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20 October 2021 Charmaine’s Update

E te Whanau a te Karaiti   
Dear  Church Family

The prayer of the righteous is very powerful and effective  James 5:16
There is enormous power in prayer. 

As followers of Christ we have this blessed assurance in John 14: 13:
 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

A Call to Pray and Fast
Last night at our Zoom Vestry Meeting the idea was raised that we should make a special call for the Parish to pray for New Zealand during this Covid crisis.
As Christians we know the power of prayer and its importance during a time of crisis such as we are experiencing at present. Therefore on behalf of the Church Leadership Team, I am  invite you to pray for New Zealand and to do so intentionally this coming Monday 25th October, which is Labour Day.
The idea is that each member of our church in his or her own way, sets time aside on Monday, to pray intentionally for New Zealand and how we are to  navigate our way out of the Covid 19 pandemic. 

Traditionally when such a call is made we couple it with some kind of fasting.
Fasting has the effect of sharpening our awareness of the matter for which we are praying.
Fasting can be as simple as not having coffee on the day of prayer or as demanding as not eating for a period of 12 hours. Whichever, I invite you to consider fasting as you pray. 
Furthermore how you pray is also an individual choice. For example, you may like to set your phone alarm and pray for a couple of minutes on the hour, or you may like to set bigger chunks of time aside to pray. 
Please think seriously about taking this opportunity to pray intentionally with your church family for Aotearoa New Zealand on Monday.

Jesus encourages us to do so when he says:
Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them. Matthew 18: 20 
 
This coming Sunday Rev Murray Spackman is the preacher for our livestreamed Worship Service at 9.30am. As usual you can access our Sunday worship live at 9.30am or recorded at any time after that  by clicking on  https://www.youtube.com/user/HolyTrinityDevonport 

Daily morning prayers continue on You Tube at 9am  each day apart from Sunday and Monday . Click on this link https://www.youtube.com/user/HolyTrinityDevonport .
Depending on Geoff’s work schedule these are either pre-recorded or live. 

Food parcels and pastoral care meals continue to be available on a contactless basis. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you need one, or if you know of someone else who could do with one (021857997).

Our Youth Groups are meeting online and they welcome  any young people who would like to join them for these sessions.
You can catch Liam and the team at the following times using the links below:

GAP small group Wednesday 4.30pm – https://bit.ly/2WWfOLk
Youth group Friday night 6.30pm – https://bit.ly/3tmfF04
Sunday morning youth 11am – https://bit.ly/3kZmDUN

If you’d like a chat, please don’t hesitate to call me 021857997.
If you have a prayer need then please either let me know or Prudence Cooke and we will put your name on our church prayer chain 4451141.
 
In the words of  the great Christian author, Frederick Brotherton Meyer,

The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer. 

Kia kaha 
Bless you all 
Charmaine 

vicar@holytrinity.gen.nz 
021857997

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