Bryan in AIIAS

One problem that pastors usually face is the difficulty of attracting people to prayer meetings on Wednesday nights. Below is one method to help in overcoming this problem. Design prayer meetings for maximum interest and impact by following the early church's mix of key elements: song, fellowship, the Word, personal ministry, and prayer (Acts 2:42–47; Col. 3:16, 17). Here's one potential format: Hallelujah time. Ten minutes of adoring God through song and testimony. Invoke the power. Five minutes of invitational prayer, requesting the presence of Jesus through His Spirit. Listen to God. Seven minutes of Scripture reading. Choose a powerful scripture that speaks to known needs and ask participants to read aloud with enthusiasm. Respond to the Word. Ten minutes of leader-guided prayer over the Scriptures that have just been read, asking participants to apply the Word directly to their own lives. Invite the blessing. Five minutes of song that express personal need and consecr...

SPIRITUAL FORMATION IN THE LOCAL CHURCH Introduction God's work in our conference is experiencing tremendous growth during the last 5 years. In 2007 alone the conference welcomed into the fellowship of North Minahasa Conference 7 new churches that were organized from among the companies that existed. Every year our conference have an average of 5 new churches organized. But in spite of this growth, the churches established are not the 'dream churches' that a pastor would have expected. This is shown by stagnant growth, lack of enthusiasm in participating in church programs and a lack of desire for personal witnessing. After an 'unofficial' investigation of these small churches that I once ministered to I have found that there are many reasons leading to this characteristics. But the biggest reason why the churches are like that is because the members spiritual lives not good. I have found that most members who were baptized are either 'rushed' to baptism bec...