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IT OCCURRED TO ME THIS MORNING   that now is as important time for our church to join together in pray as ever!  

SATAN ATTACKS AND ATTEMPTS TO DESTROY   everybody. Jesus told us in John 10 that he comes to “steal, kill and destroy.”  That’s always been his goal and his plot is against all of humanity.  Yet, I believe that Satan’s greatest efforts are against those that pose the greatest threat and at the time that can disrupt God’s plans the most. Scripture bears this out.

IMMEDIATELY AFTER JESUS WAS BAPTIZED  and began his public ministry, the Devil attacked. You can read it in both Matthew 4 and Luke 4.  Why then? Because that’s when Jesus would begin HIs ministry and begin changing lives.  Then, just before Jesus was to go to the cross he again meets Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and tempts  Him to not go through with the crucifixion.  Why? Because Satan knew that the crucifixion was the means of salvation for us all.

SATAN IS CLEVER and he knows when to attack.

LAST YEAR WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR for Tri County.  Our attendance was up.  Our offerings were up. We had good participation in Bible Study.  We saw more people baptized last year than in the prior 3 years combined.  And, we are very optimistic about our plans to add on to our building in the very near future.  But do you understand what that means? That means it's an opportune time for Satan to try and interfere.  We’ve already seen it.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I have no special insight or knowledge.  Sometimes unfortunate things happen because we live in a sinful world. But I fully believe that other times terrible things occur because Satan attacks, just like the examples already cited or even like happened to Job.  But last year we saw a disruption to our youth group program that we managed Scripturally and we were blessed.  Beyond that, we’ve seen a lot of health crisis’ in our church, untimely deaths, and a very long list of prayer needs that I believe proves Satan’s effort to disrupt our ministry.

THAT’S WHY I VERY STRONGLY encourage you to support our month of prayer. Commit to pray daily for our church; the ministry of our congregation, the people in our congregation and all of the various needs in our congregation.  We’ve designated March as a “month of prayer” and we’re asking for you to make a 30 day commitment to pray daily.  I hope you’ll sign-up and join the effort.  (If you didn’t sign a commitment card yesterday, but will still commit to daily prayer, please click here and we’ll add you to our prayer wall.)

HERE’S SOME GOOD NEWS! When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He resisted.  He stood strong against Satan’s attack. And Scripture tells us after failing the Devil “left Him for a season.”  When Jesus was tempted in the Garden of Gethsemane, He resisted. He kept to God’s plan and went to the cross for all of us.  All of us will, like Jesus, be tempted.  But, when tempted, the more you resist, the greater your opportunity to rid yourself of Satan’s attacks for a season.  James 4:7 tells us, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  

OUR SUCCESS will come first and foremost as a result of prayer.  Let’s begin praying  together daily for Tri County.  

p.s.  You don’t have to wait until March 1 to begin praying for the church. Why not begin today?