We don’t need to talk to too many church pastors to see that the last two years have been extraordinarily difficult. Of course, there have also been many blessings – and we know that God is always at work for his glory and the good of his people. So as our churches begin their third year under COVID, the ACR thought it would be helpful for us to begin the year by praying for one another.
The Sydney Anglican Diocese is a fellowship of churches partnering together in the gospel for the glory and Kingdom of our great God. There are many ways in which we can and should express this fellowship, and one great way is by praying for one another.
Over the next few weeks, the ACR will be sharing prayer points from various church pastors from within the Sydney Anglican Diocese. Will you join me in praying for these churches? What better way to express our fellowship as churches than by mimicking Paul in his relationship with the Philippian church, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer (Phil 1:3-5).
In Christ,
Mike Leite
ACR Editor
Northbridge Anglican Church
Give thanks with us for the wonderful ways the Lord has sustained and cared for us over the past couple of years. We see how he has grown in us a deeper appreciation for the gift of our fellowship as a Christian family. We see how he has stretched us in our love of each other. We see how he has fed, encouraged, and gently unsettled us through his word.
Give thanks for people who have come to Christ in the past year – a Chinese man who we first met through the preschool we run on our site, another man who first met with us in our ‘Book Club for the Curious’ last year, and more recently a mother and (teenage) daughter from a Muslim background who simply contacted our church through the website to say they wanted help to become Christians (they were baptised very recently)! We are in awe of God’s irrepressible work in drawing people to himself.
Give thanks for those he has provided as pastor/teachers in our church amongst children, young people, and adults (mostly volunteers). Pray that he would strengthen us in the year ahead to feed God’s sheep through his word, to pray earnestly for those entrusted to our care, and that we’d model really well what it is to live as disciples of Christ.
Thank you,
Simon Flinders