Thursday prayers

This Sunday we will be looking at the famous words of Jesus in Matthew 6.19-24.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

— Matthew 6:19-21

Look at the illustration below:

·       How would you have illustrated the verse?

·       Why did the artist put a lock to illustrate it and not a treasure chest or something else?

·       What’s your treasure?

As the reality of what Covid-19 means for all of life, we pray for every area of our family and community life.

·      Pray for the shop owners you know whose livelihood depends on the business?

·      Pray for those in critical care who have come under increased work pressure when many of us have appreciated space to work.

·      Pray for us as a church as we begin to plan ahead about how we will do worship and ministry. What will this mean for our vulnerable adults, our families, our children?

·      But more than anything else, this is a wonderful opportunity for our faith to shine.

Thursday Prayers as a Praying Community - Thursday 14th May, 2020

Thursday Prayers as a Praying Community

Jesus is Enough

Watch the wonderful story God’s grace in the life of Micah Wilder (takes 17 minutes) https://www.adamsroadministry.com/micah-wilder-testimony

Then read Paul’s words in Titus 3. Paul’s words reflect what Micah experienced from a religiousness to Jesus being everything for him. 

Titus 3.4-5 “But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared,  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”

Reread this verse several times and allow the connections of who God isand our salvation to sink into the way you live your life. Let Jesus be enough for you today? For our needs, for our self-worth, for our faith, for what makes us connected to God, for what brings us home, for our families.

Prayers for Our Church

• For those in hospital – we have three members in hospital with varying conditions. Please remember their families as visiting is limited but precious. The Lord is our only hope in this world so pray for his presence to shine through the situation.

• For those who are now struggling mentally with the isolation – this has not been an easy time for all of us but the isolation has been really hard for some who need fellowship. Pray that lockdown will ease soon and they will know the support and presence of others.

• Remember our members in care homes as they are not able to have family visit. It is a worrying time because of their physical vulnerability so we pray that the Lord would take anxiety for loved ones away. Thank God for the love and care of the care home staff who make the connection between the family members outside. 

Prayers For the NI Executive 

The 5 Steps to recovery before December has been announced and pray for our MLAs as they need wisdom and clarity in their decisions so that we will be as safe as is possible.

Pray for our Global Mission Workers in Kenya

• Stephen Cowan, in Tuum, is continuing to encourage the community in safe working practices and food growing.  On 23 March, Angelina and Annissa Cowan returned to Northern Ireland to enable Annissa to finish her school year as she needed a reliable internet connection. 

• Naomi, Thomas, Aaron and Silas Leremore remain in Kenya but, on 23 March, moved out of Nairobi to temporary accommodation in Maralal.  Naomi is balancing working from home with home schooling in this new location. 

• Gary, Mary and Samuel Reid returned to Northern Ireland on 26 March.  They are staying in their own home which means Samuel is able to complete his school year with support from Mary.  Jonathan and Ruth are also able to be supported by being together as a family.

Thank you for joining us in prayer today

This information is also available on our Prayer@First page on our website.

Make Thursday a Time to Pray as a Church

As we continue this side of Easter, let us set aside an hour every Thursday to pray as the church community of First Ballymoney until we can worship together again.

We invite all our members to make every Thursday a day in which we pray for an hour. I cannot stress enough that if we are not praying then nothing else really is of value. The spiritual discipline of prayer is something many of us engage in and, as a church, we appreciate your prayers so much as the Lord has led us through the challenges of these last weeks. In that light, we have chosen to set aside Thursdays as a day when we each prioritise an hour to spend in prayer. It may be an hour before you start your daily activities, the hour when you take your midday break, an hour during the afternoon, or perhaps and hour in the quiet of the evening - choose an hour that suits you best.

Prayer points will be available each Thursday morning, and if you have any prayer requests would you let me know. For reasons of confidentiality, you may wish us to pray for people by their Christian name or initial only.

Rev Stephen McCracken

“In First Ballymoney, we believe in the transforming power of private, family and corporate prayer. When the church prays, amazing things happen. ”

— Vision statement - First Presbyterian Church, Ballymoney

Jigsaw @ Home

Jigsaw @ Home

Worship resources for our younger members.

We now have a new resource page created especially for our younger members - Jigsaw@Home. Check out the web page for a worship plan and some excellent ideas for kids this Palm Sunday. Click on the image or click here to access the page,

Preparing for the National Day of Prayer

In a joint statement on Friday, Presbyterian Moderator, Rt Rev Dr William Henry, and the leaders of the Church of Ireland, Methodist Church in Ireland, Roman Catholic Church, and the Irish Council of Churches, together with other denominations and Christian organisations, issued a call to pray over the current Coronavirus emergency. It will take place on Palm Sunday.

Writing in a special blog today, Dr Henry provides some background and practical prayer points ahead of the forthcoming Day of Prayer, which will be held between 3pm and 4 pm on Palm Sunday, 5th April.

“The challenges faced by our world are without parallel in living memory, and the effect upon our society is stark. No one is untouched by the impact of this virus.

So, what is our first response? Yes, we will follow all government advice but let’s, with primary urgency, call upon the one who has the power to change and stop anything, ‘Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always’ (1 Chronicles 16:11), Dr Henry wrote.

“With the leaders of the main churches in Ireland, I have called for a National Day of Prayer throughout Ireland...Materials will be provided here on the PCI website, so get together with your family in prayer, and join me in asking God to deliver our land and our world.”

The Moderator concluded by saying, “I ask you to share this Call to Prayer so that across Ireland we are united in prayer in that hour.”

For everyone taking part, Dr Henry has provided a simple, flexible framework for spending an hour in prayer. He has also included particular prompts for prayer for children in each section.

Beginning with ‘Preparation: Calming our hearts to pray’, the Moderator has chosen Psalm 46:10, ‘Be still and know that I am God, which then leads in to The Lord’s Prayer. Dr Henry has then suggested the following setting:

• Praise: Centring our thoughts on God as comforter and his work in us and through us - 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

• Parable: Calling us to neighbourliness and community - Luke 10: 25-37

• Promise: Creating peace through faith in Christ - John 16:33,

• Parting: Committing one another to the Lord’s keeping - Numbers 6:24-26

2nd April, 2020 - an update from Stephen

Harvest Thanksgiving Services and special collection

Our Harvest Thanksgiving Services will be on Sunday 21st October. Our morning worship service is at 11:30am and will be conducted by the Very Rev Dr Ian McNie. The evening service is at 7pm and the convener of the vacancy, Rev Kenneth Crowe, will officiate. At the evening service we will have representatives from the Ballymoney Foodbank.

Due to the on-going installation of our new heating system, we will continue to meet in the church hall.

At our Harvest services, we will have a special collection for our Building and Repair Fund. The cost of installing our new heating system (as a result if the breakdown of our old system) is estimated to be in the region of £60,000. We barely have this amount in our current funds and we urgently require money to ensure that our Building and Repair Fund is not depleted to such an extent that we are unable to maintain the upkeep of our buildings in 2019 and beyond.

If you do not already do so, we encourage members to consider regular giving to the Building and Repair Fund using the envelopes supplied along with the weekly free will offering envelopes. Alternatively,  donations can be made via the special envelopes that will be available from 14th October.

UK taxpayers can maximise their giving by completing a gift aid declaration form. Please speak to John Michael, our treasurer, if you have any questions

Lifegroups

Lifegroups will start again for the Autumn term in the week beginning 1st October. There are groups meeting on Tuesday evenings, Wednesday mornings, and Wednesday evenings. We plan to meet on the first and third weeks of each month.

This term we plan to use the Discipleship Explored course which takes us though some studies in the book of Philippians. It promises to be very practical and relevant to the everyday, as we live out our faith in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.

If you haven’t been involved in Lifegroups before, why not come along and try it out, or make contact by clicking here.