Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It’s an exciting time in prison ministry at Chester County Prison. Our 6 new volunteers are being incorporated into the preaching rotation – they are raring to go, and we welcome the opportunity to hear what God will say through these willing servants in their own preaching styles. We can all learn from one another, as we see God working through each other.
Last night we began our modified schedule. I shared the message in the first service and Troy gave his first-ever message in the 2nd service.
Phil led the prayer times with a few verses from Matthew, emphasizing that when we look at a lone scripture verse, we should really read the verses before and after to understand the context and find the proper meaning. Otherwise we might be tempted to bend and twist a single verse of scripture to support something we want to say, which could be completely beyond its actual meaning. We must “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2Timothy 2:15)
The 1st service message quoted many scripture verses to understand what it means to have a personal relationship with Christ. We broke down several elements of a relationship (communication, spending time together, trust, faithfulness, growth, a future together, etc.) and looked at each through the lens of scripture. God’s word revealed how these elements of a personal relationship are possible between us and God.
The men in 2nd service learned how important forgiveness is to God through Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18. The king forgives a servant of great debt he couldn’t possibly repay (what God does for each if us), then that servant refuses to forgive others of much smaller debts owed him. God wants us to follow His example of lavish grace and forgiveness, and won’t tolerate our unforgiveness, also emphasized in Matthew 6 right after the Lord’s prayer – “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Mt 6:14-15)
It was quite an evening of teaching, sharing, and testimony. The Holy Spirit of God was quite active in the prison chapel last night! And I pray He remains active within each of your lives as faithful prayers are lifted heavenward each week for the inmates, staff, chaplains, and all the families connected with Chester County Prison. Thanks as always for your part in this ministry. God bless your week!
Grace and peace,
Rick
Inmate Prayer Requests from Medium Security (7:00pm service):
- Steven– all honor, praise, and glory to our gracious Lord, for everyone in this room, for our brother Angel who got released – pray he makes good on what he promised to do with his life, for my family, and for all those who don’t pray for themselves.
- Al– thanks for all the volunteers coming out, thanks for the service tonight, I’m real concerned about my family since I’m not there to take care of them.
- John– my family, my mom, my kids, my grandkids, for peace in Israel and across Africa, thank God for his love, grace, and mercy, and for all those who didn’t make it out to the service tonight.
- Nathan– had a tooth yanked today, still in a fair amount of pain, my family, and I’m really down after being denied transfer to work release – I will keep trying.
- Ulysses-pray for my court date tomorrow.
- Matt– my coworker’s wife (Megan) was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, discovered during the recent birth of their 3rd child, prayers for that family as she also battles pneumonia in the hospital.
- Shaun– I pray for my release – I’m guilty, but asking God to release me from my sin and all the sins I ever had.
- Phil T– my granddaughters Julia and Scarlett started a new school today, special prayers for Julia who has some learning difficulties.
- Answered Prayer– Angel was released after his court date last Wed.
- Answered Prayer– Dave has not missed a weekly service and was not there, we believe he may have been released last Friday.
Inmate/volunteer Prayer Requests from Minimum Security (8:30pm service)
- Craig– prayers for my wife Kay in Georgia, and for my 2 kids (Brianna and Brielle), my family at large – be with them since I’m not, for the whole wide world, for my strength and zeal to carry on. Also want to lift up my friend (Emonhy) – Lord, give her strength she needs to carry on.
- Devan– for family, my grandpa was just buried, and I have court on Wednesday.
- Clarence– Lord bless the volunteers, for the guys on the block that didn’t make it up here, my court date coming up, and that God can work on me.
- Harry– pray for my leg to heal so I can work and send home some money, also thankful for the volunteers.
- Logan– court date coming up, and for my family to keep on while I’m in here.
- Alan– going home soon, keep me on track, give me discipline to stay in the Word, God keep me close so I don’t stray.
- Phil T– thanks for the largest ever group at our church for Alpha course kickoff.
- Dan T– thanks for answered prayer to my dilemma that was resolved last Thursday.
Prayers from Onesimus Ministries
- The team wants to lift up our brother Phil who has returned but still dealing with severe back pain.
- Pray for Andy and the Leatherman family on the event of Andy’s nephew Doug (40’s) who was found deceased in his apartment Monday morning, apparently from a heart attack.
- Please remember the Doug Burnett family, his funeral service is this weekend.
- We always want to lift up our wonderful chaplains Heinrich and Rhonda, and ask God’s blessing on them for whatever they need in their ministry and in their personal lives.
- Continued prayers for healing of Pastor Jack Crans as he continues in many areas of ministry.
- Remember the aftercare ministries in Chester County that serve men and women released from prison – God grant them all they need to impact and stabilize the lives of these former inmates.
If you’d like to find out more about mentoring and discipling a man or woman coming out of prison, drop us a note at outreach@onesimusministries.org.
These weekly prayer requests are also posted on our website – https://onesimusministries.org/category/weekly-prayer-requests/
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