This aims to be a positive, hopeful look at what we can do to help with a common but distressing issue in our society, but if this is not safe space for you please do not proceed. You are very welcome to make contact personally with us.
Welcome to this DIY Sunday Service Kit which coincides with World Suicide Prevention Day 2023 (10/09/2023)
Some of us have to love the worship songs written and performed by 20 Schemes Music's 'Hymns in Hard Places' project. They are born out of the hard experiences of life in high density housing in inner urban Scotland, and they are both realistic and hopeful ... which makes the usefully inspirational for us during tough times.
Our first song today from them is a great example of this. Let's sing ...
Lord and Father we thank you for the hope held out in your Word for people going through tough times and for the examples it gives us of people who have turned to you in their troubles and been delivered from them.
Help us both to find strength in you and to be made available through you to those around us who are currently finding the way hard and difficult, hear our prayers and make us useful to you and to the people around us.
We ask for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Pakistan - persecution
In a distressing incident that unfolded on the night of September 6th, the Christian community in Tandlianwala, District Faisalabad, was compelled to evacuate their homes due to imminent threats from a portion of the Muslim population.
The catalyst for this alarming situation was an ex-Christian woman who threatened the community, stating that she would accuse them of blasphemy if they opposed her amoral activities that compromised the Christian values of the residents.
The police have arrested the woman and ensured the protection of the community against any impending danger of Muslims attacking the Christian community.
Morocco - earthquake
At the time this was published the scale of the recent natural disaster in Morocco is still unfolding, but the BBC was reporting 2,000 dead and many more injured in the tragedy.
Hospitals in Marrakesh have seen an influx of injured people, and the authorities have called on residents to donate blood.
Morocco's interior ministry said the earthquake killed people in the provinces and municipalities of al-Haouz, Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant
There are international (ex-pat) churches in Marrakesh - at least two worshipping in English and one in French.
But in the current social climate in Morocco, nationals openly celebrating a Christian holiday or festival, establishing a Christian group, or even praying openly would be problematic.
Reports indicate that there is nonetheless a growing number of Moroccans converting to Christianity. Agadir and Marrakech, in particular, have fairly significant Christian populations.
But due to restrictions on entering churches and the personal ramifications of being known to be a Christian, Moroccan Christians commonly worship privately or at clandestine meetings in nondescript buildings, usually a private home. Small groups may come together in apartments to pray, sing hymns, study the Bible, and discuss various religious and social matters. There is often a reluctance to worship alongside non-Moroccans for fear of causing trouble for the other person; if the authorities believe that associated individuals encouraged the conversion, they can be prosecuted.
In the past, police regularly raided places that were thought to be secret places of worship for Moroccan Christians. This is less common today. Groups of Christians in Morocco are starting to hold discussions regarding their religious freedom with the National Council of Human Rights.
How this difficult situation will affect believers in their desire to bring help to those trouble due to this earthquake is unclear, and it is highly likely that believers, particularly in and around Marrakech, will also have been affected by the earthquake themselves.
Llandovery
Please pray
For outreach at the Sheep Festival next Saturday in Llandovery.
For people we have spoken with this week who are income sort of trouble or despair, even despairing of life itself.
And for people we know in the area that are de-churched or without a place they currently feel able to worship ... but would like to have one. (Yes ... they are out there and we'd love to see them in somewhere good!)
Father, please inspire, lead and hear our prayers - and answer us by your grace from your Heavenly throne, we ask for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
City Alight's song gives us a personal spiritual check-up before we head into God's Word together ... where are we right now with what they are singing here?
If it ain't good, hang in there, the good stuff is going to follow!
Click the little man to go to the audio of today's ministry on Buzzsprout, where you can also find an extended blog around the transcript that goes beyond the sermon recording and supplies extra content.
We are going to close today with a song that only came out on Friday (September 8th.) from the Gettys ... I hope you like it, but infinitely more I hope we will all find it helpful
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 Saviour
be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages,
now and forevermore!
Amen.
If you would like to join us in worshipping by giving, please click on the offering bag.
This week's daily prayer journal for the world from Justin Long is copied in below (thanks Justin!)
Sunday
We pray for the over 20 million who participated in the Islamic Arbae'en pilgrimage this past week. While this pilgrimage is not in honor of the Lord, nevertheless many who make it do so with a sense of spiritual hunger in their hearts. In the same way that many pray for Muslims during Ramadan, pray that the Lord will bring many of these pilgrims to Himself. Pray especially for dreams and visions of Jesus, and that many will come into contact with earnest believers who can help disciple them.
Monday
We once again pray for the many who are caught in the conflicts that span Africa, and especially for those in the violence of Sudan. We pray for laborers who can be a blessing among them, providing water, food, shelter, clothing, aid, and counsel to the traumatized. We think especially of the children so heavily impacted by the warfare, who have lost loved ones, and pray that God would bring peace and justice to this region. We pray for peace and justice to reign.
Tuesday
We are thankful the coups in Gabon and Niger so far have not erupted in violence. We pray these situations will be resolved peacefully, and for continued space for believers to make disciples among the unreached. We pray for the Kingdom to expand into the lives of radicals, fundamentalists, and the spiritually famished.
Wednesday
While reading articles about Turkey and South Korea intentionally courting Chinese tourists, we pray for workers who position themselves to bless tourists and spread the Kingdom into people groups through ministries to tour groups, students, and other migrants. We pray for the Spirit to lead workers into more unconventional and yet effective access ministries.
Thursday
We pray for the Pashto in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Millions in Afghanistan face hunger. Millions more have fled into the surrounding countries and are trying to find better lives. Thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands have come to follow Jesus. We pray more would seek the Lord, and would come in contact with faithful believers.
Friday
We pray for the church in China, which is coming under renewed persecution. We pray for the many believers and pastors who must try and discern the line to walk between the government’s regulations and being faithful to Jesus—where can they, like others under foreign rule (Daniel, and Jesus himself), obey the government, and where must they make a stand? (1 Peter 2:17)
Saturday
We pray for the safety and health of Great Commission laborers around the world, who are traveling and ministering in the context of a Covid resurgence. Many work in places with degraded and less capable health facilities. While this surge does not seem unduly contagious or deadly, it can still disrupt ministry activities, conferences, and travel.
Thanks for dropping by the DIY Sunday Service Kit for September 3rd., 2023.
Our summer seems to be drawing to a close, but there does seem to be a bit of an Indian Summer coming our way over the next few days.
But whatever the weather and whatever plans we have for the next few days, whatever the circumstances are that lie ahead of us, our Shepherd is always close and will keep shining the sunshine of His love on us ... let's celebrate that in this first song today.
Do you follow one of our social media accounts where you can see the (VERY short) Verse for the Day each weekday morning?
Why not follow the
Grace Rural Wales Partnership page on Facebook,
howchaplaingmail on Instagram (same on Threads),
@WelshRev on Twitter or
@revsimonbowkett1400 on YouTube
and make sure you get our Verse for the Day ... and a lot else besides to keep you up to date?
Here's a taster from this week. Tap on the video below
This week we don't have just a few prayer points for today ...
This seven day prayer guide for the world is a slightly different sort of approach for us, with our prayers led today by Justin Long, a digital missionary with Act Beyond based in Texas.
Let's see how we get on with it day by day ... you can use one of these per day of the week:
1. We pray for the women and children in the Al-Hol refugee camp. As a result of the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, thousands of people are ‘detained’ here (and in other camps in Iraq). Many are (or were) IS sympathesizers—but also their families, displaced people under their sway, and tens of thousands of women and children with ‘ties’ to IS soldiers (often forced to marry). Some of the women are bought in to jihadist ideology and raising their children in it. The story of the place is horrific, and worse, no one wants to help resolve it. “Western governments have walked away. ‘They’re hoping for a cholera epidemic,’ says one consultant.” Yet the 42,000 or so in the camp are precious to our Father in heaven, and worth more than any sparrow (Matthew 10:29-31). Is God asking us to intercede for Al-Hol, as he went down to ‘talk with his friend Abraham’ about Sodom & Gomorrah? With so many in the camp, it is unlikely there are absolutely no believers. Many more are sitting in grave darkness. Pray for peace, and justice, and for redemptive light to dawn for them.
2. We continue to pray for the people across the Sahel, from Burkina Faso to Sudan, where coups, civil wars rage. Thousands are experiencing severe trauma. We lament the seemingly unrelenting violence of these months, and the wounding of men, women and children. I confess I cannot see a rapid end to it. Yet we know God can take what the enemy means for harm and use it for good. Pray for the many mission agency and aid agency workers who are laboring to help in the midst of this crisis (Psalm 126:5).
3. We pray for the women and girls migrating from Somalia via the perilous ‘Eastern Route.’ This leads from Ethiopia through Somalia to Yemen and thence to the Gulf States. In 2021, over 50,000 women migrated this way; in 2022, over 100,000. Many find themselves in terrible situations of abuse along the way. Read some of their stories here and here and pray for Kingdom workers who will labor to be a blessing to them (Matthew 25:31-40).
4. We pray for more workers for the harvest in China. China and the nations are ‘disconnecting’ from one another. China is closing in on itself, and other nations are pulling away from it. One recent example: Students in other countries don’t see the value in learning Mandarin. This period of government control and oppression is also a difficult time for the church, and there are some indicators the persecution and harassment has led to stagnant church growth. In this time, we pray God will raise up believers who are passionate for God’s heart for China, and will work on behalf of the church there, despite the many significant obstacles.
6. We pray that God will raise up workers and use us on behalf of North Korea. A number of stories this week highlight some small ‘cracks’ in the walls of this land—North Koreans abroad are returning to the country, regular air flights are being held, and trade between China and North Korea is resuming. Pray that God will raise up innovative individuals who will find ways to bring the Gospel into this land.
7. We praise God for the rise of spiritual hunger in Latin America, especially on the part of the youth. We know in the past many Latin American missionaries have done significant things for Gospel expansion in unreached parts of the world. We pray that out of this new hunger will rise a generation ready to pray, give, and go to the nations.
And so we pray 👇
Click the Bible below for today's reading
That's almost it for today folks, if we can pray for you about something in particular or if we can help with something please feel free to get in touch by email or by text / WhatsApp.
And if you'd like to join us in worshipping by giving please click on the offering bag to be taken to our giving link.
Thanks.
Let's pray
"To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you
before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy
Hello and welcome to today's DIY Sunday Service Kit for 20th. August 2023.
Here's the trailer for the sermon today ...
We set off in worship this morning with
a touch of the Celtic music genre and a precious old hymn
Let's pray
Father we ask today for your presence and your power to be felt amongst us, by all who turn to you today and by all who gather to worship you in spirit and in truth ... we ask for Jesus' sake.
AMEN.
So ... let's get into our prayer points!
Pakistan
In Jaranwala, Pakistan, hundreds of Christian homes have been completely destroyed as a result of an incitement to violence originating from multiple mosques.
Tensions flared within the district following a recent accusation of blasphemy directed at a Christian man.
Numerous brutal assaults have left thousands of individuals injured, and the aftermath has left tens of thousands without shelter.
In pursuit of safety, many families have sought refuge outside the city, relying on the support of friends and relatives.
England
We'll all be very much aware from the news of the court case surrounding infant deaths at the Countess of Chester hospital.
Let's pray for the families that were bereaved, the doctors who tried and for such a long time were grievously failed in their efforts to get the matter looked into and for the family of the nurse at the centre of this case ... we simply don't know the details at this stage but there must be a very great deal of grief associated with the whole sorry business and people damaged and hurting from it who need our prayers.
The pains of our times
People around us are not unmoved by the trouble with wildfires in Maui, the coup in Niger, the ongoing events in Ukraine and the constant news of tragic deaths in the English Channel.
Certainly there was spiritual conversation to be had around these issues at the Llandeilo Show this week, and the opportunities to speak about sin and grace, judgement and repentance, mercy and redemption were plentiful.
Let's pray about the impact that tragedies in the news are currently having on people's minds, whether the are speaking openly about these things or not at the moment, and that the Lord would bring people to a state of repentance, redemption and rest as a result of the pain they feel at these events rather than plunging them into despair.
Lord in your mercy hear our prayers for your sadly damaged world and for those souls that are tender to its pain.
Bring light and life and salvation into a world that offers only sadness and sorrow at the injustice and the tragedy, and may many be turned to find new life in Christ in place of frustration at the sense of the future's seeming futility.
Welcome back to the DIY Sunday Service Kit ... this one is for 13th. August 2023 and centres around what Christians believe about humanity, its chaos and its redemption.
But first, here's the Word for the Week. Please feel free to share this with anyone you think might be helped by it.
Let's pray
Lord and loving Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the lord Jesus Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross to cover our sins with salvation and Who now sits at the right hand of the throne of your majesty in Heaven, ruling and redeeming in your fallen world.
Would you please graciously deal with our souls and with our spiritual circumstances today as we worship you, according to your mercy and our need, and lead us forward in your everlasting Way?
We ask for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
We pray today particularly for ...
The Sahel
Let's pray for believers in countries across the Sahel that have recently fallen to coups.
Six countries--Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, and Sudan--now have military dictatorships, stretching 3,500 miles from coast to coast across Africa (learn more HERE).
In general:
Burkina Faso and Chad are both slightly more than 20% Christian.
The rest are each around the 2% Christian mark.
These six countries, just below the Saharan desert, are heavily Islamic and largely unreached.
They are home to 10 Frontier People Groups (<0.1% Christian) that are each over 1 million in population (as well as several FPGs that number in the thousands).
None of the new military governments seem able to restore justice or peace to their societies.
These countries are difficult to live in, steeped in violence and displacement. Yet believers are undertaking significant outreach, particularly to many of the larger unreached peoples in the region, in spite of the danger.
Let's pray for believers to be bold in their witness and a blessing to their neighbours, and to endure in the midst of frighteningly difficult situations.
Specifically we pray for ...
Sudan
Let's pray for an end to the war in Sudan, and for the Gospel to continue to spread in spite of the upheaval.
Pray for the many who have endured traumatic atrocities in Darfur, and now find themselves in Chad, without shelters, as the rainy season begins.
Pray for churches and agencies who will be a blessing to the refugees.
Niger
The recent coup is being strongly opposed by regional and international governments.
Sanctions are causing hardship, and more conflict is possible as nearby countries are threatening military force to restore the government.
There is a UK citizen Christian couple we know of with three children who have been in Niger four years, trying to get to safety, but who are stuck close to Niger's border trying to get visas to cross into Nigeria. Please pray.
Climate change
People across the Sahel depend for food on rain-fed agriculture, but the Sahel is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
This woman is trying to water her subsistence crop of food in Ouallam, Niger.
When crops fail, people migrate and this fuels competition and conflict across the region.
Without urgent investment in climate mitigation and adaptation, countries in the Sahel risk decades of armed conflict and displacement exacerbated by rising temperatures, resource scarcity and food insecurity.
Father we pray for the peace, stability, security and quality of life that we would love to see established across central Africa.
We ask you to watch over and preserve all those who seek to serve and follow you in this region of your world.
We ask particularly for those currently seeking to leave situations of danger and vulnerability.
And we ask that you will bless all the efforts of those who still stand with you and for you, and who are seeking to make Christ known in the midst of the situations they face.
We ask for Jesus' sake.
AMEN.
We're going to be reading Hebrews 3, but first here's a short foretaste of where this will be leading us in the sermon later:
Click the book (below) to go to today's Bible reading
Click this picture link for the audio and transcript of today's sermon, or alternatively clic the graphic below it for the video recording
I have absolutely no idea how YouTube manages to make these images look so RIDICULOUS every week ... but their gremlins seem to have been on VERY good form this week. Please persevere nonetheless ...
Let's pray Romans 15:4-6
"everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
We ask for Jesus' sake.
AMEN.
Thanks for being here again this week.
If you would like to join us in worshipping God by supporting His work, please click the pic below to go to our giving link.
May our gracious God bless you in the coming week!
