DIY Sunday Service Kit - 23/07/2023 - Paranoia and the Powers that BE

Hello and welcome again to the DIY Sunday Service Kit.

In the coming week, all roads from rural Wales, and quite a few from urban Wales too, will be leading to Builth Wells and the largest agricultural show in Europe ... y Sioe Fawr, or The Royal Welsh Show.

We'll be praying about that later, and also for the on-going efforts to reach this spiritually needy land of ours with the Good News God's given us to share with it.

But first, let's sing a psalm of praise to God ...here's Psalm 121. 

Click the box 👇

Let's pray

Father we thank you for the promises of your Word, which we have tried and tested for ourselves across the years.

We thank you that in life's trials and in its changes you have kept us through hurt and hardship and fulfilled to us the promises your Word brings.

Whatever we face today, please be with us, convince us again your unfailing loyalty and care for us and build in us afresh the resolve that we WILL walk with you.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

AMEN.

Here's a 60-second taster for the sermon that's coming later

(Stick with us!)

Here come the ...

Today we pray for Wales, for India and for the developing situation 

of unrest in Israel:

Wales

• Thanks

Let's give thanks today for agreement having been reached with Transport for Wales on the basis on which we will take up the tenancy on the Llandovery Station Café to house a 'hub' for y GRWP's activities in North East Carmarthenshire. 

Many of us have prayed long and hard for this, and it looks as if we will shortly be sent the tenancy agreement to sign. 

To quote Winston Churchill out of context, this is probably just 'the end of the beginning', but when the 'beginning' has been quite such a battle, it is definitely time now to pause for thankfulness!

• Prayers

Let's pray today for Pastor Rob Morse from Memorial Chapel in Llandovery. Rob is an active sort of person but he has had some health problems over the last few months. He has been back to the hospital for further tests ad investigations in the last week. Let's pray the doctors get to the bottom of this and fix him up properly soon.

Let's pray for the various Christian activities at the Showground in Builth this week. 

There's a major effort from the Evangelical Movement of Wales with a big tent and a good-sized team drawn together from across Wales down in the trade stands. look them up if you're going to the show!

Simon will be up there too for y GRWP on Monday and Tuesday, getting amongst people in the cattle and sheep lines, meeting people and mingling wearing his placard (well, Chaplain shirt in fact, but it seems to do the same sort of job ... while looking at least marginally less freaky!) 

Let's pray that the Lord puts the right person in touch with the right people on the day at the show to actually achieve something good for His Kingdom.

Let's pray for the Basic Life Support training that we're offering in livestock markets, in a  few villages and rural work-places across the summer.

Some Korean friends have this week made a very generous gift to fund a set of manikins to teach CPR. These will enable us to move on from delivering training with individuals to being able to offer training to groups of up to eight people at a time. We have found that teaching CPR has the secondary benefit of giving people the opportunity to tap about traumatic life and death events and issues.

Let's give thanks for Korean friends who have helped us, and let's pray for really useful CPR training that saves lives as well as creating helpful interactions with people who are living with their hurts alongside this training in the months to come.

India

The British Asian Christian association have been in touch about a horrifying video that emerged on July 19, 2023 that has sent shockwaves through India, exposing the brutal realities of religious and ethnic tensions in the state of Manipur.

You may well have heard about this event on the mainstream media, but no mention gets made there about the fact that this was an instance of the specific persecution of two women from a Christian ethnic minority.

 

In actual fact, the distressing footage depicts a gruesome assault on two Christian women from Manipur, as they became victims of a frenzied mob’s violence.

 

As the nation grapples with the disturbing images, questions arise about the need to safeguard human rights and religious freedom and the delayed response from authorities in addressing this alarming issue.

Let's pray for the Christian people regularly facing violent persecution in India.

Israel

Christians, Messianic Jews, and missionaries face increasing hostility from Jewish radicals in Israel. Recently, activists from the Lehava organization and the Or l’Achim organization physically attempted to block persons from attending a convention of Messianic Jews in Jerusalem.

While there have long been occasional incidents of hostility and even violence towards Christians in Israel, there has been a rise in recent months. Some analysts assess that the rise in hostility and violence is tied to the current Israeli ruling coalition, which is largely supported by radical factions strongly protective of the Israeli Orthodox Jewish character and opposed to Christianity in the public square.

Let's give thanks that senior figures in Israel have spoken out against violence against Christians, and let's pray that the civil unrest in Israel sparked by protests against proposed judicial reforms by the current Israeli government will stop and that God's people will be free and at peace again.

Father accept our thanks and hear our prayers for Jesus' sake we pray.

AMEN.

It's time to sing ...

Click this Bible for today's reading

Here's the video of that sermon recording

We finish today with a traditional hymn from the Aber. Conference in 2019

Let's pray

Father we thank you that your word teaches us things that are relevant to the sort of things we face in life from day to day.

Help us to take your Word to heart as we face officialdom in the course of this coming week. may we draw strength from you as we try to handle our lives your way, and play some small part in bringing glory to the Name of our God.

We ask for Jesus sake.

AMEN.

As usual - no pressure but - the Giving link is open if you'd like to join with us in supporting all of the work of y GRWP, including the production of this DIY Sunday Service Kit. You access it by just clicking on the bag.

Thanks.