Displaying items by tag: carl brettle

This Christmas, the World Prayer Centre, Birmingham encourages Christians to shine their light in their communities, grappling with a severe mental health crisis marked in part by alarming suicide rates across the UK. Tragic stories of despair, such as a teenager in Nottingham, a girl in Belfast suffering from online abuse, and a former rugby player's suicide, highlight the urgency of bringing hope and light to those in pain. The 'Shine Your Light' campaign urges Christians to step out of their churches and engage with their communities in meaningful ways. On the weekend of 16-17 December, through events in town halls, high streets, and public places, Christians will be encouraged to gather, pray, and ask for Jesus's light on the nation. Churches and individuals are invited to sign up and participate, bringing hope and the light of Jesus to their communities. For further details, including the resources available, go to the campaign website below.

Firstly, a ‘Prayer For Pilgrims’ with our prayer that you have a very blessed Season of Spiritual Renewal and Strength in these days of Pentecost:

Father in Heaven,

Mould me into Christlikeness;

And Stir up in me,

the Fire of Your Love.

Holy Spirit,

Fill me with Your Power;

And Help me to Tell of the Love

And Salvation in Jesus of Nazareth.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of the Father,

Renew my Friendship in You;

And help me to Serve You

With a Quiet Mind

and a Burning Spirit.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Please Keep Me

In the Joy, Simplicity,

and Compassion

Of Your Holy Gospel. Amen

More at:https://www.archbishopofyork.org/priorities/pilgrimage-prayer-witness-and-blessing/pilgrimage-prayers

What Pentecost Did...

There are loads of posts today about the impact of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to us.

This a brilliant video map that shows us the influence of the Gospel around the world since Pentecost. 

It maps the spread of the Gospel across time - all of course empowered by the Holy Spirit.  It's interesting that Communism and other influences were relatively short lived, but Christianity has been pretty much on a constant march ever since Jesus came.

Just click the map to follow the link: https://www.carlbrettle.com/post/what-pentecost-did

Carl Brettle

More at:https://www.carlbrettle.com/post/what-pentecost-did

Launched on the 25th March 2017, we are aiming to see at least one church per day encourage their congregation walk 'A Mile with Jesus' over the next two years. We are trying to see one church in every postcode area of the UK take part. To date we have had 30 churches from across the UK take part.

The vision came to our Neighbourhood Prayer Network, prayer co-ordinator at the end of a 2 week period of fasting in October 2015. As she was praying she said to God, ' I will go a mile with you.'

She felt the Holy Spirit respond saying, as many as will go a mile with Him, He will go with them.

People have had profound encounters with God as they have walked a mile, or for those unable to do a physical mile, sat at home with a map.

When I personally did several miles with Jesus, I felt God asking me to pray for people I would not normally pray for (silently) and He also told me to look around at all the people that I saw and He told me that He didn't want just some of these people 'saved' but for every last person I could see, to come into relationship with Him. He reminded me of the scripture, 'the Harvest is plentiful, the workers are few, pray for Lord to send more workers into the field.'

My heart attitude to people I might normally walk by without much thought was changed as God reminded me of the love he has for all people without exception. This experience has had a lasting impact on me as I now pray for my heart to be open to loving people more.

'A Mile with Jesus' is also intended to prepare the ground for the HOPE 2018 year of mission where denominational leaders have pledged to aim to see church growth of 10% next year.

Our partners for this are HOPE, World Prayer Centre, Pray for Scotland, National Weekend of Prayer, National Day of Prayer and Worship and 24-7 prayer. Our partnerships are expanding.

One of the things we hope to see is people who would not normally take part in prayer walks joining in. We have written a prayer guide with these people in mind.

Some church leaders have commented that this is something fairly easy to encourage people to do.

To take part

1. Choose a date for your church and sign up at www.neighbourhoodprayer.net/amilewithJesus
2. Decide if you are just going to encourage people to walk a mile on this date as they go to work etc, or if you want to do it as a church altogether...
3. If you want prayer pointers, order our resource 'A Mile with Jesus' from www.resourcesforchurch.com
4. Consider asking other churches to join and get any feedback from people's prayer times that might reveal something God is saying specifically to Your church.

We are keen for churches to sign up in July and August as this part of the calendar is hard to fill with holidays.

If your Church would like to get involved, Click Here to Sign Up.

We've produced a great 36 page, full colour, Prayer Guide to complement A Mile with Jesus,and it's available in single copies, Digital Download or as a Church Pack of 15 with Free P&P.

Originally designed for those with little or no experience of prayer walking, seasoned prayer-walkers have also said how much they have enjoyed using it!