8/7/2019 The Gathering Prayer Support Letters: Part 1

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The Gathering @ Elizabethton is in the process of forming a new church in EastTennessee. As you may be aware, there is more to beginning a new church than just opening thedoor to the community in which you choose to locate – and this is where you come in. Jesus toldus, “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done

for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I amthere in their midst.” (Matthew 19:19-20). We are asking for your help. We want you to comealongside us as partners in prayer for what God is going to do in our city.

We believe that a solid foundation of prayer is vitally important to what God has called usto do. No spiritual work will succeed without it. Church planting is not a human work; it is aspiritual work that must be grounded in prayer. Since we are expecting that God will go before uson behalf of those in our town, we must entrust Him with each action we take. We can work ourselves crazy and it will accomplish nothing of eternal value, or, we can pray diligently and Godwill do more than we could ever hope for or imagine.

We need and value interceders. Those who will go before us in prayer – to stand with us,bringing the needs of our new church plant before God as we stand in the gap for this communityHe has led us to. We believe prayer is where personal battles are won and lost and intercession iswhere the battle for our city will be won or lost.

Why do we place such value on prayer? First, church planting is clearly one of the mostdifficult tasks in the Kingdom. If you don’t believe me, try it! When you take the battle to Satan – on his turf – he’s not going to step aside and let you take any ground without a fight. Second,church planting is the single most effective method for reaching pre-Christian people. It operatesbeyond the natural realm and in the spiritual.

On the other side of this page, we have listedseveral areas in which we are asking for intercession. Wethank you in advance for your willingness to pray for andwith us and close with the words the Apostle Paul spoketo the church in Ephesus; “Peace to the brothers, and love

with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying 

love.”  Humbly, Bryan and Angie Smith

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” 

Psalm 127:1

8/7/2019 The Gathering Prayer Support Letters: Part 1

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Emotional  Spiritual attacks are very often emotional in nature. Pray that we would keep a positive outlook on the work we are doing. It is very easy to get sidetracked with all that can (and sometimes does) go in a direction you had not planned. Proverbs 16:32 and 2 John 1:2 are good scripture passages to consider for this area.

Spiritual Passionate, sincere and intentional prayer is definitely needed in this area as we are up against a foe that we cannot stand against in our own strength. Therefore, we must be properly prepared (Eph. 6:10-20). The enemy can attack in manifold ways and has already hit us fairly hard in several of those areas. He wants to destroy us (1 Peter 5:8). We are on the offensive, taking the battle to him and he doesn’t like

it. Please go before us as we stand on Matthew 16:18.

Family  As parents of two small children, and as husband and wife, we are aware of the statistics related to family failure in new church starts. Honestly, we have felt this pressure on several occasions. Pray that we will keep our priorities intact and not sacrifice our family. This has also been a very lonely venture for us. Although we have family in the area, it has been difficult to find people with like passions. Praise God this has begun to change, but it is still a concern.

Financial This is a difficult area for us to talk about since we have always been on the giving end instead of the receiving end. Our income has dropped well over half since moving to this area and we are not receiving any support from the church as of 

yet. Please pray that our needs will be met as we go forward. We have trusted and continue to trust in Matthew 6:33.

Physical We have both been shaken by health issues this year and it has slowed us down considerably. We ask that you pray for the good health of our entire family. It takes a great measure of strength – both mentally and physically – to work the amount of hours as a bi-vocational church planter.Cultural We haven’t gone to a third world county, although we are beginning to think it may have been easier! We live in an area that does not see a need for God – or at least as He truly wishes to exist in our lives. Overall, the existing churches will not support us, nor will the Christian friends we thought we could count on. It is

mainly because they don’t see the need and are more caught up with being taken care of by their church instead of reaching out to those who are yet to know the love of our Savior. Pray that we will be able to communicate more effectively to them.

Some of the challenges we face...