Dear <<First Name>>,

I read in Colossians 4:17 this message from St. Paul to Archippus: "See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord."

It got me wondering: what is my calling?

Here's what I think: I've been called to be a servant of the Gospel, to speak and preach and teach God's Word, to seek and serve non Christians and unbelieving people by sharing my life and God's message of Good News with the lost. 

My calling is also to teach other believers to do this same thing, that "the body of Christ might be built up," and that we would all become mature "unto the perfect man, even Jesus" (Eph. 4).

My calling, in sum, is to pray He will build His church through my faltering, half-hearted, and often woefully inadequate efforts.

Please pray for us, for this is hard, and we often are tempted to shrink back, to do less than that to which we have been called, to "abhor" the work of the Lord.

Pray, over the next couple of weeks, that we can stay focused on the ministry God called us to here in New Jersey: to start new church communities for our neighbors, for non Christians, for unbelievers, and for people who have given up on "church."

Pray God would help us to gather these communities around, and build them upon, the story of Jesus and the good news of His Perfect Birth, Life, Death, and Resurrection.

Below are some specific prayers, but the big prayer is this: "God, help us fulfill the ministry to which we have been called." Let us also pray the same for you. In praying for one another, let us remember Jesus, born at Christmas, willingly looked after His calling; he did not "abhor" it, but fulfilled it:

God of God, Light of Light,
Lo! he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
Very God, Begotten not created.
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

May God help me, Polly, and you and your loved ones all respond in adoration and gratitude by fulfilling our ministries, those to which we have been called.

Merry Christmas,

Phil and Polly Henry

***

Please pray God will...

1. ...begin launch team meetings in the first week or two of January--these are people who feel called to be a part of this new church at this time, people who are prepared to help build the community by growing in grace, in a missionary mindset, and in repentance and faith as we look ahead to worship services and missional communities forming in 2010.
2. ...bless Patti and Scott, two people whom God has called to participate in significant ways in the church and ministry, and each of whom have been real encouragements to me.
3. ...direct Phil to a worship leader to complement the leadership and vision that is developing.
4. ...provide the right facility for us to use for preview worship services that will begin in the new year, and money to pay for these facilities.
5. ...gather non-Christians, skeptics, doubters, non-church goers, unbelievers, and mission-minded Christians--in short, everyone of God's choosing in this area, in whose life God is working a passion for the Gospel, into small groups we're calling missional communities this Spring.
6. ...complete the budget of the church by generous giving from local churches, friends, and supporters of God's choosing.
7. ...bring people like "Marsha," a young woman with a Roman Catholic background, who we met yesterday, and who told Polly and me: "Definitely keep me posted when you start your meetings, I am very interested."
8. ...continue to open doors of friendship and favor with people in our neighborhood.