Do you know about the WOW factor?


The Partnering for Purpose gatherings have definitely been marked by the WOW factor! The WOW factor is the intense presence of God as we have gathered to worship, pray and seek the Lord for the coming year.


As we were wrapping up the meeting on Monday night one of the other pastors said to me, "We need to tell the people to call their friends and tell them not to miss this!"


I agree. Consider yourself told! These gatherings have been extraordinary and I have a sense that they will continue to build in intensity.


Tonight (Wednesday) our Wellspring youth worship team will be leading the worship and we will be partaking of communion together. We will continue to meet at 7:00 every evening with the other churches through Saturday night. On that night Prophet Darren Begley will be ministering, as we seek to call forth the destiny of each congregation and to pray for increased anointing for each ministry.


Also on Saturday, beginning at 7:00 AM, there will be a continual presence of worship and prayer in the sanctuary up to our own Wellspring Covenant Renewal Service at 7:00 PM, Sunday evening. Please come at any point during those 36 hours to continue to 'stoke the fires on the Lord's altar' for the coming year of 2012. Mike McKinniss will be teaching on covenant at the morning services. And that evening at the Covenant Renewal Service we will be announcing the recipients of the annual Welly Awards for outstanding ministry and service. That is always a fun time as we recognize what God is doing through his amazing people here at Wellspring.


Lots going on this week. Lots of WOW!


Pastor Rick

As I write this brief post, I am just coming out of one of the most significant Tuesday prayer times with Gatekeeper pastors I have ever had the joy of experiencing. This is a fellowship of area pastors I have been part of for many, many years. We meet weekly to pray, worship, encourage one another, share our burdens and share our joys. The trust levels run deep; the love and honor for one another is genuine; the fellowship is satisfying and life-giving.

But Tuesday's meeting was extraordinary - the sense of unity, expectancy and the presence of the Lord in our midst registered upon all of us. AND - here is the connect for this post - we all had a sense this unique time of encounter is in anticipation of next week's meetings for united worship and prayer.

'Partnering for Purpose' begins this Sunday evening, January 15, and continues every night next week. We will gather each night at 7:00 p.m. to pursue the Lord's presence and blessing for the coming year. Each night we will be led by a different worship team from the participating congregations. There will be no scheduled preaching, but there may well be prophetic exhortation, times of focused intercession, and opportunities for ministry.

Then on Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. we will begin an intensive 36-hour vigil for Wellspring folks. We want to bring an offering of extravagant worship and fervent intercession to the Lord leading up to our Annual Covenant Service on Sunday night, January 22, at 7:00 p.m.

Please make plans and sacrificial effort to be part of these gatherings next week. I am filled with expectancy for what the Lord will do in our midst.

Pastor Rick

As we launch our ministry and life together into the New Year our banner verse for 2012 comes from Romans 15.13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For a long time it has been our practice to seek the Lord for a verse to claim and believe and march under for the year. This year the focus is upon hope.

Why hope?

Because we need it to navigate life in this fallen and at-times very difficult world. I know that for myself hope has become one of life's most valuable commodities. When I am overflowing with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit I can 'leap tall buildings in a single bound.' Without it, I can be defeated by a crack in the sidewalk.

Over the next two Sundays I will be focusing upon hope in the morning teaching times. We also have a couple surprises to unveil on these two mornings that speak to this theme of hope.

So . . . I hope you will be here these next two weeks as we set the compass to navigate by hope for 2012.

Blessings, Pastor Rick

P. S. Remember that we have a week of consecration planned for January 15-22. On each of those nights we will be gathering to seek the Lord in worship and prayer. The first seven of those evenings, we will be gathering at 7:00 PM with folks from other area congregations--worship teams from the various churches will be leading us each night. On the evening of the 22nd the Wellspring family will gather for our annual covenant renewal service.