DIY Sunday Service Kit 20/08/2023 - Weakness, Ephesians 1:19-23

 

Hello and welcome to today's DIY Sunday Service Kit for 20th. August 2023.

Here's the trailer for the sermon today ...

We set off in worship this morning with 

a touch of the Celtic music genre and a precious old hymn

Let's pray

Father we ask today for your presence and your power to be felt amongst us, by all who turn to you today and by all who gather to worship you in spirit and in truth ... we ask for Jesus' sake.

AMEN.

So ... let's get into our prayer points!

Pakistan

In Jaranwala, Pakistan, hundreds of Christian homes have been completely destroyed as a result of an incitement to violence originating from multiple mosques.

 

Tensions flared within the district following a recent accusation of blasphemy directed at a Christian man.

 

Numerous brutal assaults have left thousands of individuals injured, and the aftermath has left tens of thousands without shelter.

 

In pursuit of safety, many families have sought refuge outside the city, relying on the support of friends and relatives.

England

We'll all be very much aware from the news of the court case surrounding infant deaths at the Countess of Chester hospital.

Let's pray for the families that were bereaved, the doctors who tried and for such a long time were grievously failed in their efforts to get the matter looked into and for the family of the nurse at the centre of this case ... we simply don't know the details at this stage but there must be a very great deal of grief associated with the whole sorry business and people damaged and hurting from it who need our prayers.

The pains of our times

People around us are not unmoved by the trouble with wildfires in Maui, the coup in Niger, the ongoing events in Ukraine and the constant news of tragic deaths in the English Channel.

Certainly there was spiritual conversation to be had around these issues at the Llandeilo Show this week, and the opportunities to speak about sin and grace, judgement and repentance, mercy and redemption were plentiful. 

Let's pray about the impact that tragedies in the news are currently having on people's minds, whether the are speaking openly about these things or not at the moment, and that the Lord would bring people to a state of repentance, redemption and rest as a result of the pain they feel at these events rather than plunging them into despair.

Lord in your mercy hear our prayers for your sadly damaged world and for those souls that are tender to its pain.

Bring light and life and salvation into a world that offers only sadness and sorrow at the injustice and the tragedy, and may many be turned to find new life in Christ in place of frustration at the sense of the future's seeming futility.

We ask for Jesus sake.

AMEN,

Our hope as believers lies in no small part 

in the sovereignty of our great and gracious God. 

Let's sing ...

Click the Bible below for today's reading

... and here's the sermon video

Hebrews and the Doctrines of Grace - Hebrews 3

 

Welcome back to the DIY Sunday Service Kit ... this one is for 13th. August 2023 and centres around what Christians believe about humanity, its chaos and its redemption.

But first, here's the Word for the Week. Please feel free to share this with anyone you think might be  helped by it.

Let's pray

Lord and loving Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the lord Jesus Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross to cover our sins with salvation and Who now sits at the right hand of the throne of your majesty in Heaven, ruling and redeeming in your fallen world.

Would you please graciously deal with our souls and with our spiritual circumstances today as we worship you, according to your mercy and our need, and lead us forward in your everlasting Way?

We ask for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

We pray today particularly for ...

The Sahel

Let's pray for believers in countries across the Sahel that have recently fallen to coups. 

Six countries--Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, and Sudan--now have military dictatorships, stretching 3,500 miles from coast to coast across Africa (learn more HERE). 

In general:

• Burkina Faso and Chad are both slightly more than 20% Christian.
• The rest are each around the 2% Christian mark. 
• These six countries, just below the Saharan desert, are heavily Islamic and largely unreached. 
• They are home to 10 Frontier People Groups (<0.1% Christian) that are each over 1 million in population (as well as several FPGs that number in the thousands). 
• None of the new military governments seem able to restore justice or peace to their societies. 
• These countries are difficult to live in, steeped in violence and displacement. Yet believers are undertaking significant outreach, particularly to many of the larger unreached peoples in the region, in spite of the danger. 

Let's pray for believers to be bold in their witness and a blessing to their neighbours, and to endure in the midst of frighteningly difficult situations.

Specifically we pray for ... 

Sudan

Let's pray for an end to the war in Sudan, and for the Gospel to continue to spread in spite of the upheaval. 

Pray for the many who have endured traumatic atrocities in Darfur, and now find themselves in Chad, without shelters, as the rainy season begins. 

Pray for churches and agencies who will be a blessing to the refugees.

 

Niger

The recent coup is being strongly opposed by regional and international governments. 

Sanctions are causing hardship, and more conflict is possible as nearby countries are threatening military force to restore the government.

There is a UK citizen Christian couple we know of with three children who have been in Niger four years, trying to get to safety, but who are stuck close to Niger's border trying to get visas to cross into Nigeria. Please pray.

Climate change

People across the Sahel depend for food on rain-fed agriculture, but the Sahel is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

This woman is trying to water her subsistence crop of food in Ouallam, Niger.

When crops fail, people migrate and this fuels competition and conflict across the region.

Without urgent investment in climate mitigation and adaptation, countries in the Sahel risk decades of armed conflict and displacement exacerbated by rising temperatures, resource scarcity and food insecurity.

Father we pray for the peace, stability, security and quality of life that we would love to see established across central Africa.

We ask you to watch over and preserve all those who seek to serve and follow you in this region of your world.

We ask particularly for those currently seeking to leave situations of danger and vulnerability.

And we ask that you will bless all the efforts of those who still stand with you and for you, and who are seeking to make Christ known in the midst of the situations they face.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

AMEN.

We're going to be reading Hebrews 3, but first here's a short foretaste of where this will be leading us in the sermon later:

Click the book (below) to go to today's Bible reading

Click this picture link for the audio and transcript of today's sermon, or alternatively clic the graphic below it for the video recording

I have absolutely no idea how YouTube manages to make these images look so RIDICULOUS every week ... but their gremlins seem to have been on VERY good form this week. Please persevere nonetheless ...

Let's pray Romans 15:4-6

"everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

We ask for Jesus' sake.

AMEN.

Thanks for being here again this week.

If you would like to join us in worshipping God by supporting His work, please click the pic below to go to our giving link.

May our gracious God bless you in the coming week!