It feels strange to be talking about the start of a new year in August, but it’s one of the funny ways that church life unfolds that we think from September to the end of June, rather than January to December. Those already beginning to turn their thoughts to the next church year will be interested to hear that three new resources for use in congregational life and witness will be released for the beginning of September.
Let us worship God
To come and meet with the living God in worship is the greatest invitation any of us will ever get. It arrives every Sunday. We take it up, and yet the wonder of encountering God in worship can pass us by through distraction, boredom or just going through the motions.
Yet God promises that as we draw near to him, he will draw near to us (James 4:8). How can that become more of a reality in our worship Sunday by Sunday? One answer to that question is through cultivating a greater appreciation of what happens in worship.
Ideal for use in a small group, or in an alternative Sunday night setting, ENCOUNTER is a six-part DVD Bible study resource leading participants to reflect more deeply on a number of aspects of worship, including gathering, confession, illumination and sending. It unpacks the worship service as a journey and conversation with God, aiming to foster a greater awareness of God in weekly worship.
Let us pray
Prayer is such a basic necessity, yet it remains a difficult discipline to sustain in church life. ASK is a series of twelve beautifully illustrated postcard sized prayer prompts for use by members in private prayer and in Sunday worship. Unpacking words from Scripture, each card offers a theme for prayer for your church intended to help the whole congregation pray in unison for its life and witness.
The cards can be used on a monthly basis to correspond with the changing seasons of the church year. One of the four prayer prompts could then act as a weekly focus for prayer in church services. Alternatively, one theme could become the focus for a quarter, a special season of prayer, or even a whole year.
Let us encourage one another
Under the name PROXIMITY, the first of a series of new discipleship resources for use in one-to-one or other small scale relational discipling, the resource will provide a seven-part framework to unpack what it means to follow Jesus in a range of seasons of life, such as change, disappointment and rest.
Each session digs into the Bible and offers practical questions to help balance personal reflection and practical conversation. Four movements will take users into the theme, into the Bible, into conversation and into their lives with the aim of applying the wisdom of God’s Word to real life circumstances.
So whether it is encountering God in worship, in prayer, or in journeying together as disciples, there are plenty of new resources for every congregation to take and use in developing their church’s life and witness over the next year.
David Thompson is Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s Council for Congregational Life and Witness.