At beginning of meeting, Gospel Acclamation from Mass, Mt 11:25 - "Blessed are you Father, Lord of Heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom."
Prophecy/Scripture Reading - "Tell my people to be thankful; and as they are, my blessings of peace and joy will come down on them." Hebrews 12:28-29 - "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire."
Scripture Reading Luke 17:11-19 - "Now on the way to Jerusalem he travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, 'Jesus! Master! Have mercy on us.' When he saw them he said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, 'Was not 10 made clean? But the other 9, where are they? Was none of them bound to return and give praise to God, except this foreigner?' Then he said to him, 'Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.'"
Scripture Reading Psalm 105:1-3 - "Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name; make known his deeds among the people! Sing to him, sing praises to him; speak of all his wonders! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts who seek the Lord be glad!
That song, "Give thanks with a grateful heart"; my young son ...??... who is autistic loves that song. Constantly, "Repeat it, repeat it, Mommy." He didn't have much speech then. He didn't talk 'til he was 9.
Prophecy - I woke up at 3:30 this morning with these words coming to me, "Remain firm in your commitment, guided by love." I thought those words might apply to me and I couldn't think of a way that was satisfying to myself, so I thought that maybe these words were meant for somebody in this group tonight and I think the emphasis is on the last part, 'Let love be your guide in this commitment.'
Scripture Reading Psalm 125:1-2, entitled God Protects His Faithful - "Those who trust in Yahweh are like Mount Zion, unshakeable, standing forever. Jerusalem! Encircled by mountains, as Yahweh encircles his people now and for always."
Further to the prophetic word that was spoken - When you make a commitment to pray, you need to keep that commitment in love. If we say that we are going to pray, we need to pray but we need to do it in love, not as a job but love for God's people.
Scripture Reading/Prophecy - Romans 8:28 - "All things work out to the good for those who trust and believe in him." "My children, I know that there are times when you cannot see my will, when you do not know my plan for you. I know that there are times when all may seem dark, and light far away. But my children, I want you to know tonight that I am there in the midst of all things, both darkness and light. I am the God of love. I am the God who forms and shapes you. I am the God who knows the future, who knows what is best for you. So my children, I am asking you to turn to me in trust and confidence that I will be there leading and guiding you in the direction that I have called you to journey and travel. Do not fear, my children, that I will call you to something that you cannot handle; but I wish for you to know and believe that I desire only good for you. I desire that you prosper. I desire that my Spirit may work in you and through you. So tonight, my children, I bestow upon you a very special blessing, a blessing that will ignite your spirit within you and give that strength and that courage to face all things that come your way."
Word of Knowledge - During the worship, I sensed how much God values it when we give him the deep places in our heart that are reserved especially for him.
Raffaelina spoke on "Gratitude". When asked to give this talk, Raffaelina was experiencing a negative oppression and having a difficult time about being positive about life in general. She prayed about giving the talk. She went to the Scriptures for direction and opened randomly on Isaiah 9:1-2 - "The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone. You have made their gladness greater, you have made their joy increase; they rejoice in your presence as men rejoice at harvest time." She sat with this for a day or two, and again she looked for the Lord's leading in Scripture and opened randomly on Luke 24:36-43. "They were still talking about all this when he himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you! Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed.' Then their joy was so great that they still could not believe it." Reffaelina felt these words were directed to her heart for such a time as this. Then again she looked to the Lord for his leading and opened Scripture on Joel 2:18, entitled 'The Prayer Answered', & verses 21, 23 - 26. "Then Yahweh, jealous on behalf of his land took pity on his people. The plague ceases. O soil, do not be afraid; be glad, rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things. Rejoice in Yahweh your God; for he has given you the autumn rain. I will make up to you for the years devoured by grown locust and hopper by shearer and young locust, my great army which I sent to invade you. You will eat to your heart's content, will eat your fill, and praise the name of Yahweh your God who has treated you so wonderfully. (My people will not be disappointed any more.)" Three times the Lord has reminded us that there is always hope in our God. Our challenge is how to trust in that hope. Numbers 23:19 - "God is not man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said and will he not do it or has he spoken and will he not fulfill it?" Philippians 4:7-8 - "The peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." Story behind the song, "It is well with my soul" by Horatio G. Spafford who suffered much tragedy. Life is always full of challenges and the Lord allows these challenges to grow us. Raffaelina shared some of these challenges and how the Lord led her parents from Italy to here; and how the Lord led her and her husband to their now-present home in Winnipeg. A gratitude journal can help us in our spiritual walk. With an attitude of gratitude, we can experience the peace of Jesus. There is so much to be grateful for. God is still on the throne. There will always be issues in the world but as long as we are his children, we know we're O.K. Let us rejoice that we know him and we are his children!
Joan and her daughter were travelling back to Ottawa from Montreal when they were caught in a snow storm in the late evening. At first there were a few flakes and then, all of a sudden it was snowing heavily. There were no cars in sight, no lights and Joan panicked. She didn't know where she was, on the road or off the road. They said a Hail Mary and just as they were finishing the Hail Mary, this car pulled up alongside their car on the right side. The driver rolled down his window. It was a man with dark rimmed glasses and a hat and he made a motion to follow him. He pulled out in front of them and began driving. His car made tracks in the snow so that Joan was able to follow behind him all the way through the storm. And all of a sudden, the storm stopped. Joan said to her daughter, "Where did he go?" She wanted to thank him but he was nowhere in sight. As Joan looked on the side of the road, there were cars in the ditch. They continued on to Ottawa where there was no indication of any storm. Joe was not concerned, he thought that Joan was just late in arriving. However, Joan's older daughter met them at the door and said that she had been so worried about them and all of a sudden she felt that she had to pray for them and she had been praying for their safety. It was around the time that they had run into trouble on the highway. Joan said to her daughter that she did not know who this guy was. The daughter said that maybe it was an angel. Joan said, "An angel with glasses?" Upon thinking about this, Joan said it was certainly an incident for gratitude and "Thank you Lord for bringing me through that storm; whatever it took, even an angel with glasses!"
Maria shared that her uncle for whom we have prayed has come home from the hospital.
The little girl, Sophia, that we were praying for, for a heart transplant - she's been waiting since December 2020 - had her surgery last Saturday and went through it perfectly, so far. The doctors had said it would be another 6 months wait for her heart, but God is good. Her parents thank all the people who prayed and have felt our love. The parents ask for prayers for the donor who gave the most perfect gift for their daughter. They are forever grateful.
Frank and Lucie thanked everyone for praying for their son. He reached out for medical help. The will to live had been totally gone and now he is living with hope. Things are falling into place. Of course, he still is going to need a lot of prayers because it's a difficult road ahead of him.
Lucie wants to also give thanksgiving for her brother who was diagnosed in February with stage four cancer in three organs. He started chemo and it's amazing; with very little side effects. His fear and despair has turned to hope and he's living one day at a time with a positive attitude. For that, Lucie is giving much thanks and praise to God. He is still in need of prayer. At the end of August, they will find out some prognosis, but in the meantime, there is hope.
50% Complete
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.