Sign Up for Prayer Vigil, April 10-11

Good things happen when God's people pray! Last year, before Pentecost, we had our first overnight prayer vigil. People have wondered if we could do another one and not just once a year. There will be a Good Friday-Holy Saturday Prayer Vigil taking place after the Good Friday Tenebrae Service on April 12, and running through 7:00am, April 13. You'll be asked to come to the chapel for a half-hour shift of prayer. (If you can't come to the Saint Matthew chapel in person, you're asked to take a half-hour shift at home.) The idea is for someone from Saint Matthew to be offering prayers for three things, along with the usual prayer requests included in our weekly bulletins. The three things we'll ask God to do are:

(1) That God will help Saint Matthew to be a blessing to Logan and Hocking County by sharing Christ with and by being faithful followers of Christ in our words and actions;
(2) That God will show us new ways to serve others in Christ's Name;
(3) That God will use us to reach the county's young people with the life-changing power of God's love, given through Christ.

There will be a sign-up sheet in the fellowship hall, with slots both for those praying in the chapel and those praying at home during the Vigil.

Please Sign Up for the Prayer Vigil

Saint Matthew will be having a Prayer Vigil from 6:00pm, Friday, May 9, to 7:00am, Saturday, May 10 in the sanctuary of Saint Matthew. You're asked to sign up for one-half hour prayer times. Our agenda is simple: to pray for Saint Matthew and its ministry to the community; to ask God to renew our faith and to be bold in sharing that faith with others; and to pray that God will open us to Jesus' Lordship over every part of our lives. Please plan on signing up for a half-hour shift. Sign-up sheets will be in the Fellowship Hall.

The vigil will be taking place on the weekend before we celebrate Pentecost. At the Church's first Pentecost, which happened fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead and then days after He ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit came to the disciples who had been praying together.

As Saint Matthew looks ahead to a time of spiritual growth, we need the power of God's Holy Spirit. So, please plan on being part of the Prayer Vigil, as we seek God's power to do what can't be done without Him.

Two verses will be the theme of our Prayer Vigil. The first is John 15:5, part of Jesus' great farewell discourse, where He says:

I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

The second is First Peter 2:9, in which the apostle Peter describes His followers:

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

In the second passage, Peter defines our purpose as a church; in the first, Jesus points out that we can only fulfill that purpose when we rely totally on Him. Our Prayer Vigil will be Saint Matthew's declaration of total dependence on God and our earnest seeking of His presence and power in everything we say, do, and are.

Please plan on participating in the Prayer Vigil!