Adopt Your Street

How to Adopt Your Street

Transformation Canada has provided a website where you can register as a street adopter. The value of this approach is that it allows us to track how many streets are adopted in each community as we strive towards having our cities fully adopted and prayed for every day. Experience has clearly demonstrated that this sets the stage for powerful transformation in any community.

Go to the 'Transform Our World' website HERE and click on the 'ADOPT YOUR STREET' graphic on the right.

Follow the steps on the new page that comes up:

1. Enter your address. The address you enter can be your home or business, a local school, apartment or other location you wish to pray for each day.
2. Drag the blue balloon so it is over the address you entered. Use the + sign on the left to move in closer and closer until you see your street.
3. Select the local Prayer Initiative you wish to be part of by clicking on “See all Prayer Initiatives” link and choosing one. In our case you would choose 'PORTICO Milton'.
4. Describe the needs of your street or area if you wish.

Then click on 'Adopt This Street' at the bottom.

Note: The Prayer Initiative you choose will only know your address. It will be able to email you through the system to provide updates, but it does not receive your email address.

Thank you for making the effort to adopt your street and pray for God's peace and blessing in your neighbourhood. And special thanks to Jim Craig, who provided us with this helpful information.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Impacting the Town of Milton

Obviously, having invested in launching our campus in the community of Milton, we are extremely 'for' reaching our community and having an impact in the Town of Milton.

Too often though, we can be guilty (myself included), of setting up our Sunday services and supporting programs and expecting people to come to us.  And we think that in order to do anything outside of that framework, that we have to run a program or a class or offer something organized to meet some specific need.  Nothing wrong with any of those things.  We want to be able to do many things like that through PORTICO Milton as we are able and have the space and volunteer manpower to pull them off.  But that time isn't right now...soon we hope...but not right now.

That is why it was so refreshing to have Rev. Jim Craig come and challenge us this past Sunday about how to bless our community.  Because all of us can pray and speak blessing into our neighbourhoods and workplaces - and we can start right now!

Jeremiah 29:7
Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.

The simplest way to do this is to pray for peace and blessing over all of the homes, businesses, schools and other sites on your street. This is a biblical prayer that Paul often used to start his letters to churches (see Phil. 1:1-2, 1 Thes. 1:1).

When you pray peace and blessing over the people on your street, you are asking God to work in their lives in whatever way they need in order to draw them to Himself, the true source of peace.

You can pray this simple prayer while you walk along the street, while you drive down it, sitting at home or lying in bed (if you forget that day!). Simply say, "Lord, I pray peace and blessing over every family on this street. I declare that the Kingdom of God has come to (street name) (see Mark 1:14, 15). Work in their hearts and accomplish Your purposes in their lives. In Jesus name, amen."

As your pastor - let me encourage you - begin to do this right now. It doesn't have to be public and weird. It's just between you and God. It will take an exercise of your faith to quietly pray and believe that God is going to birth great change and transformation out of your prayers. But I believe that is exactly what He is going to do as each of us faithfully pray peace and blessing for our communities.

Watch my next post on specific information on how to 'Adopt-Your-Street' if you haven't done so already.

Blessings,

Pastor Jeff

Resources:
Click HERE to listen to Jim's message.

Check out these books if you want to read more about prayer evangelism and community transformation.

Prayer Evangelism

That None Should Perish

New Year Full of New Opportunities

It is officially 2012. Well into 2012 actually. Today is January 6th. And please don't forget, this Sunday January 8th, 10:15am we are back in Milton at the Best Western.

On New Year's Day, we were not in Milton but had the opportunity to get together between services at the main PORTICO Campus at 1814 Barbertown Rd. I have to say that this was a highlight of my New Year's Day!

Being able to gather, even for a brief time, to fellowship and pray together was wonderful. It is amazing how we have begun to come together and mesh as a group and how people actually looked forward to being together. We had Starbucks coffee and Timbits too, which was awesome, but not near the most important part.

I shared from a passage in Hebrews on New Year's Day and I wanted to mention a couple of the verses here.

Hebrews 10:23-25
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

My prayer is that this would be a theme for our campus as we move into our first full year in existence. We are extremely grateful to so many of you who have served and are serving in various areas of ministry already at the campus. God has done so much for us in the early weeks and months of our existence. But he has much more to do. So be encouraged...and be encouragers of one another...spur one another on toward love and good deeds. That means reaching out into your neighbourhoods and serving faithfully with your gifts, and encouraging others to do the same.

Working together we have great hope...and great days ahead.

In case you missed this small article in the paper - here it is!

God is so good!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff