CRAMOND KIRK

DECEMBER PRAYER DIARY

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

(Luke 1 : 30 - 33)

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Topics are arranged over 7 days which you may find helpful. Sunday Pray for Russell & Tom & their ministry in teaching & in pastoral activities. Pray for all the services taking place over this festive period & for a sense of the peace & joy of Christmas to be present amongst all the activity. Monday Pray for Diane Williams as she takes on her new role of Pastoral Assistant – Elderly Care. Diane’s role will be to create & maintain an information & resource hub of services available to older people in & to disseminate the information as effectively as possible to groups, organisations & individuals in the parish of Cramond.

Tuesday Rev John McCulloch of St Andrew’s Jerusalem invites us to pray for 4 organisations within Bethlehem & the surrounding area who are working for peace & justice through a strict adherence to non-violence. 1. Wi’am offers a space for conflict transformation, restorative justice & mediation. 2. At Tent of Nations we seek to embody a positive approach to conflict & occupation. Faced with great injustice, we know that we should not hate, despair or flee. We can refuse to be enemies & channel our pain & frustration into positive actions which will build a better future. 3. Set up in 1981 as a school for the blind by St Andrew’s Jerusalem elder Helen Shehadeh, Al-Shurooq School was founded to offer blind & visually impaired children with equal opportunities & specialist education. 4. Aida Refugee Camp - a few weeks ago, Annette & I had the privilege of visiting the camp with a group of other foreigners, to learn to cook Palestinian cuisine. This is a great way of supporting the community, as they run cooking courses all year round & use the funds to run various educational & community-based projects which serve some of the most vulnerable. http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/54409/wmpplmccul loch1118.pdf Wednesday Pray for our political leaders in the run up to the parliamentary vote on 11 December. Pray for vision & integrity in their dealings with the electorate & the EU during this anxious time.

Thursday (from the Christian Aid Prayer Diary) Pray the United Nations climate talks (COP24) taking place from 2-14 December 2018 in Katowice, Poland will prioritise those most affected by climate change. Pray for the necessary agreements to be made on how countries will decrease their carbon emissions to ensure that the global temperature rise is kept below 1.5C. Pray for the effectiveness of the Christian Aid ‘Big Shift’ campaign as it continues to call on banks to account for how they invest & ask them to shift out of investing in fossil fuels. Pray for courage for all who raise their prophetic voice in campaigning for another way for the world.

Friday (from the Christian Aid Prayer Diary) Give thanks for our work in Lebanon for over 30 years. Pray for the work of our partners with those who have been twice displaced, from Palestine & then from Syria. Pray for healing for children like 9 year old Hassan who has lived in refugee camps all his life. He hasn’t seen his mum in 4 years, after his family was separated by war in Syria. Give thanks for the treatment provided for young people like Hassan, deeply affected by the war in Syria, by our partner Association Najdeh’s children’s centre. Pray they will be able to help many more children as a result of our Christmas appeal.

Saturday Pray for the lonely, vulnerable & unwell in our community as well as for those who have been bereaved during 2018. Pray that the presence of Christ may be known through friendship & family time & that the peace & joy of Christmas will be a source of strength & encouragement.

REFLECTION Advent (from the Church of website) Meaning 'coming' or 'arrival', Advent is a time of prayer & preparation for the coming of God's Son & as we celebrate the gift he is. It is also a time when many look outwards to the needs of others as well as being grateful for the gifts we ourselves have been given. The best gifts, of course, can't be found in shops or purchased with money: the gifts of family, of friends, creation, a caring church community & even the gift of life itself.

Most of all Advent is a time to celebrate the Greatest Gift of all - the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ, born in a humble Bethlehem stable to share our life on earth & ultimately to defeat even death for us so that we may have eternal life. God's gift to us, the Greatest Gift, is the theme of the 's 2018 Advent calendar. We invite you to sign up for a daily e-mail or check our on-line Advent calendar for some daily inspiration. Throughout the season, we'll bring you stories that highlight how church members around the country are celebrating the birth of Jesus & sharing their faith, hope & love with everyone in their communities. The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Rt Rev Susan Brown, warmly welcomed the Advent season saying: "The Christmas story is about the wonderful & shocking arrival of the Son of God into the midst of the lives of very ordinary human beings. That coming talks of God's love for us being a love that rolls up its sleeves, ready to get involved in the mucky complexities of human life. And that's what makes it good news. God knows us as we really are - yet still loves us and still comes to us!" This year for our daily Advent offerings we have collected moving, thought-provoking & inspiring stories sourced from our Church of Scotland congregations. They will include:  Themed prayers - prayers have been written by figures from across the Church of Scotland on issues close to the heart of congregations at this time of year  Inspiring stories - stories of creative events & personal experiences from individuals & groups across the Kirk at Christmas time  Videos - Rt Rev Susan Brown will introduce Advent followed by a few extra surprises throughout the season. http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news_and_events/news/2018/the_countdown_be gins_to_advent

If you have a prayer request or a favourite prayer which you would care to share in a future Prayer Diary, please e-mail [email protected]