The daily habit of prayer

Dear First Family, 
 
In case you missed it, last weekend we kicked off our year-long focus on the practice of prayer. This is a part of our multi-year focus on the personal and corporate practices that all throughout Christian history have been identified as essential to maturing as a disciple of Jesus. In 2024, our focus was on the practice of Sabbath. 
 
This year our goal is to empower one another to develop and deepen in the daily habit of prayer. 
 
Believing that God honors small beginnings and that there is incredible power in sharing practices together, last weekend we shared the invitation to set an alarm for noon every day to pause and pray the Lord’s Prayer. 
 
Wherever you are and in the middle of whatever you might be doing at that time, this is an invitation to take 30 seconds to pause and pray the prayer that the Lord taught us to pray. I hope you have already joined us in this practice, but if not, let me encourage you to take a minute now to set that daily alarm. 
 
I hope you will be in worship this weekend as we share our second week of teaching on the practice of prayer. 
 
Today I also want to lift up several special opportunities we have in the coming weeks. 
 

First, we have several studies and classes kicking off in the next couple of weeks. Our Wednesday morning Pastors Bible Study which Pastor Jan and I teach will return this Wednesday and I am particularly excited about a new Men’s Study that Pastor Julian and myself will be leading on Wednesday nights from 6:30pm – 8p starting on January 29th. 

To learn more about this opportunity and to register for our Men’s Study or any of our other studies and classes kicking off in the coming weeks, visit our website here. 
 

I also wanted to let you know about our need for Included Ball Buddies. Right now we have over 100 guests registered for this special night, and we are now in need of 30 buddies. You will learn more about this opportunity to serve at worship this weekend. You can also read more about our Included Ball and sign up to be a buddy here. 

Last, I want to make sure you know about our Welcome Home Dinner that will take place this Wednesday, January 22nd. This dinner is exactly what the name implies, it is a special dinner to “welcome home” anybody who has recently joined the church or who is interested in joining the church. During our time together, we will have a great meal and time to spend talking with some of our pastors and staff to help connect you to the heart of who First Methodist Mansfield is. If you know somebody interested in becoming a member here at First Methodist Mansfield, or if you and your family have recently joined and want to connect deeper, visit this link and register. 
 
Grace & Peace, 
 
Pastor David