With one voice, glorifying Him.

This morning I went to church at Immanuel Baptist Church.  It was such a good day of worship.  I have been surprised at how much I've missed the community of being with the unified body of Christ.  This church has recently changed its structure, so that there is about an hour of prayer before the worship service, as opposed to Sunday school.  I attended the prayer service first, which was just a small gathering of about 20 people.  We prayed for missionaries, the continent of Europe, and the leadership of the church.  It was set up very nicely, where one of the elders was introducing each topic and corresponding specifics, and then getting volunteers to pray for each one.  It was so encouraging.  As we prayed for the missionaries, and even the continent of Europe, it was so evident that there is such a global need for the gospel.  Putting my small Christian life into perspective is so eye-opening.  There are so many people in desperate need of the gospel, and yet, we are not in competition with the other "religions" of the world, for Christ has already won the victory.

The worship service was also incredibly encouraging.  All the music was similar to Grace Heritage, so it was nice to worship with songs I was already familiar with.  The pastor preached on 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, about the importance of the unity of those within the church.  It was ironic, because that is so much what I've been needing.  Even though I didn't know anyone during the service, it was so encouraging to feel unified with them, just knowing we all partook in the blood of Christ, that we all were clothed in the righteousness of Christ, that we all were seeking to live lives for the glory of God.  The sermon was actually more focused on telling the members to be of the same mind with others-- a very good and needed point indeed.

One of the biggest prayer concerns for me right now is that I'll be able to get connected with other believers.  I would be very thankful if you would lift this up before the Lord for me.  I am going to try and go to a Care Group from this church this week, and possibly attend the ladies Bible study on Wednesday.  I am also finding that it is harder to have deep relationships with people at school than I thought-- perhaps this is because of my lack of effort, though.  

I pray that everyone is having a good day of worship.... "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:9