May 14, 2020 | Prayer, Worship
As High Kirk church, we are joining together on 15th May to fast and pray for healing and mercy for our country and our world in this Covid 19 crisis we find ourselves in. You can fast from food if it is safe for you to do so, or from TV or social media, and in its place, turn your eyes and heart to God in prayer. We have resources available at the bottom of the page including a guide for prayer walking, prayer points and prayer stations for adults and kids so that everyone can take part.
1pm: Devotion & worship available on High Kirk Youtube channel and Facebook page.
1.30pm: Prayer room via zoom for guided personal prayer and reflection
6pm: Devotion & worship available on High Kirk Youtube channel and Facebook page.
6.30pm: Prayer room via zoom for guided personal prayer and reflection
Zoom call
Meeting ID: 823 3836 2583
Password: hkprayer
This is a work for all of us, for the good of Christ’s church for whom he died, for the good of our neighbours both local and global. For the good of our own souls. This great Kingdom work is open to all- all who have been lost and found.
May 31, 2017 | Making Disciples, Mission, Prayer
We hope that you are being blessed by the Thy Kingdom Come resources online and through your ministries.
Here are a few little ideas to keep you motivated in your praying and desires to see your friends and family come to know Jesus!
Here are five easy ways to pray for five people regularly. Choose the one that suits you best.
1. PIECE OF STRING
Take a piece of string or cord, and tie five knots in it to represent each of the five people you have committed to pray for. You could carry the knotted string in your pocket, tie it round your wrist or place it somewhere that you’ll see it regularly. Use the knots to remind you to pray for each person on your list of five.
2. SMALL STONES
Find five small stones (light coloured ones are best) and write each of the people on your list onto each of the stones. Place them on your desk, bedside table or fireplace as a reminder to pray. Alternatively, you could place each stone in a different room of your home and pray for each person as you enter or leave the room.
3. BUSINESS PRAYER CARD OR BOOKMARK
Grab a piece of card that will easily fit inside your wallet, purse or book. Write your list of five names onto the card before putting it in your wallet or book. Use this card as a daily reminder to pray for them.
4. PRAYER ALERTS
Add your list of five people to the alerts section of your phone and set reminders to pray for them. You could choose one name per day, or pray for all five across your day. Remember to set alerts for a suitable time where you can stop to pray for your list.
5. POST-IT NOTES
Use five post-it notes and write one name onto each. Stick them onto your mirror, above your bed or somewhere that you’ll see them regularly and will be reminded to pray.
We pray that God will awaken your heart with a desire to make His kingdom known in your families, friendships, work places and wherever you find yourselves!
May 24, 2017 | Making Disciples, Prayer
Between 25th May (the day of Ascension) and 4th June (Pentecost), communities and churches around the world are gathering together to pray that their friends, families and neighbours come to know Jesus Christ.
We in High Kirk want to be part of this so we would love you to sign up online at https://www.thykingdomcome.global– and receive an email a day and video to encourage you to deepen your friendship with the Father and invite His kingdom to come in the lives of the people you love and encounter daily.
There are lots of resources online for you to use, either as an individual, laser group, friendship group or within the ministries that you are part of.
On 4th June, at 10.45am (in between the 2 morning services) we intend to prayer walk around our parish, inviting God’s kingdom into the area God has placed us, the church. Every member, young and old is invited to participate!
Let’s get involved, and show that we as the church care about His Kingdom. That we as the church are not content settling for second best but instead will chose to only settle for His Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.
“In praying ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ we all commit to playing our part in the renewal of the nations and the transformation of communities.”
Archbishop Justin Welby
Apr 5, 2017 | Prayer, Worship
PRAYER FOCUS IN HOLY WEEK
The prayer room will be open from 8am to midnight each day from Monday 10th to Thursday 13th April and from 8am to 6pm on Good Friday (14th).
Please sign up for a prayer slot as individuals or as a Laser Group. This is one of the best weeks in our church calendar – please become part of it.
Prayer changes things.
GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE 8PM
This is a lovely service of meditative praise, a sermon based on the events of the first Good Friday followed by the celebration of Communion.
EASTER SUNDAY 16TH APRIL
10.30am We have one united Easter morning service of celebration led by the choir as we explore the theme of Hope this Easter.
The children will have a separate programme from the start and will join us for our closing hymn.
6.30pm The young people will finish this Resurrection Day by leading us in worship and reflection on what Easter means.
Please plan to join us this Easter at High Kirk.
Feb 21, 2017 | Conference, Making Disciples, Mission, Prayer, Reaching Out
4 DAYS TO GO until our Word and Spirit Conference, ‘Release’! We are so excited to hear what Mark Melluish has to say to us on what it looks like for us to seek more of God’s Word and Spirit in our lives and to release the enormous potential of the local church to change lives. In his keynote talks he will explore ho
w we can be more available to God and how we can continue to impact our local communities with the gospel.
Day: Saturday 25th February 2017
Where: High Kirk Presbyterian Church, Ballymena
Time: Session 1: 10am Building for Tomorrow Today
Session 2: 11.45am Creating open and healthy Churches
Session 3: 7.30pm Keeping in Step with the Spirit
Who for: Both members of High Kirk and anyone who wishes to attend!
Cost: Free!!
We’d love to see you there!
Jan 13, 2017 | Caring for you, Making Disciples, Prayer
A phrase that I’ve heard so much recently is how is your heart? Or how is your soul1? And at the start of this New Year, the time when everything begins again; when there is a new found hope in the air, ask yourself these questions; how is your heart? How is your soul?
Is it…?
How is your soul? Is it empty? Uninterested? Discouraged? Is it longing for something… for anything… for more? Is it bored? Dissatisfied? Is it distant? Is your soul weary? Close to the end? Considering giving up? Frustrated or angry? Is it surviving or thriving in Him?
How is your heart? Is it joyful? Is it overwhelmed with thankfulness and praise? Is it fixed on Him? Is your heart lonely? Is it distracted? Is it anxious?
How are you and Jesus? Are you close to Him? Is He your friend? Are you hearing from Him… are you listening though? How important is He to you right now? Is He your priority? Do you seek Him… really seek Him? Delight in His complexity? Is each new day an opportunity to get to know more of His heart and more of His character?
What do you do when your soul is lost? What do you do when your heart is fed up?
We as people seem to try and fixate on other things. Things that seem more manageable and easier to control. Things we feel capable of dealing with. Like obsessing over cars, a TV show, our family and friends, re-doing our homes. But when it comes to our soul, how great does the task seem of drawing it closer to the Saviour? How much does it look like mountains blocking our path? [Matthew21v21] How often does it seem like a weight to carry rather than a joy to embrace? We may even admit that sometimes it doesn’t seem worth it, that we are simply okay where we are. Because a life of faith is not one of those things you pick up as a hobby, it is something to commit to.
Because when you commit to care for your soul, you commit to give it into the hands of the One who designed it. [Psalm 139v13] The hands of the One who knows it best. The hands of the One who can truly satisfy it, heal it, restore joy to it. The One who wants to give you purpose, meaning and hope.
The One who says come to Me. Come and get away with me, come and experience the unforced rhythms of grace. Come and experience freedom. [Matthew 11v28-30]
This New Year, how is your soul? Are you saying yes to His invitation to come? Are you committing day and daily to live a life laid before Him? One that you are so loved in, so wanted in, one that He calls you to?
Reflect upon these verses
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.” [Luke 10v41]
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” [Psalm 37v7]
“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you… my whole being longs for you… Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.” [Psalm 63v1+3]
“Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.” [Psalm 116v7]
As we think of the condition of our souls this New Year… as we consider the One who gives our soul such worth… May we truly consider what it is He wants for us this year, what He desires for our communities? Will we reshuffle our priorities and put Him first. Put Him in and through all things. But with that decision, comes our humanly nature thinking how can we possibly commit to Him with our all? Life is just too busy for that? Where do I even begin? We stress and worry when really we need to remember that how committed we are is not where it starts. That it is more important to remember how committed He is, and always will be to us. [Psalm 23v6] What are souls are like is not nearly as important as what He is like and He is wonderfully merciful and gracious in all His ways. [Psalm 103v8]
Often we come into January with such hope in the New Year, of all its possibilities but this year I want to challenge you to shift your thinking to not hoping in the new year, but placing your hope in the One who created all the years. In the One who is timeless. [Hebrews 13v8]
What is your prayer for your soul in 2017?
Our souls ache for conversation with the father. They are weak without the strength of a love that equips and builds and gives and sustains. Let’s pray real life prayers, not empty prayers of holiness but real prayers to the Holy One.
Is your prayer a bold invitation to Jesus to come in all His fullness in your life? Is it simply a cry of Abba Father? [Romans 8v15] Is it a commitment to have praise to Him continually on your lips? Is the song of your heart that His glory may fill our church and that His precious name would be praised continually? That hope would arise? That freedom would come? That His kingdom may come? [Matthew 6v10] Is your heart crying to Him, ‘Do whatever it is Lord Jesus that you want to do’? Is your soul singing ‘I only have eyes for you, Lord” [Psalm 141v8-10]?
What is your soul crying out for? What is your heart screaming for? Is it belonging
, to know that you are enough? A shout to the heavens to be convinced of His power, His immeasurable power to know that He can do more than we ask or imagine? [Ephesians 3v20] Is your cry simply help me? If that is the condition of your soul then scream it out because the One who created you, hears you and does not overlook or abandon you. Be honest with Jesus. He knows your heart already. Don’t hide from Him. Don’t ignore your soul. Know that you have not gone too far. Know that He is not finished with you yet. [Philippians 1v6] Know that He offers you a fresh start, today and every day.
This is your reminder, to look up again. To love Him regardless of your circumstances. To know that He is good and that you can trust Him with your frail and fragile heart. To know that He is victorious, always. That His love is wild and relentless, always. This is a reminder o give Him your soul again today, regardless of how messy it is.
How is your soul? How is your heart? Let Him change your life.
*1 The soul is the direct aftermath of God breathing (blowing) His gift of life into a person, making them an ensouled being. A person’s distinct identity (unique personhood), i.e. individual personality. [http://biblehub.com/greek/5590.htm]
