray for Kimberly Kerivel’s son, Hunter. Due to the increasing tensions in the Black Sea involving the Russia/Ukraine issue, many of our troops are being deployed to areas near that front. Hunter is possibly about to be deployed on a vessel that will serve at least nine months in that region. She asked for us to be in prayer for him and all of our troops.
· Glen Tyson’s Nephew’s Wife’s daughter, Savannah, a teenager, was found unresponsive Tuesday, apparently Covid related. She is in the ICU in Smithfield. She is septic with a UTI infection and pneumonia. She is on a ventilator at this time. Pray for her healing and for her family. Update: No changes at this time. The family is praying that a room will open up in a larger hospital that has more capability to treat her. She has shown signs of alertness, so that is a praise. Please continue to pray.
· Please pray for Craig Johnson’s brother, Kenneth. He has been fighting Covid and double pneumonia. Kenneth is recovering, but it appears that Covid may have done major damage to his lung tissue, possibly permanent damage. Pray for healing and comfort for Kenneth and for the entire Johnson family. Update: Kenneth passed away Monday morning. Pray for the family as they grieve his departure.
· Ike Davis has asked us to pray for a friend’s mother who is battling Covid.
· Pray for our new Barnabas Initiative to take root and grow and cultivate a culture that values loving encouragement within our church family.
· Pray for our Pray and Go Ministry and Ministry Team Leaders. We have already visited many homes in our community and the response has been very favorable at this point. PTL
· Wayne Taylor, owner of Taylor’s Exxon in Nashville, is sick with COVID. Wayne is no longer on the ventilator, but is on oxygen and recovering, so please continue to pray for him, his family, and especially his son, Dane (sp?). PTL
· Mrs. Pam asked us to remember to thank God for the faithful witness and encouragement of our church family every time we gather together. PTL.
· Janelle Kirkpatrick, relative of Pam Peele - bladder cancer, awaiting surgery and chemo which was delayed due to having COVID. Update: She has gone back to teaching and will have her first treatment procedure performed on February 17th. Please continue praying and pray for the possibility of assistance with caregiving for their family.
· Pat Montgomery, a teacher friend of Sue Staton, is recovering from a stroke. Pray for encouragers to come around her as she recovers.
· Ron Taylor, Sue Staton’s friend – Cancer
· Michael Valentine, Sue Staton’s Son-in-Law - Recovery from elbow surgery. Having pain due to his Neuropathy issues. Update: Michael is having a very rough week with plans to see his doctor. Please continue praying for relief from his pain and for healing.
· Debbie Perry’s cousin Barbara is continuing to recover from surgery for breast cancer. Update:Things keep looking better each week. PTL
· Pray for Debbie Perry’s cousins Gail and Bert Joyner. Bert (84 yrs old) had surgery last year for having a twisted intestinal issue. He has been in the hospital with complications since November 2nd, 2021. He is growing very frail with each passing day. Gail is also very fatigued from caring for him daily. Please pray for healing and rest for them both.
· Debbie Peace’s aunt, Sandra LaBlanche’, non-cancerous brain tumor, will require surgery. She also asked us to be in prayer for a friend named Bret how has Covid.
· Covid crisis in general.
· Tom May’s Aunt, Linda Roser, who has been battling Covid is now at home recovering. PTL
· Toni Hughes – Kim May’s friend hospitalized with Covid. Update: Toni had gotten out of the hospital, but she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Praise the Lord for the improvements she has seen. PTL
· Kim May would like to ask us to pray for both her Daughter-in-laws, that they would have healthy pregnancies.
· Dale Harper family, especially his son.
· Linda McLaurin wants us to pray for Pastors everywhere and that we would all have an intense hunger for the reaching those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
· Continue to keep Dougald and Linda in your prayers for energy and health. Update: Linda McLaurin has been having a really tough battle with Vertigo this past week. It has been very physically and emotionally draining on them both. Please pray for relief and healing!
· Pray for the McLaurin’s daughter, Lisa. She is traveling from Pennsylvania to North Carolina today. Pray for safe travels. Also pray for her as she lost a dear friend and neighbor this week.
· Emily Kicklighter, Crystal’s best friend, please pray for her as she continues to recover from Bone Marrow Transplant.
· Judy Denton has asked for prayer for her back. She is having a burning pain in her lower back and has begun to go to Physical Therapy, as well as seeking other tests to determine the source of the pain. Update: Judy is continuing to see some relief to her back pain from the physical therapy and exercise. Praise the Lord and continue to pray for full recovery. PTL
· Phil Peele asked a special prayer for his sister, Barbara Sharpe. She has Alzheimer’s and the family is concerned for her safety, especially while driving.
· Pray for Josephine Lamm as she recovers from her Hip injury. Update: Mrs. Jo will be having an outpatient procedure on February 15th, please be in prayer for her and her family.
· Pray for David Harper and Joy Harper as they take care of Mrs. Jo and Wayne daily. Pray for energy and safety as they minister to their needs. Update: Joy has been feeling sick this week. They need our prayers and encouragement. We are also praying specifically that God would provide a Caregiver or two to come and give them some relief on a regular basis. God knows the need, He will provide.
· Pray for David Harper, as he is trying to get his foot healthier and increase his quality of life and ability to minister and serve Christ and His Church.
· Pray for Pastor Wayne, Crystal, Abigail, & Elizabeth.
· Debbie Perry asked us to be in prayer for our Deacons as they seek to serve our church during this season. David Harper and Phil Peele.
· Sue Staton asked that we pray for her neighbor, Ann Richardson and her family. Her husband passed away on December 20th and she is having a hard time coping. Update: Ann is growing stronger by the day and coping with things very well, but could use continued. PTL
· Pray for Rhonda Faulkner’s Father-in-Law, Pete Faulkner. He has been fighting Covid. Rhonda’s Mother-in -Law has Pneumonia in the middle of all this and is not resting well herself. Update: Pete and his wife are both doing better, Pete is still having issues with hydration and pain in his abdomen, so keep praying. PTL
· Rhonda’s husband David, along with his brother Glen and wife Rebecca. Update: Rhonda and Beth both have Covid now as well. So, continue to pray for this family as they cope with all these struggles in the midst of the pandemic. Update: Everyone is continuing to recover, but David is still having a lot of long-term lingering issues and is undergoing tests. Keep them all in your prayers, but PTL, He has brought them this far.
· Pray for Jill and Ken Olson. Pray that Ken’s health would continue to improve and God would be praised as a result. Update: Ken continues to improve. PTL Update: Jill hurt her back Monday and would appreciate your prayers.
· Pray for Cindy Joslin’s daughter, Jessica Hellwege and her family. Her father is in ICU on a ventilator and he’s not doing very well. No more information is known at this time. Update:Jessica’s father passed away this week. Please continue to pray for her and her family. Pray for them to have the grace and wisdom to handle all of the estate issues that come up in these situations and the grief of their loss, all the while having to do so from Colorado.
· Pray for Meredith and Besweri Walujjo, missionaries in Uganda. They are having difficulties with their housing situation.
· Pray for the family of Bill Wallace as they celebrate his life and mourn their loss last week.
· Pray for the family of Claiborn Wood as he passed away at the age of 101 last week. Pray for especially for his wife, Mary Wood.
· Pray for Scott and Connie Skinner as they continue to seek to recover from their house fire and juggle all that that entails.
· Dawn Stanco fell and broke her arm and wrist and had surgery last week. She is at home recovering.
· Patrick Snipes is asking us to pray for his newborn son Jackson. Jackson has a condition known as Hirschsprung’s disease. He will require surgery when he is around 14-15 lbs. Pray for Jackson and for mommy, Kathryn, big-sister, Avery, and daddy.
· Paula and Ronnie Proctor have asked us to pray for a friend of theirs, Randy Burnette, who fell last week and broke his hip. His recovery is tougher than most because he was recently the recipient of a liver and kidney transplant in 2015. Pray for Randy and family.
· Please also be in prayer for Helen Kennedy’s sister, Evelyn. She fell and broke two ribs and is very weak overall. She has not walked in days. Pray for her healing.
· Judy Murray asked us to be in prayer for Scott Cook a friend of Leslie and Brian Poythress.
· Also be in prayer for Jr. Bullock, his wife Amy Case Bullock and their 3 boys. Jr. has had a rough time with Covid and his lungs continue to need a lot of healing. Update: Jr. Bullock passed away this week, please be in prayer for his wife and family.
· Pray for Colton Kennedy.
· Pray for the family of Junior Matthews who passed away from Parkinson’s with Covid complications.
· Helen Kennedy asked us to pray for her business as she is having a hard time keeping employees willing to work.
· Pray for the Crocker’s and the May’s this week. God knows the need! (Hint: It is nothing bad, so no need to contact them! They have reason to rejoice!)
· We are hosting an Aging Well Conference on March 10. North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministry will be facilitating the Conference. Please be in prayer for this wonderful opportunity to minister to our Senior Saints.
· Sunday, March 13th is our Gideon Sunday. We will have a Gideon sharing with us an update on their ministry worldwide. Please be in prayer for the Gideons and pray about how we can support them both financially and otherwise.
· Pray for our widows and widowers. Pray for how we, as a church, can better encourage and minister to them and their specific needs.
· Pam Peele has asked us to pray for her Grandson, Isaiah. He is going to be speaking to his church family this Sunday as the “Youth Speaker.” What an opportunity for this young man to glorify God! Pray for him! PTL
· United States of America and our World: So much is going on, we must be in prayer for our national and world representatives as they govern. May they learn to govern well and to govern for the people.
Remember:
If you have additional prayer concerns, feel free to post them in the comments below this information on either Faithlife or Facebook. You can also email your requests to prayer.ephesusnc@gmail.com. If you have updates on these requests please post or email those as well.
Prayers for Biblical Revival and Revitalization
(Adapted from Gregory Reed Frizzell’s book, “Forty Days of Seeking God: Embracing a True Return to God.”p.7-8)
1. Pray for our Church family to have an immense deepening desire to seek to renew our First Love toward Jesus Christ.
(Rev. 2:1-4; Matt. 5:6, 44, 22:37-39; Phil. 2:13; 1 John 4:7-11, 20; Rev. 3:15)
2. Cry out for a deep brokenness, God-seeking reverential fear, and humble repentance too sweep our church family as a whole.
(Ps. 51:17; Prov. 28:13; John 14:15; 2 Cor. 7:1, 10; Eph. 5:26-27; Hebrews 12:14)
3. Plead with God’s powerful manifest presence for a restraining of evil, discord, disunity brought about by sinful hearts and a great misuse of the tongue, as well as for a mighty outpouring of His Holy Spirit power.
(Ex. 33:15; 1 Kings 8:11; Isa. 58:1-7; Isa. 59:19; Zech. 4:6; Acts 1:8, 2:1-2, 4:31; 1 Tim. 5:13)
4. Beg God for a Supernatural Love and Unity to sweep across our families, our church family, our sister churches, and our denomination.
(John 13:34-35, 15:12, 17:20-22; Acts 2:1, 42-47, 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:29-32)
5. Pray for a zealous, burning, passionate pursuit of outreach, discipleship, and missions to sweep across each true believer on our church roll.
(Matt 24:14, 28:18-20; Luke 19:10; Acts 1:8; Rom. 9:1-3)
6. Pray for our church leaders to be filled with a sense of joy in their work, boldness in their preaching, ferventness in their prayer life, spiritual power in their personal interactions, and a strong reliance on the truth of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
(Heb. 13:17; 1 Cor. 2:4; 1 Tim. 3:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:6-7)
7. Pray for God to transform the hearts of those who are continuing to walk in sin, pursuing personal preferences, living in the nostalgia of the past, unable to embrace a new movement of the Spirit.
(Mark 1:14-15, 2:17, 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 3:1-9)
As you can see there is much work to be done in prayer this week. I hope you all have a wonderful remainder of your week. God bless you all,
Joyfully His,
Pastor Wayne
EPHESUS PRAYER LIST, FEBRUARY 3, 2022
Good Evening Ephesus Family,
We had two dedicated corporate prayer gatherings yesterday as the church came together to pray at 1:30pm and 6:00pm for a special time of prayer during our Forty Day Prayer Journey: Seeking God’s Will Together.
Some of the prayer requests aren’t listed from that time because of potential sensitivities (You must be present to be privy to those). Also missing from this list are the tremendous praise reports and testimonies of how God is working and moving around us and the great fellowship that was had by everyone during our gathered prayer. (Again, you must be present to be privy to those).
If you have additional prayer concerns, feel free to post them in the comments below this information on either Faithlife or Facebook. You can also email your requests to prayer.ephesusnc@gmail.com. If you have updates on these requests please post or email those as well.
Below are the requests for prayer that have been shared. Please note: PTL means praise the Lord. We have much to be thankful for as you can see below.
Prayer Requests from Wednesday’s 1:30pm and 6:00pm Prayer Gatherings. Please add these to your prayer list. Hopefully, I recorded everything correctly.
· Glen Tyson’s Nephew’s Wife’s daughter, Savannah, a teenager, was found unresponsive Tuesday, apparently Covid related. She is in the ICU in Smithfield. She is septic with a UTI infection and pneumonia. She is on a ventilator at this time. Pray for her healing and for her family.
· Please pray for Craig Johnson’s brother, Kenneth. He has been fighting Covid and double pneumonia. Kenneth is recovering, but it appears that Covid may have done major damage to his lung tissue, possibly permanent damage. Pray for healing and comfort for Kenneth and for the entire Johnson family.
· Pray for our new Barnabas Initiative to take root and grow and cultivate a culture that values loving encouragement within our church family.
· Pray for our Pray and Go Ministry and Ministry Team Leaders. We have already visited many homes in our community and the response has been very favorable at this point. PTL
· Wayne Taylor, owner of Taylor’s Exxon in Nashville, is sick with COVID. Wayne is no longer on the ventilator, but is on oxygen and recovering, so please continue to pray for him, his family, and especially his son, Dane (sp?). PTL
· Continue to pray for Debbie Perry and family as they recover from Covid. They are improving and Danny has not gotten sick. Praise the Lord for that! Update: Debbie and family are all doing much better and are thankful to have survived Covid. PTL
· Praise God that Mrs. Pam Peele is well on the road to recovery and Phil Peele never felt sick. PTL
· Mrs. Pam asked us to remember to thank God for the faithful witness and encouragement of our church family every time we gather together. PTL.
· Janelle Kirkpatrick, relative of Pam Peele - bladder cancer, awaiting surgery and chemo which was delayed due to having COVID. Update: She has gone back to teaching and will have her first treatment procedure performed on February 17th. Please continue praying.
· Pat Montgomery, a teacher friend of Sue Staton, is recovering from a stroke. Pray for encouragers to come around her as she recovers.
· Ron Taylor, Sue Staton’s friend – Cancer
· Michael Valentine, Sue Staton’s Son-in-Law - Recovery from elbow surgery. Having pain due to his Neuropathy issues.
· Debbie Perry’s cousin Barbara is recovering from surgery for breast cancer and things are improving. PTL
· Debbie Peace’s aunt, Sandra LaBlanche’, non-cancerous brain tumor, will require surgery.
· Henry Henne, friend of the Sullivan’s – Massive Heart Attack, on life support. Things aren’t looking good. Update: Praise the Lord, Henry has had a miraculous turn and is at home recovering. PTL
· Covid crisis in general.
· Linda Johnson is well on the road to recovery from Covid. PTL
· Crystal Sullivan’s uncle, Mike Winstead and our sister-n-law and niece, Devin and Graysen Stewart. They all have Covid. Uncle Mike was admitted to the hospital yesterday with Covid related Pneumonia. He has a history of heart issues. Update: All are doing better as they continue to recover. Uncle Mike is now home from the hospital on Oxygen but recovering. PTL
· David Harper’s Daughter, Elizabeth and her husband Austin Harrell, have recovered from Covid. PTL
· Tom May’s Aunt, Linda Roser, who has been battling Covid is now at home recovering. PTL
· Toni Hughes – Kim May’s friend hospitalized with Covid. Update: Toni had gotten out of the hospital, but she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Praise the Lord for the improvements she has seen. PTL
· Kim May would like to ask us to pray for both her Daughter-in-laws, that they would have healthy pregnancies.
· Dale Harper family, especially his son.
· Linda McLaurin wants us to pray for Pastors everywhere and that we would all have an intense hunger for the reaching those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
· Continue to keep Dougald and Linda in your prayers for energy and health.
· Pray for the McLaurin’s daughter, Lisa. She is traveling from Pennsylvania to North Carolina today. Pray for safe travels. Also pray for her as she lost a dear friend and neighbor this week.
· Emily Kicklighter, Crystal’s best friend, please pray for her as she continues to recover from Bone Marrow Transplant.
· Judy Denton has asked for prayer for her back. She is having a burning pain in her lower back and has begun to go to Physical Therapy, as well as seeking other tests to determine the source of the pain. Update: Judy is seeing some relief to her back pain from the physical therapy. Praise the Lord and continue to pray for full recovery. PTL
· Phil Peele asked a special prayer for his sister, Barbara Sharpe. She has Alzheimer’s and the family is concerned for her safety, especially while driving.
· Pray for Josephine Lamm as she recovers from her Hip injury. Update: Mrs. Jo made it home before her birthday! PTL
· Pray for David Harper and Joy Harper as they take care of Mrs. Jo and Wayne daily. Pray for energy and safety as they minister to their needs.
· Pray for Pastor Wayne, Crystal, Abigail, & Elizabeth. Update: I am improving daily. Thank you for your prayers. PTL
· Debbie Perry asked us to be in prayer for our Deacons as they seek to serve our church during this season. David Harper and Phil Peele.
· Sue Staton asked that we pray for her neighbor, Ann Richardson and her family. Her husband passed away on December 20th and she is having a hard time coping.
· Pray for Rhonda Faulkner’s Father-in-Law, Pete Faulkner. He is fighting Covid and is ready to give up. He is refusing hospital care and nutrition. Pray for healing and for the will to live. Hospice is caring for him. Update: Pete and his wife are both doing much better, still a ways to go, but improving daily. PTL
· Rhonda’s Mother-in -Law has Pneumonia in the middle of all this and is not resting well herself. Also, Rhonda’s husband David, along with his brother Glen and wife Rebecca. Update: Rhonda and Beth both have Covid now. So continue to pray for this family as they cope with all these struggles in the midst of the pandemic. Update: Everyone is beginning to recover. PTL
· Kim May’s Uncle, Paul Broome, passed away they were able to travel to Anderson, South Carolina and back safely to be with her family. Please keep them all in your prayers.
· Pray for Jill and Ken Olson. Pray that Ken’s health would continue to improve and God would be praised as a result. Update: Ken continues to improve. PTL
· Pray for Cindy Joslin’s daughter, Jessica Hellwege and her family. Her father is in ICU on a ventilator and he’s not doing very well. No more information is known at this time.
· Pray for Meredith and Besweri Walujjo, missionaries in Uganda. They are having difficulties with their housing situation.
· Pray for the family of Bill Wallace as they celebrate his life and mourn their loss this week.
· Pray for the family of Claiborn Wood as he passed away at the age of 101 this week. Pray for especially for his wife, Mary Wood.
· Pray for Scott and Connie Skinner as they continue to seek to recover from their house fire and juggle all that that entails.
· Dawn Stanco fell and broke her arm and wrist and had surgery yesterday.
· Patrick Snipes is asking us to pray for his newborn son Jackson. Jackson has a condition known as Hirschsprung’s disease. He will require surgery when he is around 14-15 lbs. Pray for Jackson and for mommy, Kathryn, and daddy.
· Paula and Ronnie Proctor have asked us to pray for a friend of theirs, Randy Burnette, who fell last week and broke his hip. His recovery is tougher than most because he was recently the recipient of a liver and kidney transplant in 2015. Pray for Randy and family.
· Please also be in prayer for Helen Kennedy’s sister, Evelyn. She fell and broke two ribs and is very weak overall. She has not walked in days. Pray for her healing.
· Judy Murray asked us to be in prayer for Scott Cook a friend of Leslie and Brian Poythress.
· Also be in prayer for Jr. Bullock, his wife Amy Case Bullock and their 3 boys. Jr. has had a rough time with Covid and his lungs continue to need a lot of healing.
· Pray for Colton Kennedy.
· Pray for Dr. Tom May as he is recovering from lingering issues with Covid, mainly fatigue.
· Pray for the family of Junior Matthews who passed away from Parkinson’s with Covid complications.
· Helen Kennedy asked us to pray for her business as she is having a hard time keeping employees willing to work.
· Kimberly Kerivel asked us to pray for her mother. She pneumonia from Covid, but she is improving but still needs continued prayers.PTL
· United States of America and our World: So much is going on, we must be in prayer for our national and world representatives as they govern. May they learn to govern well and to govern for the people.
CONTINUE TO PRAY DAILY FOR OUR CHURCH USING THE FOLLOWING PRAYER PROMPTS!
Prayers for Biblical Revival and Revitalization
(Adapted from Gregory Reed Frizzell’s book, “Forty Days of Seeking God: Embracing a True Return to God.”p.7-8)
1. Pray for our Church family to have an immense deepening desire to seek to renew our First Love toward Jesus Christ.
(Rev. 2:1-4; Matt. 5:6, 44, 22:37-39; Phil. 2:13; 1 John 4:7-11, 20; Rev. 3:15)
2. Cry out for a deep brokenness, God-seeking reverential fear, and humble repentance too sweep our church family as a whole.
(Ps. 51:17; Prov. 28:13; John 14:15; 2 Cor. 7:1, 10; Eph. 5:26-27; Hebrews 12:14)
3. Plead with God’s powerful manifest presence for a restraining of evil, discord, disunity brought about by sinful hearts and a great misuse of the tongue, as well as for a mighty outpouring of His Holy Spirit power.
(Ex. 33:15; 1 Kings 8:11; Isa. 58:1-7; Isa. 59:19; Zech. 4:6; Acts 1:8, 2:1-2, 4:31; 1 Tim. 5:13)
4. Beg God for a Supernatural Love and Unity to sweep across our families, our church family, our sister churches, and our denomination.
(John 13:34-35, 15:12, 17:20-22; Acts 2:1, 42-47, 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:29-32)
5. Pray for a zealous, burning, passionate pursuit of outreach, discipleship, and missions to sweep across each true believer on our church roll.
(Matt 24:14, 28:18-20; Luke 19:10; Acts 1:8; Rom. 9:1-3)
6. Pray for our church leaders to be filled with a sense of joy in their work, boldness in their preaching, ferventness in their prayer life, spiritual power in their personal interactions, and a strong reliance on the truth of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
(Heb. 13:17; 1 Cor. 2:4; 1 Tim. 3:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:6-7)
7. Pray for God to transform the hearts of those who are continuing to walk in sin, pursuing personal preferences, living in the nostalgia of the past, unable to embrace a new movement of the Spirit.
(Mark 1:14-15, 2:17, 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 3:1-9)
As you can see there is much work to be done in prayer this week. I hope you all have a wonderful remainder of your week. God bless you all,
Joyfully His,
Pastor Wayne
Ephesus Prayer List, January 27, 2022
Good Afternoon Ephesus Family,
Allow me to thank all the encouraging souls who joined me at Mrs. Josephine Lamm’s house yesterday to welcome her back home from her Hip injury rehab. We even got to sing Happy Birthday to her since tomorrow she turns 99 years young!
We had two more wonderful corporate prayer gatherings yesterday as the church came together to pray at 1:30pm and 6:00pm for a special time of prayer during our Forty Day Prayer Journey: Seeking God’s Will Together.
Some of the prayer requests aren’t listed from that time because of potential sensitivities (You must be present to be privy to those). Also missing from this list are the tremendous praise reports and testimonies of how God is working and moving around us and the great fellowship that was had by everyone during our gathered prayer. (Again, you must be present to be privy to those).
If you have additional prayer concerns, feel free to post them in the comments below this information on either Faithlife or Facebook. You can also email your requests to prayer.ephesusnc@gmail.com. If you have updates on these requests please post or email those as well.
Below are the requests for prayer that have been shared. Please note: PTL means praise the Lord. We have much to be thankful for as you can see below.
Prayer Requests from Wednesday’s 1:30pm and 6:00pm Prayer Gatherings. Please add these to your prayer list. Hopefully, I recorded everything correctly.
· Pray for our new Barnabas Initiative to take root and grow and cultivate a culture that values loving encouragement within our church family.
· Pray for our Pray and Go Ministry and Ministry Team Leaders. We have already visited many homes in our community and the response has been very favorable at this point. PTL
· Wayne Taylor, owner of Taylor’s Exxon in Nashville, is sick with COVID. We have been told that he has been placed on a ventilator so please pray for him, his family, and especially his son, Dane (sp?).
· Continue to pray for Debbie Perry and family as they recover from Covid. They are improving and Danny has not gotten sick. Praise the Lord for that! Update: Debbie and family are all doing much better and are thankful to have survived Covid. PTL
· Pray for Pam Peele. She tested positive for COVID but is well on the road to recovery and Phil Peele never felt sick. PTL
· Mrs. Pam asked us to remember to thank God for the faithful witness and encouragement of our church family every time we gather together. PTL.
· Janelle Kirkpatrick, relative of Pam Peele - bladder cancer, awaiting surgery and chemo which was delayed due to having COVID. Update: She has gone back to teaching and will have her first treatment procedure performed on February 17th. Please continue praying.
· Pat Montgomery, a teacher friend of Sue Staton, is recovering from a stroke. Pray for encouragers to come around her as she recovers.
· Ron Taylor, Sue Staton’s friend – Cancer
· Michael Valentine, Sue Staton’s Son-in-Law - Recovery from elbow surgery. Having pain due to his Neuropathy issues.
· Debbie Perry’s cousin Barbara is recovering from surgery for breast cancer and things are improving. PTL
· Debbie Peace’s aunt, Sandra LaBlanche’, non-cancerous brain tumor, will require surgery.
· Henry Henne, friend of the Sullivan’s – Massive Heart Attack, on life support. Things aren’t looking good. Update: Praise the Lord, Henry has had a miraculous turn and is at home recovering. PTL
· Covid crisis in general.
· Linda Johnson is doing better, but continue praying for complete healing. PTL
· Crystal Sullivan’s uncle, Mike Winstead and our sister-n-law and niece, Devin and Graysen Stewart. They all have Covid. Uncle Mike was admitted to the hospital yesterday with Covid related Pneumonia. He has a history of heart issues. Update: All are doing better as they continue to recover. Uncle Mike is now home from the hospital on Oxygen but recovering. PTL
· David Harper’s Daughter, Elizabeth and her husband Austin Harrell, tested positive for Covid yesterday. Update: They have recovered. PTL
· Tom May’s Aunt, Linda Roser, who has been battling Covid is now at home recovering. PTL
· Toni Hughes – Kim May’s friend hospitalized with Covid. Update: Toni had gotten out of the hospital, but she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Praise the Lord for the improvements she has seen. PTL
· Kim May would like to ask us to pray for both her Daughter-in-laws, that they would have healthy pregnancies.
· Dale Harper family, especially his son.
· Linda McLaurin wants us to pray for Pastors everywhere and that we would all have an intense hunger for the reaching those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
· Continue to keep Dougald and Linda in your prayers for energy and health.
· Pray for the McLaurin’s daughter, Lisa. She is traveling from Pennsylvania to North Carolina today. Pray for safe travels. Also pray for her as she lost a dear friend and neighbor this week.
· Emily Kicklighter, Crystal’s best friend, please pray for her as she continues to recover from Bone Marrow Transplant.
· Kimberly Kerivel has asked for a special prayer for Chris and his son, Liam. Update: God is moving. PTL
· Judy Denton has asked for prayer for her back. She is having a burning pain in her lower back and has begun to go to Physical Therapy, as well as seeking other tests to determine the source of the pain. Update: Judy is seeing some relief to her back pain from the physical therapy. Praise the Lord and continue to pray for full recovery. PTL
· Phil Peele asked a special prayer for his sister, Barbara Sharpe. She has Alzheimer’s and the family is concerned for her safety, especially while driving.
· Pray for Josephine Lamm as she recovers from her Hip injury. Update: Mrs. Jo made it home before her birthday! PTL
· Pray for David Harper and Joy Harper as they take care of Mrs. Jo and Wayne daily. Pray for energy and safety as they minister to their needs.
· Pray for Pastor Wayne, Crystal, Abigail, & Elizabeth. Update: Please continue to pray for me. I am still having some issues with sinus congestion and mild cough, not to mention low energy. But I am improving daily. Thank you for your prayers.
· Debbie Perry asked us to be in prayer for our Deacons as they seek to serve our church during this season. David Harper and Phil Peele.
· Please continue to pray for the Rudy Roth family, Glen Tyson’s niece’s husband who passed into eternity three Sunday’s ago.
· Sue Staton asked that we pray for her neighbor, Ann Richardson and her family. Her husband passed away on December 20th and she is having a hard time coping.
· Pray for safety and warmth for everyone during the third round of winter weather coming our way. We will make a call about church by Saturday afternoon after we see what comes our way. Pray we gather together this Sunday for worship.
· Pray for Rhonda Faulkner’s Father-in-Law, Pete Faulkner. He is fighting Covid and is ready to give up. He is refusing hospital care and nutrition. Pray for healing and for the will to live. Hospice is caring for him.
· Rhonda’s Mother-in -Law has Pneumonia in the middle of all this and is not resting well herself. Also, Rhonda’s husband David, along with his brother Glen and wife Rebecca. Update: Rhonda and Beth both have Covid now. So continue to pray for this family as they cope with all these struggles in the midst of the pandemic.
· Kim May’s Uncle, Paul Broome, passed away they were able to travel to Anderson, South Carolina and back safely to be with her family. Please keep them all in your prayers.
· Pray for Jill and Ken Olson. Pray that Ken’s health would continue to improve and God would be praised as a result.
· Pray for Cindy Joslin’s daughter, Jessica Hellwege and her family. Her father is in ICU on a ventilator and he’s not doing very well. No more information is known at this time.
· Pray for Meredith and Besweri Walujjo, missionaries in Uganda. They are having difficulties with their housing situation.
· Pray for the family of Bill Wallace as they celebrate his life and mourn their loss this week.
· Pray for the family of Claiborn Wood as he passed away at the age of 101 this week. Pray for especially for his wife, Mary Wood.
· Pray for Scott and Connie Skinner as they continue to seek to recover from their house fire and juggle all that that entails.
Prayers for Biblical Revival and Revitalization
(Adapted from Gregory Reed Frizzell’s book, “Forty Days of Seeking God: Embracing a True Return to God.”p.7-8)
1. Pray for our Church family to have an immense deepening desire to seek to renew our First Love toward Jesus Christ.
(Rev. 2:1-4; Matt. 5:6, 44, 22:37-39; Phil. 2:13; 1 John 4:7-11, 20; Rev. 3:15)
2. Cry out for a deep brokenness, God-seeking reverential fear, and humble repentance too sweep our church family as a whole.
(Ps. 51:17; Prov. 28:13; John 14:15; 2 Cor. 7:1, 10; Eph. 5:26-27; Hebrews 12:14)
3. Plead with God’s powerful manifest presence for a restraining of evil, discord, disunity brought about by sinful hearts and a great misuse of the tongue, as well as for a mighty outpouring of His Holy Spirit power.
(Ex. 33:15; 1 Kings 8:11; Isa. 58:1-7; Isa. 59:19; Zech. 4:6; Acts 1:8, 2:1-2, 4:31; 1 Tim. 5:13)
4. Beg God for a Supernatural Love and Unity to sweep across our families, our church family, our sister churches, and our denomination.
(John 13:34-35, 15:12, 17:20-22; Acts 2:1, 42-47, 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:29-32)
5. Pray for a zealous, burning, passionate pursuit of outreach, discipleship, and missions to sweep across each true believer on our church roll.
(Matt 24:14, 28:18-20; Luke 19:10; Acts 1:8; Rom. 9:1-3)
6. Pray for our church leaders to be filled with a sense of joy in their work, boldness in their preaching, ferventness in their prayer life, spiritual power in their personal interactions, and a strong reliance on the truth of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
(Heb. 13:17; 1 Cor. 2:4; 1 Tim. 3:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:6-7)
7. Pray for God to transform the hearts of those who are continuing to walk in sin, pursuing personal preferences, living in the nostalgia of the past, unable to embrace a new movement of the Spirit.
(Mark 1:14-15, 2:17, 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 3:1-9)
As you can see there is much work to be done in prayer this week. I hope you all have a wonderful remainder of your week. God bless you all,
Joyfully His,
Pastor Wayne
The Power of Encouraging Hope!
Tom Brady is perhaps the greatest NFL quarterback of all time. After Sunday's loss to the Rams ended his season earlier than he'd have liked, media reporters started asking him about retirement. He basically said that, (and I am paraphrasing) he wasn't at a point to make any decision at the moment, his mind was still on the game they had just lost.
His answer reminded me of a great principle in life and ministry.
"Never make major life decisions when you are emotionally down and hurting."
The Christian life is like that too! We all have our ups and downs. It is very easy for us to look at the past few years and see more negatives than positives. That can negatively influence our decision making and affect the way we run our race.
Yet, s those with the hope of Christ, we are called to run our race with endurance (Heb. 12:1) to the very end. Coach Jim Valvano used to say, "Don't give up, don't ever give up!" That should be our mentality as believers too! Every day, we wake up and say to ourselves, "I can do this!"
If we love Christ, if we love His Church, and if we love our church family as deeply as we say we do, then we will never give up fighting for their honor. We must learn how to fight for the church, not with ourselves or with the church. One of the best ways to combat negativity is with positivity. The light always overcomes the darkness.
(Please don't misread any notion of the false theology of the power of positive thinking here, rather understand that the Bible does encourage us to be encouraging.)
Ephesus, as part of our Barnabas Initiative, let us seek to always exhibit a genuine, heart felt, positive outlook toward our present circumstances and our future development. We can encourage each other greatly by never giving up the fight for the honor of Christ.
God placed us at our current address with our current family of believers, so that together, WE can be an agent of encouragement and change in our lives and in the lives of those who live in our community and around this globe. We have a mission. We have the hope of Christ to empower us, to sustain us, and give us the endurance to run this race well and fulfill this mission.
Church, let's do this! May we stand strong and triumphant, joyfully encouraging the hope of Christ to flood our ranks with a great sense of optimism. Optimism that can breathe new life into even the most weary of souls. Let us become that kind of disciple! Let us become that kind of Church!
When our hearts are right before God in unison and hopeful expectation, then we will be prepared to hear God and make the right decisions to follow Him in His works and ways. Let's do this Church!
"If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Romans 8:31
Welcome to the Barnabas Initiative!
***Please Share this information with those in our family who are not online. Also, please go to Facebook and share our post with your friends and family members.****
Good Evening Ephesus Family,
We are starting a new initiative in our church family. May God allow us to firmly root and ground a new core value within the fabric of our church family.
A core value of encouragement!
May we commit together, not to only aspire to be encouragers, but to actually be known in our families, in our church, and in our community as those who are encouraging and uplifting, with the primary goal of our encouragement being to see people grow into Christ following disciple-makers.
We are calling this new initiative, the Barnabas Initiative. This initiative is based on a sermon preached by Pastor Wayne. Watch it here: https://fb.watch/aKPF5IXw9k/
We know that many among us believe that the day of Jesus’ second coming is drawing near. Many routinely say that Jesus is coming soon! If we really believe that, it is time for us to live like we believe it.
Hebrews: 10:24-25 reminds us, exhorts us, yes, it even encourgages us to:
“…consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Scripture is clear, we are called to be an encouraging people. As a church, we value a great many things, some that are good, right, and biblical, others that are more ritual, traditional, and familial. At Ephesus Baptist Church, we are desiring to become a church that values what God values above all.
The Gospel compels us to seek to proclaim Christ and His Kingdom with everyone who will listen, to call them to repentance, and to encourage them to follow Christ as His disciples by faith as Lord of their lives.
In order to be who God has called us to become, we believe it would be prudent for us to lean into our role as encouragers or ambassadors of reconciliation. In other words, we want to become the most encouraging and uplifting people that we can become under the guidance of Scripture and the Holy Spirit. Not just to be encouraging, but to be a community that values encouraging one another so that others will desire to be a part of our community and to know and be known by our wonderful Christ.
That is what the “Barnabas Initiative” is all about. We hope that you will commit to joining us in this initiative to become a son or daughter of encouragement, like Barnabas.
In the future, you will be seeing emails and social media posts with graphics like these. They are intended to be reminder prompts to help you lean into your gifts of encouragement. Our hope is that each of these will be thought and prayer prompts to get us growing into our identity as Children of the King of kings who calls us to love and encourage one another.
Ephesus Winter Weather Update: Services Cancelled Tomorrow
Good Afternoon Ephesus Family,
We all opened our windows this morning to a Winter Wonderland. God permitted snow to fall down upon our community and bought joy to many hearts as we look out and enjoy a rare commodity in these parts. Kids everywhere are rejoicing and playing. Job 37:6 reminds us of this reality, "For to the snow he says, 'Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour."
Snow also reminds us of our sin and our saving relationship with Jesus Christ! Isaiah 1:18 encourages us by saying, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
Snow is a wonderful reminder of God's graciousness toward us. Snow events, like this one, also provide us an opportunity to slow down and "be still and know that He is God," Psalm 46:10.
Today and tomorrow will provide most of us with a time where things will slow down a bit. That includes our gathering together for worship. The Deacons and I agreed this morning to cancel our in-person gathering tomorrow for the second week in a row due to winter weather. The decision was made after reviewing the widespread nature of the snow storm and looking at the potential for dangerous refreezing of anything that melts overnight which would make for treacherous travel tomorrow morning.
In lieu of our In-Person worship, I will be doing a short Facebook Live Devotional tomorrow morning at 10:00am. I hope you can join us on there for about 15-20 minutes as we gather under God's word as God's people to celebrate what He is doing in our lives. We are going through a forty day prayer journey in which we are seeking God's will as we ask Him to reorder our private and public lives as His Church so that we can honor glorify Him more powerfully.
In light of my illness this week and the illnesses of several others in our congregation, I am going to ask that you continue to pray, but we are going to hit the pause button on our 40 day prayer journey and pick back up next Sunday. I have had neither the mental clarity, focus, nor energy over the past week to complete the devotionals for the next week. I am not fully recovered at this time either, but I am improving. So I promise to work hard on them in the week ahead and have them ready for you to continue our 40 day journey, now a 47 day journey of prayer next week. In the meantime, I will also try to send out shorter devotions and prayer points throughout the week via OneCallNow, Facebook, and Faithlife in order to make up for the lack of devotions for this week.
I hope you will all take time to be still this weekend and spend time with your Heavenly Father as you have opportunity. I look forward to being with you via Facebook tomorrow, but even more so regathering for prayer next Wednesday at 1:30pm and 6:00pm and regathering for Worship next Sunday! Until then know that the Deacons and I are praying for each of you and if you need anything don't hesitate to reach out to us. We love you all very dearly!
God bless you all this weekend.
Joyfully His,
Pastor Wayne
Updates from our Prayer Gatherings Yesterday! Requests for prayer included.
Good Afternoon Ephesus Family,
We had two intimate prayer gatherings yesterday as the church came together to pray at 1:30pm and 6:00pm for a special time of prayer during our Forty Day Prayer Journey: Seeking God’s Will Together. Allow me to thank a few servant hearts who rose to the occasion to facilitate our prayer gatherings yesterday since I was home trying to overcome an illness. Jill Olson and Sue Staton teamed up to co-facilitate our 1:30pm prayer gathering, while Dougald McLaurin led the 6:00pm evening prayer gathering.
Some of the prayer requests aren’t listed from that time because of potential sensitivities (You must be present to be privy to those). Also missing from this list are the tremendous praise reports and testimonies of how God is working and moving around us and the great fellowship that was had by everyone during our gathered prayer. (Again, you must be present to be privy to those).
If you have additional prayer concerns, feel free to post them in the comments below this information on either Faithlife or Facebook. You can also email your requests to prayer.ephesusnc@gmail.com. If you have updates on these requests please post or email those as well.
Below are the requests for prayer that have been shared.
Prayer Requests from Wednesday’s 1:30pm and 6:00pm Prayer Gatherings. Please add these to your prayer list. Hopefully, I recorded everything correctly.
· Pray for our Pray and Go Ministry and Ministry Team Leaders. We have already visited many homes in our community and the response has been very favorable at this point.
· Continue to pray for Debbie Perry and family as they recover from Covid. They are improving and Danny has not gotten sick. Praise the Lord for that!
· Pray for Pam Peele. She tested positive for COVID yesterday morning. She is having mild sinus issues and congestion plus fatique, but nothing too serious at this point. Pray for Phil to remain COVID free as he remains in quarantine.
· Mrs. Pam asked us to remember to thank God for the faithful witness and encouragement of our church family every time we gather together.
· Janelle Kirkpatrick, relative of Pam Peele - bladder cancer, awaiting surgery and chemo which was delayed due to having COVID. Update: She has gone back to teaching, but is still awaiting her treatments.
· Ron Taylor, Sue Staton’s friend – Cancer
· Michael Valentine, Sue Staton’s Son-in-Law - Recovery from elbow surgery. Having pain due to his Neuropathy issues.
· Debbie Perry’s cousin Barbara had surgery for breast cancer and is having issues from the surgery. Also dealing with the post surgery blues. Update: She has received some treatment and was feeling better last week.
· Debbie Peace’s aunt, Sandra LaBlanche’, non-cancerous brain tumor, will require surgery.
· Henry Henne, friend of the Sullivan’s – Massive Heart Attack, on life support. Things aren’t looking good. Update: Praise the Lord, Henry has had a miraculous turn and is at home recovering.
· Covid crisis in general.
· Craig and Linda Johnson as Linda battles Covid. Linda is doing better, but she is having a hard time getting her energy back. Continue praying for complete healing.
· Crystal Sullivan’s uncle, Mike Winstead and our Sister-n-Law and niece, Devin and Graysen Stewart. They all have Covid. Uncle Mike was admitted to the hospital yesterday with Covid related Pneumonia. He has a history of heart issues. Update: All are doing better as they continue to recover. Uncle Mike is now home from the hospital on Oxygen but recovering.
· David Harper’s Daughter, Elizabeth and her husband Austin Harrell, tested positive for Covid yesterday. Update: They are both recovering well and had mild cases.
· Tom May’s sister, Linda Roser, has Covid
· Toni Hughes – Kim May’s friend hospitalized with Covid. Update: Toni had gotten out of the hospital, but she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Praise the Lord for the improvements she has seen.
· Kim May would like to ask us to pray for both her Daughter-in-laws, that they would have healthy pregnancies.
· Dale Harper family, especially his son.
· Linda McLaurin wants us to pray for Pastors everywhere and that we would all have an intense hunger for the reaching those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
· Continue to keep Dougald and Linda in your prayers for energy and health.
· Pray for the McLaurin’s daughter, Lisa. She is traveling from Pennsylvania to North Carolina today. Pray for safe travels.
· Emily Kicklighter, Crystal’s best friend, please pray for her as she continues to recover from Bone Marrow Transplant.
· Kimberly Kerivel has asked for a special prayer for Chris and his son, Liam. Update: God is moving.
· Judy Denton has asked for prayer for her back. She is having a burning pain in her lower back and has begun to go to Physical Therapy, as well as seeking other tests to determine the source of the pain. Update: Judy is seeing some relief to her back pain from the physical therapy. Praise the Lord and continue to pray for full recovery.
· Phil Peele asked a special prayer for his sister, Barbara Sharpe. She has Alzheimer’s and the family is concerned for her safety, especially while driving.
· Pray for Josephine Lamm as she recovers from her Hip injury. Update: Mrs. Jo is scheduled to be coming home on January 26th, Praise the Lord. She is so happy that she’ll be home by her birthday.
· Pray for David Harper and Joy Harper as they visit and tend to Mrs. Jo daily.
· Pray for Pastor Wayne, Crystal, Abigail, & Elizabeth. Update: I have been sick this week with either the Flu or a really bad Sinus bug. Three tests ruled out Covid-19. During the sickness, I had a bad reaction to Prednisone and had a very long and scary night with a racing heart rate and a high blood pressure. Please continue to pray for me. Everyone else is doing well. Abigail has had a little sore throat this week, but very minor thankfully.
· Debbie Perry asked us to be in prayer for our Deacons as they seek to serve our church during this season. David Harper and Phil Peele.
· Please continue to pray for the Rudy Roth family, Glen Tyson’s niece’s husband who passed into eternity on two Sunday’s ago.
· Sue Staton asked that we pray for her neighbor, Ann Richardson and her family. Her husband passed away on December 20th and she is having a hard time coping.
· Pray for safety and warmth for everyone during the winter weather coming our way. We will make a call about church by Saturday morning after we see what comes our way.
· Pray for Rhonda Faulkner’s Father-in-Law, Pete Faulkner. He is fighting Covid and is ready to give up. He is refusing hospital care and nutrition. Pray for healing and for the will to live. Hospice is caring for him.
· Rhonda’s Mother-in -Law has Pneumonia in the middle of all this and is not resting well herself. Also, Rhonda’s husband David, along with his brother Glen and wife Rebecca, all have Covid so Rhonda is quarantined away from them for the next 10 days. Pray for this family as they cope with all these struggles in the midst of the pandemic.
· Kim May’s Uncle, Paul Broome, passed away and if the weather permits, they will be traveling to Anderson, South Carolina on Monday to be with the family. Please keep them all in your prayers.
· Pray for Jill and Ken Olson. Pray that Ken’s health would continue to improve and God would be praised as a result.
Prayers for Biblical Revival and Revitalization
(Adapted from Gregory Reed Frizzell’s book, “Forty Days of Seeking God: Embracing a True Return to God.”p.7-8)
1. Pray for our Church family to have an immense deepening desire to seek to renew our First Love toward Jesus Christ.
(Rev. 2:1-4; Matt. 5:6, 44, 22:37-39; Phil. 2:13; 1 John 4:7-11, 20; Rev. 3:15)
2. Cry out for a deep brokenness, God-seeking reverential fear, and humble repentance too sweep our church family as a whole.
(Ps. 51:17; Prov. 28:13; John 14:15; 2 Cor. 7:1, 10; Eph. 5:26-27; Hebrews 12:14)
3. Plead with God’s powerful manifest presence for a restraining of evil, discord, disunity brought about by sinful hearts and a great misuse of the tongue, as well as for a mighty outpouring of His Holy Spirit power.
(Ex. 33:15; 1 Kings 8:11; Isa. 58:1-7; Isa. 59:19; Zech. 4:6; Acts 1:8, 2:1-2, 4:31; 1 Tim. 5:13)
4. Beg God for a Supernatural Love and Unity to sweep across our families, our church family, our sister churches, and our denomination.
(John 13:34-35, 15:12, 17:20-22; Acts 2:1, 42-47, 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:29-32)
5. Pray for a zealous, burning, passionate pursuit of outreach, discipleship, and missions to sweep across each true believer on our church roll.
(Matt 24:14, 28:18-20; Luke 19:10; Acts 1:8; Rom. 9:1-3)
6. Pray for our church leaders to be filled with a sense of joy in their work, boldness in their preaching, ferventness in their prayer life, spiritual power in their personal interactions, and a strong reliance on the truth of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
(Heb. 13:17; 1 Cor. 2:4; 1 Tim. 3:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:6-7)
7. Pray for God to transform the hearts of those who are continuing to walk in sin, pursuing personal preferences, living in the nostalgia of the past, unable to embrace a new movement of the Spirit.
(Mark 1:14-15, 2:17, 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 3:1-9)
I hope you all have a wonderful remainder of your week. God bless you all,
Joyfully His,
Pastor Wayne
EPHESUS PRAYER LIST, MARCH 4, 2022
Good Morning Ephesus Family,
We had two heart-felt corporate prayer gatherings Wednesday as the church came together to pray at 1:30pm and 6:00pm. Our prayer warriors roamed around the sanctuary praying for every person and seat that the Holy Spirit laid on their heart. It was a moving time of prayer. I hope you will join us next week.
Some of the prayer requests aren’t listed from that time because of potential sensitivities (You must be present to be privy to those). Also missing from this list are the tremendous praise reports and testimonies of how God is working and moving around us and the great fellowship that was had by everyone during our gathered prayer. (Again, you must be present to be privy to those).
If you have additional prayer concerns, feel free to post them in the comments below this information on either Faithlife or Facebook. You can also email your requests to prayer.ephesusnc@gmail.com. If you have updates on these requests please post or email those as well.
Below are the requests for prayer that have been shared. Please note: PTL means praise the Lord. We have much to be thankful for as you can see below.
Prayer Requests from Wednesday’s 1:30pm and 6:00pm Prayer Gatherings. Please add these to your prayer list. Hopefully, I recorded everything correctly.
· Pray for Ephesus Baptist Church to become all that God would have her to become according to His Will. Please continue to pray fervently for our worship services, our Family Meeting, and other times of gathered ministry.
· Kimberly and Chris made it safely and are getting settled in. They are very thankful for our prayers and plan to share the gospel of Christ which they learned at Ephesus with others they meet in Florida. They are praying for us and will continue to watch our services online as they settle in and begin to seek out a new church family.
· Please continue to be in prayer for the family, friends, and church family of Madison Nelms, Karen Hendrick’s cousin’s daughter, as they celebrate her young life and grieve her death. Pray for comfort, grace, and wisdom in the days ahead.
· Pray for Kimberly Kerivel’s son, Hunter. Due to the increasing tensions in the Black Sea involving the Russia/Ukraine issue, many of our troops are being deployed to areas near that front. Hunter is possibly about to be deployed on a vessel that will serve at least nine months in that region. She asked for us to be in prayer for him and all of our troops.
· Glen Tyson’s nephew’s wife’s daughter, Savannah, a teenager, was found unresponsive Tuesday, apparently Covid related. She is in the ICU in Smithfield. She is septic with a UTI infection and pneumonia. She is on a ventilator at this time. Pray for her healing and for her family. Update: Praise the Lord, she is off of the ventilator and showing signs of improvement. She still has some high hurdles to overcome, but she is improving. Please continue to pray. PTL
· Pray for Glen Tyson. She was battling a vertigo attack two weeks ago. Pray for increased health. Update: She is feeling better.
· Pray for Craig Johnson and family as they continue to grieve the departure of his brother.
· Pray for our Barnabas Initiative to take root and grow and cultivate a culture that values loving encouragement within our church family.
· Pray for our Pray and Go Ministry and Ministry Team Leaders. We have prayed for many homes and the response has been very favorable at this point. PTL
· Wayne Taylor, owner of Taylor’s Exxon in Nashville, is sick with COVID. Wayne is no longer on the ventilator, but is on oxygen and recovering, so please continue to pray for him, his family, and especially his son, Dane (sp?). PTL Hoping to come home this week.
· Pam Peele wants us to thank God for the faithful witness and encouragement of our church family each time we gather together. PTL.
· Janelle Kirkpatrick, relative of Pam Peele - bladder cancer, awaiting surgery and chemo which was delayed due to having COVID. Update: She has had her procedure, pray for her recovery and remission. Please continue praying and pray for the possibility of assistance with caregiving for their family.
· Pat Montgomery, a teacher friend of Sue Staton, is recovering from a stroke. Pray for encouragers to come around her as she recovers.
· Ron Taylor, Sue Staton’s friend – Cancer Update: Still receiving Chemotherapy.
· Michael Valentine, Sue Staton’s Son-in-Law - Recovery from elbow surgery. Having pain due to his Neuropathy issues. Update: Michael had a sinus infection two weeks ago and is feeling better, but please continue praying for relief from his pain and for healing.
· Debbie Perry’s cousin Barbara is continuing to recover from surgery for breast cancer. Update: Things keep looking better each week. PTL
· Pray for Debbie Perry’s cousins Gail and Bert Joyner. Bert (84 yrs old) had surgery last year for having a twisted intestinal issue. He has been in the hospital with complications since November 2nd, 2021. He is growing very frail with each passing day. Gail is also very fatigued from caring for him daily. Please pray for healing and rest for them both.
· Debbie Peace’s aunt, Sandra LaBlanche’, non-cancerous brain tumor, will require surgery. She also asked us to be in prayer for a friend named Bret how has Covid.
· Covid crisis in general.
· Tom May’s Aunt, Linda Roser, who has been battling Covid is now at home recovering. PTL
· Toni Hughes – Kim May’s friend hospitalized with Covid. Update: Toni had gotten out of the hospital, but she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Praise the Lord for the improvements she has seen. PTL
· Kim May would like to ask us to pray for both her Daughter-in-laws, that they would have healthy pregnancies.
· Dale Harper family, especially his son.
· Linda McLaurin wants us to pray for Pastors everywhere and that we would all have an intense hunger for the reaching those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
· Continue to keep Dougald and Linda in your prayers for energy and health. Update: Linda McLaurin had a really tough battle with Vertigo this a couple of weeks ago. It has been very physically and emotionally draining on them both. Please pray for relief and healing! Update: Linda is feeling better this week and hopeful for improvement in her health.
· Pray for the McLaurin’s daughter, Lisa. She is traveling from Pennsylvania to North Carolina today. Pray for safe travels. Also pray for her as she lost a dear friend and neighbor this week.
· Emily Kicklighter, Crystal’s best friend, please pray for her as she continues to recover from Bone Marrow Transplant.
· Judy Denton has asked for prayer for her back. Update: Judy is continuing to see some relief to her back pain from the physical therapy and exercise. Praise the Lord and continue to pray for full recovery. PTL
· Phil Peele asked a special prayer for his sister, Barbara Sharpe. She has Alzheimer’s and the family is concerned for her safety, especially while driving.
· Phil Peele would also like us to remember his nephew, Jonathan Marshall, in our prayers. He is a 38 year old, living in California who needs prayers for health and for salvation.
· Pray for Josephine Lamm as she recovers from her Hip injury. Update: Mrs. Jo had an outpatient procedure yesterday, please be in prayer for her and her family as they continue to deal with multiple health issues. Pray for decisions about future treatment.
· Pray for Joy Harper as she takes care of Mrs. Jo and Wayne daily. Pray for energy and safety as she ministers to their needs. We are also praying specifically that God would provide a Caregiver or two to come and give them some relief on a regular basis. God knows the need, He will provide.
· Pray for David Harper, he had a procedure performed on his foot. Pray for increased health in the days to come. Continue to pray for healing.
· Pray for Pastor Wayne, Crystal, Abigail, & Elizabeth. Pastor Wayne has been having severe headaches and eye pain for the last week and a half. Pray for healing. Crystal has also been having a lot of shoulder pain and could use your prayers. Overall, please pray for supernatural wisdom and power from on high concerning how to reach our local area for Christ!
· Debbie Perry asked us to be in prayer for our Deacons as they seek to serve our church during this season. David Harper and Phil Peele.
· Sue Staton asked that we pray for her neighbor, Ann Richardson and her family. Her husband passed away on December 20th and she is having a hard time coping. Update: Ann is growing stronger by the day and coping with things very well, but could use continued. PTL
· Pray for Rhonda Faulkner’s Father-in-Law, Pete Faulkner. He has been fighting Covid. Rhonda’s Mother-in -Law has Pneumonia in the middle of all this and is not resting well herself. Update: Pete and his wife are both doing better, Pete is still having issues with hydration and pain in his abdomen, so keep praying. PTL
· Rhonda’s husband David, along with his brother Glen and wife Rebecca. Update: Rhonda and Beth both have Covid now as well. So, continue to pray for this family as they cope with all these struggles in the midst of the pandemic. Update: Everyone is continuing to recover, but David is still having a lot of long-term lingering issues and is undergoing tests. Keep them all in your prayers, but PTL, He has brought them this far.
· Pray for Jill and Ken Olson. Pray that Ken’s health would continue to improve and God would be praised as a result. Update: Ken continues to improve. PTL
· Pray for Cindy Joslin’s daughter, Jessica Hellwege and her family. Update: Jessica’s father passed away two weeks ago. Please continue to pray for her and her family. Pray for them to have the grace and wisdom to handle all of the estate issues that come up in these situations and the grief of their loss, all the while having to do so from Colorado.
· Pray for Meredith and Besweri Walujjo, missionaries in Uganda. They are having difficulties with their housing situation.
· Pray for Scott and Connie Skinner as they continue to seek to recover from their house fire and juggle all that that entails. They have been working hard!
· Dawn Stanco fell and broke her arm and wrist and had surgery last week. She is at home recovering.
· Patrick Snipes is asking us to pray for his newborn son Jackson. Jackson has a condition known as Hirschsprung’s disease. He will require emergency surgery today. Pray for Jackson and for mommy, Kathryn, big-sister, Avery, and daddy.
· Paula and Ronnie Proctor have asked us to pray for a friend of theirs, Randy Burnette, who fell last week and broke his hip. His recovery is tougher than most because he was recently the recipient of a liver and kidney transplant in 2015. Pray for Randy and family.
· Please also be in prayer for Helen Kennedy’s sister, Evelyn. She fell and broke two ribs and is very weak overall. She has not walked in days. Pray for her healing.
· Judy Murray asked us to be in prayer for Scott Cook a friend of Leslie and Brian Poythress. Scott, a cancer survivor, is fighting another battle with cancer.
· Also be in prayer for Jr. Bullock’s wife Amy Case Bullock and their 3 boys. Update: Jr. Bullock passed away two weeks ago due to Covid, please be in prayer for his wife and family.
· Pray for Colton Kennedy.
· Pray for the family of Junior Matthews who passed away from Parkinson’s with Covid complications.
· Helen Kennedy asked us to pray for her business as she is having a hard time keeping employees willing to work.
· Pray for our widows and widowers. Pray for how we, as a church, can better encourage and minister to them and their specific needs.
· Pray for the family of Brenda and Floyd Yde. Floyd passed into eternity yesterday morning. Pray for wisdom and gracious comfort. They have other health related prayer concerns as well. Please keep them lifted up in your prayers.
· Margie Collie’s brother, Preston Sherrod, who we’ve been praying for concerning heart-related issues, passed away in the ICU at Rex Hospital overnight. Please pray for Margie and her family as they grieve the passing of her brother, but also as they celebrate his life together.
· Sue Staton has an unspoken prayer request.
· Pray for Chris McElroy, Kimberly Kerivel, and family as they settle down in Florida. They will be greatly missed.
· Jan Mills sister passed away. Pray for their family. Also pray for her husband Brooks Mills who is having a health concern.
· Phil Peele’s 1st cousin passed away. Pray for his family.
· Debbie Outlaw and Family. The Outlaw’s are members of Parkwood Baptist Church and the neighbors of Dougald and Linda McLaurin. Danny Outlaw, Debbie’s husband, passed away this week and the family is in need of prayer.
· Faith Chandler. A friend of Linda McLaurin who is having a lot of health issues. She recently had a hematoma and is unable to walk. Please pray for comfort and healing.
· Pray for Rev. Tommy Lamm. He will be preaching for us this weekend.
· We are hosting an Aging Well Conference on March 10. North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministry will be facilitating the Conference. Please be in prayer for this wonderful opportunity to minister to our Senior Saints.
· Sunday, March 13th is our Gideon Sunday. We will have a Gideon sharing with us an update on their ministry worldwide. Please be in prayer for the Gideons and pray about how we can support them both financially and otherwise.
· Sunday, April 10th, we will be hosting a special Night of Worship to kick off Holy Week. We will have as our special guests, The GloryWay Quartet. Please be in prayer for that evening of worship.
· Thursday, April 14th, we will have a traditional Seder presentation and Communion Service. Guest Speaker, Rabbi Howard Taylor from Beth Emet Messianic Synagogue. Be in prayer for this special presentation.
· Friday, April 15th, we will be having a special Good Friday Noon Pray Gathering. Be in prayer for our time together.
· Pray for the people in Ukraine. Pray for the soldiers on both sides of the line. Pray also for the Belarus people who are closely connected to Russia.
· Pray for the Tar River Baptist Association.
· United States of America and our World: So much is going on, we must be in prayer for our national and world representatives as they govern. May they learn to govern well and to govern for the people.
Remember:
If you have additional prayer concerns, feel free to post them in the comments below this information on either Faithlife or Facebook. You can also email your requests to prayer.ephesusnc@gmail.com. If you have updates on these requests please post or email those as well.
Prayers for Biblical Revival and Revitalization
(Adapted from Gregory Reed Frizzell’s book, “Forty Days of Seeking God: Embracing a True Return to God.”p.7-8)
1. Pray for our Church family to have an immense deepening desire to seek to renew our First Love toward Jesus Christ.
(Rev. 2:1-4; Matt. 5:6, 44, 22:37-39; Phil. 2:13; 1 John 4:7-11, 20; Rev. 3:15)
2. Cry out for a deep brokenness, God-seeking reverential fear, and humble repentance too sweep our church family as a whole.
(Ps. 51:17; Prov. 28:13; John 14:15; 2 Cor. 7:1, 10; Eph. 5:26-27; Hebrews 12:14)
3. Plead with God’s powerful manifest presence for a restraining of evil, discord, disunity brought about by sinful hearts and a great misuse of the tongue, as well as for a mighty outpouring of His Holy Spirit power.
(Ex. 33:15; 1 Kings 8:11; Isa. 58:1-7; Isa. 59:19; Zech. 4:6; Acts 1:8, 2:1-2, 4:31; 1 Tim. 5:13)
4. Beg God for a Supernatural Love and Unity to sweep across our families, our church family, our sister churches, and our denomination.
(John 13:34-35, 15:12, 17:20-22; Acts 2:1, 42-47, 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:29-32)
5. Pray for a zealous, burning, passionate pursuit of outreach, discipleship, and missions to sweep across each true believer on our church roll.
(Matt 24:14, 28:18-20; Luke 19:10; Acts 1:8; Rom. 9:1-3)
6. Pray for our church leaders to be filled with a sense of joy in their work, boldness in their preaching, ferventness in their prayer life, spiritual power in their personal interactions, and a strong reliance on the truth of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
(Heb. 13:17; 1 Cor. 2:4; 1 Tim. 3:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:6-7)
7. Pray for God to transform the hearts of those who are continuing to walk in sin, pursuing personal preferences, living in the nostalgia of the past, unable to embrace a new movement of the Spirit.
(Mark 1:14-15, 2:17, 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 1:18-20; 2 Tim. 3:1-9)
As you can see there is much work to be done in prayer this week. I hope you all have a wonderful remainder of your week. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday! God bless you all,
Joyfully His,
Pastor Wayne