Praying

Early in my first year at Hope, Prayer was emphasized. The church did a survey and asked how many of the members prayed for their church daily. Hope is a praying church. We need the prayers of our members for the leaders of our church, was the request that was made.  As I have watched over the years, I understand why I love Hope Church. They don't feel they are the only church in town. In Prayer time on Sunday's they pray for another congregation around Tupelo. It might be Harrisburg, or The Orchard, or Temple of Compassion & Deliverance.  We pray when we send mission teams overseas.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.  James 5:16  
We have seen God answer prayers. Hope want to be effective in the community. One thing I have noticed as Hope has grown in the last several years, the diversity. Tupelo is an black (37%)  and white (57%)  community.  Verona where I live is 70% black. But I see more and more Black people attending Hope church. Heaven is not going to have a white section or a black section, I sometimes think we will not even notice any more the different races. God only created one race, the human race. I think that is a sign of a healthy Church when we look like the community we are in. CFAN in  Tacoma was that way also. They had Black, White, Russian, Native American, Asian, just about everything ethnic group you saw in the community, you saw in the church.  that is the way Heaven will be. Anyway Hope is a praying church. We want to impact Tupelo and surrounding communities in a positive way. I remember a concern I had several years back when there was a troubling time in the community. White and Black churches could not get together to pray about the need. It was  a racial issue. God doesn't always answer in the way we expect. But each Sunday I notice more and more Black families attending Hope. I believe it is upwards of 50 Black people attending Hope in recent weeks. Even a couple of mixed race couples. That was a concern of mine early on, because every church is the south seemed to be either black or white. So I think this is healthy especially in our racially charged day in which we live.  I believe the arresting of two Black men in a Starbucks coffee shop in Philly was a setup, to make the police look bad. We see it every day some racial issue. God only created one race, and we need to just keep praying for our town, our state and our country. These are troubling times and they seem to be getting worse. God still is on his throne and is still answering our prayers.  God bless, LVZ.