When you come in to the gymnasium this Sunday you'll find a Prayer Focus postcard waiting for you. I think it is fairly self-explanatory! Our hope is that these cards will help all of us make the most of the gospel opportunities that our growing to two Sunday morning gatherings will provide. A new beginning for our church gives new opportunities for new beginnings for the people we care about to become part of our church community and hear about Jesus. Naturally, simply coming along to church doesn’t make somebody a Christian, which is why we want to be praying and asking God to be changing people’s hearts and making himself known to them.
On the front of the card is space to write the names of up to five friends, family, neighbours or colleagues who you can pray for in the lead up to our growing to two on April 29th. These may be people you are already praying for, or you may like to spend some time thinking about whose names you can write there. It doesn’t matter if you can’t come up with five names, you can always start with just one!
Hi TMBers, to help you as you pray for your friends, family and colleagues who don't know Jesus in the lead up to our growing to two services, we've got new Prayer Focus Cards for you, hot off the printing presses!
You'll be able to pick one up on Sunday and write the names of five friends you're praying for. On the reverse are some suggested things to pray for them as we prepare to grow to 9 AM and 11 AM on Sunday April 29.
Thursday night a small group gathered in the church office to pray for Christian brothers and sisters who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus. It seemed highly appropriate, praying for these members with us of the body of Christ in the middle of our teaching series on prayer! Here was a chance to put some of what we’ve been learning from the Scriptures into practice. It wasn’t only us praying. Christians around the world joined together in prayer this past week as part of the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church.
Every day around the world, countless thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters suffer violence, intimidation, loss of employment, imprisonment and death simply because they confess Jesus Christ as Lord. As I mentioned last Sunday, it’s a sad fact that more Christians have died for their faith in Jesus in the last century than in all the previous centuries of the church combined.
We're constantly being asked how people can be praying for Nathan and Cassie since the tragic loss of their twin babies.
We'd love you to join us in praying that God will continue to bring comfort to Nathan and Cassie and their wider family as they mourn the loss of their babies.
Please pray also that they would grow in their trust in God's goodness and sovereignty.
This coming week sees “Jesus Week” unleashed across the university campuses on North Terrace, Adelaide. Jesus Week is a week of heightened evangelism which takes place during Week 4 of second semester each year. ES, the evangelical students group, aims to be sharing the good news of Jesus on campus all year, but this week is the focus of the year’s evangelistic efforts.
This year’s Jesus Week theme is “If There is a God …” and the week involves a range of events and activities, from themed jumpers (bright purple this year!) to cold-contact evangelism, hand-out cards, Bible Talks at lunch time daily and a debate with a representative from the university philosophy department.
Even though they live in Nashville, Tennessee, we think of Nathan and Cassie Tasker as part of Trinity Mount Barker! Because they have family in our church, we get to see Nathan and Cassie a few times a year, and we're often the beneficiaries of Nathan's (and Cassie's) musical gifts in our Sunday services. Songs such as Home, the title track off Nathan's latest album, (which last month debuted in the UK charts at number 1!) are firm favourites in this part of the world!
So we are very excited by the news that the Taskers are expecting twins later in the year! And we were concerned when we heard that Cassie has been admitted to hospital, with fears held for the 2 little lives growing within her.
For some of us it’s been part of our experience, for others perhaps a worst fear. It’s the phone call, the knock on the door or the word from the doctor, “It’s bad news, I’m afraid.”
What is our response? Whether we are the ones facing the bad news or if it’s someone we care about, how do we respond? If you listen carefully in those moments you’ll hear all sorts of messages from different people, “Just be strong,” “You’ll get through it,” “God will pull you through,” the list is almost endless.
Surely, if you're a Christian person, we should be able to speak much more helpfully into those kinds of situations. We should be able to speak to ourselves, to remind ourselves of what is true and what we know, and we should be able to speak to others who are struggling with the trials of life.
A number of people have indicated they'd like to be praying for our church along the lines of Paul's prayer in Colossians 1 during our Colossians series.
The prayer I'm praying is below. I'd love you to join me in praying!
Because of the faith and love we know through the gospel of Jesus, I pray Father, that you will fill us with the knowledge of your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
This past week we launched our Trinity Mount Barker Prayer Network. Even as the structure and names were being put together, we had our first request for prayer – and our first answer to prayer! No sooner had I been told that the Prayer Network was up and running that I heard that the first prayer need passed onto the network had been graciously answered by God. We shouldn’t be surprised, though! The Scriptures tell us that “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).
As we saw in our Foundations teaching series earlier in the year, what matters about prayer, more than anything else, is the God to whom we pray. In Matthew 7 Jesus tells his disciples, that just as they love to give good gifts to their children, despite their own sinfulness, their heavenly Father will give good gifts to those who ask him (Matthew 7:11). All around that particular section, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear what some of those “good things” are; Being salt and light is good. Storing up treasures in heaven is good. Taking hold of eternal life is good. Seeking God’s kingdom above all else is good.
I’m sure we have all been shocked and saddened by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, not to mention the ongoing radiation threat from damaged nuclear power plants. Coming so soon after the Christchurch earthquake last month, it is easy at times to feel overwhelmed by the human toll, the scale of destruction and the huge cleanup and rebuilding operations required.
It is good to spend some time reflecting on the enormity of these issues and how clearly they speak of a creation groaning (as in Romans 8:22) and out of step with its creator as a result of human sin. I have been struck by the number of apparently non-Christian journalists saying how if we are to learn anything from these tragic events, it’s that we are not in control in our world and that something is not right. Surely we were not made for life like this!
Well the Bible agrees. This is not the life for which God intended us, and it’s not the life in store for those who trust in God’s provision and his solution for sin. We who place our hope in Jesus look forward to the day when God himself “will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
In the meantime, we feel sad. We feel something of the weight of suffering. We may feel helpless. Probably the best thing we can do, especially at a distance, is to pray for Japan and for its people. I have some friends serving as missionaries in Tokyo; Owen and Sarah Ames have been in Japan with their family for a number of years. Earlier this week I asked them to let us know some things we can be praying for. Their suggestions are below.
Pray for a speedy resolution to the nuclear issue. Already authorities are issuing warnings about how to protect against nuclear fallout.
Pray that the ongoing aftershocks will not distress people.
Panic buying has started – no petrol, bread, candles, hardly any nappies or rice. Pray that will still be able to buy necessities.
Pray for peace of mind and that we entrust our fears to God.
Pray for protection, a sense of calm and wisdom as we hear various news reports and gain information about what essential services remain affected and what, if any, steps we need to take in every situation that arises.
Especially pray for Japan! The church is very small here, but please pray that it will demonstrate God's love as it extends helping hands to the thousands and thousands in need over these next weeks and months.
Pray for the missionaries in Japan too, that we will show God’s love and compassion to those in need and have opportunities to witness to many. Pray for those suffering the devastation and loss of life of friends and loved ones caused by both the earthquake and tsunami.
Service of Prayer and Remembrance - Japan & New Zealand Earthquakes The events we have witnessed from Japan over the weekend have been sad and sobering. The nation is dealing with a tragedy of epic proportions, especially as a result of the tsunami triggered by the earthquake measuring 8.9. Nations and peoples around the world are responding generously and willingly with assistance and support in what is a massive recovery task ahead for the Pacific nation. Alongside this there have been many calls for prayer for this country: for its citizens, for the massive rescue and recovery effort that has begun, and for all who are dealing with the grief of loss of life and livelihoods.
This is the day, one week before Easter, when Christians have traditionally remembered Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. According to the accounts preserved for us by the gospel authors, crowds of people went out to welcome Jesus into the city, waving palm branches, a national, even nationalistic, symbol for Israel and a sign of victory over one’s enemies. The crowd spread their cloaks on the road in front of Jesus, shouting words from Psalm 118, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” But rather than reflecting a true understanding of Jesus’ identity and purpose, the events of Palm Sunday really show that the crowd had an inadequate grasp of who their king was. That within a week their cries could turn from “Hosanna!” (a Hebrew expression of praise which means “save us”) to “Crucify him!” shows just how far the people were from being ready to accept God’s Messiah.
The Messiah had arrived, although not as the crowd was expecting. Jesus himself indicates that the salvation promised through the prophet Zechariah has arrived by riding into the city on a donkey. This also should have served as a corrective to the overzealous nationalism of the crowd, who were expecting a warrior Messiah, but as we know, it did not. Here was a king, to be sure, but a king coming to make peace, not war. A king coming to make peace between us and God.
In some churches with a very formal liturgy, those leading the service on Palm Sunday traditionally say the following prayer before commencing the service. Perhaps this week you’ll have an opportunity to pray these words or similar as we reflect on Palm Sunday:
Merciful God, as we enter this holy week and gather at your house of prayer, turn our hearts again to Jerusalem, to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that, united with Christ and all the faithful, we may one day enter in triumph the city not made with hands, the new Jerusalem, eternal in the heavens, where, with you and the Holy Spirit, Christ lives in glory for ever.
When you come in to the gymnasium this Sunday you'll find a Prayer Focus postcard waiting for you. I think it is fairly self-explanatory! Our hope is that these cards will help all of us make the most of the gospel opportunities that our growing to two Sunday morning gatherings will provide. A new beginning for our church gives new opportunities for new beginnings for the people we care about to become part of our church community and hear about Jesus. Naturally, simply coming along to church doesn’t make somebody a Christian, which is why we want to be praying and asking God to be changing people’s hearts and making himself known to them.
Don't forget our Hour of Prayer on Monday 13th February as we pray for our church as we grow to two morning gatherings in April this year.
Thursday night a small group gathered in the church office to pray for Christian brothers and sisters who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus. It seemed highly appropriate, praying for these members with us of the body of Christ in the middle of our teaching series on prayer! Here was a chance to put some of what we’ve been learning from the Scriptures into practice. It wasn’t only us praying. Christians around the world joined together in prayer this past week as part of the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church.
We're constantly being asked how people can be praying for Nathan and Cassie since the tragic loss of their twin babies.
aims to be sharing the good news of Jesus on campus all year, but this week is the focus of the year’s evangelistic efforts.
Paul's prayer in Colossians 1 during our Colossians series.
