This is a great song from Zach Williams filled with great truth! We are so excited to have Zach joining us at this years Worship In The Adirondacks 2018. For details and tickets go to www.worshipintheadirondacks.com.
Report on United Night of Worship / Cape Cod
by Ed de la Cour, reposted with permission
Whenever the Body of Christ – or a solid representative sampling of that Body – gathers together for worship and prayer, it is a very good thing! Over nearly thirty years, we on Cape Cod have been blessed with a growing appreciation for the whole Church of Jesus Christ. In those early years, such gatherings were tentative and rocky as people sought to find ways to work together. Although those early efforts were bathed in prayer, God’s Church moved exceedingly slowly, frustrating many but energizing some to continue to seek God’s face in prayer. We certainly have a long ways to go, but truly we have seen and we have experienced the blessing of God upon us.
Last year, Cape Cod churches worked to together to hold an outdoor Sunday worship service on the Hyannis Green on September 29, 2013. It was a day filled with joyful worship and the presence of God was noticeably and keenly felt.
This blessing found us again on Saturday, May 10, 2014, as United Night of Worship, led by Zenzo Matoga, came to Cape Cod. Twenty-three churches agreed to join together. The churches and pastors ranged from denominational and non-affiliated, evangelical and Charismatic, liturgical and Pentecostal churches.
The worship music also ranged between modern and loud worship songs, and traditional hymns. The music was fun, enjoyable, and Christ-centered. From the viewpoint of this observer, the greatest moments came when Nick Gatzke spoke on the evangelistic need of this area, when John-Paul Lotz responded prophetically, and when the collected pastors prayed. There were three major movements of prayer during the evening. In the first season of prayer, ten pastors prayed concerning the foundations of our culture. The second season of prayer, seven pastors prayed concerning repentance for our own failure to honor the Lord and for God to move the people of His church in evangelism. In the third time for payer, the whole congregation was asked to cry out to God for Cape Cod. The prayers of the pastors of Cape Cod were deep and passionate and powerful. It was humbling to hear and sense the embrace of God our Father in those moments.
We come together, worship together, and work together because we have come to believe God loves it when He sees His children living in love, walking in harmony, and working in peace. John 17:23 unity brings the manifestation of Psalm 133:3 blessing.
A call to participate in the National Day of Prayer
This coming Thursday, May 1st, churches and individuals across our city will be joining together for the Annual National Day of Prayer gathering in downtown Boston. Sheila Donegan, the UniteBoston Journalist, had the opportunity to sit down with Latonya Brown to hear more of the history behind this year’s event.
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We have a rich history of prayer as a nation. The National Day of Prayer was first signed into law by President Harry Truman on April 17th, 1952. He asked that the people of the United States would come together on this day and collectively turn our hearts to God in prayer and meditation. But the call to pray goes back much further than this. In fact, days of prayer have been called for in the United States since 1775, when the Continental Congress designated a time for prayer as the new nation was forming.
In his 1983 declaration, Ronald Reagan said, “From General Washington’s struggle at Valley Forge to the present, this nation has fervently sought and received divine guidance as it pursued the course of history. This occasion provides our nation with an opportunity to further recognize the source of our blessings, and to seek His help for the challenges we face today and in the future.”
As a country, we are celebrating the 63rd year of this event with over 40,000 gatherings across the United States. LaTonya Brown, this year’s coordinator for Massachusetts, told us that this year the focus is on mobilizing and equipping the Body of Christ to pray for sustained worldwide revival, reformation and restoration. LaTonya shared that in Massachusetts, we will be joining the millions across our country as we pray and seek the face of God on behalf of our city, state, and nation. There are currently fifteen prayer gatherings scheduled across the Commonwealth.
There will be two strategic events in the city of Boston:
National Day of Prayer Noonday Prayer Gathering at the State House
Gardner Auditorium, 12pm – 1pm
“That They May Be One” Clergy and Intercessors United in Prayer for Massachusetts
7pm – 8pm
Location: Congregation Lion of Judah, 20 Reed Street, Boston
(Worship lead by Zenzo Matoga)
“There is a move of the Holy Spirit happening across the earth and it is being strongly felt within Massachusettes and New England. We are here to call the body of Christ in our communities to come together and stand in the gap on behalf of our city, our region and our nation.” LaTonya shared. “We hope that all that are a part of the Body of Christ in the Boston and Greater Boston area will join us in this most significant time as we come together as one and lift up the Name that is above all names…the Name of Jesus over our city. May we see His Kingdom come here and his will be done on this earth as we do!
For more information on the National Day of Prayer in Boston and how you can be a part, watch the video below or email: latonya@praymassachusettes.org 
Our Christian Unity Dream Starting to Become a Reality?
Today, we hear from Dick Kiernan, Field Ministry Director for Alpha New England. Dick shares his thoughts on a recent video of Pope Francis and its significance for Catholics and Evangelicals
“May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me … “ (John 17:23)
I’m not a gambler, but I bet we all know hundreds of friends of Jesus who are longing for Jesus’ prayer for unity to be answered on this side of heaven. At the end of February, a most extraordinary video of Pope Francis and Kenneth Copeland started going viral. It began when Pope Francis asked his long time Anglican friend, Bishop Tony Palmer, to deliver a video calling for Christian reconciliation to Kenneth Copeland at his annual pastors’ conference in Texas with hundreds of charismatic pastors. Kenneth Copeland reciprocated with prayers and blessings for the pope and said he was “open,” and then he ended by saying that 40 years ago this would have been considered impossible by everyone.
I sent this video link to my Alpha colleagues across the country. Some were in tears or amazed. One simply responded, “breath-taking.” A few other Evangelical friends from my local prayer networks were suspicious. After some discussion I realized that this gesture from Pope Francis and Kenneth Copeland will be misunderstood by some people and it won’t be meaningful if people don’t really live it out. So what is really happening and what is the significance?
Bishop Tony Palmer stated that there are 33,000 Christian denominations and this gesture by Pope Francis is not going to change that. However, the specific challenge that Bishop Palmer gave was for Evangelicals to sign the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification—also known as JDDJ. He explained that Catholics and Lutherans had resolved Martin Luther’s original protest of “salvation by faith alone,” and this joint declaration about salvation means that Catholics and Lutherans have resolved the main dividing point of the Protestant Reformation. In other words, they came to agree that salvation is by grace alone through faith resulting in good works, but the good works don’t save us–we are only saved by the merits of Christ’s crucifixion. What this means is that we agree on salvation—and we agree that there is one Gospel message. This may not be the end of 33,000 denominations, but it officially states that Catholics and Lutherans agree on this main point of division. Bishop Palmer asked the Evangelicals at this conference (and cyberspace too?) to join with Catholics, Lutherans, and Methodists in signing this joint declaration. Wow—isn’t that something?!
My friends and I started discussing it. Can you imagine Catholics, Main Line Christians, and Evangelicals signing this joint declaration? Can you imagine them changing their thinking? It would mean that Evangelicals would expect to see fruit in someone’s life as an assurance they have trusted Jesus, not “cheap grace.” It would mean that Catholics would stop thinking they get to heaven if they are “good” or perform so many good works. On another level the signing of a joint declaration should involve some dialogue and relationship and increase mutual respect, ultimately leading to authentic fellowship and unity.
Jesus said, “all will know you are my disciples if you love one another,” (John 13:34). Could we even imagine loving each other even if we don’t agree on everything? Pope Francis had recently said that this unity with other Christians must be based on essential teachings we hold in common, otherwise known as the hierarchy of truths. He also said that given the state of society Christians no longer have the option to remain divided. It seems like he really means this.
My friends also came up with a dream. What if all New England pastors and Christians started signing and living this teaching? What if they came together for 10 Days of Prayer and United Nights of Worship? What if they started reaching out to the needed or started doing Alpha together? The 500th anniversary of Luther’s protest, also known as the Protestant Reformation is coming up in three years in October of 2017. What if all New England were to come together to celebrate the end of the Protestant Reformation and the beginning of a new Reformation? Can you imagine international gatherings at Wittenburg and Rome? If this is what Jesus was praying for in John 17, then why wouldn’t we do this? Let’s live the dream—amen.