Friends of Immanuel, 

I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who made yesterday’s Commitment Sunday the awesome celebration that it was. The worship, the music, the stories, the brunch, the fellowship, the conversations – all of it! Thank you for being here and for being part of the Lord’s amazing ministry at Immanuel. Stepping through the morning, I had a real sense of God’s presence – we were truly living out our name: Immanuel, “God With Us”!  

Thank you to those who were able to help with set-up of the gym, making some delicious breakfast casseroles, serving the brunch, and the clean-up. Many hands make light work and thank you for your servant hearts to serve in these ways. 

For those who were not able to be here, be sure and check out the live stream which can be found on Immanuel’s sermon page. If you haven’t filled out a Commitment Card yet, you can fill one out online at https://immanuelloveland.org/runwithperseverance/ or you can stop in at the church and pick up a paper copy anytime the office is open. I’m praying and encouraging everyone who calls Immanuel “home” to be part of offering our commitments to the Lord as together we Run with Perseverance! We will be announcing the total commitments later in June once everyone has had a chance to make their commitment. 

One other thank you I want to give is to our Ministry Campaign Leadership Team. This was an amazing team of people who helped make this entire campaign the success it is in every regard. The team includes Campaign Director: Becky York; Campaign Coordinator: Annette Bures; Communications Director: Justin Logston; Communications Team: Julie Geary, Kurt Holdorf, Josh Hubble; Prayer Coordinators: Paul and Gail Hein; Hospitality Coordinator: Kathy Schlecht; Hospitality Team: Donna Aigner, Tam Small; Connection Coordinators: Paul and Donna Gorky; Children’s and Youth Leader: Emma Hubble; Financial Coordinator: Dave Ritter; Fulfillment Coordinators: Jerry Austin and Bill Busacker. Thank you for a job well done! 

To let you know, Kathy and I are out of the office for a few days, catching our breath before we jump back into our exciting line-up of summer ministry events. We’ll be back on Thursday and we look forward to seeing you again on Sunday in worship as we’re back to our Summer Worship Schedule (8:00am and 9:30am). 

Serving together in Christ alone! 

Pastor Glen 

Friends of Immanuel, 

I hope you’re ready for a very fun and inspiring Sunday morning of worship! This Sunday, May 31^st, we’ll gather all together in one worship service beginning at 9:00am, to worship our Triune God. There will be handbells, instrumentalists, inspiring videos, stories shared, and an opportunity to commit ourselves to our Lord in a variety of ways.

It is Commitment Sunday, a culmination and celebration of our ministry campaign, Run with Perseverance. If you have not yet, I would encourage you to pray about the ways you would be willing to commit yourself to the Lord for the next three years. There is the opportunity to make a financial commitment over-and-above your regular giving to help us reach our 3-year goal of $950,000. With that financial goal, we are committing $600,000 of that toward ongoing ministry expenses ($200,000 each year), and $350,000 that would be placed in a reserve account to pay for expenses incurred with our aging facilities. Immanuel’s leaders have already made commitments that put us halfway to that goal! Praise God! And as everyone joins together, I believe we can reach that goal and continue to strengthen our ministry of both our church and school and all the great Kingdom-building outreach and ministry we do.

Just as important as our financial commitments is the opportunity we have to commit and re-commit ourselves to some basic spiritual disciplines that will help us individually and collectively to keep growing stronger in our faith and following Jesus. My prayer is that everyone connected to Immanuel is willing to make these important and prayer-filled commitments as we continue faithfully to carry out the mission our Lord has given us as His children. Those spiritual disciplines include:

• Praying regularly
• Reading God’s Word each day
• Worshiping together each week
• Growing as good stewards of all God has entrusted to us, taking advantage of adult education classes and seminars coming this fall
• Being part of Bible studies, small groups, and other learning and study opportunities

You can see all the specific opportunities on the commitment card below. If you can’t be here on Sunday, I encourage you to bring your commitments to the church office or to worship over the next couple of weeks. We will be announcing the total commitments later in June.

Commitment cards will be handed out on Sunday in worship. You can also fill one out online at https://immanuelloveland.org/runwithperseverance/. These commitments will be seen by only three people who serve on the campaign Finance and Fulfillment Team and will be held in strict confidence.

If you have any questions about the campaign, about making a commitment, or about Commitment Sunday, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or to our Ministry Campaign Director Becky York (bly80516@gmail.com).

All of us share the same mission and purpose, and this campaign, as we’ve aptly named it, is intended to encourage us to Run with Perseverance – to keep doing what our Lord has called us to do, which is to share the powerful, life-changing message of Jesus, His death and resurrection, and the life and hope He brings to us. Thank you for being part of the amazing work the Lord is doing here in this place through each and every one of us!

Serving together in Christ alone! 

Pastor Glen 

Friends of Immanuel, I hope you had a relaxing Memorial Day and an opportunity to do some remembering, giving thanks for, and enjoying the freedoms we have in this amazing country of ours! 

I want to remind you about this coming Sunday – we have ONE worship service that begins at 9:00am, followed by a Fellowship Celebration Brunch and an opportunity to eat together and celebrate our ministry together. 

We could still use a hand with Sunday’s brunch, specifically with set-up on Saturday afternoon, more egg casseroles, help with serving the meal, and with take-down Sunday after the brunch. If you can lend a hand with this fun event, you can use this QR code or this link https://signup.com/go/eBjZvfU. 

It’s also Commitment Sunday as we come to this pinnacle moment in our Run with Perseverance Ministry Campaign. I hope and pray that everyone will come and be part of this important Sunday in this season of Immanuel’s ministry. I also hope that the idea of making a commitment doesn’t scare you away. As I often say about the offerings we give in worship each Sunday, the same applies to this campaign and what we are doing together – this isn’t about guilt, it’s not about arm-twisting, it’s not begging for money. This is an opportunity for us to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in our shared love for our Savior and His ministry here at Immanuel.  

The financial commitments we have the opportunity to make are intended to be three-year commitments over-and-above our regular offerings. As I’ve stated before, it’s not about the amount that we commit, but that we are all in this together! Immanuel’s leaders have set an inspiring example, bringing us already to the halfway point of our goal of $950,000 over the next three years! 

 The other commitments, as you can see in the commitment card below, include worship, reading Scripture, prayer, and other learning and growing opportunities. On Sunday during the worship service, we will all have opportunity to bring our commitments forward to offer them to the Lord. 

We share the same mission and purpose and this campaign, as we’ve aptly named it, is intended to encourage us to Run with Perseverance – to keep doing what our Lord has called us to do, which is to share the powerful, life-changing message of Jesus, His death and resurrection, and the life and hope He brings to us. 

Pray about what the Lord would have you do when it comes to the three-year commitments and then join together on Sunday at 9:00am! If you can’t be here on Sunday, I encourage you to bring your commitments to the church office or to worship over the next couple of Sundays. We will be announcing the total commitments later in June. 

Commitment cards will be handed out on Sunday in worship. They are also available if you want to stop by Immanuel and pick one up ahead of Sunday. Or you can also fill one out online at https://immanuelloveland.org/runwithperseverance/. These commitments will be seen by only three people who serve on the campaign Fulfillment Team and will be held in strict confidence. 

 If you have any questions about the campaign, about making a commitment, or about Commitment Sunday, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or to our Ministry Campaign Director Becky York (bly80516@gmail.com).  

Thank you for being part of what the Lord is doing here at Immanuel through every single one of us as we carry out His mission and His vision of sharing the Good News of Jesus and His love! 

Serving together in Christ alone! 

Pastor Glen 

Friends of Immanuel,

I have some amazing news to share with you about our ministry campaign, Run with Perseverance. On Friday, May 8^th, a group of people, including many of your elected leaders, gathered together for a Lead Gifts Commitment Event here at Immanuel. Pastor Kris Kunkel, our Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) campaign consultant, advised us as part of the normal ministry campaign process to have such an event for our leadership. The purpose of this event was to invite the leadership of Immanuel to prayerfully consider and offer their three-year commitments ahead of Commitment Sunday (May 31^st), in order to encourage and inspire everyone in the congregation to participate in the campaign and, by their “lead gifts,” to give us a solid start toward our ministry campaign goals.

Our leaders have done just that! From our leaders we have received 41 commitments totaling $465,434, which is 49% of our three-year goal of $950,000. Wow! What this reflects is an average of just over $11,000 per family unit that was committed over the next three years, or about $3800 per year over-and-above our regular offerings.

As our leaders have brought us halfway to our goal, wouldn’t it be great to achieve or even surpass that $950,000 goal?! I believe that, together, by God’s grace and with His help, we can do it. As I expressed in last Sunday’s sermon, Immanuel is our ministry together – we are all part of it, we are all needed! While your financial gifts are very important, having you involved in our shared ministry here at Immanuel is more important. I’m including an image of the Commitment Card so you can see what it looks like. You’ll notice that in addition to the financial commitment, there are also other areas of our life together that I encourage you to prayerfully consider making commitments toward – spiritual disciplines and opportunities to grow and learn together over the next three years.

These will be available for you to pick up, if you choose to, this coming Sunday. You are also welcome to come to Immanuel and pick up a Commitment Card to fill out anytime. You can print a copy of it (below) or you can use the QR code on the Card and make your commitments electronically. Please know that there are only three people on the Campaign Fulfillment Team who will see the financial commitments – and that does not include me. We will hold your financial commitments confidential. The ways in which you express interest in connecting with others through the non-financial commitments will be shared with the Board of Elders so they can be an encouragement to all of us as we strive toward keeping those various commitments in our journey together.

You are encouraged to bring your commitment card with you to Commitment Sunday, which is Sunday, May 31^st when we will have ONE worship service together starting at 9:00am. We will also have commitment cards available that day. During the service, individuals, couples, and families will have the opportunity to bring forward commitments and offer them to the Lord.

Just to be clear, as I’ve mentioned the campaign goal of $950,000 over three years, here is what we are seeking to accomplish. Of that total, the goal is that $600,000—or $200,000 each year—will help cover regular monthly expenses. As I’ve shared in other articles and in the campaign booklet, these funds will help extend the runway for our school ministry to regain stable footing, while also allowing us to continue exploring ways to address our current mortgage debt. If we reach our goal of $950,000, the remaining $350,000 will be placed in reserve to help cover various capital expenditures that arise with our 18-year-old facility.

If you have any questions about the campaign, about making a commitment, or about Commitment Sunday, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or to our Ministry Campaign Director Becky York (bly80516@gmail.com).

Thank you for being part of what the Lord is doing here at Immanuel through every single one of us. We are carrying out His mission and His vision of sharing the Good News of Jesus and His love!

Serving together in Christ alone!

Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

I appreciate all of you who engaged with me in my informal survey on worship at the start of my sermon yesterday – I intended to have a little fun with this and it was interesting for me to see what preferences many of you have regarding worship here at Immanuel. I’m following up on that in today’s lead article because I was rather limited in how much I could say about it. While my main focus was bent toward selfishness and self-centeredness that can come out when emotional issues like this arise, I want to be clear about a few additional matters.

First, the fact that we have different likes and dislikes around worship, or a myriad of other topics, is not sinful! In fact, as I highlighted in the reading from 1 Corinthians 12, it’s a fact that God created us all to be unique, having different gifts, talents, and abilities, as well as personalities, attitudes, likes, and dislikes. As Paul reiterated, we were all created by the same God who, through the same Holy Spirit, gave us the many and various gifts we have – and this is good and a wonderful blessing! We are all different parts of the Body of Christ – different in what we do, in how we look, in our functions, but we are all together and all needed as the Body of Christ.

To the point I raised yesterday regarding worship, and specifically music, some theologians and authors have spoken about the fact that we all have our “heart language.” This can relate to actual languages or emotions or cognition or even our culture. But is it the recognition that there are different things that resonate with us – in other words, they speak straight to our hearts in a way that other similar things do not. For example, regarding music in worship, some people’s heart language is classical music and so hymns and cantatas, etc., are extremely moving. For others, their heart language is more toward a contemporary style of music with instrumentation that includes guitars and drums, and when they hear this, it speaks strongly to them. There are many other directions I could go, just with music, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll leave it at those two examples. From yesterday, I want simply to affirm each of you and where your musical preferences may lie when it comes to your heart language, and to say how thankful I am that we are in a ministry where we can offer various styles of music to speak into the hearts of many different people.

The point I made yesterday is this: the differences we have are by no means differences that have to divide us. Rather, my hope and prayer is that we can acknowledge we are all different and, out of our love for each other, out of our love for the Lord, and out of our love for the His ministry here at Immanuel, we can recognize the beautiful mosaic that our different likes and preferences create within the Body of Christ. That when we are together, we move from that “me” space where we demand that the world revolve around my wants and desires, and we allow ourselves to be absorbed into the “we” space of worship and ministry together.

In this “we” space of ministry as the Body of Christ, we don’t merely “put up with” things that we don’t like or prefer, but we can be thankful that we can focus on what truly makes us one – Jesus! In yesterday’s Gospel reading from John 17, which is often referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, He prays for us, that we can be unified and experience with each other (and with Him) the same oneness and unity that Jesus and His Father experience.

What I want to come through loud and clear is how thankful I am for all of you who call Immanuel “home.” The amount of grace that is extended regularly – to me, as well as what I see toward so many others – is more than heartwarming. It is Jesus at work, physically, tangibly, and right here in our midst.

Serving together in Christ alone!

Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Yesterday and today are pretty special days here at Immanuel. Wednesday we had preschool graduations for our 3-year old, 4-year old, and 5-year old preschoolers, which is always very cute and very fun for these little ones as well as the many parents and grandparents who came. This evening the 8^th graders of Immanuel Lutheran School will be graduating with a special ceremony as we not only graduate these young people but commission and send them off to the next phase of their journey of faith and life. That graduation service will be here at Immanuel starting at 5:30pm in the sanctuary and all are welcome to attend and celebrate these young people – Terence Crews, Ariella Grimaldo, and Isaiah Hughes.

Yesterday was also our final “regular” chapel service of the year. This chapel service traditionally has been led by the graduating 8^th graders who share a Bible verse they have selected for themselves, give a short speech about their time here at Immanuel and encouragement to the younger students. Then we have a literal passing the baton from the 8^th graders to the 7^th graders as they jog through the sanctuary to the theme song of “Chariots of Fire.” It’s very fun!

But yesterday there was an added treat to our final chapel service. Twelve high school graduates who attended Immanuel Lutheran School and many of them, just four years earlier, graduated from 8^th grade, came to be part of chapel and spend some of the morning reminiscing around their old stomping grounds! They were in their caps and gowns from four different area high schools – Heritage, Resurrection, Loveland, and Mountain View. Three of the high schoolers shared some words of encouragement to our 8^th graders and the entire student body, as well as a word of thanks for what Immanuel meant for them in their formative years before high school.

Elizabeth Grimm, our 3^rd and 4^th grade teacher shared her excitement with me: “It was a magically delightful service – soooo meaningful!! Such a treasure to spend a little time with them after chapel as well. These kids came up to my classroom and found themselves in the photo on my wall of when they were in 4^th grade and wandered around the room reminiscing for a bit...then they asked for my key to the gym closet and got out the parachute and scooters to play for a bit in the gym! Then they disrobed and played on the playground with us for a bit – it was such a delight. Hearing their testimonies and encouragement to our student body about hanging on to Jesus – that was just powerful as well. I love that Evan held up his Bible he got in second grade as part of his speech. We truly are A Family Place!!”

If you would like to watch the chapel service, or skip around to see and hear some of the different parts, here is a link you can use: 2026 8^th Grade Chapel.

Here are the high school graduates:
Front row: Elizabeth Grimm (teacher), Evan Simmons, Louie Owen, Noah Stone, Varick Hamel Back row: Emma Mares, Brianna Prehm, Paytyn Combs, Sarah Sandberg, Brooklyn Scano, Makena Phillips

Praise God for our school ministry! And I’m so thankful that as a congregation we are blessed to be able to have this life-altering and Christ-shaping ministry for so many children and families in our greater Loveland community!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Yesterday we began our new worship series, Run with Perseverance, based on Hebrews 12:1-3, which is also the theme of our current ministry campaign. In my message yesterday, I shared exclusively from the perspective of perseverance for us as followers of Jesus in the normal, everyday life we lead. And I’ll simply reiterate how important it is for all of us to persevere, to keep running the race, to not grow weary, to not give up (Hebrews 12:1-3). So much of life is not flashy, glitzy, exciting, or mountaintop experiences – and that’s OK! The habits, routines, and spiritual disciplines that the Lord holds out for us in His Word are important for all of us as go through those normal, routine days of our lives. The Lord calls us to persevere, to keep going with our eyes always fixed on Jesus! Here is this week’s What Now? in case you missed it:

What Now?

In what area of your life do you have a need to persevere right now? Prayer? Worship? Reading the Bible? Giving? Relationships? Put that before the Lord and ask Him to help you to keep running this race with perseverance.

We are in a season of ministry for Immanuel when we simply need to persevere. We’re not constructing any new buildings or launching any major new ministries. That doesn’t mean we’re just sitting around doing nothing! We are faithfully doing what the Lord has called us to do as we carry out the Mission and Vision which He has given us – which include some pretty amazing things! I’ve written about some of those things over the last couple weeks in my email update articles, including our Sweetheart City Car Show, Vacation Bible School, summer Service Trips, our School Ministry, our Christmas Bazaar, the Fall Fest, Outdoor Summer Worship, Sunday School, Bible classes, small groups, worship every week, young adult gatherings, and weekly youth activities. These, plus so much more, are some of what we continue to do as together we run this race of faith and life.

As we have been faithfully doing ministry, we have hit a few bumps in the road along the way over the last couple of years and we’ve found ourselves falling short financially. Our school enrollment has dropped unexpectedly the last couple of years and, with the leadership of our school board, principal, and others, we’ve been working hard to creatively get our feet back under us and turn that trend around. There are some very exciting plans that are already being put in place for next school year—soon to be formally approved and shared—that include innovative incentives for families as well as exciting curricular enhancements. Enrollment for next year is already well ahead of where it was last year at this same time – praise God! And we pray for those enrollment numbers to continue to grow!

Our current mortgage of about $3.6 million is also continuing to be a challenge. At an annual cost of $330,000, that puts an ongoing strain on what we are able to do ministry-wise. Our leaders on Executive Council (EC) are continuing to talk about how to attack this debt. With a very encouraging proposed budget very close to being ready to present to the congregation, the EC will again be able to devote more time and energy to exploring debt reduction. We all continue to pray for our Lord’s ongoing guidance and direction when it comes to how to work on these challenges and opportunities that are before us.

This campaign is needed right now to expand our runway – to give some time for the school to build back up, and for the leadership to explore how to reduce our indebtedness. The goal of the campaign is to raise $950,000 over three years, which is over-and-above our regular offerings and tuition income. $600,000 of that ($200,000 each year) will be designated to help pay our regular monthly expenses through the year, which is helping to expand that runway! The other $350,000 will be placed in a reserve account to pay for various capital expenses that we anticipate with our aging 18-year-old building and grounds. We are aware of several pending issues with the sound system in our sanctuary, the lights in our sanctuary, some costly pieces of our HVAC system that are nearing the end of their life, as well as other unexpected and unbudgeted items that may arise over the next few years. So right now, we just need to persevere and keep running, doing the great things the Lord is calling us to do, and to faithfully give and trust in Him!

As we get ready to celebrate Commitment Sunday on May 31^st, I would ask that you would prayerfully consider how you can be part of this campaign over the next three years. What are you willing to sacrificially give financially, over-and-above your regular offerings, to help us keep moving forward in positive ways for the Kingdom. On the Commitment Card, there are other ways for us to commit as well – to worship, to prayer, to Bible study, to growing in our understanding of stewardship, and to using our time, gifts, and abilities in ministry. My hope and prayer is that every single person who is connected to Immanuel is willing and able to commit ourselves in a variety of ways to serving together at Immanuel in this season of our life together.

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful and prayerful consideration to engage in this pivotal time for ministry!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

While it can seem far away, it’s hard to believe but summer is right around the corner! And with Memorial Day weekend only 2½ weeks away, I thought I better hold up some of what’s happening here at Immanuel.

Memorial Weekend is also graduation weekend for many of our northern Colorado high schools. We will be offering a blessing over our graduates on that Sunday (May 24^th). It’s also the Sunday that we move to our Summer Worship Schedule of 8:00am Classic Grace and 9:30 Contemporary Joy, both services indoors.

The following Sunday, May 31^st, we will have ONE worship service starting at 9:00am as we celebrate Commitment Sunday for our ministry campaign, Run with Perseverance. I’ll be sharing more information in the next week or so about the campaign and what Commitment Sunday is all about. Following worship that morning, we’ll take time to celebrate afterward with a Brunch Fellowship in the gym, having time to sit and eat together.

Immanuel’s annual Sweetheart City Car Show is scheduled for Saturday, June 13^th. This is one of Immanuel’s major summer ministries that requires many hands to make it happen. Our car show has become one of the premier car shows in northern Colorado, primarily because of the Car Care Ministry that happens that day. All the funds raised through the registration fee, lunch, and silent auction, go to support the Car Care aspect – which is servicing upwards of 30 cars for single moms and widows who otherwise would not be able to afford this simple yet vital upkeep of their vehicles. The show has been growing steadily each year and we are anticipating hosting well over 200 cars again this year, and partnering with many businesses in the community who very generously participate in the Car Care Ministry. More information can be found later in this update, including Randi Rost’s contact information for those who wish to be involved or who have questions.

That next week, Tuesday, June 16^th through Friday, June 19^th, we will have our Vacation Bible School. This is another of Immanuel’s significant summer ministries where we have the opportunity to touch the lives of well over 200 children. This, too, requires many, many hands to help with crafts, snacks, leading small groups of children through each morning, and more! Miss Emma is leading the charge on this and would love to have you be involved in whatever ways you are able. Her contact information is below in the VBS article.

Outdoor worship begins on Sunday, July 5^th, when we move our 9:30am Contemporary Joy worship service outdoors to the west lawn under and around the pergola. More info will be coming as we get closer.

There are more opportunities for fun, fellowship, study, and involvement all summer long for children, youth, and adults – with very fun youth nights planned, gatherings and studies for young adults, summer camp at Lutheran Valley Retreat in July, a service trip for the youth, and Faith Day at the Colorado Rockies in August, to name just a few!

We are so blessed with the opportunities we have here at Immanuel to be together, to worship together, to pray together, to learn and grow together, and to have fun together! I hope you can find some places where you can engage, whether you’re a long-time member, a new member, a regular worship attender, or someone who has recently moved to northern Colorado. All are welcome to be part of this great community of faith at Immanuel!

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen

Friends of Immanuel,

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

This Thursday, May 7^th, is the National Day of Prayer. On the Eve of the National Day of Prayer, Wednesday night starting at 7:00pm, we will have a Prayer Service here at Immanuel in connection with our ministry campaign Run with Perseverance.

What a gift to be invited by God to come to Him in prayer. What joy to pray side-by-side with our Immanuel Family as a foundation for our ministry campaign Run with Perseverance. Our ministry campaign is about welcoming renewal and stepping forward in unity as we address the current needs in our church community – both fiscal and spiritual. We look forward to God's work among us in a time rich with scripture and song. For this prayer service, no one will be put on the spot to pray aloud, but everyone can gather in the presence of our loving God to receive encouragement, reaffirm His goodness and look forward to his work among us. All are welcome and encouraged to come as we’ll be praying for our ministry campaign Run with Perseverance, for our ministry together, and for much more.

While we are not having any organized prayer time or worship service on Thursday, Sandy Northrup (Immanuel’s faithful organizer of the National Day of Prayer for many years) shared with me that all are invited and encouraged to attend a prayer gathering of community believers on Thursday, May 7^th at 6:00pm at the Loveland Police and Courts, 810 E. 10^th Street. The Lord tells us in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and will heal their land.”

The 2026 theme of the 75^th Annual National Day of Prayer is “Glorify God Among the Nations, Seeking Him in All Generations.” It is a call to magnify God alone and to come to repentance and a renewed dependence on God. In our nation we are seeing so much anger, division, lawlessness, anxiety, and godlessness, the need to come together in community to pray is paramount.

Prayer is such an important part of lives as followers of Jesus. Jesus Himself has shown us how important it is simply by how much time He spent in prayer, to say nothing of all that He taught, commanded, and encouraged us to pray. Let me share a few more thoughts and invitations regarding prayer.

First, I do encourage you to be intentional about spending time each day in prayer. I say that not out of guilt or obligation, but as an expression of the relationship we have with our Lord. We’ve been given the privilege of direct access to Him and He loves to be in conversation with us, hearing our voice, our needs, our desires, our joys and our thanks. Don’t complicate this gift – just talk to Him. Don’t set yourself up for failure – you don’t have to have a 15- or 30-minute sit-down with Him. Take time through the day, as needs arise, as you experience awesome things, as you hear news-bytes, and just pause and talk to God about these things for a few minutes.

Flowing from that, if you want to be part of my email prayer group, I would be more than happy to add you! This, too, has no pressure or strings attached. Let me explain briefly how this email prayer group works.

1. Many people email me, text me, and call me with prayer requests each day – health issues, celebrations, crises, etc. – asking for prayer. All of you are also welcome to reach out to me at any time with such requests – for yourself, your family, friends, co-workers, and others. Know that when I receive these requests, I pray!
2. I take these prayer requests and try to bundle them together so I’m not sending out an overwhelming number of emails that fill your inbox. I do send out requests pretty much every day, at times even 2-3 times in a day, depending on requests that come to me and, at times, the urgency of the requests.
3. These will primarily come from me and will have “prayer requests [date]” in the subject line.
4. When you receive and open the email, read through the request(s).
5. Then pause for a moment and pray over these requests, lifting them up to the Lord.
6. I try to avoid using this email group as a means to communicate “general needs” that people have, political overtones (although there will be some, for example when it comes to life issues), or a place to advertise something. I work hard to keep it simply as needs people have that they request to be prayed over.

If you’d like to be part of this group, which currently has well over 200 people, just email me to let me know and I’ll get you added.

In the meantime, there’s a lot going on these days that we need to be praying about. I’ll close by urging you to keep the following requests on your prayer list and, in particular, to be praying about on Thursday as part of the National Day of Prayer, even if you don’t attend any larger gathering. These are matters that need prayer, so thank you in advance for taking time to pray for these: for me as your pastor and the staff at our church and school; for Immanuel, our ministry campaign, all our ministries, including our congregation’s elected leaders; the Church-at-large to be a strong witness and proclamation of Jesus as our only hope; for the spiritual battles that are being waged over so many different issues in schools, in government, on social media, etc.; and for our country, including governing officials at every level, the many divisions that seem to be growing, and for a putting down of any evil-intentioned actions or agendas. There are so many more bullet items I could add, but I’ll let the Lord lead you in what other matters to pray for.

Bottom line? Let’s be people of prayer, trusting our almighty, all-powerful, and all-knowing God, the God who is and who was and who is to come, the Lamb who was slain, and our reigning and ruling King and Savior with these many matters, entrusting ourselves confidently to Him! We are blessed, beyond a doubt! And so we move forward confidently and boldly with His leading, guiding, and directing.

Serving together in Christ alone!
Pastor Glen