A House of Prayer

The Presiding Elder in my Area (District) of the Trinity Conference recently introduced me to a brilliant sermon preached by Rev. Jim Cymbala back in 1994 (one year before I was born). It was preached during a Gaither Praise Gathering.

A powerful sermon well worth the 50 minutes of listening, I immediately sent this video out to key congregation leaders at the church I pastor. Truly, as Cymbala argues, the heartbeat of the Church rests in our connection with God. Specifically, the heartbeat of the Church is best found in the strength, consistency, and power of our prayers.

We often unknowingly elevate the Trustees or the Church Council or the Staff-Parish Relations Committee as the most important teams in the local church. Perhaps if we’re a bit more spiritual, we’d promote the Missions team or the Evangelism team or the Worship team as the most important. Practically, the Children’s Ministry team often gets the most attention.

But Cymbala rightly argues that the most important team of the local church is the Prayer team—because without that vital reliance on God, everything else we do is in vain—or simply the human efforts of a human institution.

I highly encourage you to watch the video below. You might even find yourself, like me, sharing it with your team.