Recorded in Belfast in Assembly Building’s Weir Chapel, Dr Bruce looks at Ephesians 6:10-17, where Paul writes about the spiritual battle Christians face together as the church – and the armour provided to fight it effectively.
“I will also be highlighting the work of the Bible societies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, making reference to the special gift of a Bible which was presented to me at the start of my year in office,” Dr Bruce said.
“The Bible, as the Word of God, is described as the ‘Sword of the Spirit’ in the passage we are looking at today, and is one of the six elements of what Paul calls the ‘armour of God’. Each serves a different purpose, and we will look at them in turn. Paul, as we know, was in chains in Rome while writing this, which means that there were Roman guards all around – he may even at certain points in the day, have been chained to a guard himself, so it’s easy to see why he uses this powerful picture.”
This week members the Presbytery of Iveagh join Dr Bruce. During the service Presbytery Clerk, Rev Gordon Best, minister of Newmills Presbyterian along with Presbytery Moderator, Rev Trevor Boyd, minister of First Rathfriland Presbyterian Church, will introduce the Presbytery, read and pray.
Presbytery of Iveagh
Formed in 1962 by an amalgamation of the former Banbridge and Rathfriland Presbyteries, the Presbytery of Iveagh is named after the historic title associated with the south and west County Down area, where its 27 congregations are located.
From the popular coastal resort of Newcastle in the east, the Presbytery runs north-westwards through the Mourne foothills and the Bann Valley, taking in the towns of Rathfriland and Banbridge. It then stretches as far as Gilford, Donacloney and Tandragee on its western border. Four of its congregations, Magherally, First Rathfriland, Tullylish and Loughbrickland, were all formed in the earliest period of Presbyterian Settlement in Ulster in the 17th century. Today, some 10,000 people claim a connection with the congregations within the Presbytery’s bounds.
Songs and hymns in this week’s service include:
- Who is on the Lord’s side?
- Sovereign over us
- Be Thou my Vision
- In Christ Alone.
To help respond to God’s word today, the Moderator has asked Rev Andy Downey to lead us in prayers for others. Andy was installed in Castlewellan and Leitrim just six weeks before lockdown in March of this year.
Next week…
Next week, in the final talk in this series on Ephesians, Dr Bruce will look at Chapter 6:18-24 under the theme ‘A praying church’. On this occasion he will be joined by members of the Ballymena Presbytery where, as an Assistant in the Wellington Street congregation in the town, he started out in ministry in 1985.