DIY Sunday Service Kit - 25/06/2023 - Colossians 1:21-23

 

Hello and welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit for June 25th., 2023.

We are living through quite uncertain-seeming times, although of course we know that the God Who rules the world and limits the excesses human beings can run to in His world is the One Who actually holds the whole thing in His hand.

Nonetheless, it seems like a good time to be dealing with the certainties and the foundations of our understanding of ourselves and of what's important in our world.

Today we'll be exposing two heresies that undermine our understanding of things and cause us grief, as we consider the biggest and most fundamental truths of the Gospel. It'll be mainly the last one, but I hope the other two bits will be interesting too!

If you'd like a short sneak preview, click the pic below!

Let's pray

Lord and Father, we thank you for the certainties of your Word and the foundations for our lives found in the sure and certain tenets of the Gospel.

Inspire our hearts today with these things to build resilience in ourselves in living lives of worship and service in your Kingdom, the Kingdom which will always prevail and never ends.

And may the worship of our lives bring you pleasure and be to your glory.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Let's pray

Russia

As things stand, Yevgeny Prigozhin who leads the Wagner Group fighting for Russia across the world as well as in Ukraine seems to have stopped marching on Moscow and is now moving to Belarus. Wagner fighters are being absorbed into the Russian military.

Wagner fighters have now begun to leave the southern city of Rostov-on-Don where their mutiny began less than 24 hours ago, according to credible reports.

Insecurity in threatened dictatorial regimes ... such as we have seen I response to the Wagner revolt ... often leads to crack-downs on persecuted minorities.

Let's pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Russia today.

Nigeria

Despite a government-imposed curfew in Plateau State this week, Fulani militants killed 15 Christians in the Bwai Village of Mangu in north central Nigeria.

County Chairman Markus Artu declared a curfew beginning Sunday due to ongoing violence. This was the second time in a month when Fulani extremists violated a curfew – more than 40 Christians were killed last month near Mangu.

The attacks come after a slate of violence in the state of recently inaugurated governor Barr. Caleb Mutfwang.

“I have asked God to strengthen my own heart,” said Mutfwang as he visited the area. “…This magnitude of madness and carnage has never happened in the Mangu Local Government Area. There have been isolated and sporadic incidents and you begin to ask why and why now. But we have come to encourage you as leaders of our people to know that God is on the throne."

Let's pray for the safety of Christians being attacked like tis regularly in North Nigeria by Muslim Fulani tribesmen.

Iraq

After years of persecution and destruction, the Christian in community in Iraq takes a step forward as they start a new television channel conducted entirely in Syriac, the traditional language of Christians in the area.  

The public TV channel may indicate a step forward in the wider acceptance of Christians across Iraq. 

Twenty years ago, there were 1.5 million Christians in the country. According to the United States’ yearly report on International Religious Freedom, this number is down to just 150,000 Christians in 2023 due to multiple wars and unrest. 

But as Iraq continues to demonstrate its acceptance of other religions, there is an increase in hope for the centuries-old Christian population to return to their home country – the home of Abraham, the home of our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Let's give thanks for the improvement in conditions for believers in Iraq and pray that our God would bless the people who have remained, give the desire to return to believers who have left because of the wars and build His church in Iraq through their witness and the of the new public TV channel.

Click the Bible below for today's reading

Here's the studio cam video of the sermon

Let's pray

Now To him who is able to keep you from stumbling 

and to present you before his glorious presence 

without fault and with great joy

—to the only God our Saviour be 

glory, majesty, power and authority, 

through Jesus Christ our Lord, 

before all ages, 

now and forevermore! Amen.

Thanks for being with us again this week. 

Please feel free to get in touch if we can be of help, and please find below the link to our giving page if you would like to join us in supporting the Lord's work through y GRWP, which produces this DIY Sunday Service Kit.

May God bless you this week!