Please take a moment to watch this video message from Pastor Ryan:
Please send your prayer requests to ryan@lighthousehome.org. We look forward to joining together in prayer.
prayer
Spiritual Leadership
Happy New Year Group Leaders! Pastor Ryan has an encouraging message for you about spiritual leadership. Please have a look.
Have a great weekend!
How’s Your Prayer Life?
Take a moment to think about the way that you pray. Has it become routine, or do you feel like you’re really connecting with God and having a conversation? When was the last time you heard from the Spirit? What did he say? However you would rate your prayer life, I invite you to take about ten minutes to watch this video of Francis Chan talk about prayer. The stories he shares about the growth of his own prayer life are encouraging and motivating. Feel free to pass the link on to your group members if you’d like.
Will You Finish Strong?
At this point in the year, you have two options as a home group leader: coast to the end, or regroup and finish strong. Let this message inspire you.
Welcome to Spring!
A new season is upon us which means some of you may be experiencing change and transition. Please watch this video:
If there’s anything that I can do to help you in your ministry in shepherding others, please leave a comment below or send me an email.
Spiritual Reflections Week 4
The fourth and final exercise in the Spiritual Reflections curriculum is now available by clicking on this link or looking in the Documents section of this site. This final exercise is all about spending an extended time in prayer.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed going through these exercises together, and more importantly, that your group has grown closer together from it. Please leave your feedback in the comments or send me an email.
A Personal Retreat Testimony
Written by Dean McClary
I choose to use part of a recent weekend, and access to an Ocean Shores cabin that belongs to a friend, to take a personal retreat. I wanted to apply some of the different practices and postures to touch the hem of the Lord, that I had learned in the recent “How to Relate to God & Others” Spiritual Essentials class with Pastor Tony. I also planned to use the time to address some issues rooted in my past that I have been increasingly aware of that affect my ability to function fully and freely in Christ.
I first felt compelled to have a “season of silence,” which I interpreted as being totally unplugged from all electronics as well as interactions with other people. Related to that, was a conscious attempt to not track time, but to feel free to be led as He directed each moment. Finally, with my strong “Naturalist” tendencies in how I meet God (Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas), I spent a LOT of time walking or running the beaches over parts of three days.
While I did not hear the proverbial voice coming from a setting sun over the pink-colored waves of dusk at Ocean Shores, I know that the Lord met me in the time I had freed up for us in several ways. A personal Sunday morning “church time” with Christ, involving Bible study and scripture memory card review, suddenly went real deep, from my head to my heart. I found myself lingering over verses from Psalm 73: 23-26 in which David claims, “…I am always with you, you hold me by my right hand.” Suddenly the thought of the Lord rejoicing over me with singing (Zephaniah 3:17) became as spiritually real to me as I have ever experienced in a 30+ year journey with Christ. I found myself claiming those verses from the Psalms in a spirit of praise over the rest of the retreat. He also guided three different “free writes” to unlock some past memories in unexpected ways that went way beyond what I feel I could’ve learned about myself resulting from past events.
What I learned from the experience, besides the obvious fact it was way worth it, is it’s important to seek and have the prayer coverage of family and friends, bring what you have before Him with loose reins, and learn to linger with Him as the Holy Spirit directs.
Thank you to those who attended Prayer Training!
Over the weekend about 30 of us got together for a Prayer training workshop. Our time together included a scripture study of Psalm 84, which led to a wonderful discussion about different interpretations of the versus, the beautiful images that the words brought to mind, and how we typically emote feelings of joy, courage and weakness in our own lives.
Next, we discussed prayer ministry, focusing on when it may be appropriate to break into small groups, the advantages (and disadvantages) of dividing men and women for prayer, and when to focus on intercession for one person in the group. We spent some time in small group prayer and also applied what we learned about intercession prayer. Finally, we talked about Spirituality of the Psalms, and took a deeper look at ways the prayers can be categorized, how that makes us feel, and what trials the Psalmists may have faced while writing scripture.
Here are links to documents used at the Prayer Training:
- Psalm 84 & Discussion Questions
- Prayer Ministry
- Spirituality of the Psalms
- Relevance to Prayer handout
- Intercession handout
- Work of Heart handout
Additionally, please make sure the following dates are noted on your calendars:
- Saturday, Feb. 20 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. – Discipleship Training led by Pastors Art, Paul & Tony
- Saturday, April 9 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. – Group Leaders Retreat
I’d love your feedback about the prayer training. Please leave your comments below or send me an email. Thank you!
RSVP for Prayer Training Oct. 17!
Hello Lighthouse Groupies! I’m leading a prayer workshop and would love for each of you to attend. Watch this video, then click on the link below to RSVP today.
Please click on this link to RSVP for the Prayer Training on Oct. 17 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Childcare is provided, please list your child(ren)’s name & age in the registration. Thanks!
(If the above link is not working, copy & paste this address https://www.churchteams.com/m/Login.asp?oID=6397&secID=aTBkVXk1T295V1hwRjhFdjd5UlJVdnU1S1AvTEovem8%3D&page=Register.asp?GroupID=236709~sgr=y)
Experiencing Solitude
God’s Majesty
Last weekend Pastor Tony led a group of leaders on The Silent Wild at Mt. Rainier. The day was gorgeous! They saw a bear, a mountain goat, and most importantly, everyone on the outing spent time in solitude with God.
Lyle Groeneveld, Tony Traback, Nancy Olson, Dale Olson, Tyler McClung, Kristy O’Hara, Mary & John Latham
The experience unplugging and spending time in solitude was peaceful and inspirational. So much so that each is planning a similar outing within individual home groups. If you’d like information on leading your home group on a solitude experience, contact me for some ideas by emailing sarah@lighthousehome.org.
Lighthouse Groupies 