MIDWEEK MEDITATION

Every Wednesday

6.00pm - 7.00pm GMT

Lady Chapel, St John's Church, Pembroke Dock

Week 1: Lectio Divina Matt 5:3-12 The Beatitiudes (NIV; THE MESSAGE; KJV)

1 Chronicles 4:10 The Jabez Prayer

“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” 1 Chronicles 4:10 (NIV).

 

 

LUKE 18:1-8

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.a 2He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justiceb against my adversary.’

4“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” c

6And the Lord d said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out e to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man f comes, g will he find faith on the earth?”

REVIEW

Friday 7th January was an inspiring evening for those who went along to the Celtic Crossroads prayer meeting, an event to think and pray about how we as Christians can deepen our prayer life and see things change through prayer. This was a response from people who went along to the amazing Awakeover 24th hour prayer event in St Patricks in September.

  Our Nine editor, Jim, set the prayerful tone of the evening by running a PowerPoint presentation. We sang some songs, led on the recorder by Jim and his daughter Jasmine and then spent some time praying some famous prayers from the Bible, as well as reflecting on the gospel story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was a particularly special moment when we prayed through the Lord's prayer really slowly, thinking about what every phrase meant. And it was deeply moving to hear Jim's children pray the words of the Caleb prayer for Wales:

  O High King of Heaven, have mercy on our Land.
Revive your Church.
Send your Holy Spirit for the sake of the children.
May your Kingdom come to our nation.
In Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

  We were then especially privileged to have a talk and discussion led by Lindy Morgan, National Co-ordinator for the 24-7 prayer movement in Wales, a lady brimming with God's love. Lindy travelled from Aberystwyth to be with us and it was good to see her again, as she used to be youth worker for St Michael's Church there when I was a student. She led us in some prayer and talked about the world-wide Christian phenomenon called 24-7 prayer, where Christians of all denominations are praying around the clock to see the world changed for God's glory.

  We then had the chance to talk about how we as Christians in our area could go deeper in prayer, especially thinking about links that could be made between Christians together in Pembrokeshire. But crucially, those that went along left the with a vision: a vision to see our chuches and communities changed by God's power through prayer.

ALUN EVANS

St Patrick's Breastplate

I rise today
in the power’s strength,
invoking the Trinity
believing in threeness,
confessing the oneness,
of creation’s Creator. 
I rise today
in the power of Christ’s birth and baptism,
in the power of His crucifixion and burial,
in the power of His rising and ascending,
in the power of His descending and judging. 
I rise today
in the power of the love of cherubim,
in the obedience of angels and service of archangels,
in hope of rising to receive the reward,
in the prayers of patriarchs,
in the predictions of the prophets,
in the preaching of apostles,
in the faith of confessors,
in the innocence of holy virgins,
in the deeds of the righteous. 
I rise today
in heaven’s might,
in sun’s brightness
in moon’s radiance,
in fire’s glory,
in lightning’s quickness,
in wind’s swiftness,
in sea’s depth,
in earth’s stability,
in rock’s fixity. 
I rise today
with the power of God to pilot me,
God’s strength to sustain me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look ahead for me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to protect me,
God’s way before me,
God’s shield to defend me,
God’s host to deliver me, from snares of devils, from evil temptations, from nature’s failing, from all who wish to harm me, far or near, alone and in a crowd. 
Around me I gather today
all these powers against every cruel and merciless force
to attack my body and soul,
against the charms of false prophets,
the black laws of paganism,
the false laws of heretics,
the deceptions of idolatry,
against spells cast by women, smiths, and druids,
and all unlawful knowledge that harms the body and soul. 
May Christ protect me today
against poison and burning,
against drowning and wounding,
so that I may have abundant reward;
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me;
Christ within me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me;
Christ to the right of me,
Christ to the left of  me;
Christ in my lying,
Christ in my sitting,
Christ in my rising;
Christ in the heart of all who think of me,
Christ on the tongue of all who speak to me,
Christ in the eye of all  who see me,
Christ in the ear of all who hear me. 
I rise today
in power’s strength,
invoking the Trinity,
believing in threeness,
confessing the oneness,
of creation’s Creator. 
For the Lord belongs to salvation,
and to the Lord belongs salvation
and to Christ belongs salvation. 
May your salvation, Lord, be with us always. 

Matthew 11:28

• Jesus said:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Sing repeatedly:

  B       A     B    G

Come be with me

B   A      A       A     G A    G      E

• All you who carry heavy burdens

•  

  G B    A      G    E

• I will give you rest

• G  E    F#   D    E

• I will give you rest

EVENT REMINDER FRIDAY 7TH JAN 2011

CELTIC CROSSROADS MEETING
7pm, St John’s Community Hall
Pembroke Dock
SA72 6AR
A public discussion and prayer meeting about continuous prayer.
Powerpoint presentation featuring prayer, lectio divina, singing,
Special Guest Lindy Morgan – 24/7 prayer coordinator for Wales

NEW ONLINE GROUP

I have set up a new online group, Celtic Crossroads which should make things easier. Please join, you're very welcome. All posts there will be duplicated here and on facebook

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

16 Be joyful always;

17 pray continually;

18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Chronicles 4:10

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.

‎2 Corinthians 5:17

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" New Living Translation (NLT) Happy New Year one and all!

Isaiah 41:10

‎So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

James 1:22-24

‎"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."

Colossians 3:12-14

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Matthew 18:19-20

19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Romans 12:6-8

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully

1 Peter 5:7-10

7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8 Be self- controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Ephesians 5:17-20

‎Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

APRIL FOOLISHNESS

A 24 hour prayer event is being planned for 1st APRIL 2011 in Pembroke Dock. This has been linked to PRAY WALES 2011

MEETING!

The inaugural meeting of Celtic Crossroads will now take place on Friday 7th January 2011 at 7pm in St John's Community Hall, Pembroke Dock, and as well as featuring the original presentation, will also feature guest speaker LINDY MORGAN, the 24/7 prayer coordinator for the whole of Wales. This will be a VERY interesting and stimulating evening. DON'T MISS IT!

NEW MEETING

The inaugural meeting of Celtic Crossroads will now take place on Friday 7th January 2011 at 7pm in St John's Community Hall, Pembroke Dock, and as well as featuring the original presentation, will also feature guest speaker LINDY MORGAN, the 24/7 prayer coordinator for the whole of Wales. This will be a VERY interesting and stimulating evening. DON'T MISS IT!

MEETING/BEGINNING POSTPONED

The meeting which was due to take place today, 19/11/2010, has been postponed. It will take place on 7th January. Same time, same place.

PRAY FOR PEACE

I forget now where this came from, but I read somewhere that:

"If everyone in the world prayed for peace for just one minute of every day, then there would be Peace on Earth."

If anyone knows who said this, please let us know.

EMAIL ADDRESS

celticrossroads@gmail.com
This is a dedicated email address for the Celtic Crossroads community and should only be used for queries related to the community. No other correspondence will be entered into.
Please feel free to post questions and comments, prayer requests or testimony here on the blog, but the email address is there for more personal matters.

MEETING FRIDAY 19/11/10

A public meeting has been scheduled to discuss Celtic Crossroads. This meeting is open to anyone and everyone who is able to attend.
Where? St John's Community Hall, Pembroke Dock
When? Friday 19th November at 7pm
There will be prayers, a presentation, and refreshments.

LET US PRAY

THE LORD'S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name,

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth,

As it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil,

For thine is the kingdom,

The power and the glory,

For ever and ever,

Amen.

PRAYER HAS CONSEQUENCES

THE JESUS PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

a sinner.