DIY Sunday Service Kit 07/01/24 - HAPPY New Year - 1 John 1:1-4

 

Welcome to the first DIY Sunday Service Kit of 2024 on January 7th., 2024.

It looks as if the coming year will have some new things and new challenges in it (but not in a bad way) for y GRWP. So let's begin by committing the coming year to the Lord as we worship Him together with Sovereign Grace Music ...

One of the big new opportunities we look forward to in 2024 is hosting 'The Call to the Hills', a conference drawing people together from across Wales to pray and stoke up a fresh vision for reaching rural Wales with the Gospel. 

Speakers with experience of pioneer Cristian mission from Wales and the world beyond area currently preparing papers and there will be more information about the programme and registration detail coming out across the next few weeks.

For now, please put the dates and times in your diary and do all you can to be with us on 

• the evening of March 1st., St. David's Day for: a big old prayer meeting for Revival across rural Wales led by Rev. Phil Swan from Llanelli 
• and across the day on March 2nd. to hear speakers with experience of wha they're speaking about dealing with subjects from how to train workers for rural Wales through how to reach difficult to reach people groups and how to open ears to the Gospel ... all chaired by Rev. Jonathan Stephen

But the biggest thing we need right now is to pray for the Lord to protect and bless our preparations and to be with us very powerfully over that weekend in March!

So please would you join us in prayer that the Lord would use this conference to equip and send workers int His harvest fielding rural Wales?

And now we pray for the wider world

Here's the 7-day prayer diary for this week

We continue to pray for those caught up in the war in Sudan. Sudanese citizens are in “total panic” and “rushing for arms to defend themselves” as the RSF make significant gains. The RSF “offered” a cease-fire (or is it a publicity stunt?), but Sudan’s army chief has rejected any chance of reconciliation. RSF gains have been marked by massacres and other abuses. It seems likely the war will continue to grind on. We pray for an end to it, and for justice and reconciliation, but in the meantime we pray for those who are suffering, and for the Kingdom workers who are trying to help. "The Lord is close to the broken hearted..." (Psalm 34:18)

2 We pray for the suffering, distressed and hungry in Tigray, Ethiopia. Hunger and insecurity continues to spread. More than 2 million Tigrayans face acute malnutrition., and “many worry the current famine will grow to equal the catastrophe of 1984” (Le Monde). Additional political uncertainty and stress stress is being felt in the Horn as the effort by Ethiopia and Somaliland to agree on access to the Red Sea port is opposed by Somalia (which views recognition of Somaliland as an attack on its sovereignty) and Djibouti (which would suffer the lost of significant trade through its ports). We pray for the Kingdom workers in the region who are trying to be of help. 

3. We are thankful for continued growth in openness between the West and China, small though these cracks may be: the lessening of visa requirements for US citizens, and the increasing appeal of overseas jobs for Chinese workers. We pray new avenues for the Gospel will open up as a result of this; while the church in China numbers likely over 100 million, many millions still have no access to the Good News.

4. We are thankful for the ability of some Chinese businessmen and workers to enter North Korea (Daily NK). Yet we also know the “wall” around North Korea remains very strong. We pray for continued ‘cracks’ and for the Gospel to find ways to enter and spread. We pray that North Korea, once the “Jerusalem of the East,” will once again “be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the seas” (Habakkuk 2:14).

5. In many places around the world, diaspora workers are eagerly sought due to widening demographic crises: with slowing birth rates, there are too few workers for local economies. A recent example is seen in Thailand, where companies are asking the government to allow as many as 400,000 additional Lao migrant workers in to work for them. In many places, we have seen the flow of migrant workers has brought significant new opportunities for the Kingdom to spread, and we pray that will happen in Thailand as well. The majority Thai are significantly under-engaged.

6. We pray for believers who will be a blessing to the many refugees. This week, we pray especially for the hundreds of refugees resettling in Minnesota (over 1,500 in 2023), especially Somalis, and pray for the Gospel to spread among them. Many are not always welcomed in host communities, but we pray for believers who will be a blessing to them.

7. We pray for the spiritual transformation of Punjab, Pakistan. This is the fourth province on the least-reached provinces list. One of the largest provinces in Pakistan, it is criss-crossed by the Indus River and borders India. Punjab province was divided between India and Pakistan in 1947, and today is a political center. Although there has been no census since 1998, most estimates suggest Punjab has more than 100 million, or more than half of Pakistan’s population. Punjab has a strong economy but poverty is widespread; it is the breadbasket of the nation, but industrial centers are in several of its cities. Christianity first entered Punjab around the 1590s. Today, over 80% of Pakistan’s Christians are found in this province, yet they make up just a little more than 2% of its population. Over 2 million Christians are thought to be living in and around Lahore and Faisalabad. We pray that these workers and others will be used by God to spread the Gospel throughout this province and the rest of Pakistan.

As we have prayed for our God to step in to deal with our world's chaos, let's now restate our trust in His Fatherly care and Sovereign rule

Today's Bible reading is 1 John 1:1-10 (click the pic.)

What a HUGE thing it is that God is so wonderfully FOR us!

Let's look into God's Word together - you have the choice of three formats:

                                                            ... audio

                                                               ... video

                                                              ... transcript

May the Lord fill our hearts and minds with a fresh vision of Himself and His Glory, that makes sharing His good news our great delight ... let's sing

Let's pray

Lord and Father, please give us a fresh and tangible sense of your reality and the reality of your Gospel of grace as we live out our lives day by day throughout 2024.

Would you meet with us as we read your Word each day through this year and speak to us clearly and powerfully.

Would you meet with us as we pray, that we might live as people of your holy and glorious presence.

And would you walk with us closely through all the experiences of our life and amongst the people with whom we meet, that your ways might be made known through us on earth and your saving grace throughout all nations.

We ask for Jesus' sake and glory.

Amen.

As ever, please feel free to contact us about anything in this service kit today or anything we can pray about for you.

And if you would like to join us in sharing the fellowship of giving, please click on the offering bag below to be taken to our online giving link.

May our good and gracious God bless you with a very good week in His service.