This Easter, we’re anticipating our 9:45am service to be completely full! We are so thankful that God is growing our church and that lives are being changed by God’s Word through Reliance, but we need your help making room for these new visitors this Easter!
Starting tomorrow, March 1st, we’re beginning a 31-day prayer challenge to pray for our Easter services. We invite you to take part in this transformative challenge which will strengthen your prayer life and walk with the Lord! Below, you’ll find the full list of topics to pray for, an 8.5×11 Poster you can download and print at home to put on your fridge or mirror as a reminder, as well as instructions on how to opt-in to push notifications on the Reliance Church app where we will be sending daily reminders with the topic to pray for right to your iOS, Android, and Windows devices!
Fellow Servants,
I want to take a moment to thank each of you who served our Lord this weekend at our Good Friday and Easter services. It is always such a joy to see our family of believers serve our King shoulder to shoulder and then to watch Him work.
Pray for whom you will invite to this year’s Easter services.
Pray for God to greatly bless our Easter service so that His Word may be proclaimed to many.
Pray that the invitations would land in the hands of people who need it the most.
Pray that God would bring many unbelievers to our Easter services and that the Holy Spirit would prepare them to hear the Gospel.
Pray for the unbelievers who hear the Good News to receive the free gift of salvation.
Pray for those who are saved but may not be walking with the Lord, that they would be convicted by the message and turn back to Jesus.
Pray for God to protect Pastor Ted from the attacks of the Enemy as he prepares to deliver the Easter message.
Pray for God’s favor for both our staff and volunteers as they work long hours this month preparing for our Easter services.
Pray for our worship team to be filled with the Holy Spirit as they prepare the songs to lead worship at our Good Friday and Easter Sunday services.
Pray for our Tech Team as they prepare all of the equipment, designs, and volunteers that are needed for our Easter weekend.
Pray for our Decision Follow-up team that will be guiding new believers and helping them connect here at Reliance Church.
Pray for the health and safety of everyone involved in the Easter services.
Pray that our community would be receptive to hearing the gospel and respond to the call God has placed on each and every one of their lives.
Pray for our security team as they work overtime Easter weekend to ensure the safety of all of our people and equipment.
Pray that God would use our Spanish church and Pastor Ricardo in a unique and powerful way to minister to the Latino community.
Pray that God would continue to bless the relationship between Linfield Christian School and Reliance Church, and that He would continue knit our hearts together.
Pray that new visitors would feel welcome at our church and that they would be blessed by our church’s heart to serve.
Pray for families with young children who will be attending our service, that they would have an easy and fun time celebrating with us.
Pray for good weather, so we can gather the entire church together at one outdoor service.
Pray for the choir, that their preparations would go smoothly and that the songs they sing would minister to those who attend the service.
Pray for God’s favor with the Linfield neighbors.
Pray against spiritual warfare; the Enemy loves to attack when we’re at our busiest.
Pray that God would strengthen marriages as we take on this extra workload.
Pray that God would give wisdom to our leaders as they will be making the final decision this week on whether to move the event in doors.
Pray for the worship to have a tremendous impact on all who hear.
Pray that God would use the message in a powerful way to bring unbelievers to a saving faith in Him.
Pray for our Children’s Ministry team who will be praying with the children that come forward.
Pray for our RSM team who will be praying with the teens that come forward.
Pray for visitors to get plugged in so that they can grow in their walk with the Lord.
Pray for God to use us all in a powerful way that would cause a transformation in our community.
“What If It’s True?” Easter 2015
As our Easter 2012 service, Ransomed is quickly approaching, our desire as a church in Temecula is to put a strong emphasis on prayer. We think it is vitally important to be constantly praying for God’s will over Reliance Church and that is why we are making such a strong effort to cover this event in it.
The greatest privilege a Christian has is prayer. Prayer is not only a privilege, but it is also the responsibility of every believer. Jesus said,
The preacher calls out “Stand to your feet!” and for an inexplicable reason, my heart is pounding uncontrollably. I feel anxious, and somehow I know that if I don’t follow his exhortation to stand, this could very well be the last opportunity I have to choose God. A tug-of-war in my mind ensues; excuses and fears pull my heart away from Jesus, but then unexpectedly, instantly, and boldly, in a moment of faith and courage that was not in me before, I stand to my feet. The crowd disappears, my worries dissipate, and now I don’t care what they think; it’s just Jesus and me. Tears flood my eyes as I realize it is my sin that He paid for on the cross at Calvary… and yet He loves me. God isn’t angry with me; He accepts me even with my extreme imperfection. Then the preacher instructs us to come forward. We gather near the stage, and while I know that he encouraged and prayed for us, I really can’t recall what he said. What I do know is that this moment was both the end and the beginning. It was the end of my life, as I had known it and the beginning of my new life in Christ. It was the most imperative day of my life; the day I was transformed by the grace of God.
Easter provides a unique opportunity for the Gospel as we focus in on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Above is glimpse of what coming forward may have looked like. Perhaps you heard the call to “come forward” as the Spirit of God brought conviction of sin upon your heart. While physically getting out of your seat does not determine the validity of your response to this call, it can be discernably measured. James 2:17-18 says it this way: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead…I will show you my faith by my works.” The proof that you have come forward is conveyed by how you go forward.
Depending on where you’re at spiritually, Easter service can range from a meaningful experience to a merely mediocre church-oriented observance. For many who attended the Reliance Church service, Easter was the life-altering day they met Jesus and started a relationship with Him.