BH Bulletin - Monday 9 August 2021

Thought for the Day by Simon James-Morse ​(Minister of Goldstone Church)

39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”
41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.
45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”
Luke 22:39-46 (NLT)

In our society today, we are often subjected to great pressures, e.g. heavy workloads, strained relationships, tight economic conditions, pandemic fears, etc. Furthermore, with advanced modern technology, we are exposed to even greater challenges; the Internet can lure us into temptation, even to the point of addiction.
Jesus’ experience of praying in the Garden of Gethsemane shows that prayer is a pressure releasing tool. It is the best weapon to withstand the Devil’s temptation. It is the best channel that helps us maintain a close, personal relationship with God. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome the attacks of the Evil One.
As someone said, “If life gets too hard to stand… kneel.” God invites us to be with Him in prayer; to release the tension and carry everything that life throws at us to God in prayer.

• When we face difficulties in our work, daily life or service to God, do we rely on ourselves, or do we lay our problems in God’s hands through prayer?
• What difficulties do we encounter when learning to pray? How do we overcome them?

 
Heavenly Father, forgive my laziness in spiritual exercise; forgive me for not persevering in my prayer life and not maintaining a close relationship with You through prayer. Dear Lord, strengthen my faith today through prayer! In Jesus’ name, Amen

---

Living Well Bible Studies

One of our ‘top goals’ of 2020 was to help us grow in our confidence and understanding with regard to Mental Health. As part of this goal Chris Dalton produced some really excellent Bible studies to help us think through some of these big questions. Chris writes: 'Living Well is a series of 6 studies with practical outcomes that looks amongst other things at the Biblical view of our identity , our significance, our security and how that helps us to live well. There’s a workbook to accompany the studies which helps participants to reflect on what they discover through the weeks.’ Chris ran the course over zoom a number of times and now, Chris is considering running it again in person at some point in the Autumn.
​ 
If you might be interested it attending this then please email the office and then we can see if it might be possible to run a course at a suitable time in the Autumn.

---

---

It's not too late!