DIY Sunday Service Kit 24/12/23 - Christmas Special: God deals decisively with religious cynicism (Malachi 3:13-4:6)

 

So, it's Christmas!

Of course, our individual experiences of Christmas are as individual as our experiences of human life.

For many of us the season brings memories ... some of them bring pleasure and some of them bring pain.

It can also bring reminders either of good times or of aspirations and experiences that for one reason or another we won't find fulfilling this year.

Let's be sure to:

• give thanks for what we can

• pray for those we may and

• remember the preciousness of the coming of the Saviour of the world 

... Who laid aside the pleasure and the fulfilment of His experience in Glory for all the humbling experiences of His incarnation and all the sacrificial pain of His death and resurrection ... giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Let's begin to do that now as we sing

Let's pray

Today of all days, Lord and Father, 

as we celebrate the coming of the Lord of Glory to take us ultimately into His Kingdom and 

into your presence in Glory, 

we pray that the benefit of the life He lived,

 

the death He died and

 

the resurrection through which He triumphed over our sin, our death and the hell that will now never be the lot of His people,

 

may warm our hearts to a more intense love for our God.

We ask you to draw us particularly close to you by the Holy Spirit Who has brought all of your people new birth.

May the faith you have given bring us closer to the precious, vibrant reality of the fellowship the Incarnate Christ has brought us with the One true Living God, and may our union with Him be greatly increased as we celebrate the feast of His birth.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

AMEN.

Here's the seven-day prayer calendar for this week:

1. On this Christmas Eve, we praise God for the Incarnation of Jesus in fulfillment of the ancient promise that “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2). We pray that the Light of the One who is the Way, Truth and Life will continue to spread into every corner of the world, until “the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14). Over a quarter of the world has yet to have access to the Good News.

2. On Christmas Day, let us be reminded of the Shepherds and Wise Men who responded to the drawing of the Holy Spirit and came near to worship. Let us, too, draw near in worship and—like the Shepherds—share with others the great story of the God who put on flesh and moved into the neighborhood. And let us pray for peace on Earth.

3. We pray for the believers who recently endured arrest in Mauritania (link). While I have seen some conflicting reports, it appears at this point correct that the eighteen were released last Sunday. The arrests occurred after a baptism ceremony video was circulated. There is some indication of continued pressure on the believers. We pray for the families to be reunited, for more family members to come to faith, and for those who have found it necessary to leave the area.

4. We pray for peace and the justice of God’s Kingdom in Sudan, where the RSF is making significant gains and seems likely to conquer much of the country. With their reign comes allegations of murder, oppression, systematic abuse of women, genocide, and massacres. We pray for the church that is enduring a significant trial, and for the people who are falling under this tide of apparent evil. We pray for the many who have been displaced form their homes, and the hundreds of thousands who have fled the country and are now refugees abroad. We pray for those trying to provide humanitarian aid, whose operations have been significantly disrupted by recent RSF gains.

5. We pray for peace and the justice of God’s kingdom in Israel and Gaza. We pray for the many Gazans who are caught up in the midst of the conflict, and whose families have suffered harm and death. We pray for those who are still held hostage by Hamas. We pray for those who are desperate, hungry, and sick. We pray for the believers attempting to bring aid in the midst of the fighting.

6. We pray for the hundreds affected by the earthquake in Gansu province, on the Tibetan plateau. This is one of the less reached areas in the world. At least 140 are known dead at this point, and with many more under the rubble that number is likely to rise. We pray for the survivors who are “enduring freezing temperatures and mourning their dead.” We pray that believers will be able to be a blessing in the midst of this disaster.

7. We pray for the spiritual transformation of Bihar, in India. This province is #3 on the least-reached provinces list. At 130 million, it is roughly equivalent to Japan, Mexico, Russia or Bangladesh in total population. It is one of the most densely populated, rural, poorest, challenging regions of the world. It is less than 2% Christian now. There has been significant focus on the area by many churches and agencies, and some significant fruit has been had, but much remains to be done, and persecution has been marked. We pray for kingdom workers who are even now continuing to spread the Gospel and make disciples here.

Let's read the Bible

The week's 'Deep-Dive' into the Bible is available in audio (.mp3), studiocam video (.mp4) and transcript
over the next three buttons

Audio 

Video

Transcript

Let's pray

Lord we give you thanks today that you have revealed to us decisively the depth of your love towards us in the coming of the Lord Jesus.

We acknowledge the we are not worthy of such love.

We acknowledge that we have all to readily hung around in the foothills of religious cynicism and  we ask you to teach us a heathy fear and revulsion of the prospects of being in such a place.

And at this Christmas we ask again for your forgiveness for those times when we have not been as faithful to you and your covenant as we should have been.

Create again in us we pray a heart for our God as we rejoice in the first coming of the Lord Jesus into our world on His mission to redeem and to save, and prepare us more each day to prepare for the great and glorious day when He returns.

We ask for His sake and glory, in Jesus' name.

AMEN.

DIY Sunday Service Kit - 17/12/2023 - Deep Dive into Malachi 3:6-12 ... with possibly the most encouraging verse in the Old Testament

 

Croeso cynnes iawn - a very warm welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit on 17th. December 2023 ... the last full-on Sunday before Christmas!

(Well, there's Christmas Eve, but you know what I mean?)

Today we're looking at Malachi 3:6-12 which contains what I think is possibly the most encouraging verse in the Old Testament ... but let's see what you think later.

We'll be getting to some more traditional carols, but first here's a more contemporary one from sovereign Grace

Let's Pray

Father we come today to thank you for the great mercy and love you have shown us in sending your Son to be the Saviour of the world.

However many times we have celebrated your incarnation, please meet us as we celebrate in this way again today, speak to us afresh of the love that brought Him from Glory to the Bethlehem manger because no other place was found for the newborn Lord to be laid.

And may the thrill of faith in the incarnate, crucified, risen King raise our hearts to sing your praise with conviction and with passion ... whoever may or may not be listening today.

For Jesus' sake.

AMEN.

The seven day prayer calendar for this week looks like this:

11. We pray for the church in China. Some recent analyses suggest that the growth of the church, in terms of new converts, has tapered off. We thank God for the massive growth in the church over the past several decades - “so many souls, they are too numerous to be counted by us” (Genesis 15:5) - and yet we pray for the Spirit to anoint the church in China with a resurgence of boldness and wisdom in evangelism, that would lead to many new souls entering the Kingdom. We pray in the next decade, the church would grow as a share of the overall Chinese population. We pray that the church would have a transformative impact on China as a nation, and even that a majority of Chinese would come to worship the King of Kings.

2. We pray for the many spiritually hungry Iranian pilgrims who are undertaking the Umrah pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. This “lesser pilgrimage” is not required, and so perhaps those who take it are even more spiritually hungry and devout than those going on the required hajj. We pray that dreams and visions of Jesus would meet these pilgrims on their journey, and that their lives would intersect believers who can show them the True Way to Life. We pray the story of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) would be their story—that they will encounter people who can help them discover the answers they seek.

3. We pray for the spiritual transformation of Maharashtra, in India. This province is #2 on the least-reached provinces list: over 100 million people, and a center of India’s economy and education system. It is home to Bombay, the wealthiest, most populous city in India, 8th most populous in the world, as well as much of India’s industry, ports, and Bollywood. Despite the concentration of finance and technology, more than half of the province’s districts are lightly populated, rural, agricultural-centered. The province is estimated to be somewhere between 1 and 5% Christian. Should a tenth or more of Maharashtra come to faith in Jesus, the ramifications for India, and the world, could be earth-shaking.

4. We pray for the refugees who are starving and abused. This week, articles tell us about refugees being kidnapped and tortured for ransom in Libya, and starving in insufficiently funded refugee camps in East Africa. Pray for efforts for believers that would reach out to those “in prison,” naked, hungry, and sick. Pray that many who hear “good news” will come into the Kingdom as a result. (Matthew 25:35-40).

5. An article about clothing produced by Uighurs who are forced to labor reminds us of this neglected and largely unreached people group. The Uighurs have been under severe oppression in China for decades. Pray for the true Kingdom to spread among this group, and for believers to continue to seek justice and their release from bondage.

6. While reading about a pastor who has helped smuggle 1,000 North Koreans out, we remember and pray for the many ministries that are laboring to be a blessing to North Koreans. In the “Hermit Kingdom,” millions sit in great darkness. We pray for the Gospel to spread through the cracks into North Koreans, and pray for the believers who are seeking to reach them.

7. We continue to pray for those suffering in the midst of the many hot wars in our world: the Sahel (50 million facing starvation as conflict spreads), Sudan (with its terrible war-time atrocities of murder and rape), Ukraine (now having reached its 650th day), as well as protracted civil uprisings and violence like DR Congo and Myanmar (where the war is perhaps tipping against the government). Pray especially for believers who are laboring to work in the midst of the fighting, at risk to themselves, to be a blessing and to spread the Kingdom of God.

Let's sing a carol for the coming of the God Who is with us

Click the Bible to be taken to today's reading

8:26

Today's 'Deep-Dive' sermon comes to you behind three separate buttons ... first in audio format, then as a transcript (in writing!) and then as a studiocam video VLOG. 

(Choices!)

Take your pick ...

Let's sing a traditional carol to close, with Chet Valley Churches leading us

Let's pray

Father we thank you that you challenge and feed our souls as we open your Word prayerfully together, joined in the fellowship of your Holy Spirit.

Accept our praises, we pray, for the Christ Who came at Christmas and our thanks for all that He has brought to us.

Inspire us and empower us by the Holy Spirit Whom He left with us to walk closely with our Covenant King both this Christmas and through every day of each year.

And draw our hearts out increasingly we pray in the faithful and consistent worship of our loving and gracious God.

We ask for Jesus sake.

Amen.

We all know that for many people in this world, Christmas can be a challenging time.

Let's pray for those who particularly find it so, and let's be alert to the needs this year of the people around us.

If we can help you or pray for you about anything specific, please contact us using the website www.WelshRev.com where you will find a microphone button to leave a voice message and also a contact page if you'd prefer to write one.

And if you'd like to join us this Christmas by worshipping through giving, please click on the offering bag below.

God bless you, and Merry Christmas to you all!

DIY Sunday Service Kit 10/12/2023 - When things were REALLY bad ... He sent His Son. Malachi 2:17-3:5

The Word for the week joins a serious point, to a little bit of fun ...

Welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit for December 10th., 2023.

Christmas is coming closer and what we do here is now starting to reflect that, but today there's a mix of contemporary Christmas songs with things you might remember from ... long ago!

Here are the notices:

There's a lot of new stuff going up on the new WelshRev.com website and we're working towards gradually phasing out this site and having it all over there, so please do go and have a look at that. 

If you'd like to keep it really simple and just get a thing that comes up on your phone to stay on top of new stuff going up there, you can take your phone and ...

For iPhones

On your iPhone or iPad 

Open the Chrome browser

Go to www.linktr.ee/WelshRev 

At the top right of the address bar, tap Share .

Find and tap 'Add to Home Screen'.

Confirm and tap Add

For Android phones 

Open the Chrome browser. 

Go to  www.linktr.ee/WelshRev . 

Tap on the menu button (three dots) on the top-left. 

Finally, on the slide-out panel, select 'Add to Home screen'

This process puts a thing that looks like this 👇 on your phone and you click the button for what you want to see ... video, audio, the transcript of the Deep-Dive and the contact form are all on there.

It's a work in progress so this is going to develop and change to suit our needs better, with a button for this week's DIY SSK going up there as soon as it is developed 

... but have a go at loading and saving the link to your phone anyway using the instructions above and be an 'early adopter'!

You should see something like this ... click the pic and have a look around there!

Enough of the notices ...

Let's pray.

Lord and Father we thank you for the gift of technology which enables us to reach people all across the world and dispersed across rural Wales week by week with your Word.

As we come to worship you we pray that you would take us once again to calvary's Cross, to find true repentance and amendment of life once more, so that we might be right once more with you and might be more effective in our prayers and in our lives for the service of your Church and Kingdom.

Would you please speak clearly to us and to those spread across our Land through your Word today, and may your Kingdom come, may your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

For Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Here's the seven day prayer calendar for the world this week:

1. We pray for the 16 million people (and more) of India who have been impacted by Cyclone Michaung. The city of Chennai was flooded. At least a dozen people were killed. Videos show people wading in deep water and helicopters dropping rations to the stranded. Pray for believers in the area (and churches and missions) to have opportunities to help their neighbours.

2. We pray for the million and more Somalis who have been displaced by flooding. Somalis have suffered from disaster after disaster. Somalia has a semi-arid climate. It receives little annual rainfall, making droughts common; but its two rainy seasons can be heavy and intense, leading to severe floods. El Nino has brought even wetter conditions than normal. Pray Psalm 69 over Somalia: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck."

3. We pray for the many who have been suffering in Sudan, the "war the world forgot." (Those of us in deomai have not forgotten this war, but pray for it weekly.) It seems the RSF is close to "taking Darfur," and with every conquest comes massacres, pillaging, kidnappings, and abuse. Cease fire talks have been suspended by the mediators, and the capital of North Darfur is bracing for violence, thinking it is surely the next domino in line. We continnue to pray for believers in the region, for the suffering, for the ministries working amongst the refugees, and for an end to the violence. "The Lord is close to the broken hearted..." (Psalm 34:18)

4. We are thankful for, and pray for, new avenues of access to Bhutan and Nepal. Traveler magazine reported this week on new safari-style travel in Bhutan that allows people into less-explored areas of the country; and many spiritually hungry Indians on pilgrimage, who would normally be headed to Tibet, are instead visiting spiritual pilgrimage sites in Nepal. Pray for believers to be able to meet these pilgrims and find innovative ways to travel into Bhutan. Pray for these spiritually-hungry pilgrims to have dreams and visions of Jesus!

5. We also thankful for new tourism opportunities in Kashmir, and pray for believers to use these and other possibilities to bring the gospel into this area. Kashmir is one of the Top 40 Least Reached Provinces. Access to it has been severely limited. Pray that the Kingdom will use these newly open doors to flow into the region! Praying "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news" (Isaiah 52:7) seems appropriate to the area.

6. We continue to praise God for a strand of seeming openness in China. The government says its visa-free travel policy is boosting tourism and indicates it will continue to open this door. Additionally, during the recent conference in California, Xi Jinping indicated they would be "rolling out more measures to facilitate travel and promote people-to-people exchanges." Is God shaping the hearts of kings (Proverbs 21:1)? We “despise not the day of small beginnings,” but rather pray that believers will move through these small windows.

7. We pray for the million or more in Burkina Faso, and the wider Sahel, who suffer  under the blockades and violence of jihadist groups. We pray that the Kingdom would spread in the midst of this darkness, and that believers would find ways to be a blessing. We pray especially for peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) within the individual areas, who will both work for peace and bring the Prince of Peace.

(With thanks to Justin Long JustinLong.org /ActBeyond )

And now the carols start here!

We read the Scriptures today in Malachi 2:17-3:5

(Click the pic) 

Let's sing

Click the Deep-Dive button for the audio of the sermon

If you'd rather watch this than just listen, here's this week's 

Deep-Dive VLOG

As an added extra, if you are concerned in view of the sermon today about the recent developments in the Church of England, the majority of churches in the Anglican communion around the world are also very concerned and you might be interested in this encouraging video blog on these recent events hosted by Evangelical Anglicans in Australia featuring an Anglican minister from Oxford. It might be an encouraging Sunday afternoon watch.

There are good people caught up in all this. Please let's pray for them?

The refuge and hope of all God's people in their more trying and confusing times is the God Who has come to be with us. 

Let's sing to Him

If we can pray for you or be of help, why not try contacting us through the WelshRev.com website, where there's now both a contact form to use AND a microphone button in the bottom right corner of your screen which lets you leave a short (45 second) voice message?

And if you'd like to join us in worshipping God by giving, please click the offering bag below.

Let's pray

We thank you Lord and Father that you have provided us with all we need in your Word and by your Holy Spirit for a life that pleases you and enables us to stand.

Keep us walking in your way throughout this week and for all our days, and may the reflection of your face be increasingly seen by you in us, as you purify us and teach us to follow Jesus.

We ask for His Name's sake.

AMEN.

DIY Sunday Service Kit - 03/12/2023 ... ‘Really. Lousy. Preachers.’ (And where they get you.) - Malachi 2:1-16

 

Hi.

Welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit.

We're revamping our online offering because it's been a bit 'the same' for the last couple of years now, and with the building of the new website (still hiccoughing and grinding along a bit) there'll be upgrades to the DIY SSK to come too.

If you haven't seen the new website yet, it still stumbles a bit on the yGRWP.com website but works well at the www.WelshRev.com address ... so please give that a look!

(Here's a tip ... click the Landrover pic at the top of this page and that should take you there).

There's a blog, videos, the podcast (audio) sermon recording on there ... and you can sign up for regular news from that website which will be geared for folk who are not fully on-board with us yet as well as leave a written or spoken recorded message there. and there's more in the pipeline so please do keep an eye on it!

You'll see it gradually getting tidied up over the next few weeks and then new content and new tools being added progressively after that.

And there'll be new content added there as fresh videos, audio recordings, blog posts and Verse for the Day stuff gets produced from now on ... all on the new site.

Let's pray

Lord and loving Heavenly Father we give you thanks that you have called us to serve you in such a time as this.

We see rapid change taking place in our world. Sometimes that seems unsettling as things we are accustomed to get by-passed and left behind. But we also see windows of opportunity opening to give us much greater reach with the Gospel.

Root our security, we pray, not run the changing shape of the future but in the trust that you've given us in the One Who holds the future, and who can be trusted to work change out for His greater Glory.

And grant us we pray, glad and grateful hearts to embrace the future that you plan out for us.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

On December 4th. the earthly remains of a good friend of ours in the fellowship that gathered at Ty'r Bugail will be laid to rest on the other side of the world.

Please pray for the family of our brother Tom Potts at this time, and take a moment to reflect on the Word for the Week video below. 

I think I know Tom well enough to say he would be concerned to be at the centre of this attention, but happy to see the Christian truth of bodily resurrection highlighted at this particular time.

So ... here y'go.

Click the (new) Word for the Week pic.

Let's sing with fresh resolve ...

Let's pray this week about ...

1. This violence in Gaza that has returned this week as Israel pursues its effort to eradicate Hamas has resumed.

We give thanks for those who have been helped in any way, especially those hostages who have been returned home.

We pray for those who are now subjected to awful threat and danger one more, and for all who seek to feed the hungry, tend the sick and help the wounded.

2. The inquiry that has been taking place into the way the UK Government handled the COVID outbreak.

We pray for truth and justice to be well served.

We pray for those who still suffer with this disease.

We pray for those who have been traumatised by the events they have experienced, and whose trauma is stirred up by the news emerging from the inquiry.

3. We pray for the people of Darfur and of Sudan where civil war still rages and suffering is currently intense both in Khartoum and in the South West.

4. We pray for the people of Ukraine, as fighting seems close to stalemate on a number of fronts in the conflict, and as continued support for the fight against Russia seems to be questioned in certain constituencies within the European and American political scene.

5. We pray for the family of Angharad Jones, who went missing last week from her home in Nantgaredig and whose life was lost before she could be found by Police and Mountain Rescue teams.

And we pray for all those involved in the search, that they will find peace despite the memory of their experiences.

6. We pray for Rob Morse the minister of Memorial Chapel in Llandovery as he seeks to recover from his recent serious illness, and for Pat Thomas who is stepping into the breach Rob has left. Wee pray that Pat and Mij his wife will soon find a home that meets their needs, and that Pat's transition out of one of his teaching jobs and into the ministry there will go smoothly.

7. Finally we pray for the Trustee Meeting of y GRWP on Thursday of this week as we meet to consider where y GRWP currently stands in view of the difficulties we have been having for so long in finding premises in Llandovery, and what we believe the future direction of travel for our work should be.

The sermon this week happens here ... (click the 'Deep-Dive' button)

Here's the video version of that sermon ...

Following on from that passage of Scripture, this 'Advent' hymn seems appropriate

Let's pray

Lord of Glory, clear our darkness, focus our hearts' desire, lead us to the Light of the world in each fresh meeting and encounter of the coming week and help us at this time of year to be signposts to the Glory of our Incarnate God.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

AMEN.

Thanks for being here online with us.

Reach out to us with any joys you'd like to share and any request for prayer you would like to share with us.

Use the link below if you would like to join in worshipping God through your giving with us.

And may the Lord bless all our preparations to share in celebrating His lowly birth.

Have a great week!