Canaan Week of Fasting and Day of Prayer

Happy New Year to the Canaan Family and to all our friends around the world who keep in touch via our Website. Our prayer is that 2010 will be a year of good health and prosperity for each of you. This week, January 4-9, Canaan is observing of week of fasting and prayer. On Wednesday, January 6, the sanctuary will be set aside for a day of silent prayer. You are invited to come to Canaan between the hours of 9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. and prayer with others as we seek help and guidance from the Lord. For those of you who may not be able to attend, please remember Canaan in your private and public petitions to God. To assist you, I am providing a list of our prayer concerns and other information relative to our Day of Prayer.

Canaan Baptist Church of Christ
Harlem, NY
Our Theme for 2010 – WE BELIEVE! (Philippians 4)

Day of Prayer
Wednesday, January 6, 2009
9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

”And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Matthew 21:22

Throughout this day, our church family gathers to express our thanks to the Savior and to beseech the help of The Almighty to aid us in this season of challenge. We encourage each disciple to enter the sanctuary and spend to with God in prayer. Listed below is a list of prayer concerns for which we ask you to take before the Lord.

· For Forgiveness of our sins
· For peace in the United States and around the world
· For Canaan Baptist Church of Christ and each of her disciples
· For Our Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Thomas D. Johnson, Sr. and his family
· For our Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker and his family
· For our Pastoral and Administrative Staff
· For the Vision God has placed among us through our Senior Pastor
· For Unity within our Church Family
· For our outgoing Chairs of the Official Board, Deacons Marvin Pettus, Anthony Petersen and Robert Turner and their families
· For the incoming Officers of the Official Board Deacons Johnnie Davis, Louise Gadsen and Walter Mayo and their families
· For outgoing members of our Board of Trustees including Chairman William Bazemore
· For incoming trustees including our new Chair Gertene Winston-Luccas and their families
· For the sick and shut-in disciples of our church family
· For the poor and grieving families among us
· For all commissions and ministries in our congregation

Reverse side
· For the Holy Spirit to inspire love and true fellowship among us
· For the end of this economic recession and the increase of employment opportunities for our disciples and others around the nation
· For Tommy Rembert and Leslie Powell, parents of the late Kyle Rembert
· For strengthening of our stewardship and financial blessings upon Canaan and each of her disciples
· For President Barack Obama; Governor David Paterson and all others who lead us during this time of economic crisis.
· For the end of war in Iraq, Afghanistan and in other places in the world

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Please Feel Free to Add Your Prayer Request and Leave for others as they enter for Prayer!
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God,Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,the Courage to change the things I canand the Wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;Enjoying one moment at a time;Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen.

May God richly bless you and remember, "We Believe!"

Purpose Driven Life: Young Adults Bible Study

On Wednesday, October 7, 2009 the young adults of Canaan met with our Senior Pastor for the first class of the Purpose Driven Life Series. Our young adults engaged in an insightful and meaningful dialogue filled with relevant questions and answers based on their special needs. It was a rewarding experience for everyone. Although we have targeted young adults, the class is open to everyone of any age whether you are a member of the church or not. We invite you to join us every Wednesday from 6pm - 7:15pm in Founder's Hall. Discount Books and journals are available.

Support for President Obama's Health Care Initiative

Thomas D. Johnson, Sr., D.Min.
Senior Pastor

I do hope we all understand the need to support President Obama and his health care initiative. It has been very disappointing in recent week to listen to the partisan debate on this issue while so many Americans are living day-to-day without the benefit of a doctor's care, prescription medication and other forms of health services that lead to quality living. President Obama has been resilient throughout this campaign for national health care and I commend him for compassion and tenacity in trying to do the right thing for us all. Please join me in offering prayers daily for our President and his family.

The Lydia Project

I am pleased to announce that we have begun the development of a new outreach ministry to be called, The Lydia Project. This ministry is named for Lydia who is mentioned in the New Testament whose heart was opened to the Lord and attended to the things spoken of by Paul. This ministry will serve the Canaan Family and the community-at-large by conducting clothing drives to benefit needy families and individuals. The first clothing drive will take place on Saturday, September 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon. Additional drives will follow in the near future.

Clothing collected will be delivered to homeless shelters, substance abuse shelters and other human service delivery agencies. We invite you to bring your clean gently used garments on Saturday, September 26 to Canaan between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon. Volunteers are needed to sort and to drive.

For additional information, please see Gladys Foster, Jocelyn Smith or Cheri Hunter. You may sign up to participate in the outer lobby following our 11:00 a.m. worship service.

Eight O'clock Service: An Exciting Worship Experience

There are many in our community who are still unaware of our Sunday Morning early worship service. This Service begins at eight o'clock a.m. and usually last about an hour and thirty minutes. Canaan has been offering this worship service for a little more than and year and our attendance continues to grow. The early service can be characterized as more intimate that our regular service while providing the same level of passion and excitement that Canaan worship services are known for. Our research suggests that there are many in our community who prefer an earlier worship service. We appeal to you to join us each Sunday morning at eight to share in a loving fellowship, rejoice with vibrant music and praise and receive the Word of God from our Senior Pastor. Feel free to bring friends and family along.

God's Grace Will See Us Through

Thomas D. Johnson, Sr. D. Min.
Senior Pastor

Greetings Beloved!

Can you believe it! Summer is almost gone and before you know the crisp air of autumn will be upon us. The change in seasons also means that many of our disciples will be returning from vacations and extended stays out of town. I trust that each Canaan Disciple has enjoyed a healing and restful summer.

Most of us realize that during the summer months, our Canaan’s revenues generally decrease. This year our challenges are even greater because of our national financial crisis. I have no doubt that we all love Canaan and will want to insure that our financial resources are plentiful enough to sustain our ministries throughout the year. I am asking each Canaan Disciple to “give a little extra” on the first Sunday in September to help us recover losses incurred during the summer. In the months to come, there will be more challenges for which you will be informed. Let us continue to pray for God’s grace to see us through these difficult times.

On another note, I hope you are as proud as I am of our new website. If you haven’t signed on yet, check us out at www.cbccnyc.org. There you will find up- to- date information about our Church. Be sure to visit our Blog, Facebook and Twitter pages as well.

I looking forward to an exciting Fall as we move forward with revision of our church polity, resumption of Bible Study, the launch of the new Canaan Voice, beginning discussions on our church renovations, the growth of our capital campaign and the continued growth of our church family.

Prayer In Public Worship

Thomas D. Johnson, Sr., D.Min.
Senior Pastor

Christian Worship rests at the very heart of our faith community. While we live out faith in our daily activities, the general assembly of believers provides a very important aspect for what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and a member of the Body of Christ.

Firstly, let us revisit our understanding of Christian Worship. Franklin Segler, in his book entitled Christian Worship: Its Theology and Practice suggests that to worship is,

To quicken the conscience by the holiness of God
To feed the mind with the truth of God
To purge the imagination by the beauty of God
To open the heart to the love of God
To devote the will to the purpose of God

When we worship, we are attempting to declare God’s worth.

Thus, worship involves recognition of worth in God, and the offering of our honor, praise, and adoration to the One who is altogether worthy.

Now, a very important element of our response or worship is prayer. Segler calls prayer, “the soul of worship.” Prayer is communion with God. Now, our concern today is prayer in corporate worship. Here, prayer becomes the expression of the worshipping community (not the worship leader’s individual prayer concerns or other agenda). The person praying on behalf of the faith community must always remember their position. You are ushering the congregation into the presence of God. You are communing with God on the congregation’s behalf.

According to Segler, there are ten general principles that govern corporate prayer:

1. Every prayer should have a specific purpose of its own. A prayer should not deal with vague generalities.
2. Every prayer should have good form. It should be clear, direct and well constructed.
3. Every prayer should be directed to God. It should not be a discourse about God.
4. Old English pronouns like thee, thou and thine should be avoided.
5. The prayer should be delivered in a clear, distinct voice so that the congregation may hear distinctly.
6. Public prayers should not be too long.
7. Some planning for prayer is helpful if you are leading the congregation in worship.
8. Prayer leaders should be notified in advance.
9. The public prayer must represent the entire gathered community.
10. Prayers should not sermonize.

That being said, the congregational leadership has responsibility for our Invocation each Sunday. The Invocation is the opening prayer in which adoration and praise are offered to God. This prayer recognizes that God is among us. It focuses on God and not on us. The invocation may contain:

Address to God
A relative clause acknowledging who God is
A petition or simple statement of desire
The purpose of the petition (invoking God’s presence as we worship)
Conclusion

Finally, all of our prayers must be guided by sincerity. We are all servants of this body. When we are called upon to lead a congregational prayer, we must carry out that duty with a high sense of humility and sincerity.