The Bible Story Family

WORTHLESS PRAYERS? by Robert Allen             You have a prayer list—GREAT!             How do you use it?             Let me tell you a story.   My wife and I come from fairly large families.   Between the two of us we have around 150 immediate relatives including in-laws, cousins, nephews and nieces.   I have tried regularly to pray through all of those names.   However, the sheer number of people on the list meant that I really didn’t do much more than ask God to bless them—by name of course.             My prayers resembled glancing through Facebook posts and clicking an occasional “like.”   Since God knew all of their names already I realized that my prayers, though well-intentioned, were basically useless.   They fell into that category which Jesus called “vain repetitions” (Matthew 6:7).             Maybe you have faced the same frustration with the names of the missionaries your church supports.   You have a list of names and you pray for them regularly.

Jack and Jill Choose a Church Adapted from “The Preacher as Storyteller” by Robert Allen.                         “Jack and Jill went up a hill                         To fetch a pail of water.                         Jack fell down, and broke his crown,                         And Jill came tumbling after.                         Up Jack got and home did trot,                         As fast as he could caper.                         He went to bed, and covered his head                         With vinegar and brown paper.”                                                 Mother Goose             Contrary to popular opinion, millennials do not choose a church based on the instrumentation of the worship team.   The rapidly spinning wheel of new worship music attracts, but does not retain interest beyond the latest release.   Loyalty develops from satisfaction with a preaching style.             At least that’s what Jack a