DIY Sunday Service Kit 19/11/2023 - Crossing Cultures in New Testament Mission - Athens - Acts 17:16-33

 

With WMTV funking it up a bit, here's your warm welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit for today, November 19th. 2023!

Our psalm for today comes to us as Sovereign Grace lead us in a reflection on Psalm 90:1-2

Focus our minds, Lord and Father we pray, on your Sovereignty and your loving care for your people.

Would you renew us in our faith and grow our trust in you, helping us to rest within the wisdom of your plan, our everlasting God.

For Jesus' sake.

Amen.

The suggested prayer points for the coming week are listed out below ...

1. We pray for the many Kingdom workers who are in the midst of conferences, or at the end of conferences, or who have just returned from conferences. October and November have been a conference season for myself and hundreds of others. Pray especially for the Spirit to guide people as they reflect on and process through the many conversations, ideas, promptings, and challenges they’ve heard in the past month or so. Pray they (we) would listen to the Spirit and truly hear his guidance on what we should be doing next. Let us also pray for the unity of believers: “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” (John 17:21)

2. We pray for an end to the war between Israel and Hamas and for the safe release of the remaining (~240) hostages. A recent report claims the two sides are “close to a deal” on the hostages, and that “the battle of northern Gaza is almost over.” We pray for the Spirit to comfort the families of the hostages, for the Kingdom workers who are laboring in the region, and for many to miraculously discover Jesus in the midst of or as a result of this crisis.

3. We remember and continue to pray for peace in Sudan. “The world is ignoring war, genocide and famine” there, the Economist writes. There are numerous reports of of brutality, mass murder, and horrific abuse, especially in Darfur. The RSF seems to be taking control of an enormous part of Sudan. Ministries in Sudan report significant obstacles to continuing work in the region; many have had to pull workers out and instead try to provide aid to the refugees in surrounding nations: over 10 million have been displaced from their homes. We pray for the Kingdom workers, and for the believers still in Sudan. We pray for a just end to the war and an end to the atrocities.

4. We pray for Chinese students studying in the United States. A new analysis shows very few US students (~200) are studying in China (vs. 11,000 in 2018), but “China continues to dominate the country-of-origin rankings at US colleges and universities.” In 2023, the State Department issued about 91,000 visas for Chinese students (and this number was down slightly from 2022). Pray for ministries providing a ministry of hospitality to these students. Recently, I was reminded by one such ministry that a large percentage of these students are never invited into an American home. Hospitality ministries can be a blessing to these students, and also a way to introduce American believers to the beginnings of cross-cultural work. Pray 1 Peter 4:9: “Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.”

5. On this Thanksgiving holiday (in America, at any rate), we practice the spiritual discipline of gratitude—and at the same time, we pray for the 2.2 billion people who will not hear the Gospel in their lifetime—they have no access. On this day, we thank God for the blessings he has given to us his children, and pray he will help us see how to be a blessing to others. And, in obedience to Matthew 9:38, we “beseech (deomai) the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

6. We pray for the many Kingdom workers who are deeply grieving the terrible situations around them. Many workers have been laboring long amongst refugees from the war in Sudan, Ethiopia, the Sahel, Ukraine, and now Israel. They have lost friends and co-laborers. They have heard many stories of terrible suffering and violence. We pray for God’s mercy and compassionate care for the workers as well as for peace for these places of terrible suffering.

7. We pray for the expansion of the Kingdom in Iran. We are thankful for many new reports of growing work; for years now we have known the church in Iran, small though it is, has been rapidly expanding. We pray that the existing streams of work will send workers to the places where there is no work yet. We especially remember the Qashqa’i and Luri, nomadic groups in the south of Iran that have long been among the top 5 unevangelized mega peoples in the world. (They are not completely untouched; I remember holding back tears the first time I met a Qashqa’i believer, and heard about efforts to reach the Luri. But these two groups are, insofar as I know, largely unevangelized to this day.)

Let's read today's Bible passage here:

Our Word for the Week video this week features Andy Bannister doing for our time pretty much what Paul is doing in our passage for today ...

The audio recording of this week's sermon is on the button below, and the video of it follows below that ...

Lord we thank you that you feed us with the spiritual food of your Word as we worship you through both singing and listening.

Break the famine of hearing the Word of God in our land, we pray, as we seek you in your Word throughout the coming week.

And whatever the coming week brings to us, please take us afresh through each daily experience by your Spirit to your Word and lift us up as we walk with you, leaning on you in dependent faith.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

DIY Sunday Service Kit for Remembrance Sunday 12/11/2023 - Crossing Cultures to Communicate as a Christian

 

Welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit this Remembrance Sunday, November 12th. 2023, when our mainstream news media have been supplying us with regular reminders of the value of the peace we ourselves currently enjoy.

This Sunday I hope to be able to join a short cenotaph service in Llandovery ... probably in the rain ... but however we manage to remember the Lord's favour to us in enjoying the measure of peace we do have and the sacrifice so many have made so that we can experience it, let's all take that moment to remember humbly and with gratitude.

Let's pray

Sovereign Lord, Who knows the end from the beginning and fathoms perfectly every situation of war and conflict across our whole world today, cleanse our hearts and wash that sin from us which mirrors the causing of war and conflict, strife and hatred in our world.

Inhibit, restrain and drive from us the things we see in our own society that without your kindly intervention could cause all manner of trouble to us here, and visit the suffering peoples of Ukraine, Israel/ Palestine, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Burma, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad and Niger where violence and its consequences impact civilian populations at this time.

Grant peace in our time and bring to remembrance the horrors of war where passions are stirred and violence is contemplated, so that factions at loggerheads will reconsider the consequences of warlike action.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

AMEN.

Let's turn to prayer for ourselves and for our world

1. We pray for the many in Sudan—both believers and nonbelievers—enduring the horrors of war. Reports of brutality, mass murder, and horrific abuse, especially in Darfur, are emerging. We pray for God’s justice and for the rescue of the victimized and oppressed. We pray for believers to boldly provide rescue, aid, comfort, and blessing. We pray for the many thousands more who will flee Sudan, and for ministries to provide help to them, and for donors who will help with that effort. We pray that in the midst of this many would come to know the true Prince of Peace, the Gentle Shepherd and the one by whose stripes we are healed.

2. We pray for the many desperate souls trying to travel to peaceful places. This story of diasporas trying to reach Europe via Tunisia, and encountering significant violence and abuse along the way, and this story of an Eritrean trafficking kingpin who kidnapped would-be migrants for ransom, are hard to bear. Refugees are often targeted for victimization and abuse, and are used as bargaining chips to get their families to pay more to the traffickers. Lift these poor souls up before the Lord, whose heart is for justice and righteousness: “This is what the LORD says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!” (Jeremiah 22:3). Pray these will be rescued from the wicked, and will encounter believers who will bring hope and blessing to them.

3. We lift up the Israeli-Gaza war before the Lord. Many debate the ethical and moral issues around the fighting, but it is clear many innocents are wounded and dying. Pray for the war to be brought to a swift conclusion. We are thankful for the humanitarian pauses; pray for the Kingdom workers in the area who are laboring to help those caught in the middle.

4. We pray for the 270,000 men and women in Tigray province who need to be demobilized and reintegrated into civil society. Despite promises of support, many have received no help. As the process drags out, many live in abject poverty in informal camps, and are becoming disgruntled. Pray for true peace and justice to reign in this region.

5. We pray for the Meitei Christians who have been caught in the crossfire of the Manipur violence. Meitei Hindus have attacked the Christian Kuki, but less known is that the houses of Meitei Christians have also been burnt. These believers are “in a bind,” receiving no support either from fellow Meitei, or fellow believers. Pray for Christians to reach out charitably to these equally persecuted.

6. We pray for the believers in Myanmar to be a blessing to their neighbors in the midst of this trying time. The army has “suffered big losses” and the military junta claims the country is “in danger of breaking apart.”

7. We continue to lift up the Pashto, especially the 300,000 who have been left Pakistan and returned to Afghanistan. Thousands are in temporary camps near the border. The majority of those expelled from Pakistan and Iran are children. Pray for believers to find ways to help these groups. Many families are “just sitting in the dirt,” struggling to find shelter and the ability to survive.

Let's read God's Word together ... click the book

It's time for celebrating the Lord's touch on our lives 

with a touch of the Celtic ...

Now here's a three minute introduction to a forthcoming short mini series looking at how we can communicate Christ across the cultures we encounter in the sort of world we inhabit, starting today with a sermon on - well ... click the pic.!

The video of the sermon is under this button ...

This last hymn is from William Gadsby, a rough contemporary of our own Welsh hymn writer William Williams (Pantycelyn).

But Gadsby ministered for most of his life in Manchester, and here he writes about the Lord's willingness to come down from the glories of Heaven to accommodate our lack of ability to understand things that are actually important for us ... as if bending (without demeaning or patronising them) to explain something carefully to a child.

Father we thank you that you are a God Who reaches out to us and Who reaches down to us, to touch our hearts and take hold of our lives, in the Good News of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Stir our hearts again today we pray with the priority of reaching out across human barriers to bring Good News and good hope to the people around us who are different from us, and through even the little the we can contribute to your cause, build your Church we pray from every tribe and nation and language and people ... fit and prepared by your grace to sing your praise as we stand on that day together before your Heavenly throne.

And send us out in the power of your Holy Spirit, to live and work for your praise and glory.

We ask in Jesus Name.

AMEN.

Thanks for being with us here again today.

As usual we are available using the usual means of contact to pray if you have needs you would like to share with us and you are welcome to do that.

Please join us if you would like to do so in worshipping through giving by clicking the offering bag below to be taken to our online giving page.

And may the Lord bless us all as we seek to serve Him in the week that lies ahead of us.

One People under God for His Glory - Malachi 1:10-14 05/11/2023

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Welcome once more to the DIY Sunday Service Kit ... this is the kit for 05/11/2023.

With political demonstrations planned in the UK's major cities for this Guy Fawkes Day, coinciding as it does with preparations already underway for Remembrance Sunday next weekend, we begin by praying for the peace and security of our own divided land.

Let's pray

Lord and Father we come to worship you today in what by our standards are reasonably troubled times.

We ask you to accept the confession we make of our own sins.

We ask you to watch over our land to preserve its peace.

We ask you to restrain the forces that pull our citizens apart and to breathe a spirit of reconciliation and of the love of peace-making among us, that those who sow in peace might raise a harvest of righteousness in our land.

And we ask that it all be done for your Glory.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

1. We pray for this week for the many agencies and Kingdom workers that are caught up in the various conflicts in the 10/40 Window. With the opening of the Rafah crossing, Kingdom workers there face the same questions that workers in the Sahel, Sudan, and East Africa face—at what point do they remain where they are, or “move closer” to the conflict, or “move away” with (or in order to bless) refugees? There are opportunities and risks in each of these avenues. Many are in situations where they cannot move away from danger, and need help. Others have fled to new locations like refugee camps, and need help there. Pray for the Spirit’s leading to be clear to these men and women who seek to follow.

2. We pray for the war between Israel and Hamas to be brought to a swift resolution. We pray for justice, but also for peace. We lament with and pray for the many families who are weeping from the loss of their loved ones. We pray for those who are have been traumatized—especially the young children. We pray that governments will be moved to allow aid for the hurting.

3. We pray for Kingdom work seeking to expand in the midst of the instability found in the Sahel. Many governments are withdrawing forces from the countries in West Africa, and there is a surge in violence as a result. We pray for the workers who labor to be a blessing despite the risks. We praise you for the spiritual openness amongst the peoples in the area, and pray that your Spirit would draw many to yourself. We know God promises to work in the midst of evil to bring out good; pray that his work in the midst of the “raging of the nations” will result in many drawn to him. We pray especially that many modern “Sauls” will be drawn to become “Pauls.”

4. We thank you for some increasing openness of access in Africa and the Middle East—Kenya is planning to scrap its visa requirements for African travelers, for example. We thank you for the possibilities inherent in the World Cup being held in Saudi Arabia. We pray you would enable many “hot coals”—passionate and gifted men and women seeking the spread of the Kingdom of God—to be able to use avenues like these and others to move into places where the Gospel has not yet reached.

5. We thank you for the spiritual awareness, openness, and hunger represented in the widespread comfort of death rituals in Asia (link) and the widespread use of Qi Gong in East Asia (CT). We are thankful many recognize your presence in nature, the universe, and reality around them. We pray that your Spirit would draw them to you, and that they would be led to believers who can share the truth with them. We pray that Kingdom workers would seek and find the spiritually hungry, and boldly share the truth with them.

6. We pray for agencies to have innovative strategies in East Asia. Taiwan is aging rapidly, and wants to see more migrant laborers come in, particularly to provide child and elder care. But there are a lot of issues involved in this. In the past, migrant workers have been influential in spreading the Gospel in Southeast Asia and the Gulf states. Pray for the Spirit to give wisdom about similar opportunities in Eastern Asia, where it’s harder and harder for conventional missionaries to enter.

7. We pray for the people of Afghanistan. We see that Pakistan and Iran are both pressuring millions of Afghani refugees to return to their devastated homeland. Tens of thousands have already returned (link). There, people are in such poor and desperate situations they are using opium to treat common colds (link). In regularly available reports there seems little hope for the improvement of their situation in the next months and years. We know that God loves the people of Afghanistan and pray for the Kingdom to continue its spread within these areas.

In your mercy, Lord, hear our prayers and may our pleas rise to find acceptance with our Father in the court of Heaven.

We ask for Jesus' Name and sake.

Amen.

Our Bible reading today is Malachi 1:6-14 (click the pic)

Thanks for being with us for this time of worship today.

If we can pray for you please get in touch.

If you would like to help support the many-faceted work done by y GRWP to reach the people of rural Wales with the Good News of God, please click on the offering bag.

Now let's close with prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, as we head into another week in which we seriously wish to serve you and was with you, we pray that you will keep your grace and your Glory at the front of our minds.

Leads and guide us as we seek to walk in your ways, and keep us walking in your light until we see you face to face.

We pray for Jesus' sake.

Amen.