DIY Sunday Service Kit - 21/04/24 - Dealing with the days when we KNOW we have missed the mark - Luke 18:9-14

 

Welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit for today, 21st. April 2024.

Let's worship the Lord.

Let's pray

Here's the Seven Day Prayer Calendar from Justin Long

Let's pray

We are thankful for the current cessation in warfare in Gaza. We pray for the safe, rapid, and effective distribution of food and medical aid to the residents affected by the region. We pray for the rapid release of the remaining hostages, for the families on both sides of the war who have been deeply traumatized by the violence, and for the safety and bold labor of Kingdom workers in the region. Lets indeed pray for a complete end to the wars in the region, and for leaders to walk a path that “does justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with our God.” We pray for the many people who could be involved in the reconstruction of Gaza - including Kingdom workers.

… We also are thankful the Iranian reprisal today (expected, in the wake of the assassination of the IRGC commanders) was less damaging than it might have been. Pray restraint will be exercised and the violence will not widen in spirals of reprisal, and for the families affected by the strike.

2 We are thankful for the delivery of food aid into Darfur and pray that more aid, relief, medical work and peacemaking will be allowed. We pray for an end to the war in Sudan. We pray for aid agencies, organizations, foundations, national governments, and Kingdom workers to have their “hearts turned” to mercy and charity toward the millions who are displaced, for whom so little is presently being done. We pray for more donors to support aid work among the displaced. We pray for the many families who have not heard from their loved ones in Sudan, and do not know whether they are still alive. We pray for the children of Sudan, who form “Generation War”: “millions are starving, have been forced into marriage or become child soldiers and threatened with death.”

3 We pray for the hundreds of thousands in Nigerian displacement camps, who “struggle to put food on the table.” They are from northwest Nigeria, a “hotbed of criminal activity for close to a decade now”: raiding, looting, mass killings, and kidnap-for-ransom enterprises. Pray for kingdom workers in the region, and for an end to the violence and the development of the economies. “We are getting [food aid now, for Ramadan]… but what happens once Ramadan is over?” Pray especially for the children, who have been traumatized by war (What does war do to a boy?).

4 We pray or the hundreds of thousands of Afghanis who have been forced out of Iran and Pakistan, back into Afghanistan (see NYT photoessay). Upon their return, they have no homes, no jobs, and little to no aid. We pray for aid workers to be allowed to help them, and for innovative Kingdom work that will be a blessing to the poorest of the poor.

5 We pray for the many Central Asians at risk in Russia in the wake of the concert attack. Several Tajiks were arrested in connection with the attack, and migrants from Central Asia are facing significant increases in harassment and attacks: “beatings, property destruction, hooliganism, acts of harassment.” Over a million Central Asians (among them, believers and Kingdom workers) have migrated to Russia for work, and their remittances to their families form a large minority of the GDP of the Central Asian states. Pray for believers to be bold to stand up for and be a blessing to these migrant workers.

6 We pray for believers in Vietnam, where new religious decrees are burdening local churches (CT). The decrees are allegedly supposed to “increase religious liberty” and “increase financial transparency” but in fact give the government more oversight and control, and burden churches with new reporting requirements. Pray for the churches and the believers as they strive to be obedient to God and to negotiate their way forward in this environment.

7 Pray for believers in Malaysia in the midst of rising religious conservatism (CNN). Especially during Ramadan, religious policing was ramped up and even non-Muslims could run afoul of the increased enforcement. “As long as you look Malay, you must fast during Ramadan - those are the rules,” said one person. The rise in religious conservatism and enforcement has led to heightened tensions. Pray for believers to stand firm in their faith, yet have wisdom and discernment in the environment.

Click the pic for today's reading from God's Word

As we sing today's psalm, let's ask for the Holy Spirit's help that we might see Jesus with fresh eyes when we come to take a deep-dive into God's Word together

Our Deep-Dive into Scripture is available here now in two formats:

                    Video (with subtitles)

                    Audio

                    Transcript

Let's reflect our reliance on God's mercy as we sing ...

Let's pray

We thank you Lord and Father that you feed our souls and enlighten our lives as we open your Word.

Remind us often of its wisdom and inspire us by your Holy Spirit to worship you with our words and in our lives as we put into practice what we have heard.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Thanks for being with us as we worshipped today

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