Dear friends and parishioners of Knockbreda,
‘On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.’ Acts 16.13-14.
Lydia, the dealer in purple cloth is usually regarded as the first Christian convert ever in Europe. She was one one of those who had gathered for prayer, one Sabbath morning, by the river in Philippi. Her conversion to Christ is described in a very beautiful way. As Paul spoke the gospel, ‘the Lord opened her heart’ to respond. How lovely that those two elements were used to bring her to faith in Jesus: the gospel was spoken and her heart was opened. We will be thinking about both these things this Sunday in our YouTube service as we continue reading and preaching through 1 Corinthians. I hope you can join us then.
In this week’s email I would like to remind you of some details regarding the Easter Vestry and then two notices from mission societies SAMS and the Leprosy Mission.
Easter vestry
It seems no time since we had a meeting of the General Vestry! However, we are obliged to have one in 2021. At Knockbreda this will be on Wednesday 21 April at 7.30pm. All registered general vestry members are entitled to attend.
The register of vestry members will be reviewed on Monday 15th February so applications to be included on the register should be with me by that date.
To become a registered vestry member you need to be over 18, a regular subscriber to church funds and sign a form obtainable from the wardens (or myself). During this time of lockdown the best way to receive the appropriate form is to contact me directly.
SAMS (from Stephen McIlhinney)
Dear SAMS Ireland friends:
We are delighted to announce that this year Friday Night Live will appear as a Facebook Premier Video:
SAMS Ireland Facebook page: Facebook/samsireland1 (Search Facebook : @samsireland1)
Date : Friday 5th Feb.
Time : 7.30- 8.30pm (UK time)
Immediately following this Premier Video , there will be an opportunity to join a country Zoom Room (Paraguay, Chile and Perú) for a time of informal prayer (from 8.30- 9.00pm).
Zoom logon details to follow. For security reasons, the zoom prayer rooms will require a simple password for ‘entry’. This will be given towards the end of the Facebook Premier Video.
Please share this with friends, families and churches.
We look forward to seeing you online soon!
Stephen McElhinney (Rev)
Leprosy Mission
Here’s a notice from the Leprosy Mission.
Call to Prayer: 4 days to go!
Hear from Fiona Davidson, board chair of TLMNI as she helps prepare our hearts for a day of prayer.
There is still time to register for our day of prayer on Friday 29th January.
To register simply visit the CONTACT US page on our website.
Don’t forget to let us know which session you plan on attending, 10am, 2pm or 7pm.
You can attend as many as you want!
We would love to cover this day in prayer with as many people as possible, so please invite friends,
family and members from your church.
If you can’t join us at any sessions but would still like to pray for us on the day please contact us and I
can send you a list of prayer requests from our global colleagues.
Don’t forget to join us on World Leprosy Day (Sunday 31st January) for our annual service.
This year it will be live streamed at 3:30pm on our Facebook and YouTube page.
See you then!
Thank you for your continued support.
Every Blessing
Rebecca Parnell
Church Partnership Officer
Sunday Services
Sunday morning church continues on YouTube. Join us on the Knockbreda YouTube channel by clicking the following link:
Knockbreda Parish, Belfast – YouTube
We are reading through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and discovering why the gospel needs to be the centrepiece of every church.
Sunday School is also producing a brilliant little video for boys and girls each week and you can find it on our YouTube channel.
You will find a marvellous episode of ‘Shake, rattle and rhyme’ for our tinies on the Knockbreda YouTube channel too. Please share all these ministries on your social media.
Sunday evening church is on Zoom from 6.30pm. This is a great encouragement for an hour because it lets us see members of the church ‘live’ and enjoy fellowship and chat together.
To join us just click the following link, shortly before 6.30 on Sunday.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87126830700?pwd=TkU5TzcvR1F4RWI5dmVVT21WUGFPQT09
Meeting ID: 871 2683 0700
Passcode: 386670
I have been delighted to hear of parishioners signing up to the Explore Bible Devotions app. These are the normal Explore notes for daily Bible readings which we are recommending – plus a few extra app features. You will be able to use Explore on your phone once you have downloaded the app from your provider.
To join me on Zoom for our Christianity Explored course please email billclaire.press@gmail.com.
That’s all for this week. If there is any way we can help at this time of lockdown please contact me at the rectory.
Take care, God bless,
Bill
