Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
“O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.”
-Psalm 95:1-2-
God Is Good: The past month has been tremendous at Keene Baptist Church. We have seen God continue to grow the church spiritually and numerically. We continue to disciple the young couple that I talked about in our last prayer letter and they are steadily growing in the Lord. We have seen many visitors come and continue to come back. Our attendance is consistently between 30-35 now.
Expanded And Focused Services: We started in January with just a 4:00 PM Bible study. In April, we moved to Sunday morning and Wednesday Evening. In June, we began a Sunday afternoon service focused on doctrine. As I studied the pastoral epistles, I observed a three-pronged focus mentioned repeatedly – The Word, Prayer, and Doctrine. So, that is how we have structured the services here. Sunday morning is focused on worship and the Word. Sunday afternoon is focused on doctrine. Wednesday evening is focused on prayer. While every service contains all three elements – the Word, Prayer, and Doctrine; each service highlights and focuses on one particular element. This is not my attempt to be trendy but to go back to the basics that we find in the Word. God has blessed mightily.
A Focus On Prayer: During the Wednesday Prayer Service, we have an extended time of prayer for our church prayer list, various missionaries, God’s blessing on the church, and anything else that comes up. We also teach about prayer in this service. It has been a joy to watch the church here get on their knees before God and pour their hearts out to Him on behalf of their needs, each other, the church, and our brethren across the globe.
How Can We Pray For You?: While we certainly covet and appreciate your prayers, it would be a privilege for us to pray for you. We are teaching the church about the joy of praying for one another and not just ourselves. So, if any of you (churches or individuals) have a specific prayer request that we can pray for, Keene Baptist Church would be honored to go to the Lord in prayer on your behalf.
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for the special unspoken prayer request of Keene Baptist Church (talked about in the last few prayer letters).
- Pray that God will continue to bless our outreach efforts.
- Pray for souls to be saved.
- Pray for God to be glorified in this community.
In Christ and for His glory, The Shives Family
