Broken Hearts Ministry

The past few weeks have been fairly mellow and not particularly unusual. Jeremiah has not really been preaching during The Refuge, but rather reads through a chapter of Genesis and then we’ve opened it up for discussion and questions, which has actually been very cool.

While teaching and exegeting the word of God is necessary, it’s also cool to see how taking a break really does bring out all kinds of questions.  Rather than Jere just answer everything, though, the people who come to the bible study also participate in answering questions and giving their opinions. From ‘did dinosaurs exist?’ to ‘why did God put a tree of good and evil in the garden?’, we’ve had some great discussion.

But it always strikes me that some of these people on the street know the Bible and have thought about these things just as much as us. Yet their lives don’t match up to their knowledge. Granted, often ours don’t either…but I think our desire to change and live by the Spirit is the difference. It seems like we’re really trying, even when we fail, but that often they just don’t care. The Spirit doesn’t seem to be a part of their lives…or something. I can’t judge each person and act like I know their spiritual life, but can a good tree bear bad fruit? I’m just praying that so many of these who join us each week and hear the Word of God would actually internalize it, receive the Holy Spirit and be transformed for his glory!

Praise:

-There’s been a relatively consistent group of people attending The Refuge on a weekly basis!

-Praise the Lord for the faithful team He has provided.

Prayer for our Boulevard Friends:

-Aaron: He’s been coming to The Refuge really regularly. Please pray that he wouldn’t just have head knowledge of the Word, but heart knowledge as well. Pray that he’d really fall in love with the Lord.

-For Jonathan as well, who knows Jesus but still hasn’t given up the lifestyle he’s grown accustomed to on the streets. Pray for Holy Spirit conviction and for him to be able to follow through in following Jesus.

-Jose the security guard and his wife as they deal with his wife having been sick. Pray for full recovery on her part and for salvation for both.

-For Greg, one of the security guards who lost his job. Pray for provision from the Lord and that his heart toward God would be softened during this time so that he’d come to know and love him.

-For Randy, who didn’t want to come to our church service, then ended up coming anyway and participating. He’d like prayer for his new daughter. Pray for him to come to know Christ.

-For the Thursday night men’s Bible study to continue to experience growth and close fellowship.

- Pray the Holy Spirit would go before us and make a way in the hearts of the people. Unless the Lord builds the house…its builders build in vain. Let’s ask the Lord to build this house.

Pray for the Team:

- Han, in Maryland, still needs to find a place to live before the end of the month. Pray the Lord’s leading.
- For the prayer team and Thursday night team to grow in sustainable numbers.
- Continue to pray specifically for unity and spiritual growth for each of the teams: Thursday night, Friday night, Prayer Teams.

Prayer

Jacob – We’ve asked for prayer for Jacob before. He is a young guy in his early 20s who’s expressed an interest in getting off meth, but hasn’t yet looked into the rehab resources we offer. He knows all about Christianity, but pray that God would capture his heart and that he would find his strength in Jesus

Bill – Bill is a man in his late 70s or early 80s. He’s developed quite a friendship with one of our members of the street team, but he’s still closed off to God. Please pray that as the friendship continues to grow that his heart would open up to receiving God’s love and ultimately accepting Christ.

The Refuge – Please pray that people would be compelled to stay for The Refuge church service we hold at midnight on Thursday and Friday nights. People will often stop by to grab a piece of pizza or say hi, but they don’t often stay. Please pray the Lord would draw and compel them to be a part of the group.

Praise!
The men’s bible study that meets on Thursday nights went very well last week. Everyone was very involved in the discussion and seemed to be excited about being in the Word.

Aaron – Aaron is one of the top dogs out there on the streets. He joined us for the service and was very involved during Q&A. He seems to know the Word pretty well, so pray that it wouldn’t just be head knowledge, but that the heart knowledge would begin to impact the way he lives.