I had a great time yesterday teaching a breakout session at the Synergy 2011 Small Groups Conference.  It was a great experience, as it has been the last two years I did it as well.  I love the opportunity to teach and encourage church leaders in any way possible.  They are so receptive and eager to learn.

As always, I was also very impressed with the hard work of the staff and lay people of Crossroads Community Church of Manteca, CA.  Ed Applegate, the small groups/spiritual formation pastor, has such a heart for discipleship and empowering people to activate their faith through service.  It’s very encouraging for me to see.  If you’re in Manteca and looking for a church, Crossroads would definitely be worth a visit.

James Bryant Smith was the main session speaker, a teacher involved with the Renovare Ministry.  My breakout time was called “I Will Pray For You… No For Real.” Below are a few truths that I both heard and shared…

• Reminder:  REPENTANCE means to change your mind, not your moral behavior alone
• We SEE God when we SEEK God, and we SEEK God through our patterns of spiritual discipline
• Prayer is more about someone you are with than what you do.  And yet, prayer is a tangible activity of abiding in Christ.
• Remembering others when in the presence of the Lord Almighty is the probably the most noble activity you can do for someone.
• Ephesians 3:16-20… It takes great power to truly believe that God is good and loves us unconditionally for exactly who we are (with a generous belief in our potential)
• Jesus prays for us like he did for Peter — prior to, in the midst of, and after our failings.  Luke 22:31-32: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen  your brothers.” (see also Hebrews 7:24-25)

Paul was a great intercessor for the church.  If you don’t believe me, check out the scriptures listed below:

• Ephesians 1:16 – “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”
• Philippians 1:3 – “I thank my God every time I remember you.”
• 2 Timothy 1:3 – “I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.”
• Philemon 4 – “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers.”

I was able to end my session by praying this modern day Hebrew-style blessing over the leaders in my breakout:  “May we be people of prayer, both in heart and deed, for the people which we have been given the divine privilege to shepherd and care for.”

All in all, a great day.