New Year's Prayer

Join us in prayer as we begin the new year! 

Father, You are Holy. You call us to be holy. You created us in Your image. Yet, so often our hearts wander. Our speech does not glorify You. Our actions do not honor You. Self prevails. In this New Year, clothe us with humility. Take away our desire to be right and our stubbornness to demand our own way. Submit our will to Yours. As we open the pages of Scripture, tender our hearts so that it will penetrate even to the marrow of our bones.

Father, in this world of tolerance and compromise, give us hearts that seek Your Truth above all else. Saturate us with Your Spirit of knowledge and revelation so that as we digest Your Truth, we not only understand it but are also equipped to live it. Guard our hearts from the lies of this world and keep our eyes fixed on You, for You alone are the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Father, we surrender our thoughts — especially our feelings and our emotions — to You, You who are Faithful and True. Where fear and anxiety loom, help us fully trust in You and Your goodness, no matter the circumstances. Your Word says that You don’t give a Spirit of fear but rather Your perfect love drives out fear. Lead us to walk in the freedom of that love. Your Word promises that when we pray, anxiety will flee and peace will prevail. We purpose in our hearts to pray more faithfully and consistently so we can walk confidently in Your peace.

Father, Your Word says You created us in Christ Jesus to do good works for Your Kingdom. You knit specific gifts and talents into us to do that work. And Your Word promises that when You begin a work in us, You will carry it on to completion until the day we step into eternity with You. Thank You, Father! We desire to walk in Your good and perfect plan, Lord. To serve Your people. To walk boldly in the call You have on our lives. So, as we seek to walk with You, help us to trust in You with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. Help us acknowledge You in all our ways so that in our obedience, we can clearly hear, "This is the way, My child, walk in it." 

Father, we love You and thank You that our names are engraved in the palm of Your hand. You love us unconditionally and nothing can ever separate us from Your love. May we know more than ever before how wide and high and deep and long is Your love. And as we live out that love, may our lives be a living testimony of You. We ask this in the powerful and mighty name of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who will do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ever ask or imagine. Amen.

This prayer was written by Wendy Blight from Proverbs 31.

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Evan's Testimony

This is a testimony shared by HOME staff member, Evan Kraayenbrink.

2 Corinthians 12:10 "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

The struggle. That is what I call the last two years. I contracted a brain infection in August of 2015. The strength I have is in the Lord. The Lord uses my weakness for His glory. I am able to be all things for all people in my work here reaching out with His hands to touch their lives for Him. The infection has left me with a lot of headaches and muscles spasms. I do physical therapy and doctor visits. It gets very easy to relate to the crowd that comes on Wednesday for the food pantry. I praise God that He can use me in this way. God has been at work in and through me. I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made! 

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Lyle's Testimony

This is a testimony shared by Lyle Schut:

I’m so grateful for the worship sets at HOME.  I walked into the Friday 6 am set a few weeks ago feeling weighed down and anxious due to the pressures of the world coming against me.  Jon was singing a familiar song and then broke into singing a spontaneous song.  The words he song seemed to pierce my heart and break the despair and anxiety right off of me.  I came in to the prayer room so discouraged but left so filled with hope.  Thanks Jon for following the Spirit and singing what was on your heart!

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Spark Notes (12/17)

Teach Us To Pray: Week Seven

Greg Schut wrapped up the Lord's prayer series teaching on the last line of the Lord's prayer, focusing on the glory of the Lord. 

The kingdom, the power, and the glory. The Kingdom is the King's domain. The power - He is all power. There is no match for Him. He is the All-Powerful One. The glory - His is the glory. 

But how do we describe glory? In the world's eyes, the glory means fame and fortune. Greg brought up the definition of glory - very great praise, honor, admiration, adoring praise or worshipful thanksgiving, a state of great splendor and magnificence. That's God! He is the definition of glory. 

Greg talked about the book The Blood and the Glory by Billye Brim. The author talks about the glory in Genesis, saying the Lord crowned us with glory. It's more than crowns of gold - crowns of glory! Greg shared a picture he saw that reminded him of Acts 2 when the people had tongues of fire on their head in the shape of a crown. These people waited on the Lord for days and then when the Lord comes, he crowns them with glory. 

Bill Johnson calls the glory of the Lord the manifestation of the Lord's presence. The glory and manifestation of the Lord's presence can be seen in tangible ways. In 1906, the Azusa street revival began. People gathered asking for the Lord's presence. His presence makes everything right - healing, chains broken, breakthrough, release, etc. It is a foretaste of what is to come in Heaven. As the people on Azusa street continued to seek the Lord's presence, hundreds of thousands of people were saved and healed. There are testimonies of the manifestation of the Lord's presence, one of them being a glory cloud. 

In John 17:24, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world."

Jesus has a desire, that we would see his glory.

Then back to John 17:22, the Verse of the Week, "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one." The glory that the Father gave Jesus is given to us. That glory doesn't mean that we should be famous, honored, and praised. It should be that when we see His glory, we just desire to be with him. We become less and He becomes everything. That is revival. It is about Jesus being lifted high. 

1 Corinthians 3:7-18 (NLT) says, "The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?  If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God!  In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way.  So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold.  We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away.  But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ.  Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."


When we go to that place to be with Him, we become one with Him in His glory. 

If you would like to watch the full service, click here.

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Brad's Testimony

This is a testimony shared by Brad Vermeer:

We were just ready to start our Wednesday bible study, and a lady was standing outside the door. I went to talk to her and ask if I could help her. She said she was new to Sioux Center and didn't really have a group of friends to go to. She said she had been at HOME before and felt the Holy Spirit there. She came hoping to find someone to pray for her because she was feeling in the middle of spiritual warfare. God planned this because as a class we were studying spiritual warfare, and that week we were studying prayer against spiritual warfare. It was great hands on application for us, and it was a blessing for her. Our assignment was to practice praying at the end of class, but God wanted us to learn by example. He shows up at perfect times.

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Spark Notes (12/10)

Entering His Presence Through Art

with Pennie Strople

Pennie Strople, a prophetic artist originally from Colorado and more recently from Redding, California, recently moved to northwest Iowa and has been getting involved at HOME. 

Pennie started with explaining that prophetic art positions us to see into what we don't yet comprehend. She explained that it's about furthering intimacy. "Into - me - you - see". It is a way to see deeper into Him - true intimacy. But it is not just for artists! Just like music is not just for musicians. We all use music. We all listen to it or hear it through out the day, but we are not all musicians. We use music to interact with God in worship, but we are not all worship leaders. The music is a tool for intimacy. It is the same situation with prophetic art - we can all use it because it is a tool for intimacy.

How does it create more intimacy? It is a visual experience with the Lord, it brings us back to child-like play where we take ourselves less seriously, and it opens us up to risk taking!

The intimacy is vertical (with the Lord) but also horizontal (as a body of believers). We can interact with the Lord to bring intimacy between ourselves and the Lord, but also we can share our prophetic art with others which can feed into others' intimacy with the Lord. We're offering a glimpse of the Lord to others through our prophetic art. We can prophecy with words, but sometimes giving a visual can have deeper meaning. It is similar to Jesus using parables. For example, with the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus told this whole story to give them a visual when he could have simply said "The Father is one who will always love and take you back". But when we see that picture, we can sit in that and go deeper. 

Pennie then led the group through a couple activation activities. Feel free to try this activity at home! 

You will need two pieces of paper and three different colors (crayon, marker, colored pencil, etc.)

1. Ask the Lord to show you one quick thing. A scene, an object, something you know. Just ask the Lord to show you something and then draw it on one side of the card. It's like Pictionary with the Holy Spirit. 

2. Ask the Lord to show you it again, and something about the image will have changed. Ask "What do you want me to see now?" Part of it may have moved, or something is covered, or something is added. Draw what you see now. 

3. Ask the Lord to bring to your mind an issue in your life right now. Something that you need the Lord's insight. Ask him what that is and write a word or phrase that represents that issue. 

4. Turn the paper over and ask the Lord two questions, 1) Lord, how does the first picture you gave me represent the issue in my life? and 2) How does the second picture you gave me represent the solution to the problem? What is the change you want to bring? 

The second activity was creating a piece of prophetic art for someone else. 

1. Ask the Lord to show you what to create. You might see it in your spirit, or you might know it in your heart, or the Lord may just reveal it to you step by step.

2. Ask for a word or phrase. 

3. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you who to give the image and words to.

To watch the full service, click here. 

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Liza's Testimony

This is a testimony shared by Liza DeYounge:

The great news is that we are pregnant with our third kiddo!  

The bad news is that, around six weeks in, I became very sick and mostly bedridden.  My doctor diagnosed me with hyperemesis gravidarum - severe vomiting, dehydration and feeling, overall, just terrible every minute of the day.  Many of the women I had talked to, who had also experienced this complication, were sick through their entire pregnancy - hospitalized multiple times throughout, suffered deep depression and were virtually unable to care for their families or continue working.  Not only was I feeling miserable, my heart was consumed with debilitating worry, not knowing how I'd survive the next hour, let alone the next eight months.

Praise the Lord - two of my sweet friends and prayer warriors contacted me and volunteered to visit my home every week and pray.  My house was a mess, kids were interrupting our conversations, and I'm sure I looked frightening, not having the strength to even shower for who-knows-how-long, but the Lord met with us and heard our prayers week in and week out.  I was so exhausted and weary, it was refreshing to have others come alongside and say, "We'll bear your burdens!  Even when you run out of your own words and prayers, we'll stand in the gap - in your place - and cry out to the Lord for healing."  

In the midst of these times together, I grew in hope, and felt like the Lord was confirming that I would not be sick the entire pregnancy, like so many others.  In His mercy, the season of sickness would be shortened!  Even better, I grew in confidence that he was using what was meant for evil, for His great purposes.  

We contended for 12 weeks - that the Lord would not allow the sickness to pass the twelve week mark of pregnancy, and that He would bring revelation and perspective so my heart could comprehend what He was doing in the midst of the struggle.  

I am hoping to make this short, so I'll jump to the happy conclusion...  I am now thirteen weeks pregnant, and I'm feeling significantly better and so much more like myself.  I've been able to stop IV treatment and stop my anti-nausea medication altogether.  Most significant in my mind are the deep truths the Lord revealed to me in the hours and hours and hours I laid in bed and by the toilet.  He spoke truth into some deep trauma in my past, and He has healed significant pieces of brokenness in my life.  My heart became more tender to his word, awe and wonder returned to the place of worship.  

I am so thankful for the community of faith the Lord has surrounded me with - friends to pray alongside me, random acquaintances who dropped off meals, family who volunteered to watch my kids and do my dishes...  In the darkest and most helpless days, the Lord was providing manna (just enough!) to get through each day.  I am most grateful for God's healing - both in the physical, but also in my heart.  He is so gracious and so faithful.  Thank You, Jesus!

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Spark Notes (12/3)

Teach Us To Pray: Week Six

This week, Jen Sandbulte facilitated a video and discussion on forgiveness, centered on the verse of the week, Matthew 5:23-24,  “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift."

Jen began with this video of Steven Furtick teaching on Forgiveness - click here to watch.

In small groups, those in attendance processed and discussed how the Father sent the Son to forgive and what that means in our lives, especially as we approach Christmas knowing that Jesus, the beautiful miracle, came to save us and die for our sins. The main point was "Father forgive them, AGAIN. Even though they know what they are doing". 

Next, the groups discussed "As you reflect on the forgiveness of Jesus, what are you most grateful for?"

Jen then brought up these two images, she asked everyone to make their hands into a fist and to squeeze it really tight, then asked everyone to open their hands.

  

This is an example of how with a clenched fist, it is uncomfortable, but it does not feel uncomfortable for anyone else. The only way to feel relief is by opening your hand and letting go. That's what it is like when we hold onto a grudge and do not forgive. We mostly hurt ourselves from holding onto. Once we let that go, it brings great relief! 

Jen ended with another video on Forgiveness - click here to watch.

To watch the full service, click here. 

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Spark Notes (11/26)

TEACH US TO PRAY: WEEK FIVE

 Brad Vermeer spoke this week on Matthew 6:13, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." 

Brad started with a story about horses. Horses often wear blinders to keep their eyes on what is ahead of them, not what is on either side of them - things that could distract them or spook them. Sometimes, we need "blinders" to keep our eyes off of the things that could tempt us. Brad also told of a family member who trained horses. Part of his training would be getting the horses used to being spooked by throwing a blanket over their heads or opening an umbrella next to them. By getting them used to being spooked, they would no longer spook. Sometimes, being put through difficult circumstances, things that could spook us, helps us as we move forward. We are no longer spooked and have built endurance. 

There are three things that keep our minds from wandering toward temptation:

1. Praise
2. Prayer
3. Sharing your personal testimony
• Your testimony is not just a story of you, but how God has changed and used you. 

Brad continued on through the Verse of the Week, Ephesians 6:10-11, and on through verse 18. 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

We are told to be strong in the Lord and to put on the full armor of God.

Satan's Influence                                                                        God's Armor

Father of Lies                                                                               Put on the belt of Truth

Uses guilt and accusations                                                           Breastplate of Righteousness

Puts doubt in our minds                                                               Shoes of Peace (the Gospel) 

Darts of temptation and deception                                               Shield of faith

Battles to control our minds                                                         Helmet of salvation

Hand to hand combat                                                                   Sword of the Spirit (God's Word)

To watch the full recording, click on the following:

First half

Second half

 

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Spark Notes (11/19)

TEACH US TO PRAY: WEEK FOUR

This week, as we continue studying the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6, Justin VandeWater taught on verse 11, "Give us this day our daily bread".

He began addressing the tension we feel when we are disappointed by different circumstances. We face all of these trials like sickness or financial struggle, so we continuously ask God, over and over, "give it to us", and then we're disappointed when the outcome isn't what we wanted or we are left waiting. We ask that His Kingdom would come and we believe in His healing and provision, but what do we do when there's that tension and disappointment?

Our verse of the week, Proverbs 30:7-8 reads, 

“Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die.  Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?" Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." 

The author of this proverb was obviously facing disappointment, but asking the Lord to be protected from ever speaking a lie about Him. He then goes on to a radical prayer - give me neither poverty or riches, because if I'm rich, full, then I will deny you, but if I'm poor, I will steal and do wrong. How much faith does it take to say to the Lord, "Today there are things that I want for myself and for other peoples life, but I'm asking you to give me what I need". Often what we want is not always what we need. 

When we look at the lives of Noah and Abraham and so many others in the Bible, we see how through trials, through situations that they may not have wanted to go through, they constantly looked to the Lord. They spent time with the Lord and in His word. There's this pattern of what is wanted, seems to be different from what is need.

As we look back at the themes overarching the themes we've broken down the Lord's prayer into,

Praise - hallowed be your name
Purpose - kingdom come
Provision - give us this day our daily bread
Repentance - forgive us
Protection - deliver us

Jesus knew that all of these things were crucial to the faith. We often see provision out in front of praise and purpose. In Matthew 6:25-33,

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them."

Instead of pursuing God for what we want, or what we think he wants for us, we should seek his Kingdom first, his righteousness, and ask him on a daily basis, "God, I'm trusting you today, what is it that you think I need?"

This piece of the prayer is often an ask. We ask for healing, breakthrough, etc. But all of a sudden, "give us this day our daily bread" becomes a listen as we ask God what we need. "God, what is it that YOU think I need?" Daily. That is a radical prayer and radical faith to ask him that every day. 

When we face the tension found with the disappointment, Galatians 2:20 reminds us of the gospel in this, 

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

We no longer need to ask for what we think we need, because its not even our own life anymore. That's radical! God takes all of our sin, expectation, fear, shame, disappointment, etc. and in exchange gives us all of his righteousness! Christ lives in and through us. We realize that it's not about us! It's about Jesus. He is our daily bread. 

When we look back to the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt, when they were in the midst of the trial, they were willing to go back to slavery, to what they thought they wanted or what they thought was better for them. It took just a few days to get the Israelites out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites. 

We have this opportunity to come before the Father and ask "What is it that you think it need?" and listen and receive from the One who always provides what we need. Jesus humbled himself to save us, and as he faced the cross, he prayed to the Father "is there any other way?" but he still went through with sacrificing himself in obedience. 

Justin challenged the group to ask the Lord to come live His life through us. 

To watch the full service, click here.

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Spark Notes (11/12)

TEACH US TO PRAY: WEEK THREE

This week, Lyle Schut continued in the Lord's Prayer series teaching on "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10 NIV).

Big Picture

We first have to look at this phrase with the "big picture" in mind. When we pray "Kingdom come", this is asking for Jesus' 2nd coming. In Revelation 19 we get the picture of Jesus riding on a white horse, coming back to rule and reign over the earth. 

Imagine how the Jewish people and disciples felt when John the Baptist came. For 400 years before that, there was no voice (no prophet) in the land. But then John the Baptist comes speaking the Word and prophesying. 

We need a revelation about the Kingdom coming. Are we ready for it? Or do we have plans to do so many things before it, thinking, "I want to get married, have kids, go to school, get that job, then I will be ready" The Kingdom is so much greater than we can ever imagine. All of those things will fade in the light of the Kingdom, so we need a revelation about it! 

Already But Not Yet

We hear that phrase so often, but it is a true statement. We sometimes draw back from doing what Jesus said - to pray here and now. Sometimes we pray for healing, yet nothing happens, so we just stop praying. But God says that his will is that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9), so we should be encouraged to continue praying!

In Luke 11, the disciples come to Jesus and ask him to teach them to pray.  They saw Jesus performing miracles in so many different ways - with his voice, with his touch, with even his spit - then they ask to be taught to pray the way the Son prays to the Father. In Luke 11:20, Jesus says, "but if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you". The Kingdom on Heaven is near us when there is healing. The Kingdom reality has come. 

Luke 17:20-21 - The Holy Spirit is in our midst. We have the Holy Spirit inside of us, which is the reality that the Kingdom is coming. The Holy Spirit is like our down payment of our inheritance. (Ephesians 1:13-14). Jesus sends us out as carriers of his Kingdom. Romans 8 says that the same Spirit that raise Christ from the dead is inside of us. Jesus tells us that all authority has been given to him, so he commands us to "Go" (Matthew 28). When we pray "Your Kingdom come, your will be done" we are praying to destroy the works of the devil. 

Lyle simplified the concept with the phrase, "Whatever is going on up there, let it come down here. Whatever is going on down here that is not of God, let is stop." We long for the day that there is no more sickness, pain, death, lies, deception, etc. We pray that His Kingdom would come and His will would be done!

To watch the full service, click here.

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Spark Notes (11/5)

Teach Us To Pray: Week Two

This week, Jen Sandbulte continued our series called Teach Us To Pray, focusing on the first phrase of the Lord's prayer, "Our Father who art in heaven - hallowed be thy name"

"OUR FATHER" - It begins with revelation of who God is. The name doesn't mean anything until you have had a revelation to the person behind it. 

Who can use the word "father"? Unless you are a child of God, you have no right to use this prayer. Until you know Jesus, you are an orphan. ?You are in the universe without a father. When we kow him as a father, the world becomes a totally different place. We are all adopted and grafted in through Jesus. We can all call him "Father" (Abba meaning Daddy). We pray "our" - not "my". 

The phrase "Give us.." is not a selfish, private prayer, but a way to pray for things you could ask for others. 

"IN HEAVEN" - this keeps "daddy" from being too casual. Our Heavenly Father is holier and more powerful that ANY dad on this earth. 

Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Psalm 102:25 - In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the  heavens are the work of your hand.

Psalm 19:4 - Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

Revelation 5:13- Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!"  

"HALLOWED BE THY NAME" - If you were going to pick on someone or curse them, would you di it if they were sitting right next to you? We cannot get away from the presence of God. If we have a sense of his presence, we hallow his name. We cannot take his name in vain in his absence, because God is always there. 

We need to not blaspheme the name of God, we should hallow it. How do we blaspheme the name of God? 

1. Perjury - When we go to court - we swear on God's word, but do we get what we are doing?
2. Profanity - There are two deeply sacred relationships: a man's relationship with God and a man's relationship to women. Almost every swear word points to one of these two relationships.
3. Flippancy - A sense of humor that goes too far. Never laugh at the devil. We have authority over him but we do not need to mock him. We should spend our time praising Jesus over mocking the enemy. 
4. Incredulity - refusing to believe in God's works and his words. 
5. Hypocrisy - we come to church and take the name of Christ on our lips and then dishonor the name of Christ by living in the way of the world. 
6. Familiarity - Jews hallowed the name of God so much that they wouldn't even speak his name. In the days of Jesus, they called him "The Name".
7. Blasphemy - when Godd's name is used to support evil things - there will come a day when people will kill you in the name of God. 

What we pray for is that men would know what it stands for - that one day they would stand to render their account. 

Why was Jesus put to death? One charge of blasphemy. He called himself God and to those around him, this was not honoring the name of God - it was blasphemy. According to their law, not to hallo the name of God was punishable by death. 

In then name of God, they condemned the son of God to die. 

Jesus never joked about God -was never flippant or profane about God. It was men who were. 

Jen then challenged the group to pray that we may come to know God as holy, heavenly, and mighty. 

If you would like to watch the full service, click here. 

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What is HOME?

The House of Missions & Equipping is a Christian missions base that has a central emphasis on prayer & worship (exalting the name of Jesus), making disciples and supporting the local church.

Our mission at HOME is to equip others to live active prayer lives, to fully engage in worship, and to do Kingdom work throughout NW Iowa and the surrounding region.

Our desire is that this ministry would serve as a catalyst for bringing Christians together to love and serve our community, flowing from a lifestyle rooted in prayer & worship. Viewed this way, HOME is a gathering place where people from all walks of life can come together to study, network, dream, learn, lift up their hearts to the Lord in prayer, and then go and impact the world we live in to the glory of God.

HOME is run by staff and volunteers whose mission is to grow closer to the Lord in worship and prayer. 

We host a weekly time of worship, prayer, & teaching called IGNITE. IGNITE services are every Sunday at 5:00pm. On Wednesday nights at 9:00pm, we host a casual prayer and worship service called the Loft. Throughout the week, there are various live worship sets scheduled. Visit our calendar for dates and times.

We also host different prayer ministries that include: Verse of the Week Prayer meetings, Prophetic Ministry, Healing Ministry, and Freedom Ministry. Visit our website, sc-home.org, for more information and how to sign up. Feel free to visit HOME Monday through Friday 6:00am to 10:00pm, Saturdays 7:00am to 10:00pm, and Sunday evenings at 5:00pm for our IGNITE service. 

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Spark Notes (10/29)

TEACH US TO PRAY INTRODUCTION

To start off our series on the Lord's Prayer, Jen Sandbulte spoke and encouraged to look at the Lord's prayer in a fresh way. HOME is a place that people can come to pray, but do we just innately know how to pray? How can we learn to pray? 

Lord’s prayer is NOT Jesus' Prayer - it is Jesus telling us how we should pray because it wouldn’t make sense for him to pray "forgive us our debts" because he was sinless.

The prayer is brief - Demonstrates for us that it is the quality of our prayer - not the quantity.

He gave us a form of prayer -

• Brief - short prayer but one of the biggest prayers - you can use it in short gaps during the day
• Simple - it is for everyone - from little ones to dying
• Profound - can think about all your life and it will still be fresh
• Comprehensive - these 6 requests cover our every need
• Universal - it is prayed all over the world
• Most Challenging - it is not so much a prayer as it is a way of life, if we pray and mean it

How does this impact our other prayers? Does this structure overflow in to other prayers? 

Prayer is universal; so many other religions pray but Christian prayer is unique because we pray to someone. The person of God, "Our Father in Heaven,"

There is a pattern found in this prayer - 6 mentions of the person of God - 2 lots of 3 each - Father, Son, Spirit - Father, Son, Spirit.

This is a great reminder of the Trinity and how we are taught to prayer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In the order of the prayer, we see that there is another pattern in praying that goes as follows: reverence, allegiance, obedience. Notice that obedience is not the first but fear of the Lord, or reverence, is first.

10 commandments also follow a pattern with the Lord's prayer. 

In the first halves of the prayer and 10 commandments, we see that they are concerned with God, but the second halves are concerned with men.
1. You shall have no other gods / vs 1 "Our father,"
2. No image other than me / vs 1 "who art in heaven" - we don’t know what heaven is like
so we can’t create his image
3. Shall not take the name of God in vain / vs 2 "Hallowed be thy name"

The next commandments and second half of the Lord's prayer are focused on how we are to live. 

Jen concluded with encouraging to pray as you live and live as you pray. In the following weeks we will continue unpacking the Lord's prayer - join us Sunday nights at 5 at HOME or online! 

If you would like to watch the video of Sunday's IGNITE service, click here.

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Testimony - Myka and Aiden

Sunday night at IGNITE, we celebrated and praised Jesus, our Healer with 2 testimonies. Myka Schut and Aidan De Jager stood up at an IGNITE service 3 week’s ago to receive prayer for healing of headaches. This week, they both testified to being over 90% better than what they had been! Sometimes healing can be instant and other times healing is a process. Praise Jesus for His healing hand on Myka and Aidan and praise Him for His Kingdom breaking out on Earth as it is in Heaven!!

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Spark Notes (10/15)

SPIRITUAL WARFARE: PRAISE 

This week, Greg Schut wrapped up our series on Spiritual Warfare with the topic of praise. He began with 2 Chronicles 20,  

"He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’... After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever." As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” - 2 Chronicles 20:15-17, 21-22 (NIV)

When they were going into battle, they would send the worshippers out ahead of the army. The battle is not ours, but God's. When we magnify God first, we are putting the situation into His hands and glorifying Him. What you magnify will be magnified. Do you magnify the Lord, or your circumstances?

Greg shared his testimony of healing for back pain - when he was struggling with the pain, he constantly worshiped God and stood in His identity as a son of God. In that identity, we are given healing by the blood of the Lamb. After choosing to focus on God, rather than the pain, Greg had breakthrough. When we focus on our other circumstances, our eyes are taken off of Christ. Jesus says "Worship me in Spirit and in Truth". The Truth says that we are sons and daughters of God. We are free. And everything Jesus has been given, has also been given to us.

In 2 Samuel 6:12-23, we see David's heart steadfast in the Lord as he worships. As the ark of God was brought to Jerusalem, David and the entire house of Israel worshiped. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might. He was leaping and dancing, his deepest act of humility for the Lord. As this was happening, Michal, Saul's daughter and David's wife watched from a window and despised David in her heart. Michal had a heart issue - she was not down worshiping with all of Israel and she was angry with David and his reckless, all-out act of worship. In verse 23, we read that Michal had no children. This shows that the fruit of our lives is affected by our worship.

In Acts 16 we read how Paul and Silas are severely beaten and thrown in jail for casting a demon out of a woman, ruining the fortune telling business of that city. Paul and Silas, in their wounded and chained up state, still sang praising to God all through the night. Their act of worship broke the chains of all those in the jail. The jailor, scared of his punishment to come nearly committed suicide, but was stopped by Paul and Silas as they led him to Jesus Christ. Our worship changes things for more than ourselves, but it can break chains for others.

Greg concluded by emphasizing that worship is not just a tool or weapon in spiritual warfare, it is something we do because God is worthy of all of our praise.

To watch the IGNITE service online, click here.

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What To Pray When You Don't Know What To Pray

Do you ever struggle sitting down to spend time in prayer? Can't find the words or aren't sure where to start? Try these ten ideas to start praying!

1. Praise God for who He is. 
2. Thank God for what He has done for you and ways He has provided for /you in the past. 
3. Pray that God will help you hear His voice clearly. 
4. Ask Him to prompt you regarding what you should pray. 
5. Pray that God will reveal unconfessed sin and areas of unforgiveness that may stand in the way of you fully loving others. 
6. Pray for wisdom and discernment of His will. 
7. Pray that He will help you quickly and readily obey His leading.
8. Pray that God will infuse you with courage to let you light shine so that you can be a positive impact for the kingdom in your area of influence. 
9. Pray that God will continue to grow and mature you in the wisdom and knowledge of Him. 
10. Pray for unity within God's church, protection for his leaders, and effectiveness of the church's outreach to the nations. 

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Prayer Guide: P.R.A.Y.

This prayer model focuses on Matthew 6:10-13 using the acronym P.R.A.Y. - Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield.

1. PRAISE
• Praise God for who He is.
• Praise God for what He has done.
• OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME.
2. REPENT
• Repent of sins I have committed.
• Repent of commands I have neglected.
• AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS. 
3. ASK
• Ask for the needs of others. 
• Ask for my needs. 
• GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPATATION, BUT DELIEVER US FROM EVIL. 
4. YIELD
• Yield my will to God's will. 
• Yield my agenda to God's agenda for me. 
• THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOREVER. AMEN. 

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Prayer Guide: Praying from the Bible (ACTS Model)

You can turn any verse of the Bible into a prayer, hanging pronouns as needed. For example: Ephesians 3:20, "Glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope." One way to pray this might be, "All glory to you God! By your mighty power at work within me, your word says that You are able to accomplish infinitely more than I would ever dare to ask or hope."

The ACTS model of prayer can help you pray deeper into this verse.

• ADORATION: If the verse you are praying shows you anything about God's character or who God is, praise Him with those words. From Ephesians 3:20, we could pray: "Almighty God, you are all powerful."
• CONFESSIONS: If the Holy Spirit points out anything from the verse that you are not living out or believing according to what this verse is calling us to do or be or believe, confess that to God. From Ephesians 3:20, we could pray: "God, sometimes I doubt that you are at work, Sometimes I put limits on what I believe you are able to accomplish. Forgive me, God." 
• THANKSGIVING: If the verse holds a promise or a truth for us, thank God for it. From Ephesians 3:20, we could pray: "Thank you God for showing me in this verse that you are at work in me and you are able to accomplish more that I could even hope. I choose to believe this and I thank you for this God."
• SUPPLICATION: Ask God to be your teacher and help you understand the verse better. Read the verse word by word, then phrase by phrase. Then, be silent and open your spiritual ears to God. If your mind gets distracted, pull yourself back by reading the verse again. Ask God to quiet all other noise (your own inner voice, the enemy, distractions, even the voice of the world/the culture). Give voice to what you are hearing by telling God so that He can correct anything or add to it. Write it down. Then, ask God to help you obey the verse of put into action anything He showed you. 

End by praying the verse straight through again, letting it sink into you a little deeper and then commit to God to believe it and live it.

Perhaps you may even want to write an "I will..." statement with what you are committing to. For example, from Ephesians 3:20, we could write: "I will choose to trust God who is at work within me accomplishing great things for His glory." Repeat your "I will" statement throughout the week.

Memorize the verse so that you can pray it frequently. In this, you will be letting God transform you by the renewing of your mind through His word. (Romans 12:2) and letting the Holy Spirit make you new in the attitude of your mind (Ephesians 4:23). 

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Spark Notes (10/1)

Spiritual Warfare: The Name of Jesus

 This week, Justin VandeWater brought the message focusing on the name of Jesus. He began with asking the question, "What were some of the amazing, miraculous, authoritative things that Jesus did?" Some the answers shouted out were that he healed the sick, multiplied food, walked on water, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead, prophesied, baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, trained his disciples, and conquered death. 

John 14:12-14 says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." We can ask in Jesus' name and he will do it. Jesus said that we can do what he did and even greater things! So, how are we doing with doing the works of Jesus? 

This week's Verse of the Week is Philippians 2:9-11, "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father". Justin shared how his initial thought in the past has been "Well, he is God so of course he does those things" We are not God, so our expectation is that we don't do those things. This pushed Justin to pour though the gospels, looking for what it is about Jesus that he can do these things.

Jesus was never less than God, but he was also never more than man. So how is there so much power and authority to do the things that he did? What can we do? Try harder, pray better? We are drawn to Jesus' power and authority, but if we focus on that, we miss what preceded this power and authority. It was the radical, costly submission and surrender to his Father's will. 

Going back to Philippians 2, starting in verse 5, "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Then the big word, "THEREFORE" follows. Therefore, because of Jesus' obedience, he was highly exalted... 

So what preceded Jesus' ministry? His "yes" to the Father to leave the throne and humble himself. Jesus' "Yes, Father" lead to his humility. We see in the gospels that Jesus was baptized and given the Holy Spirit and then sent to the desert to be tempted by the devil. In the desert, Jesus was obedient to the Father. Jesus kept saying "Yes, Father", and he overcame.

We failed in the garden - we were given all we needed, yet could not obey, so Jesus came to model that for us. Jesus was able to live in alignment with the Father. In John 5, Jesus says that he only does what the Father says. Jesus trusted his Father and obeyed. That power of Jesus is available to us when we submit and surrender to the Father. 

In spiritual warfare, our obedience and submission to the Father is our warfare. We must listen to the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit tells us "no" to something, yet we do it, we grieve the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit tells us to do something, yet we don't do it, that is quenching the Spirit. 

What is impacted by our obedience and coming under the authority of the Father? 

• our worship 
• our prayers 
• our command and authority over demons
• our power to heal
• our ability to preach (Acts 4:13)
• our ability to suffer well (Acts 5:41)

Justin challenged the group in speaking of his deep love for Jesus and his desire to serve and love him well, but at the same time, he does love his life and often feels he has to prove himself and find his identity in other things. That is the battle. We cannot have both. We strive to be obedient to the death, as Jesus was. 

Justin concluded with Ephesians 1:15-23 as our prayer, "For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all".

To watch the IGNITE service, click here. 

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