May - Day 1

1 Samuel 1-2 - Hannah cried out to God for many year, and God answered her prayer. Persistent prayers often lead to powerful results.  Don't quit! Eli had served the Lord in the temple but failed to discipline his sons.  As a result, God told Eli that he was going to hold him accountable because he allowed them to to do things in the temple that should not be allowed.  As a pastor, my first ministry and responsibility is my family.  It doesn't matter how the church does if I don't lead my family well.  

Psalm 95 - God is our Rock, our fortress, our maker, and he holds all things in his hands.  All things belong to him and he protects and provides for us, his flock

Mark 9:33-50 - Jesus told the disciples not to criticize those who were doing ministry in Jesus name even though they weren't part of the disciples group.  Right before this they were arguing about who the greatest is and Jesus said the greatest in God's kingdom is the greatest servant. The way to be great is to serve others.  We should not criticize other Christ - Centered ministries just because they do ministry in a different way.  Jesus then tells them to deal severely with sin.  Don't tolerate it, but instead remove it.  As they live, they should live in a way that causeless people to want what they have and they should work to live in peace with others.

2 Corinthians 1:1-11 - God is the source of all comfort.  The trouble they went through taught them to trust God instead of themselves.  Also, the prayers of the others strengthen them and were a testimony of how God answers prayer.