Midday Prayers Saturday 30th May 2020

Although Thy Kingdom Come doesn't finish until tomorrow (Pentecost Sunday), this is our last midday prayers - as tomorrow at 12pm we will be meeting virtually together as a church after our morning service.

Here is the outline of today's midday prayers.

Preparation: As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breath slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

[Pause]

Rejoice: I choose to rejoice in God’s unfailing love today, joining with the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 48.

Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,
    in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
2 Beautiful in its loftiness,
    the joy of the whole earth,
like the heights of Zaphon[b] is Mount Zion,
    the city of the Great King.
3 God is in her citadels;
    he has shown himself to be her fortress.
…
9 Within your temple, O God,
    we meditate on your unfailing love.
10 Like your name, O God,
    your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;
    your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Mount Zion rejoices,
    the villages of Judah are glad
    because of your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, go round her,
    count her towers,
13 consider well her ramparts,
    view her citadels,
that you may tell of them
    to the next generation.
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever;
    he will be our guide even to the end.

Spend some time worshipping God.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UzNujfU39A 

Ask:

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Spend some time praying together, using the following points as prompts if you want.

• Pray for the Holy Spirit to put on your heart the desires of heaven for your 5
• Pray for those people and situations that are on our WhatsApp prayer board.
• Pray that God will use us – whatever that means (e.g. the courage to open our mouths, the strength to be obedient)
• Pray for our community and nation as we’re all affected by the impact of Covid-19.
• Pray for our government.

Yield:

Lord, we pray that you will show us how you want us to be part of the answer to the prayers that we have prayed.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,
Being true to You in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
Being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
Proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.

Amen.

Midday Prayers Friday 29th May 2020

Preparation: As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breath slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

[Pause]

Rejoice: I choose to rejoice in the God who heals our brokenness joining with the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 147.

Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the broken-hearted
    and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars
    and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    his understanding has no limit.
6 The Lord sustains the humble
    but casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
    make music to our God on the harp.
8 He covers the sky with clouds;
    he supplies the earth with rain
    and makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He provides food for the cattle
    and for the young ravens when they call.
10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,
    who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Spend some time praising God.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wBy5KcDcAg 

Ask:

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.


Now spend some time bringing your five friends and others to God:

• Pray for yourself and those others the Lord sends to help show your 5 their route home to God, that they would know the loving father running to greet them.

• Pray for those people and situations that are on our WhatsApp prayer board.
• Pray that God will use us – whatever that means (e.g. the courage to open our mouths, the strength to be obedient)
• Pray for our community and nation as we’re all affected by the impact of Covid-19.
• Pray for our government.

Yield:

Lord, we pray that you will show us how you want us to be part of the answer to the prayers that we have prayed.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,
Being true to You in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
Being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
Proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.

Some background for Sunday

This Sunday as we continue our series looking at Paul's Prayers, we're going to be thinking about Paul's Prayers for those he was writing to - that they would know God better. Our starting point is a passage in Ephesians. 

Throughout this series, we haven't had the time to look at the background of each letter in any detail. But understanding the background helps us in our attempt to understand and apply God's word for us today. We need to understand what Paul was saying to them, before we can understand what God is saying to us.

So, if you want some background on Ephesians, here is the Bible Project video.

Midday Prayers Thursday 28th May 2020

For those of you who are not able to join us at midday for prayer as a part of Thy Kingdom Come, here are today's prayers, readings and video.

Preparation: As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breath slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

[Pause]

Rejoice: I choose to rejoice today for you are the God who knows me better than I know myself in the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 139.

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,’
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand –
    when I awake, I am still with you.

Spend a few minutes praising our God

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjTPFcCXMoo 

Ask:

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Spend some time asking God, and particularly,

• Pray for the eyes of your 5 to be opened to all that Jesus offers them and that they would turn their faces to him and enjoy the warmth of his love.

• Pray for those people and situations that are on our WhatsApp prayer board.
• Pray that God will use us – whatever that means (e.g. the courage to open our mouths, the strength to be obedient)
• Pray for our community and nation as we’re all affected by the impact of Covid-19.
• Pray for our government.

Yield:

Lord, we pray that you will show us how you want us to be part of the answer to the prayers that we have prayed.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,
Being true to You in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
Being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
Proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.

Midday Prayers Wednesday 27th May 2020

Preparation: As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breath slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

[Pause]

Rejoice: I choose to rejoice today as I hear God’s voice over and in creation in the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 29.

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name;
    worship the Lord in the splendour of his[a] holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
    the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
    Sirion[b] like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes
    with flashes of lightning.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
    the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks[c]
    and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
    the Lord is enthroned as King for ever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people;
    the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Spend a few minutes praising God.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqqXkz7mUnU 

Ask:

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Spend some time praying for the following:

• Pray for your 5 that they would know that they never have to face anything alone, but that in their need they would call on God for help.

• Pray for those people and situations that are on our WhatsApp prayer board.
• Pray that God will use us – whatever that means (e.g. the courage to open our mouths, the strength to be obedient)
• Pray for our community and nation as we’re all affected by the impact of Covid-19.
• Pray for our government.


Yield:

Lord, we pray that you will show us how you want us to be part of the answer to the prayers that we have prayed.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,
Being true to You in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
Being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
Proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.

Midday Prayers Tuesday 26th May 2020

Preparation: As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breath slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

[Pause]

Rejoice: I choose to rejoice today in the assurance that God will bear my burdens, joining in the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 68.

19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour, 
who daily bears our burdens.
20 Our God is a God who saves; 
from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

Spend some time praising God.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxdt2JbxUGM 

Ask:

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.


[Open prayer time]

• Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of your 5 now, as you pray for specific things that you know they face.

• Pray for those people and situations that are on our WhatsApp prayer board.
• Pray that God will use us – whatever that means (e.g. the courage to open our mouths, the strength to be obedient)
• Pray for our community and nation as we’re all affected by the impact of Covid-19.
• Pray for our government.

Yield:

Lord, we pray that you will show us how you want us to be part of the answer to the prayers that we have prayed.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,
Being true to You in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
Being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
Proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.

What is the current value of R?

As I watched the video that we're going to be using in today's midday prayers I couldn't help my mind going to 'R'.

If you're reading this somewhere other than the UK, or at some point in the future, you may wonder what 'R' is. But if you're living in the UK at this time, we've heard so much about 'R'. 'R' is what the scientists are calling the current Rate of Infection for the coronavirus. If R = 2 then each person who has the virus, on average, infects 2 others, who each go on to infect 2 others etc. To control the virus you need the value of R to be less than 1, as then the number of cases begins to fall.

In this video, Archbishop John Sentamu talks about how last year he was praying for five people to come to know Jesus. Some of those people did, and they, in turn, went on to pray for five more. Imagine the impact if the five people you are praying for, all chose to follow Jesus and they, in turn, prayed for five more ...

Midday Prayers for Monday 25th May 2020

As we continue to pray for our friends and neighbours to come to know Jesus, here is the text of today's midday prayers and a link to the Thy Kingdom Come video for day 5.

Preparation: As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breath slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

[Pause]

Rejoice: I choose to rejoice today in the certainty that God is my refuge, joining in the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 18.

1 I love you, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield[b] and the horn[c] of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
    and I have been saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death entangled me;
    the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
    the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
    I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
    my cry came before him, into his ears.

An opportunity to pray out our prayers of praise.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtJMsEVEIfA 

Ask:

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Pray for those we know, focusing on 

• Praying for the Holy Spirit to bring an understanding of life in all its fullness that will be theirs as your 5 put everything they have at the disposal of God.
•
• Pray for those people and situations that are on our WhatsApp prayer board.
• Pray that God will use us – whatever that means (e.g. the courage to open our mouths, the strength to be obedient)
• Pray for our community and nation as we’re all affected by the impact of Covid-19.
• Pray for our government.

Yield:

Lord, we pray that you will show us how you want us to be part of the answer to the prayers that we have prayed.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,
Being true to You in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
Being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
Proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.

Amen.

Paul's Prayers

This Sunday, 24th May, we're continuing our series looking at Paul's Prayers. Paul's story is told in the second part of the book of Acts. Here he visits many places and sets up lots of churches - churches that he will later write letters to. Some of these letters make up a large part of the rest of the New Testament - and we will touch on many of them over the course of this series.

This Sunday we're thinking about how we hear from God, and we're starting with a passage in Acts. So, if you want to get an overview of the whole of Acts then here are two videos from the Bible Project.

Midday Prayers for Saturday 23rd May 2020

Here is the text from today's Thy Kingdom Come midday prayers. If you want to join us on Zoom then get in touch for the login details.

Preparation: As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breath slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.


[Pause]

Rejoice: I choose to rejoice today in the knowledge that God is king in every situation I will face today, joining in the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 47.

Clap your hands, all you nations;
    shout to God with cries of joy.
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome,
    the great King over all the earth.
3 He subdued nations under us,
    peoples under our feet.
4 He chose our inheritance for us,
    the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.[b]
5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy,
    the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
    sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing to him a psalm of praise.
8 God reigns over the nations;
    God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations assemble
    as the people of the God of Abraham,
for the kings[c] of the earth belong to God;
    he is greatly exalted.

[Open time for Prayers of praise]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teUmfrezqag 

Ask:

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

[Open prayer time]

• Pray for your 5 to recognise the goodness of God in their lives, that they would turn to God in gratitude and trust.

• Pray for those people and situations that are on our WhatsApp prayer board.
• Pray that God will use us – whatever that means (e.g. the courage to open our mouths, the strength to be obedient)
• Pray for our community and nation as we’re all affected by the impact of Covid-19.
• Pray for our government.


Lord, we pray that you will show us how you want us to be part of the answer to the prayers that we have prayed.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,
Being true to You in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
Being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
Proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.

Midday Prayers - Friday 22nd May 2020

If you want to join us on Zoom each day throughout Thy Kingdom Come then please do get in touch for the details. For those of you who were not able to join us live here are Friday's prayers.

Preparation: As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breath slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

[Pause]

Rejoice: I choose to praise today the God rescues us joining in the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 81.

Read: Psalm 81

For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] Of Asaph.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
    shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the tambourine,
    play the melodious harp and lyre.
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
    and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;
4 this is a decree for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 When God went out against Egypt,
    he established it as a statute for Joseph.
I heard an unknown voice say:
6 ‘I removed the burden from their shoulders;
    their hands were set free from the basket.
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you,
    I answered you out of a thundercloud;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[c]
8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you –
    if you would only listen to me, Israel!
9 You shall have no foreign god among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
11 ‘But my people would not listen to me;
    Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
    to follow their own devices.
13 ‘If my people would only listen to me,
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
    and their punishment would last for ever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’ 

[Open time for Prayers of praise]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4EV-Iax7zE

Ask:

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

 Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Open prayer time - including prayers for:

• Pray for your 5 to be woken up to all that they have already received from God in their lives, and all that he offers them in Christ, that they might praise him.

• Pray for those people and situations that are on our WhatsApp prayer board.
• Pray that God will use us – whatever that means (e.g. the courage to open our mouths, the strength to be obedient)
• Pray for our community and nation as we’re all affected by the impact of Covid-19.
• Pray for our government.


Yield:

Lord, we pray that you will show us how you want us to be part of the answer to the prayers that we have prayed.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,
Being true to You in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
Being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
Proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.

Midday Prayers - Thursday 21st May 2020

Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement, running for the 11 days between Ascension Day (today) and Pentecost (31st May), that encourages Christians across the planet to pray specifically for 5 friends to come to know Jesus.

In previous years we have held prayer events at the church at various points during this time. Obviously, that is not going to be possible this year. So instead we're going to be meeting on Zoom at midday each day to spend about 20 minutes praying together for our friends, neighbours, community and also our nation and the world at this time of crisis.

Not everyone will be able to make it at 12pm, so each day I will put the text of our time together here on my blog, so if you want to follow the same pattern, but at a different time, you can do so.

(If you want to know how you can join us on Zoom then do get in touch.)

These prayers have pulled resources from Thy Kingdom Come and 24-7 Prayer.

Prayers for Thursday 21st May

Preparation: As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breath slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

[Pause]

Rejoice: I choose to rejoice today in the wonder of creation joining in the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 8.

Read Psalm 8:1-9. (NIVUK)

For the director of music. According to gittith.  A psalm of David.

¹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
² Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
³ When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?^[c]

⁵ You have made them^[d] a little lower than the angels^[e]
    and crowned them^[f] with glory and honour.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their^[g] feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

[Open time for Prayers of praise]

Video – Who is Jesus? Tom Wright. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D6II_Nq-tQ

Ask:

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Open prayer time in which we:

·      Pray that our friends will encounter Jesus and that they will choose to follow him.

·      Pray for those people and situations that are on our WhatsApp prayer board.

·      Pray that God will use us – whatever that means (e.g. that we will have the courage to open our mouths, the strength to be obedient to God's prompting)

·      Pray for our community and nation as we’re all affected by the impact of Covid-19.

·      Pray for our government.

Yield:

Lord, we pray that you will show us how you want us to be part of the answer to the prayers that we have prayed.

Pray that as well as prayer, we will also creatively demonstrate how we care at this time of social distancing.

Father, help me to live this day to the full,

Being true to You in every way.

Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,

Being kind to everyone I meet.

Spirit, help me to love the lost,

Proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.

Amen.

Wait for it

How good are you at waiting? I guess your answer to that question depends a lot on what it is that you are waiting for. It probably also depends on how long you have to wait, or whether you even know the answer to that question.

One of the challenges at this time of lockdown is that in a lot of cases we simply don't know how long we are going to have to wait. The government has given us some initial dates when certain things may happen (assuming that other conditions are met) but there's lots of things that we simply don't know and we just have to wait.

And waiting can be hard.

Yesterday we had a meeting of the preaching team as we continue to plan for the autumn term. But although we have been told that church opening is included in the July 4th date - what that actually means is very far from clear. So as we try to plan for the autumn are we planning for fully online church still, fully open and back to normal church (highly unlikely) or somewhere in between the two? In the end, we agreed that we just have to wait a bit longer before trying to make any decisions.

Some of you will be aware that tomorrow is Ascension Day. Ascension Day comes 40 days after Easter and marks the day when Jesus returned back to heaven at the end of his earthly ministry. And one of the things that Jesus said to his disciples was that they were to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. He didn't tell them how long they would have to wait - but he had told them that after he had left he would send the Holy Spirit. 

From what we know about Peter, I imagine that he was probably more than a little impatient to get going with the task of making disciples (see Matthew 28:19-20). But I also expect that his experiences over the last three years, and particularly over the last 40 days, had led to him trusting in Jesus' words more. So if Jesus said 'wait' they would wait.

They had learnt to trust God and to obey him.

Here's this week's assembly from Barton on this theme of waiting.

The Holy Habit of Generosity

This Sunday we're going to be concluding a series that we've been doing in our all-age services since January 2019. Obviously, this one is going to be a bit different to the rest, as we won't actually be in the church building.

The series has been called 'Holy Habits' and it is based on the book 'Holy Habits' by Andrew Roberts.

The Holy Habits picked out in this book (it doesn't claim to be an exhaustive list) are taken from one of the descriptions of the church that we find in Acts - in Acts 2:42-47.

Holy Habits are not something that we do in order to be a Christian or to try and impress God. Rather they are habits that we look to develop because as we do we will become more and more like Jesus.

This week we're going to be looking at the Holy Habits of Gladness and Generosity.

As well as making videos about different books of the Bible, The Bible Project also make videos that explore a particular theme that runs throughout the Bible. Well, they've made a video on Generosity which explores how selfishness is the result of not trusting that God is the generous host who can be trusted.