Day: July 12, 2013

West Belfast: 24/7 Prayer Team

20130708_183159Peanut Gallery: I’m off to Northern Ireland today to meet up with a small mission team from 24/7 Prayer International.

A prayer community in West Belfast issued the call through 24/7 Prayer International (which I have been following online) and I heard it as the Holy Spirit’s word to me to reconnect with what God is doing in Belfast… and to offer “words of encouragement” as in today’s morning reading.

Four of us, from Scotland, England, Slovakia and USA, responded to the world-wide invitation. We’ll meet each other, and the West Belfast community, for the first time on Sunday in Belfast. Our team’s different backgrounds, experiences and wide age span (23, 33, 43, 73) will provide the West Belfast community with a rich variety of perspectives… and will be a learning experience for us all.

I’ve been to Belfast four times before. The first time was in 1992, on an official Presbyterian (PCUSA) Reconciliation Mission to assess NGO funding possibilities in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland was in the thick of “The Troubles,” and under the direct rule from London… it was an armed camp. We were given access to high level people on all sides of the divide – political, religious and social. It was was truly a once-in-a-lifetime insight into the conflict.

Following up, I participated in two month-long, summer pulpit exchanges with a Presbyterian Pastor in Belfast.  My family accompanied me and we were welcomed and received most warmly by the church community. It was a wonderful opportunity to personally connect with good, decent, Christian people who were trying to make a positive Christian witness during difficult times. My last visit to Belfast was on a quick layover from other travel.

But all of that was before 1998, when the Belfast “Good Friday” Agreement was signed. A lot has changed since then, but deep wounds remain and mutual trust is low. And, Northern Ireland is currently going through difficult economic times.

An Eleventh Night bonfire in the loyalist Highfield Estate in west Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.
An Eleventh Night bonfire in the loyalist Highfield Estate in west Belfast. Picture by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

The Belfast Telegraph is a good read to catch up on what’s going on… particularly during this holiday weekend of “The Twelfth” with its bonfires and parades.

It’s a curious time to be traveling to West Belfast on a mission of encouragement and prayer. But the Holy Spirit has his own way in these things, and that’s good enough for me.

I’ll keep you posted.

Morning Reading: Acts 13:16-43 NLT – words of encouragement

Reading: Acts 13:16-43 NLT

Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. But Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia.

Looking toward the site of Pisidian Antioch. Atop the ridge in the center of the photo is the aqueduct that supplied water to the city.
Looking toward the site of Pisidian Antioch.
Atop the ridge in the center of the photo is the aqueduct that supplied water to the city.

On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue for the services. After the usual readings from the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, come and give it.”

So Paul stood, lifted his hand to quiet them, and started speaking. “Men of Israel,” he said, “and you God-fearing Gentiles, listen to me.

“The God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them multiply and grow strong during their stay in Egypt. Then with a powerful arm he led them out of their slavery. He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Then he destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to Israel as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years.

“After that, God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said,

‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’

“And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel! Before he came, John the Baptist preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized. As John was finishing his ministry he asked,

‘Do you think I am the Messiah? No, I am not! But he is coming soon—and I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the sandals on his feet.’

“Brothers—you sons of Abraham, and also you God-fearing Gentiles—this message of salvation has been sent to us! The people in Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the one the prophets had spoken about. Instead, they condemned him, and in doing this they fulfilled the prophets’ words that are read every Sabbath. They found no legal reason to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway.

“When they had done all that the prophecies said about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead! And over a period of many days he appeared to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people of Israel.

“And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. This is what the second psalm says about Jesus:

‘You are my Son.  Today I have become your Father.’

For God had promised to raise him from the dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave. He said,

‘I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David.’

Another psalm explains it more fully:

‘You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.’

This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed. No, it was a reference to someone else—someone whom God raised and whose body did not decay.

“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do. Be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said,

‘Look, you mockers, be amazed and die! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.’”

As Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue that day, the people begged them to speak about these things again the next week. Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, and the two men urged them to continue to rely on the grace of God.

Prayer: Holy God – Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord… who brings the Good News of forgiveness, reconciliation and eternal life! Fill us with your Spirit, power and grace… that all might know Jesus is Lord. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “Grace Alone” – Scott Wesley Brown /Jeff Nelson
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