Praying for LHC
I use this blog to cover a lot of territory. It can be a forum to lay out some thoughts, disseminate news about our church and family, or—on occasion—rant about the Spartans.
When we began to plant Living Hope Church, we had a faithful team of prayer supporters who received a monthly email or print newsletter about our family and ministry. Since then, this blog and my twitter feed (www.twitter.com/joshmontague) have become the routes for those prayer warriors to keep in touch.
As LHC has grown, people within the church are now praying regularly (or perhaps irregularly). So at least quarterly and, Lord willing, monthly, I’ll post a list of prayer requests for those who faithfully pray for Living Hope Church.
Here are five for June:
1. Discipleship. We’re linking people together at LHC in groups currently called Triads. These are groups of 3-5 that meet regularly for prayer, Bible study, and encouragement. Pray that the gospel sinks deep into these groups and permeates our lives.
2. A Building. We’re still meeting at the Verona Senior Center, despite the average age of our church being about eleven. Ah, the beautiful irony. Finding a building to lease in Verona or Southwest Madison is not easy, but we keep looking. As we begin to stretch the capacities of the Center, pray that a place opens up for us to transition into.
3. Our Mission Groups. We run two groups that are structured to engage our community. Gray’s Theology meets once-a-month on Thursday to introduce and discuss a topic with a wide cross section of people from the Madison area. Philosophilm meets once-a-month on Sunday evenings to view and discuss a movie and its intersection with our worldview and theology. Both groups are unique opportunities for us to connect with people outside the Christian bubble.
4. Volunteer Organization. I was encouraged Sunday afternoon when we had a Children’s Ministry meeting and people showed up without my begging, pleading, and cajoling. People are hungry to see the church move forward in some key strategic areas. Please pray that this team continues to lead us well in this vital area.
5. Dane County Partnerships. Over the last 2 months, I’ve talked to a half dozen church planters who are contemplating or planning on moving to Madison. There’s a wave of church planting on its way here and my prayer is that Living Hope can be strategic about how we see the Gospel go forward in Dane County. We want to be a resource and help for those intent on seeing the good news of Jesus transform lives and a community here.
So that’s how you can be praying for us this month.
Paul writes this in Philippians 1:19: “…for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance”. God sovereignly works by His Spirit through the prayers of his people. Amazing.

