SERMON NOTES:

Prayer Requests

Y Pray for Angelicas friend Ann, a friend and colleague, who is receiving treatment for breast cancer. Y Pray for persons and process involved in property purchase for COL.

Y Pray for Mona Buesing (Paulettes

mother) as she goes in for a heart procedure on June 8th. Y Pray for Amy Moores friend Sharon Hines as she fights cancer. Y Pray for Joanne Shingledeckers granddaughter, Jennifer Williams, who is having out-patient surgery next week. Y Pray for Troy Brodersens family (Joannes son-in-law) as his mother, Sheri, has passed away. Y Pray for John & Gloria Ivers daughter Karen Atkins who will soon be receiving treatment for cancer. Y Pray for the students graduating that they find hope and encouragement in their futures. Y Pray for Ben Simmer. He is running out of choices for treating his MS as he contracted a virus. Pray for a miracle cure and healing. Y Pray for Joshua Dochniaks stepmother Anne as she lost her mother last week. Y Pray for radical healing of cancer for John Leggate whos been fighting for several years. Y John Thiessens chemo treatments are completed. Praise God for strength and a measure of healing.

DEVOTION
This past Sunday Pastor paul preached about what it means to be born again. Some people have had a born again, conversion experience. This is seen as a once-in-alifetime moment. This is a powerful experience and should be seen as a legitimate movement of the Holy Spirit. Some people never have such an experience. But this doesnt mean that this person (or even a person who has had a born-again experience) cant be renewed. Daily renewal is similar to being born-again. As we let God take over more and more of our heart and our life, we find ourselves becoming more like Christ. This process doesnt happen in a straight line, but can be very jagged. But it happens, and we grow. This week you have the opportunity to read some Scriptures that share more about this type of personal renewal. Four of the Scriptures come from the Old Testament. As you read them, be in a spirit of prayer. Pray that God will continue to renew us. Comments about the devotion can be Emailed to pastor@colpres.org

Monday, June 4 Read Exodus 4:18-22

When Moses went back to Egypt he pleaded with Pharaoh or the king of Egypt to let the

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Israelites go. Ultimately Moses had to deal with Pharaohs heart. God kept Pharaohs heart hard. Its hard to know why God kept Pharaohs heart hard, but what is significant is it was the heart that was the instrument of change. Part of experiencing a new birth is having a soft heart. Is our heart open to letting the Spirit work inside of us? No matter how hard God works within us if our own heart is hard we will not be able to be used by God. Today pray for a soft heart. Pray that the conditions of our own heart will allow us to follow God continuously. As you pray, pray for a person close to you. Pray that the persons heart will stay soft.

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This past Sunday, Pastor Paul encouraged everyone to say a simple prayer once a hour. The prayer was, Lord, direct me this hour. Today try to say this prayer once a hour while you are awake. During this very short prayer be intentional about opening your heart to Gods direction. Just being mindful of God is a powerful way to let our heart be formed by the Spirit.

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This passage is a familiar one where Jeremiah wrote about the new covenant that God was going to create in the future. We know this new covenant as the gift of Jesus which came hundreds of years after Jeremiah wrote these words. Notice that this new covenant was going to be made with peoples hearts. The law was not going to just be followed through peoples actions. God was going to write the law on peoples hearts. This covenant was not something that a person would just follow with their feetthe condition of their heart would be important to God. God would be like a heart doctor examining us from the inside out. How is the condition of your heart today. As you pray today, have a conversation about this with God.

Wednesday, June 6 Read Isaiah 65:17-25

In this passage the prophet Isaiah was sharing a dream that God had for the people of Israel. Israel and Judah had been destroyed and conquered by a foreign nation. The people had been in exile. Now they had come back to Jerusalem. God has dreams for each of our own lives. These dreams are more than what God wants us to do. God has desires for our heartfor our characterfor us to be formed by the Spirit from the inside out. In a part of his sermon two weeks ago Pastor Paul preached about the Fruits of the Spirit. These fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These fruits come from seeds that God has placed in our heart. God wants to help us water these seeds so that our character resembles these nine fruits. As you pray today, pray for help is living out these fruits. Be conscious of which fruits are easy and which fruits are hard. These fruits are like the vision and dreams that God had for Israel. They are our own personal dream from God.

Tuesday, June 5 Read Deuteronomy 32:15-18

Chapters 32-33 of Deuteronomy were Moses last words to the Israelites. Moses had led the people out of Egypt and through the wilderness. They were on the verge of entering the Promised Land. Moses was near death and wouldnt go with the people into the Promised Land. In these chapters Moses shared his final words. They were like a history. Look at verse 18, You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. Moses message is for usjust as it was for the Israelites. We get in trouble when we forget about God. When we arent intentional about being in relationship with God we can allow our own self to direct our actions instead of letting God direct our actions from the inside-out.

Friday, June 8 Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10

This is a great Scripture that describes what it means to be born again. Even though our outer nature is being worn away, our inner nature is continually being renewed. For people who have lived many decades of life this passage could be inspirational. Its easy to focus on the breakdowns of a persons body when a person gets old. Instead Paul encouraged people to focus on our inner natureour heart. He asked that our heart be renewed each day. This renewal is like being born again. Each day that we are renewed our inner nature

Thursday, June 7 Read Jeremiah 31:31-34

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becomes more like Christ. This is a life-time journey that is very moving. Pray for inner renewal today when you pray. Pray for renewal with another person who you know.

Saturday, June 9 Read Colossians 3:12-17

This passage is worth reading very slowly. Pick it apart with care. Notice verse 15 and the first part of verse 16 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly; Notice that God doesnt overpower our heart. God gives us the choice if we will let Christ rule our hearts. Are you willing to let Christ rule your heart? As you pray today, share with God your willingness to let this peace rule you.