Almost fifteen years ago Pastor Ken Roth took Chapel Ridge on a journey through a call to fast and pray. Ken’s heart was to have the church seek the Lord, consecrate themselves and trust that God will do incredible things at Chapel Ridge. Following that initial time of fasting and praying they placed a rock near the entrance of the building to commemorate this time in the Church’s life.
Following the 40 days, the church went through some difficult times as a congregation, but God was using this preparation time to build Chapel Ridge into the kind of church He was calling it to become, a ‘house of prayer.’ (Isaiah 56:7).
If you drive through the countryside, passing by old beautiful farmsteads, a common occurrence is to see long fences made of stones. Those stone fences were built using stones that once laid in the field. The hard work of clearing the land, pulling out the stones, has to take place before the farmer can work the field. A little over a year ago I was in a time of prayer and was getting excited about what God was doing here at Chapel Ridge. I felt the Lord softly say to me, ‘remember when you put your hand to the plow, the field was already tilled.’ I realized that Pastor Ken’s hard work and dedication to prayer has enabled Chapel Ridge to grow. As we look forward dedicating a new building, it seems to be the perfect juncture to begin another season of fasting and praying. The act of looking over the fields again, looking over our hearts, to see if there remains any stones that could hinder growth is a great picture of what this time of fasting, praying and consecrating our hearts looks like.
What will we be doing during this time of fasting and praying?
Glad you asked.
- We will be having weekly Sunday night listening prayer times. October 20, 27, November 3, 10 and 17, 6:00pm at the church.
- There will be a blog post daily, or near daily. The blog will be written from people within the congregation as they are on a journey towards deeper intimacy with the Lord. Each post will be anonymous in order to help everyone focus on the words and not the author. You are welcome to login and comment on the posts if they have impacted you. Please take time to read each day, and pray for Chapel Ridge and its future. Use this blog to share your own journey of how the Lord is speaking to you! If you have been impacted by any of these posts please write to me and let me know.
- Take the leap and fast! If you haven’t fasted before, now is a great time to try this spiritual discipline. If you think food will be too difficult, consider fasting from television, or a particular food item like sweets or chips. Fast from something that will cause a change to your daily or weekly routine. Fast something that will help you spend more time with the Lord, even if it is only a few extra minutes a day.
- During the week I encourage you to find/start a group and join in prayer. The church will be open at different times in the week. You are welcome to meet in one others homes. If you feel that being on site helps you pray, come and use the prayer room, or fireside room. If you are a key holder, why not invite others to join you if you come to the church!
- Finally we will celebrate together a special service on November 24th. That Sunday, Bishop Cliff Fletcher, will be brining the message. This service will be designed in such a way to be a memorable time in the life of this Church. We will commit ourselves fully to the work of the Lord! Oh…and in good Chapel Ridge fashion, WE WILL EAT! There will be a special pot luck. We want this to be an event, a special occasion, so we are asking people to bring one of their best dishes, with nice presentation to make it feel memorable! If your country of origin is someplace other than Canada, we encourage you to bring a dish from that country!
Please join me in this very special time!
Sincerely,
Pastor Luke
Will these updates or blog posts be sent via email when they are available?
Hello Terri, I take it this is something you would like? I am happy to do this, they may not go out each day at 6am, and we cannot send the pictures that may sometimes go with some of the posts.
It is so encouraging to see Chapel Ridge grow into such a loving praying church. We have never attended a church like this before. We will get stronger praying and so we will continue to grow spiritually.