Church of the Messiah Called to Ten Days of Prayer

Coptic Pentecost IconWednesday night, at the service to commemorate the Ascension of Our Lord, Fr. Scott Looker called every member of Church of the Messiah to ten days of prayer.  The first chapter of Acts of the Apostles describes how Jesus ascended into Heaven and how, before He was exalted, He said to His disciples, “you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now,” and, “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” (Acts 1:5,8)  The disciples returned to Jerusalem and for ten days “continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14) until the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon them and the Church was changed forever.  Mindful of these Scriptures, and reflecting on the teaching heard in the “Preparing for Pentecost” series throughout April, Fr. Looker called every member of Church of the Messiah “vigorously, earnestly, with intention” to  pray until the Day of Pentecost.  Each member is called to pray:

“For ten days, at some point in time every day, I want every member of Church of the Messiah to be praying that, corporately and individually, we have breakthrough and we have harvest, and that when Pentecost comes, we have more than we can ask or imagine.”

You can hear the entire call to ten days of prayer (< 2 minutes) by clicking the link below.  Pray expectantly for the next ten days and see what glory God will do when the Day of Pentecost arrives!

An Amazing Weekend at Church of the Messiah

Saturday and Sunday are shaping up to be one of the most exciting weekends we have had in a long time at Church of the Messiah.fish-fry3

On Saturday, we will have our annual community Fish Fry!  Beginning at 11:30, Earl Shimp and his highly trained crew of sous chefs will be frying up some of the very best local fish the First Coast has to offer.  Bring either a side dish or a dessert to share and Church of the Messiah will provide the fish, tartar sauce, and appropriate goodies!  Janice Paysinger is coordinating this event and can use some help.  You can e-mail her or call her directly at 904-703-9866.  The Fish Fry will run from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm and will be in Showalter Hall, the fellowship hall of Ft. Caroline Presbyterian Church, the same location where we had our Epiphany Dinner.  We will also be joined this year by the bishop of Florida, Bp. David Simpson.

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Then, on Sunday morning, we will have one of the most powerful services of the Summer!  Bishop Simpson will join us on his annual episcopal visit to consecrate and dedicate our new building, preach the anointed word of God, Confirm two new members, and celebrate the Holy Eucharist with us!  Although we have been in our building for close to nine months now, we have yet to have an opportunity for our bishop to come and formally set apart the place to the glory of God and impart an apostolic blessing upon it.  Similarly, the Sacrament of Confirmation is a convergence sacrament wherein the recipients make a mature profession of their faith, receive an impartation of the Holy Spirit, and receive the Bishop’s blessing to minister in the Church.  This will be a very exciting service for everyone involved.  The service begins at 10 o’clock and will begin in the hallway of the church so that we may process in together and begin the process of dedicating the consecrating the building together!

Tonight We Celebrate the Ascension!

The Ascension of Our LordThe Bible study might have ended but the Fifty Days of Glory are not over yet!  Tonight, Wednesday, May 28th, Church of the Messiah, will observe the Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven.  The Ascension is the culmination of Our Lord’s ministry on earth and the scene of His final words to His Apostles before returning to the right hand of His Father in Heaven.  The Ascension also marks the start of the ten days of waiting until the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost!  This is truly a momentous event in the Life of Christ.

The service begins at seven o’clock and will be a Eucharistic service as we will celebrate this occasion by partaking in the Body and Blood of Our Lord.  Childcare will be provided tonight.  Make plans to fellowship with Our Lord and one another tonight as we commemorate this powerful moment in the history of salvation.