DIY Sunday Service Kit - 09/06/24 - Tell His Story - 2. The Fall, Genesis 3

 

Hello and WELCOME to the DIY Sunday Service Kit.

I've been away for half of this week at the Bala Ministers Conference (see the Word for the Week, below) which has left me really pressed for time ... so let's just get on and pray!

Lord and loving Heavenly Father we thank you from our hearts that you are gracious and merciful and ready to hear us and answer our prayers, even in the midst of the busy times in our lives.

Forgive our failures and faults of this week, renew us through a Spirit-inspired repentance into your close fellowship once more, and equip us anew forth work to which you call us.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Here's the Word for the Week

Looking for an appropriate song to follow the Word for the Week I found this ... I've never seen it before ... but here's a particularly Jewish cultural take from a large group of  Messianic believers on Psalm 133, the psalm at the heart of our Word for the Week.

Here's the seven day prayer calendar for the world, for which we're 

grateful to Justin Long

June

9th. Pray for the church in India in the aftermath of the election, which shocked everyone. The BJP, which had emphasized a nationalistic Hindu approach, had been expected to win big. Instead, they lost dozens of seats and their majority in Parliament. Along with their coalition of partners they have enough seats to maintain leadership, but they don’t control outright and didn’t win the 400 seats required to adjust the Constitution. This is a huge loss that might (a) lead to a moderation in their approach or (b) a “doubling down” and some vengeance-taking. While many Christians in India are breathing a sigh of relief, there is still concern about the immediate future. Pray for peace and moderation in the government to settle in, and for the church to have a renewed freedom to exist and to be a blessing.

10th. Pray for the church in the many places where the BJP won majorities. In many of these provinces, Christians are a significant minority and experience severe persecution. Maharashtra and Odisha (prev. Orissa) are two examples of places where this is the case. Pray for the believers to stand strong and continue to spread the Good News.

11th. Pray for believers laboring in Sudan. A leader in the region recently made the following requests: (1) for life and health circumstances; the outbreak of sickness is terrifying. (2) for the safety and release of believers who have been kidnapped, and whose locations are unknown. (3) for God’s protection over workers and their families who are still in combat zones. (4) for the schools that are open - they are overcrowded with displaced persons from combat zones. Pray for more room to be made, and for workers for the schools. (5) Pray for wisdom, discernment, and insight in these days, and for new generations of believers—especially among women. (6) Pray for fruitful outcome from church planter trainings. (7) Pray especially for work in and around the Darfur region, where so much violence is being suffered.

12th. Pray for expanding openness in Saudi Arabia. A journalist recently spent three weeks exploring Saudi Arabia’s offerings to tourists. This article and its accompanying photos can be used as a prayer journey (as we did in North Korea). Pray for the spiritually hungry pilgrims to be supernaturally touched by the Truth. In deserts, pray for new spiritual roads and waterways to spring up. In the markets, pray for the Gospel to spread through the relationships of people. In the photos of water, let’s pray for God’s glory to cover Saudi Arabia as the waters cover the seas.

13th. Pray for innovative ways to bring the Gospel to Japan. With the falling birth rate, Japan is promoting marriage—but also wanting foreign workers. Over 2 million foreigners are changing the face of Japan—but younger and older Japanese are divided over the rise in foreigners. Let’s pray for workers (esp. foreigners) to find ways to be a blessing and be a good witness for the Gospel in a climate of uncertainty.

14th. Pray for the children in Mozambique and Burkina Faso. They are being targeted and traumatized by war. Pray for workers who will be a blessing to them (especially in the areas of trauma healing and counseling), and for organizations that will seek to rescue and protect them.

15th. Pray for those suffering in the Myanmar war. Most analysts agree that the generals cannot win the war, but the opposition forces will not get to a quick victory either. More months of fighting, violence, and bombardment are likely. Pray for the church to be a blessing in the midst of this continued conflict.

The Deep-Dive this week takes us into an exploration of Genesis 3

                    Audio

                    Video

                    Text

Let's pick up that closing theme in a really new song from 

Sovereign Grace Music

Bidding

Now you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith

and praying in the Holy Spirit, 

keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of 

our Lord Jesus Christ to 

bring you to eternal life.

Be merciful to those who doubt; 

save others by snatching them from the fire; 

to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Doxology

To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and 

to present you before his glorious presence 

    without fault and 

    with great joy— 

to the only God our Savior 

be glory, majesty, power and authority, 

through Jesus Christ our Lord, 

before all ages, 

now and forevermore! 

Amen.

DIY Sunday Service kit 02/06/24 - Tell His Story - 1. Creation

 

Welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit for 2nd. June 2024.

Today we begin a summer series that should see us through to about the end of October!

But all will be explained later.

Let's pray

Lord, Father, Creator of all things, we come today to give you thanks for our Creation, preservation and redemption in this world.

Focus our hearts and minds we pray on the splendour of all that you have done, and stimulate our hearts to sincerely sing your praise and Glory.

We ask for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

1 Pray for the workers laboring to be a blessing to Somalia, and for the many believers. The land is still in a severe drought, and over 3 million are internally displaced. “We left in search of water,” says one refugee: “It’s a daily struggle finding enough just to survive.” Working in Somalia has been difficult for decades, but Somalis—especially those in other places—are spiritually hungry and responsive.

2 Pray for ministries working amongst the refugees in Uganda. The numbers of refugees arriving, especially from the war in Sudan, have increased this to an average of 2,500 per week. At the same time there have been funding shortfalls. Uganda has had an open door policy, but funding shortfalls are pressuring its abilty to help them. Health issues are widespread, and there are not enough educational resources for the children of the refugees. (See this UNHCR briefing for more details.)

3 Pray for the spiritually hungry among the Hausas, and those laboring among them. “Following Jesus is a life-or-death matter” for Hausas (Evangelical Focus): “If you accept Jesus to be your personal Lord and Savior, you believe your faith is worth dying for. You expect to die for it.” Hausas are both hungry and responsive and choosing to follow Jesus: “How can I become a Christian? The teachings are so real. I see truth and hope in this way of life.” Local Christian leaders believe the number of Hausa Christians today is significantly undercounted: one local leader estimates they make up a third of the Hausas. (I hypothesize this is high, but the actual number is probably closer to the high number than the low.)

4 Pray for the believers and workers in Bangladesh, which has recently suffered from the landfall of a cyclone (NYT). The number of people known killed was fairly low, but millions (almost 10% of Bangladesh) have been left without any power and tens of thousands of homes have been severely damaged or destroyed. Field reports I’ve received have indicated significant damage in 19 districts, including homes and crops in fields.

5 Pray for the church in Central Asia. Worship services are being raided and fined (Evangelical Focus). One source reports over 200 people were accused in 2023; most were punished with large fines.

6 Pray for the believers in China, who are enduring in their faith in the midst of a significant surge in surveillance and government control over the general population (NYT). The surveillance increased markedly during the Covid pandemic, and has continued to ramp up since then. Beijing wants government that is “more visible, more invasive, and always on the lookout for real or perceived threats… The goal is to embed the party so deeply in daily life that no trouble… can even arise.” The government has used protests against the surveillance to identify agitators; now, they are recruiting as many as 15 million “grid monitors” as local government informants. 

7 Pray for those working with immigrants in a largely hostile situation in the USA. 

A recent article highlights the very large number of children (1 million) among their numbers (WSJ). Many of these aren’t proficient in languages used in school, and many have suffered and are dealing with deep trauma. (Although Haitians are primarily highlighted in this article, many other unreached peoples are represented among the immigrants, as are more-reached but still largely non-Christian groups like the Chinese.) Pray for believers to work with these in ways that will be a blessing.

Our Bible ministry is available today in audio, video and text format

                    Audio

                    Video

                        Text

Next week we hope to look at what went wrong for people who had been provided with Paradise.

If you would like to join us this week in worshipping by giving please click the link in the picture below, and until next time ... have a great week!