DIY Sunday Service Kit - 31/02/24 Easter - 1 Thessalonians 1:5- 2:19 - Ian Parry

 

Welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit for Easter Sunday, 31st. March 2024!

Ian Parry, who is our longest serving Trustee, preached at our The Call to the Hills Conference 2024 and his ministry on that day comes to us here in the Deep-Dive portion of our service today.

We celebrate Easter ... the great, historical event of the Christian faith ... in a world where in many places the Christian faith gets treated with great contempt.

Our 'Word for the Week' this week sees Glen Scrivener from 'Speak Life' first showing us the sort of things influential people in our world say against the Christian faith, and then Glen responds to that in a poetic performance ... a 'spoken word' ... in affirmation of our Easter faith, and he does it all in  just three minutes!

(Click the pic.)

Let's pray

Lord and Father we thank you today of all days for the truth of your Word which teaches us the love of our Heavenly Father, who sent His only Son to be the Saviour of the world.

And we thank you especially today when we are able to say that you didn't just send Him but that you sent Him for 'ME'.

Deepen our understanding of that love and of the privilege it is to have been shown it, and affirm and re-vitalise our trust in Him today who has conquered death and seals our hope of eternal Glory.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Our 7-day prayer calendar comes to us again this Easter Sunday 

through the ministry of Justin Long

Sunday

This week, we pray again for those enduring the horrors in Sudan. A new article published in the Guardian tells the story of “Darfur’s unfolding dystopian nightmare… and concerns the RSF… remain intent on completing the genocide against the Masalit community… accounts describe a region sealed off with innumerable checkpoints and roving kill squads.” It also tells of how international aid to the refugees in Chad has collapsed. The camps there hold more than a million people, and the UN’s refugee agency has received just 4% of the funding required. Pray for kingdom workers who will respond in significant numbers and with significant resources to the many refugees both in all the surrounding countries (esp. Chad). Pray for the Sudanese stuck inside the country. Pray for voices outside to move international governments to respond to the refugee crisis (Jeremiah 22:3—”Be fair-minded and just! Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed, rescue them from their oppressors”).

Monday

Use New Humanitarian’s Yemen Listening Project to pray for the people of Yemen. Each small story is a testimony to what a specific individual has gone through. Why not read through or listen through to two or three (or more) of these stories, praying for the individual in question as well last the many Yemenis who have gone through similar life situations.

… for example, consider this, very brief, from SAM (age 55): “My home was destroyed in the war. Now I live in other people’s homes, moving from one place to another. I have no relatives. I am alone.” Pray that she meets both Jesus (Psalm 34:18—the Lord is close to the broken-hearted), who will never leave her nor forsake her, and kingdom workers who will be a blessing to her.

Tuesday

Pray for Indian women during the well known Indian festival of Holi. While the many colors make for vibrant articles about ‘fun’ India, less talked about is that Holi’s fun is often used as an excuse for the harassment of women. “Holi each year is an exercise in hiding for 43-year-old Meenakshi Iyer,” writes the Straits Times. Pray for the safety of India’s women and girls (1 Timothy 5:2—treat older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters), and for kingdom workers and church members who will help protect those who would otherwise be harassed and abused (Psalm 82:4, “Rescue the week and the needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked”).

Wednesday

Praise God with us for the passion of secret believers in Pakistan for sharing the Gospel. This article from Release International is only one of any number of anecdotal stories about this trend: “Shezhad was a passionate Islamic preacher when he had a dream in which Jesus appeared to him…” While reading his story, pray for him and the many other Pakistani believers who are diligently spreading the Gospel in their land. This is no small trend. Let’s pray John 4:35: the fields are ripe for harvest, so ask God to send yet more labourers out.

Thursday

Pray for the many Central Asians in Russia who are enduring a backlash against migrants after the terrible attack. Over 3 million migrant workers - many Central Asians - labor away in Russia. Pray for the many believers among them, and for those who are spiritually hungry to find kingdom workers who will share Jesus with them. Pray for peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) who will be a blessing to Central Asians.

Friday

Pray for the thousands who are being caught up in cyber scam centers in Southeast Asia. Organized crime rings have fueled an “explosion” of human trafficking into cyber scam centers, in order to diversify their activities away from drug trafficking. The UN estimates in the last year more than 100,000 people have been trafficked into centers in Cambodia. Pray for justice to be done, and these thousands to be freed (Isaiah 61—God’s heart is to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners).

Saturday

Continue to pray for the election in India. It will stretch over 44 days (Diplomat). Opposition leaders are being jailed, and their accounts frozen. Tensions between India and China over the border have been rising. The rise in religious intolerance (with mob violence) has been intensifying. Pray for peace, and for the protection of workers during this time.

Click the Bible below to be taken to our first reading

Our Deep-Dive into Scripture (with sub-titles) today comes from our conference, the preacher being Ian Parry, 

and it follows our second Scripture reading by Mij Thomas (click the pic.)

Let's take this opportunity to rejoice in this Gospel we've been given ... as we sing

Let's pray

Lord in the every day things of our lives in this coming post-Easter week, may our eyes be opened afrtesh to you.

As we break bread and give thanks for our food at each meal this week, may we recognise you as you stand in our presence.

As we read your Word this week may we find you opening the Scriptures to us.

And may our hearts burn within us as we meet with you as we walk along life's way.

We ask that you would make us people who live out in our experience your resurrection, for Jesus's sake and Glory.

Amen.