Praying in Groups

(adapted from an article from GoTherefore.com)

“For some reason, doing prayer well in Growth Groups/Bible Study groups is hard. But there’s no point getting discouraged about it. Prayer is not something to give up on! Here’s a few ideas to encourage and refresh you as you pray in groups. The factor that I find particularly motivating for Grow Group prayer is that prayer expresses our dependence on God for growth. It drives out self-reliance! Paul demonstrates this in Ephesians 1:16-17 —he prays to God for growth in his readers: “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him”. So if Paul thinks prayer is necessary for good things to happen, how much more should we be praying! If we are convicted of the value of prayer, how can we improve the prayer life of our groups? Col Marshall’s Growth Groups suggests some strategies:

1. Vary when you pray. Praying at the start of the study can catch people when they’re fresher. Praying at different points during the study can be a jolting reminder of the power and value of prayer. Praying at the end gives people a chance to pray in response to God’s word with thanksgiving or a God-centred request.

2. Pray sometimes as a big group and sometimes in pairs or triplets. Keep these small groups fixed or mix them up each time. Keeping them fixed promotes deeper trust and sharing, but mixing them up allows you to pray personally with different members of your group over the term. Chat with your co-leader about which of these strategies to try.

3. Don’t share prayer points for some weeks. Instead, bring a plan for something on God’s agenda you’d like the group to pray for. This could mean praying for people’s evangelistic contacts, praying for ministries and leaders in your church, or praying for missionaries you’re partnering with.

4. Try prayer diaries, emails or closed social media groups to promote ongoing prayer for each other during the week. Be brave about cutting people’s long stories short. With as much gentleness as you can, try saying something like, “That sounds pretty difficult for you, and it would be great to talk more about it after the study. I’m keen that we actually give time to praying about that issue. So what particularly would you appreciate prayer for?”

So don’t be discouraged that praying in your group is hard. Every group finds it hard! Remember your convictions, give up on the idea that it will be smooth, and try what you can to get it going. God loves to answer prayer, and we can be confident that good things will happen if we pray together” (author, Richard Sweatman).

May God bless his people as we pray together. And great effort everyone in helping Terry Staples raise his target for getting to the Year 13 Fiji Mission. Fund raising, mission accomplished!  May God bless his people as we pray together. FAITH  |  HOPE  |  LOVE

Geoff Thompson.

Renovation

Have you been wondering about the great hole in the floor in the ministry centre? After a sneaky water pipe leak we discovered that water had been pooling under the floor causing damage. Graham Napper, Ron Hockey and others worked hard to stabilise the problem but now we are waiting for the insurance assessment to be finalised before we can rectify the damage. It may yet take another 4-6 weeks. I appreciate the collective parish patience as we work and meet around the mess!

Meanwhile, Wardens and Parish Council are exploring important renovations to the church including raising the floor to one level, air conditioning, an internal glass door, painting, re-carpeting and individual seating to replace pews. Outside, flood lighting and safety fencing around the property for the protection of our children is to be erected. Fencing (part of the way) along the driveway will be the first stage. The cost of these projects will be met from our building fund in the All Saints Trust Account where we have sufficient funds (separate to budget). The process will be to finalise costings, consult with members of All Saints, and apply to the Diocese to make the modifications. Parish Council will keep us informed as they work through various options and stages.

Why make these improvements? Our 100 year old building is a great heritage but was never designed for the needs of contemporary congregational life. One day, God willing, we may get to build a multi-purpose ministry centre. However, in the meantime we hope to make our current facilities more versatile, safer and comfortable for growing congregations. Pray that we might be wise with the resources we have been blessed with. Having an environment that is comfortable to gather in is a small part of being ‘a church to invite your friends to’. The most important renovation however, will always be taking place in our hearts by God’s Spirit — to make us more like Jesus, demonstrating the grace of God, serving and encouraging one another, and growing in faith, hope love. Now that’s a church to bring your friends to! While we have some small renovations on the go, God has the great renovation and restoration project unfolding in his people. Thats why we are patient with each other…because we are his wonderful work in progress!

Geoff Thompson

Why a Weekend Away Together?

David Phillips gives us some reasons why not to miss our house party in September.

“The church weekend away: you’re in an unfamiliar environment, missing the comforts of home, and hanging out with people you generally only see for short stretches of time once—or maybe twice—per week. It sounds like too much hard work! But every now and then, it’s worth giving up some creature comforts in order to build up the church community.

Modern life has compressed church meetings to a couple of hours per week with, perhaps, an extra meeting for Bible study at some other time. This is a big contrast to the early church: in Acts 2, the early Christians were meeting together daily, eating and worshipping. Heaven will be a bit like this: the emphasis is on the gathering, not on individuals (Rev 7:9-10).

Going away for the weekend with a group of Christians provides a different sort of gathering to that of church, with different opportunities for ministry. During a standard church meeting, you worship together (hear a bible talk, sing some songs and pray together), and then you have a short period of time in which you might have a brief conversation with one or two people, and perhaps meet a new person. If you’re particularly gifted at hospitality, you might end up having lunch (or dinner) with someone after the service. But the scope of community is limited. However, on a church camp, you have far more opportunities for worship, for conversation and to share meals. If you want to make the most of these opportunities, it’s best to go about it mindfully.

Different people respond to the challenges of a church weekend away in different ways. There are too few chances to spend extended slabs of time with your church family, building community and sharing life. Just a bit of extra preparation can make a big difference to your experience of a church weekend away and help you make the most of the opportunities you have”

Looking forward to our time away together,

FAITH  |  HOPE  |  LOVE

Geoff Thompson

Why a Weekend Away Together?

David Phillips gives us some reasons why not to miss our house party in September.

“The church weekend away: you’re in an unfamiliar environment, missing the comforts of home, and hanging out with people you generally only see for short stretches of time once—or maybe twice—per week. It sounds like too much hard work! But every now and then, it’s worth giving up some creature comforts in order to build up the church community. Modern life has compressed church meetings to a couple of hours per week with, perhaps, an extra meeting for Bible study at some other time. This is a big contrast to the early church: in Acts 2, the early Christians were meeting together daily, eating and worshipping. Heaven will be a bit like this: the emphasis is on the gathering, not on individuals (Rev 7:9-10).

Going away for the weekend with a group of Christians provides a different sort of gathering to that of church, with different opportunities for ministry. During a standard church meeting, you worship together (hear a bible talk, sing some songs and pray together), and then you have a short period of time in which you might have a brief conversation with one or two people, and perhaps meet a new person. If you’re particularly gifted at hospitality, you might end up having lunch (or dinner) with someone after the service. But the scope of community is limited. However, on a church camp, you have far more opportunities for worship, for conversation and to share meals. If you want to make the most of these opportunities, it’s best to go about it mindfully.

Different people respond to the challenges of a church weekend away in different ways. There are too few chances to spend extended slabs of time with your church family, building community and sharing life. Just a bit of extra preparation can make a big difference to your experience of a church weekend away and help you make the most of the opportunities you have”

Looking forward to our time away together,

FAITH  |  HOPE  |  LOVE

Geoff Thompson

Pentecost Sunday

This Sunday, is Pentecost Sunday. David Woodbridge helpfully describes it as follows; “Pentecost marks the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Church by Jesus, according to His promise. His major role in the Church of God is to see that praise and glory are given to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is described as being like a ‘spot light’ pointing us to Jesus so that we might know Him, trust Him and love Him, and so much more”.

So as we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, where the promised Holy Spirit filled the lives of the apostles. Let us also remember that their celebrations of receiving such a promise were not contained to the upper room. Rather they burst out of that room, as they told the world the great news of Jesus and took the celebrations to the streets. As a result there were about 3,000 who received the words of Peter and were saved. The church as they say was born. As the early church committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer, perhaps this week is a good time to consider our commitment?

This Pentecost Sunday let us consider our own participation in the fellowship, worship, and mission of the church. Let this be a time to renew our commitment to live as an essential member of the body of Christ, using our gifts to build the church and share the love of Christ with each other and our neighbours.

In Christ

Jai McMordie

To those…

This Sunday is Mother’s day, where we celebrate and honour our mums. Yet we also want to acknowledged the wide continuum of mothering, we want all women at All Saints to know that you are appreciated, valued, seen, important and needed in the body of our Church. So this Sunday, on Mother’s day, we at All Saints would like to say:

• To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you.
• To those who lost a child this year—we mourn with you.
• To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains—we appreciate you.
• To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions or running away—we mourn with you.
• To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears and disappointment—we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make things harder.
• To those who are foster moms, mentor moms and spiritual moms—we need you.
• To those who have warm and close relationships with your children—we celebrate with you.
• To those who have disappointment, heartache and distance with your children—we sit with you.
• To those who lost their mothers this year—we grieve with you.
• To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother—we acknowledge your experience.
• To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests and the overall testing of motherhood—we are better for having you in our midst.
• To those who have aborted children—we remember them and you on this day.
• To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children—we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be.
• To those who stepparent—we walk with you on these complex paths.
• To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren, yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you.
• To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year—we grieve and rejoice with you.
• To those who placed children for adoption—we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart.
• And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising—we anticipate with you.

We walk with you!

Words from Amy Young in outreach magazine

In Christ,

Jai McMordie