Recorded in Belfast in Assembly Building’s Weir Chapel, Dr Bruce looks at Ephesians 6:18-24. In his concluding service, in this particular series, he looks at how Paul encourages the church to pray, and in doing so, shows them how to do it. At the same time, the Moderator explains why it is an essential and nourishing part of the Christian life.
“Not withstanding his education, prodigious intellect and leadership qualities, Paul knew himself to be a mere infant before God, utterly dependent, and helpless without the power of his Father in heaven to do anything of worth. “Pray also for me…” he says. And this is perhaps the essence of prayer,” Dr Bruce explained.
“You can’t truly pray from a position of great human self-confidence. We can only truly pray from a position of helplessness knowing the truth of our standing as human persons before God. Paul needed to pray – and needed others to pray for him, not in spite of his many accomplishments and talents, but probably because of them.
“Prayer is our family heartbeat as children of God and as one writer put it, the Christian’s ‘vital breath’, and it comes to us as a direct result of what we have learned to be true about ourselves and God in relationship. Paul is very specific about how we should exercise this privilege of free access to God in prayer, giving us four angles to follow. Today we will look at each one,” Dr Bruce said.
This week Dr Bruce is joined by members the Presbytery of Ballymena, where he started out in ministry in 1985 as the ordained assistant in Wellington Street Presbyterian Church. During the service Presbytery Clerk, Rev Joseph Andrews, minister of Ballee Presbyterian along with Presbytery Moderator, Rev Eddie Chestnut, minister of Harryville Presbyterian in Ballymena, will introduce the Presbytery, read and pray.
Songs and hymns in this week’s service include:
- What a Friend we have in Jesus
- No longer a slave to fear
- Christ our hope in life and death.
Presbytery of Ballymena
The Presbytery of Ballymena is made up of 31 congregations, that range in size from 39 to 735 families, making up a local Presbyterian family of 19,500 individuals. The oldest congregation, First Ballymena, dates back to 1627, while the most recent, Ballee, was opened in 1976.
Bounded by the North Channel on the east Antrim coast, the Presbytery extends southwards to Eskylane, then west to Tamlaght O’ Crilly, in County Londonderry, and northwards to Rasharkin, through Clough and Newtowncrommelin to Cushendall.
Ballymena is the principal town, with Broughshane, Cullybackey, Ahoghill and Portglenone being the main villages. The Presbytery also takes in the nine glens that make up the famous Glens of Antrim.
To help respond to God’s word today, the Moderator has asked Rev Alistair Bates of Wellington Street Presbyterian Church to lead in prayers for others.
Forthcoming services…
While the Moderator is temporarily pausing his online services for now, he will be calling the church to pray at the end of November as part of a special series of initiatives around the theme ‘At Home for Christmas’, so please watch this space.