| I have really enjoyed digging into the book of Deuteronomy and preparing sermons for Sunday mornings at Knockbreda. It is a magnificent book, though one I have not been very familiar with up until now. Lockdown challenged me to look at a Bible book which anticipates what the future should be like when we trust in God.
The current sermon series comes to an end this Sunday and one text I will sadly not have the opportunity to preach on is Deuteronomy 33.26-27.
‘There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
who rides across the heavens to help you
and on the clouds in his majesty.
The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.’
‘Jeshurun’ means the upright one and is a poetic name for Israel. God has taken care of his people and has led them from Egypt, through the desert to the point where they are on the edge of the promised land. Considering all he has brought them through they can wholeheartedly trust him. And so can we. He is the eternal God, our refuge, whose arms are always outstretched to catch us and comfort us. No matter what a pandemic throws at us, Christian believers can be assured that the Lord is their protector.
I will be preaching this Sunday about the faithfulness of God in a season of change from Deuteronomy 31.1-18. The reading for Mark’s Sunday evening sermon is John chapter 10. I hope you can join us on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrvBYWQeGj2UjQ8TckCFbHQ
Chris and Lotta
As part of Sunday morning’s service I will be interviewing Chris Strajnic our mission partner in Stockholm. Chris and Lotta have sent us this very encouraging prayer letter.
Dear friends and prayer partners,
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” Ps. 145:3
In a couple of days we went from an early spring to an extremely warm summer.
For the the Ascension day (bank holiday) we wanted to seize the occasion and decided as a church to meet up and have BBQ together at the park. It was remarkable to see everybody again, to catch up and have fellowship. It was such a success that we decided we will do it again, on 14th of June. Instead of having a family service on Zoom we will have it in the park followed by BBQ. And of course we do keep the recommended rules of social distancing during this Corona time.
We are slowly wrapping up the bible study groups for the summer. In Uppsala we are finishing with the “Five Solas – These truths alone” from the Goodbook Company. Next Tuesday it will be the last meeting, and we’ll finish off with a BBQ. It will be a farewell party for us at the same time. Five years ago we started a bible study group in Uppsala, while we lived there. Throughout the years we worked with the Gospel and the basics of christian faith and at the same time trained new leaders. We have seen people come to Christ, grow and mature in their Christian faith. We have come to the point when it’s time for us to pass on the baton to new leaders, especially now as our work is growing in Stockholm, we feel that we need to focus more on that for the time being.
After a prayerful time we decided that it is not the right time to plant a church in Uppsala, for now at least. We neither do have the resources nor a church planter, but we will keep that option open for the future. Daniel who has been part of the group from the beginning and is trained to lead will take over. He is a member in a local church in Uppsala so the group will continue under that church. There are mixed feelings concerning the Uppsala group; sadness, but at the same time excitement, hopefulness, gratefulness and joy.
For a year Lotta has worked in a bible school as a substitute teacher in the Old Testament. It has now come to its end and Lotta is so grateful for the given opportunity.
Chris is finishing his sermon series from Philippians in June and in the autumn he will do a series from the book of Acts.
Thanksgiving:
- For Lotta’s teaching that went well.
- For our bible study groups both in Uppsala and in Åkersberga, it’s so encouraging to see people’s love for the word of God.
Prayer points:
- For those in Emmaus church who are struggling with loneliness because of the Covid-19.
- For the Online bible study group in Åkersberga
- Pray for the future of the Uppsala group and for Daniel who is leading the group
Yours in Christ,
Chris & Lotta
Church Online
Various church groups continue to meet online for prayer, fellowship and Bible teaching.
The Tuesday night prayer group meets on WhatsApp for a very productive time of prayer. If you would like prayer for yourself or others please contact me.
The Impact group for women met on Zoom last night (Thursday) and if you would like to join them for their next catch-up please contact Claire.
Mark’s home group continues to meet on Zoom every other Tuesday – new members welcome!
The Vestry met via Zoom on Tuesday week ago and were encouraged by a recorded message from the bishop. All the bishop’s messages for the diocesan ten days of prayer can be found on the diocesan website downanddromore.org .
A small group of us meet on Zoom once a week as we use the Biblica course to read the New Testament in 8 weeks. This is a challenging but fruitful course! If you would like to do something like it in the near future please let me know and I can get one organised.Jonny, Mark and I continue to post devotional Bible talks on the church Facebook page. Please feel free to ‘Share’ those as an act of witness to any Facebook friends.
Don’t forget to ‘follow’ Knockbreda Sunday School’s Facebook page for other children’s resources.
Prayer
The Evangelical Alliance is establishing a ‘Walk and Prayer’ initiative.
They write, ‘We invite you to embark on regular prayer walks during the lockdown. This will be a time when you are attentive to God’s presence in the places you walk, seeing God’s heart for the people and challenges around you and responding to His Spirit as you seek to love your neighbours. You will join with other Christians around the country when you use this prayer resource to inspire and guide your prayers for people in this time and place.’
An Evangelical Alliance prayer for use at this time:
We thank you, Lord, for the gospel – the good news of Jesus, and His life, death, resurrection and ascension.
We pray that the saving message of love, hope, forgiveness and salvation in Him may go forward to all parts of the UK in the power of your Spirit.
Lord, we ask that many will encounter you for the first time and that others may have a fresh knowledge of your love and grace.
Move in our nations in saving power, we pray.
In Jesus’ name
Amen
Thank you for your prayers for the Knockbreda church family at this time.
Take care. God bless.
Sincerely in Christ,
Bill |
