Unanswered Prayer: Too Noisy

On Sunday, our family went to the circus at AllState Arena near O'Hare Airport.  Our daughter, Abby, was fascinated with the planes flying overhead.  They came over so low it seemed like you could almost reach up and touch them. 

Everything was good, that was until we got out of the car.  As soon as we got out of the car and the first airplane came over, she covered her ears.  "Daddy, I don't like it.  It's too loud."  The plane was so loud passing over our heads, you could not hear a thing.

Life if filled with noise.  Sometimes it is the audible noise we hear with our ears, but often times the noise is the busyness of all that we've got going on.  It is easy to get distracted from God and his Word.  I know that there are times when I am reading the Word or I am in worship that I have so much racing through my mind that I fail to hear the still small voice of God.

Noise might come in the form of worry or anxiousness.  It might come in the form of passion (if we are passionate for the wrong thing).  Noise takes our focus off of where our thoughts ought to be directed and shifts them towards things that are not of ultimate importance.

A hobby that I enjoy is digital photography.  When taking pictures in low light your photos will often develop a certain graininess to them.  The technical term for this graininess is "noise."  The noise in the photo will make the image less clear.

In much the same way, the noise in our lives will render God's vision for us less clear.  It is up to us to get rid of the noise and to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us.  God's Word tells us, "Be still and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10

Maybe that's the reason you don't hear God's answer to your prayers - you have too many distractions.  So what can you do to eliminate some of those distractions today?

On a final note, don't forget Thanksgiving Eve Worship is next Wednesday at 7pm.  Hope to see you there!

Readings for next week:

23	Ezekiel 45:13-46:24 1 Peter 1:13-2:10 Psalm 119:33-48 Proverbs 28:11		24	Ezekiel 47:1-48:35 1 Peter 2:11-3:7 Psalm 119:49-64 Proverbs 28:12-13
25	Daniel 1:1-2:23 1 Peter 3:8-4:6 Psalm 119:65-80 Proverbs 28:14		26	Daniel 2:24-3:30 1 Peter 4:7-5:14 Psalm 119:81-96 Proverbs 28:15-16
27	Daniel 4:1-37 2 Peter 1:1-21 Psalm 119:97-112 Proverbs 28:17-18		28	Daniel 5:1-31 2 Peter 2:1-22 Psalm 119:113-128 Proverbs 28:19-20
29	Daniel 6:1-28 2 Peter 3:1-18 Psalm 119:129-152 Proverbs 28:21-22

How to Lead Your Church During this Financial Crisis

A very good message: http://churchleaderinsights.com/podcasting/index.php?id=70

Collections

Lord of Life has several collections currently ongoing.

1) The Mission of the Month for November is Operation Christmas Child. For more information you can visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ The idea behind this project is to take a shoebox. Fill it with gifts. The gifts are then sent to children who are refugees of civil war, survivors of a natural disaster, or victims of extreme poverty.

The gifts are simple gifts. My wife Barbara took my daughter Abby to the dollar store and let Abby pick out the gifts. We figured a 3 year old would be good at picking out things another 3 year old would like. Pictured below is the box Abby packaged. Of course Barbara did the wrapping.

2) A second collection is winter coats and blankets. This collection is going to H.E.L.P.S. Ministry in St. Charles. Helps works with the homeless. I just got a new coat for the winter and was able to give my old coat to this project.

3) A third collection is a food collection for the Elburn Food Pantry. Patrick and Dana (pictured below) are helping coordinate this project. Patrick found out that the Elburn Food Pantry is low in stock and felt called to do something about it. We are glad to help out as a church.


4) Raise the Roof project. Pastor Honoch visited Lord of Life a few weeks back. Pastor Honoch is building a church in India. Because of some difficulties with the government in India and the increase cost of construction supplies, Pastor Honoch needs $7000 to build the roof for the church. Lord of Life is taking a collection to help make this happen.

5) The Lord of Life Christmas Brunch. Every year the Lord of Life staff, elders, and executive committee host an annual Christmas Party. This year we decided we wanted to do something for others, rather than have a party for ourselves. Therefore, the Lord of Life leadership is going to host a Christmas Brunch on Sunday, December 21st. The goal of this brunch will be to raise some funds to help out Lord of Life families who may be going through a difficult time during this economic crisis. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has pledge to offer matching funds up to $1600. So for every dollar that is raise it will be matched with another dollar. Your gift of $20 will actually be $40.

So mark that date on your calendar. It is Sunday, December 21st. Brunch will begin at 9:30 and continue till about 12:30.

Wednesday Night at Lord of Life

Wednesday is a busy night at Lord of Life.  Lot's of fun.  The night starts out with our childrens choir practices.



This moves into Awana at 6:15:
Abby smiling after receiving her award at Awana:

While this is going on, Morph for the junior high kids is going on upstairs -
The Awana kids brought food for a church wide food drive that is going on for the Elburn Food Pantry.

As part of the Awana program, the kids come upstairs to play games.


On Wednesday night, the prayer team also meets to pray for the work of Lord of Life Church.  Last night the Prayer Team, Missions Team, some of our staff and Elders had a special celebration for Marty Olson whose wife, Jean, died on Sunday.
 Not pictured here is a Women's Small Group and the Strategic Advancement Team that also meet on Wednesday night.

It is certainly a full night.  It is great to see God at work in so many ways through his church.

Youth All Night Event

The following is a prayer request from Brian Zielke - our Youth Director at Lord of Life:

Please lift up the students who will be attending the All Night event this Friday night through Saturday morning. The event will include a concert, message, and movie at Lord of Life and then bowling, laser tag, arcade, pizza, and more at Brunswick Zone in Carol Stream. It will be a night of tireless fun, but it is also an outreach (lots of friends invited) and we pray that God would have His way with us. Two of my college buddies are coming to take part in the event: one to play the concert and another to deliver a message. Below is where my friend Stephan will be going with the message and how he requests that we pray…

I will be preaching on I John 1:5-9. Our desire is that his event would be marked as a unique time when we encountered God in a very real way, having Him illuminate the sin in our hearts we hide from, and encountering the freedom and life found in being cleansed through Christ.

Will you please pray for this event in the following ways:

1. There would be a readiness and openness of all hearts who come to this event.
2. That I would communicate God’s Word clearly.
3. That God would meet with us in supernatural ways.
4. That the seeds planted in lives through this event would grow exponentially.

Thank you for praying. It is only through God’s movement that change happens in our hearts.

All for Jesus,
Brian Zielke

Some Pics from Last Week

The fall colors seems to be gone. Or at least past their peak.

Rising from the Dead

I have probably experienced the worst illness of my life. This thing lasted a week. I thought I had beat it on Friday, but it knocked me back down again on Saturday.

I feel much better today, but I am still going to take it easy so I don't find myself back in bed.

Obama President

I don't typically delve into politics in this blog.  I watched the rally in Chicago last night with wonder and amazement.  There is not doubt that this was a historic moment that will stand out in the annals of American History.  While I can't recall much about past elections, this is one I am sure I will remember for a long time to come.

I don't ever recall in my lifetime a rally for a president elect like the one witnessed last night.  The crowd was huge.  They were filled with passion and excitement.  

I applaud the crowd that it was well behaved.  It is good to know that even though our elections can be hotly contested, that we still are civilized and tanks are not coming out on the streets.  (On a side note - Chicago took a huge stride towards acquiring the 2016 Olympics).

I have to say that I am a bit sad for Obama.  Not only is it a tremendous responsibility to be the president of the United States, but the expectations that are being put upon this president elect are overwhelming.  I have literally heard people say that Obama is going to pay their mortgage, put food on their table, pay for them to go to college, get them off the streets.

Obama may do some great things, but I don't expect him to live up to the expectations that so many are putting upon him.  He is not the Savior.  He is not going to walk on water.  As much faith that is being put in him, it must be remember he is just a man.  Yes, he has some incredible oratory gifts.  He can whip the crowd into a frenzy.  But he is just a man.

Obama related in his victory speech that we are the United States.  What makes this nation great is that it is not about one man, - "but that though we are many, we are one."  

Finally, I was very impressed by John McCain's concession speech.  It was one of the most graceful and patriotic speeches I have ever heard.  John McCain fought a valiant fight.  He was up against great odds considering the unpopularity of the current president.  He had a lot to overcome, but John McCain has overcome a lot in his life.  No matter what side of the aisle you are on you cannot help but stand up and applaud McCain for his loyalty, his sacrifice, his leadership, and his service of our country.

It is interesting that I went into this election very unimpressed with either candidate.  I consider this election to be about voting the "lesser of two evils."   Most elections are about issues.  And I was not really in line with either candidate on issues.   But what both of these candidates showed, irregardless of the issues, was leadership.  For that I applaud both Obama and McCain.

Cheerful Giving

John Peterson shared this video with me. He took it while in Sierra Leon on his recent mission trip. It captures the joy of giving. What a blessing to have the opportunity to make a difference in the life and eternity of others.

How Rich are You?

Here is an eye opening website:  www.globalrichlist.com

Find out how wealthy you are.  I shared in my message yesterday that there are many people in this world who think that we in the United States have reached the pinnacle of life.  This shows why.

What if a man should gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul?

Men of God on Saturday

A special thanks to John Armstrong for being our guest at Men of God yesterday. We look forward to the release of John's book - Your Church is to Small.

John brings an important message of Church Unity. We appreciate his words of encouragement and hope. Thank you John for being our guest.

Visit John's blog at http://johnharmstrong.typepad.com/