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.