Burnside Presbyterian Church
Mill Road, Portstewart, BT55 7SW
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Wednesday 30th September 2020

30/9/2020

1 Comment

 
Beside The Burn
This week we continue our theme from Sunday of ‘RECENTERING’. Each day we develop the theme a little more in a short 5 minutes video.

Let’s Pray For Portugal
Give thanks for the growth of CPV in Porto, where the Cochranes and Humphries are serving. Pray for the church as they seek to serve God while complying with Covid-19 restrictions.  


Portugal
Pray for the new church members, that they would know God’s hand on their lives and that he would use them wherever he has placed them. ​

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Global Mission Workers
Remember the work of Gary & Mary Reid who are Global Mission Workers in Kenya



Colin Jenkins
Port Missionary in Cork. Download his latest prayer letter.
colin_jenkins_-_august_2020.pdf
File Size: 1311 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


Struggling To Pray For Our Government?
Graham Kendrick twitted this message during the week. “Struggling to know how to pray for the government in 2020? Try this prayer-hymn-blessing for Parliament written in 1893.”
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Pray For God’s Word In China
During China’s Cultural Revolution, Long Qinmei kept her New Testament inside a box and hid it in a pig sty when authorities raided her house ...' READ MORE https://t.co/L0BpDkTqlJ
Also check out the other articles at the bottom of the webpage.
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Learning The Blessing Of Quietness
This article by former Moderator Very Rev. Norman Hamilton appeared in the News Letter at the weekend.
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Refined
Rev Philip McCrea, minister of Rosemary congregation and Convener of the Committee for Congregational Life, reflects on God’s refining process during lockdown and what he senses God is calling him to retain from the lessons he learnt during that period.
http://bit.ly/2S7oTeu
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Jigsaw
The times for yesterday’s Jigsaw


Derek 3:31
Frances 3:57

Play the "Harbour 2" puzzle!
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=111c03278333

1 Comment

Tuesday 29th September 2020

29/9/2020

1 Comment

 
Beside The Burn
This week we continue our theme from Sunday of ‘RECENTERING’. Each day we develop the theme a little more in a short 5 minutes video.
PSALM 121
This week Recentred is based around Psalm 121 here is the Ian White version from Sunday.

Let’s Pray For University and college chaplains
Students are returning to universities and colleges around Ireland. Pray for the PCI chaplains as they seek to support them on their return to education after a long break. 


Derryvolgie Hall
Pray for the students who are settling in at Derryvolgie, some for the first time. Pray that they will find an encouraging environment that will build them up in their faith as they navigate university life. ​
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Global Mission Workers​
Annes & Olga, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Message From The Moderator
The Moderator Dr Bruce offers some encouragement to Presbyterians at this time and commends Refined, the new suite of online resources available to help support and develop congregational life and witness.

A message from the Moderator from Presbyterian Church in Ireland on Vimeo.


Faith Takes A Wobble
Do you ever feel guilty that your faith takes a 'wobble'? Watch this message from Dr Charles Stanley about common reasons why our faith may waiver, and be encouraged to emerge from these seasons with even STRONGER faith!
https://ucb.lightcast.com/player/21321/274209
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Daniel & Esther
What do you think it would be like to live for God in exile? This episode of 'The Bible in 30 Minutes' looks at the stories of Daniel and Esther and how they remained faithful to God even when exiled far from home. Listen now on UCB Player!
https://t.co/GsvlZX1r5r
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Hope
Hope has a name, and its name is Jesus. In the current flux of changing guidelines and regulations, how are we people of hope? Check out this article by Evangelical Alliance’s head of public policy Danny Webster.

https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/hope-has-a-name-and-its-name-is-jesus?utm_source=twitter
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Jigsaw
The times for yesterday’s Jigsaw

Derek 3:30

Play the "Harbour 1" puzzle!
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=36b11f35ebb9

1 Comment

Monday 28th September 2020

28/9/2020

0 Comments

 
Beside The Burn
This week we continue our theme from Sunday of ‘RECENTERING’. Each day we develop the theme a little more in less than 10 minutes in this video.
PRISM 
Download the bible study sheet for this week.
prism_session_4_web.pdf
File Size: 131 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Psalm 122
​Listen to Rhonda reading Psalm 122
Recentred On Jesus
If you missed it you can listen again to Sunday’s sermon.

Let’s Pray For Global Mission Partners
Pray for our global mission partners in countries like South Sudan, Myanmar and Indonesia, many of whom are struggling because of the impact of Covid-19 on food security, health systems and infrastructure. 


Leaders in Training
Pray for Wamaka Nyondo from the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, Malawi. Wamaka has just returned home after completing a Masters degree in Edinburgh, supported by PCI. He plans to work in the Synod’s health department. ​
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Moderator’s Service
Continuing his weekly service of worship for the whole Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Presbyterian Moderator, Rt Rev Dr David Bruce, continues his journey through the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. Today he explores the theme, ‘A church living in the light’.

Global Mission Workers
We continue with a series of video updates from the PCI Global Mission workers.


Trapped In A Room With A Lion
How would YOU fair if you were trapped in a room with a lion? ?
In Bible Biogs, we look Daniel's story. What did his visions of the future reveal about the present? And how DID he fair so well being trapped in a lions’ den? Listen now on UCB Player!
https://t.co/DJSYtNpjY0
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Refreshed By God!
Are you DESPERATE to be refreshed by God's presence? Watch this inspiring message from UCB's CEO, David L'Herroux, as he talks about the manifested presence of God and how we can be connected to God NO MATTER where we are!
https://ucb.lightcast.com/player/21321/208253
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God Told Me (40 minute audio)
When someone says 'Oh, God told me,' do you ever wonder – what does it MEAN to listen for God's voice? This episode of 'Mark & Mark at Full Volume' looks at tuning in to God's voice and the different ways that God speaks to us! Listen now on UCB Player.
https://t.co/BcnIRAHnma
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Corrie Ten Boom
I normally just include links to the items that I want to share with you, but a friend posted this on Facebook and I couldn’t find it any where else, so here is a powerful story about Corrie Ten Boom.
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Due to a clerical error during WW2, Corrie Ten Boom was released from Ravensbruck one week before all the women her age were killed. She began traveling and telling the story of her family and what she and Betsie had learned in the concentration camp. Eventually, after the war was over, she was able to obtain a home for former inmates to come and heal from their experiences. And she continued to travel tirelessly over the world and tell to anyone who would listen the story of what she had learned.


"It was in a church in Munich that I saw him, a balding heavy-set man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. ...


And that's when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!


Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent. 


"You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he was saying. "I was a guard in there." No, he did not remember me.


"I had to do it — I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us." "But since that time," he went on, "I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein, ..." his hand came out, ... "will you forgive me?"


And I stood there — I whose sins had every day to be forgiven — and could not. Betsie had died in that place — could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?


It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.


For I had to do it — I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. "If you do not forgive men their trespasses," Jesus says, "neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." ...


And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion — I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand, I can do that much. You supply the feeling."


And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.


"I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!"


For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then."

Jigsaw
The times for yesterday’s Jigsaw
​

Janice 6:59
Derek 12:23

Play the "sunset" puzzle!
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=1e5ea5c06b03
​
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Crowds Gather To Watch Irish Open Golf
You may remember last week I mentioned the Irish Open Golf Tournament taking place at Galgorm Castle just outside Ballymena. Although spectators were not allowed inside the Golf Course, a neighbouring farmer found a vantage point to watch the action at the 14th. Someone needs to explain the rule of 6 to his companions!
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Friday 25th September 2020

25/9/2020

0 Comments

 
Beside The Burn
This week we continue our theme from Sunday of ‘REBUILDING’. Each day we develop the theme a little more in a short 5 minutes video.

Frances On Friday
Every Friday, Frances shares a song that means something to her.
CityAlight is the Worship Ministry of a Church in Sydney, Australia.

The group states that their vision is to write songs with Biblically rich lyrics and simple melodies for the Christian Church to sing.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 –1892)  was one of the greatest preachers and expounders of the Gospel, who spent his time travelling and teaching the Word of God. Known as the ‘Prince of Preachers’, Spurgeon was famous for his firm, straight talking nature.

He once commented, ‘If men are dull in the worship of the Lord our God, they are not acting consistently with the character of their religion.’ In other words, the realities of Christianity provide us with so many opportunities for deep and lasting joy.

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This may be a reminder of the Acronym I mentioned over the last couple of weeks: JOY…..  Jesus, Others, Yourself.
We read in Psalm 100 NIV, Verse 2,  ‘Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.’
Each verse in the Song for today by CityAlight, concludes with the reminder that we can do nothing on our own, stating, ‘Yet not I but through Christ in me.’ 
 Frances.

Let’s Pray For Blended children's and youth work
Pray for those involved in planning and delivering children’s and youth work in congregations as restrictions continue to make meeting together difficult and programming has to be provided with a blend of digital limited gatherings with social distancing, asking God for creativity and wisdom.
Pray for the maintenance of good contacts with children, young people and their families at this time, asking that God would make his love, care and encouragement evident in every conversation and communication.  ​
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Beauty In The Familiar
It is always interesting when you see something that is very familiar from a different perspective. This week I was out walking and met a friend who I hadn’t been talking to for a few years. We were on the coastal path at Rock House and he was admiring the view and said, “I suppose you get very used to all this and don’t really appreciate it!”. I was able to say truthfully, that after twenty years in Portstewart, we still do appreciate the beauty of the coast and have never taken it for granted. It is a very odd day that we don’t walk to the beach or at the very least walk past the beach.


Yesterday however I did see something very familiar that I had totally taken for granted, and I can say truthfully that I never appreciated the beauty of it. Yesterday afternoon our TV was tuned to RTE2 and the Irish Open Golf from Galgorm Castle. I left the TV turned on and as I moved about the house I would sneak another peak at the screen. I wasn’t watching the golf, but the scenery. I attended primary school in Gracehill and everyday the school bus would drive past the gates of Galgorm Castle and over the river Maine. I hardly noticed the castle or the river, but yesterday in the sunshine they looked magnificent. The camera operators captured the images and the commentators describe the setting, and the world watched.


Sometimes this world becomes so familiar that we do not realise the beauty all around us. We get annoyed by thoughtlessness, frustrated by incompetence and frightened by uncertainty and yet everyone we meet is created in the image of our heavenly Father. The people that we hardly notice each day, as we go about our business, have a dignity instilled by their creator and the same need of Salvation from our Redeemer as we have. Imagine if Jesus was providing the commentary for our lives today, how would he describe the people that we rush past? What needs would he notice that we have ignored? What beauty would he gaze upon that we have taken for granted?


The Irish Open from Galgorm Castle continues this weekend, televised live on RTE 2 & Sky Sports with highlights each evening on BBC1.
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Do You Feel Empty?  (2 minute video)
While we may see the emptiness of our lives as our greatest problem, that’s not how God sees it. He sees his greatest opportunity. Nancy Guthrie speaks about her new book, ‘God Does His Best Work With Empty’. She looks at the emptiness that is left in our lives by disappointment and unexpected circumstances.

Teach The Bible
Nancy Guthrie has produced an incredible resource. It is a podcast where she interviews prominent bible teachers on how to teach a particular book of the bible. She now has episodes on the whole bible. Well worth listening to. We have featured some of her books on previous blogs.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/help-me-teach-the-bible-episodes-by-scripture/
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These Three Remains - Refined
In the last #TheseThreeRemain blog Jane Nelson, minister of First Omagh Presbyterian Church, reflects on her experience of the truth of 1 Corinthians 13:13 lived out during the pandemic - and reminds us that "the greatest of these is love"
http://bit.ly/35QL3d8
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What Does God Think About Money?
Can money really buy you happiness? Listen to this episode of the 'Not Playing the Game' podcast on UCB Player as our hosts are joined by businessman Arron Kent and musician Jon Kendall to talk about what God thinks about money!
https://ucb.lightcast.com/player/21338/262911
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Jigsaw
The times for yesterday’s Jigsaw

Janice 1:24
Derek 3:10
Frances 4:10

A Familiar picture of the harbour but it should take a little longer than the other puzzles this week.


Play the "Portstewart Harbour" puzzle!
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=152a998876f8

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0 Comments

Thursday 24th September 2020

24/9/2020

1 Comment

 
Beside The Burn
This week we continue our theme from Sunday of ‘REBUILDING’. Each day we develop the theme a little more in a short 5 minutes video.

Let’s Pray For Care homes
Give thanks for the staff in care homes run by PCI and others, asking that God would continue to keep them safe as they serve the needs of residents under continuing difficult circumstances.
Pray for residents of care homes and their families, asking that they would know God’s peace and reassuring love in these times of disruption and upheaval. ​
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Mayflower - The Pilgrim Fathers (41 minute audio)
On the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim Fathers’ voyage to the New World in The Mayflower, Dr Sharon James reveals what led them to flee England, their hunger for God’s Word and their deep faith in his sovereign providence.

The Psalms in Suffering
The psalmist prepares us for the road of suffering and gives us ahead of time a hymnbook to help us express the reality of God’s goodness when the walk of faith feels like making our way through impenetrable fog.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/true-god-wont-ever-let/
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Who In The Bible Social Distances?
This article helps us to find help from the example of this person in the bible. The Great Physician for COVID-19.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/great-physician-covid-19/
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Is God still speaking today?
Does God still speak today? Watch this message from Berni Dymet to explore the many ways that God speaks to us today and learn how to test the prophetic words of others, so that we can discern what is good and apply God's Word to our lives.
https://ucb.lightcast.com/player/21321/255197
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Jigsaw
The times for yesterday’s Jigsaw

​Janice 
Frances 3:36
Derek 4:01

Play the "Portballintrae" puzzle!
https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=2a5a891662bf

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1 Comment
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