• 247,000 resources have already been ordered, from family-friendly Kingdom Kits, Thy Kingdom Come gospels, prayer journals and Novenas, model service plans and liturgies. There’s still time to order or download here: https://www.thykingdomcome.global/search/resources?tags=1&theme_id=1
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• Participants will also be encouraged to post their own prayers and images which will be captured from social media and displayed on a prayer wall on the Thy Kingdom Come website.

Your words can…

Affirm and encourage

Divide a family

Build someone’s self-esteem

Tear down a person’s self-esteem

Work people into a frenzy

Disrupt unity

Bring comfort

Create panic

Express love

Incite violence

Inspire confidence

Spread mistrust

Communicate value

Destroy reputations

Resolve conflict

Wound deeply

Bring healing

“The tongue has the power of life and death…”  Proverbs 18:21a (NIV)

Use words to bless and speak life into others.

“Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”  Proverbs 16:24 (NLT)

Our culture is convinced that all truth claims are personal and subjective, elevating tolerance as the apex value of our day. Anything you do that doesn’t hurt me is now acceptable morality. Obviously, we cannot find truth in a society that doesn’t believe truth exists. (Denison)

I always encourage couples who are getting married to make a commitment to take a regular, in-depth look at their relationship. This doesn’t replace the ordinary, everyday talks – or even rows! They are times – perhaps three or four a year – to set aside an evening or weekend simply to talk about us. It’s an opportunity to discuss, listen, and give each other the right to raise any issue. When couples manage to have these ‘pit stops’ regularly, they usually find it’s easier to raise issues without either party feeling threatened.

Those pit stops may hold some surprises. They may show that a fantastic father or mother needs to be a good husband or wife as well. They may reveal that one of the partners is beginning to feel ’part of the furniture’. And a couple may realize that unless they put an end to those sarcastic comments, the hurt caused will result in them drifting further and further apart.

Rob Parsons(Excerpt)  Care for family

https://capuk.org/connect/keep-up-to-date/blog/how-can-i-help-a-friend-or-family-member-who-has-an-addiction?utm_content=buffer2c346&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Devon based charity Restore are working with trafficked women to give them long term support. Survivors of trafficking currently receive 45 days of government-funded support. Restore says ” survivors are still coming to terms with what has happened to them and in many cases have not even begun to heal”

When the women are referred to Restore, they are given a safe place to recover for an extra year. With the mission statement “rebuilding the life intended for survivors of human trafficking”

http://www.to-restore.org/

(Stewardship)

A Somali lady in Kenya became a believer after speaking to Christian friends. Although fearful of being rejected by her community, she received a dream from the Lord in which He told her that the truth was more important than the respect of her community.

After her conversion she had to leave home for her own safety.

First, no-one disputed the fact that Jesus died on the cross. He was seen to breathe his last by eye-witnesses, and was certified dead by Roman soldiers whose very business was killing. They decided not to break Jesus’ legs (customary practice to hasten death in crucifixion), because they were convinced he was dead already; and this was confirmed by the observation of ‘blood and water’ (separated cells and serum) coming from his pierced side. This only occurs as a post-mortem event.

The so-called ‘swoon’ theory, that Jesus may have only fainted and revived in the cool of the tomb, does not hold water. It involves believing that a man beaten to within an inch of his life, impaled on a cross and then wrapped in 75 pounds of bandages and spices (rather like a plaster of Paris cast!) could somehow unwrap himself, push away a one ton boulder, single-handedly overcome an armed Roman guard; and then persuade over 500 others that he had conquered death. The foolishness of this position is evidenced by the fact that no-one dared suggest the possibility until centuries later. Would Christ, the model of integrity, really deceive his followers by claiming he had risen when he knew he hadn’t? Apart from the testimony of eye-witnesses, no non-Christian historian at the time (see Josephus, Pliny, Tacitus and Lucian) doubted that Jesus died.

Second, the body was gone. If the Jews had removed it (Mary’s immediate assumption) then they would simply have reproduced it at the first rumour of resurrection. If the disciples had removed it, they would not have subsequently been prepared to die for what they knew had not happened. In any case, the tomb was heavily guarded, and they had all run for their lives when Jesus was arrested. Pilgrims never flocked to Jesus’ tomb. It was empty.

Third, the post-resurrection appearances were impressive. Despite Jesus’ repeated predictions that he would rise from the dead, all his followers first thought of other explanations for the missing corpse. What convinced them? Mary, the twelve disciples, the followers on the Emmaus Road, Paul and 500 others (1 Cor 15:6) became convinced when they saw him. Some have suggested hallucinations as an alternative explanation; but hallucinations do not occur with varied groups, on multiple occasions, in different places, over a period of several weeks. They don’t light beach fires or eat fish either!

Fourth, one has to account for the rapid spread of Christianity after Christ’s death. Most of the twelve disciples later died for their belief that Jesus was God. Although dying for a belief does not make it true, the point is this: they came to believe in Christ’s divinity after being convinced that he really had risen from the dead. It was this conviction that transformed them from fearful cowards into the bold apostles who literally turned the world upside down. The survival and growth of the early church resulted from the unshakeable belief that Jesus was alive.

Fifth is the personal experience of Christians, generations of people who have come to know Jesus as a person, with whom they enjoy a genuine friendship. Christianity is not just a creed to be followed nor an ideology to be embraced; it is a dynamic relationship with a real living God – through Jesus Christ.

People who are unconvinced by the above usually have philosophical objections to miracles per se. Here, no amount of sound historical evidence will convince them. But in reality, the real miracle is the incarnation. Once we allow for the possibility that God exists and could become a man; then a resurrection presents no difficulty at all. It is then a case of reviewing the evidence.

Ultimately, the fundamental block to belief in the resurrection is often not intellectual, but moral. In Jesus’ own words, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ (Luke 16:31) For those who choose not to believe, no amount of evidence will suffice.