Christian prayer and chat thread Open to all

[Dutchoma]

The old thread was nearly full, so here is a new one. Oldies and newbies, chat or prayer, all welcome.

Praying especially for MHD and JanFeb’s daughter.
Also praying for all who are preparing Holy Week/Easter services.

Hello Hikingforscenery welcome.

Zen that is a very thoughtful answer, I never thought to look to Wikipedia to read about other religions. I so agree with you that there is an eternal dimension beyond what we are able to experience, the fact that we all experience it in a different way is of course to be expected.

I’m so glad you have come out of the whole abortion discussion and sincerely hope that you can concentrate on other things in your life.

That doesn’t sound daft at all. Bunnies are lovely, I am more of a cat person and would love to have one

Mumsnet seems to be particularly awful at the moment. I would just hide the thread and go do something nice, a walk or a run, away from
a screen and try to forget it.

I am dithering at the moment about what to do about church-going. My current situation is not that suitable for us but it seems an odd time (pandemic wise) to be church shopping. Are people finding things are back to normal? Have the children's provisions restarted?

My youngest DC's group at church started back last Sunday. She really enjoyed it and although they kept up the group via zoom over the lockdown preferred to be able to actually play with her friends.

I think things are slowly getting back to normal but there is a feeling that no one knows how long it will last for. We have had a quite dramatic rise in cases last week (Scotland) and Nicola Sturgeon mentioned that they may have to re-introduce some restrictions. So far this week there hasn't been an increase but the daily case numbers have stayed high.

I think Mumsnet can be both a source of great support, and that at other times people can be horrid. I'm sure some people are more rude when they can hide behind a screen than they would be in person.

I've missed being at church for one reason and another and am looking forward to getting back in the building when I can. Hopefully next Sunday. Zoom has been good but I think I feel ready to face the world again!

Thanks apples, I must get out and try out somewhere new, here I get the impression children are seen as spreaders of disease and to be avoided putting me on edge completely.

Our church is back, children’s work starting up again from 12th September, I think as 5th September is an outdoor service, weather permitting. The whole choir is allowed to be back, it was six first, then 10, there are not usually more than 12 people there anyway. Masks must still be worn apart from when the choir are singing. The congregation can sing, but only with masks.

@SudokuZebra

Urgh been told by a particularly vile poster that "Its clearly a good thing your baby no longer exists " and been thoroughly abused on the thread. Can't take much more and think it is vile .

How on earth have those comments been able to stand? Why have they not been removed? I am so sorry.

And I am so pleased to have found this thread.

Welcome DuchessofDisaster, Find yourself a corner and help yourself to a drink and a biscuit - if there are any left. Note to self ‘must replace stale biscuits, these may have been here since before lockdown.’

That is indeed a wonderful statement Zebra and one to remember well. Paired with that (although Im not quite 90 yet) is ‘God loves you, whoever else doesn’t’

Can I join in?

Second rate Anglican here - was bought up Presbyterian but in a different country, and I go to our village CofE church, which is where our children were baptised. It’s lovely but a very small community and I think we reduce the average age by a couple of decades :D

I feel quite out of place in our village, as all the Christian families tend to travel out of the village to trendier churches with guitars whereas I am very much an organ and BCP girl. Our Messy Church is well attended but it’s on a day I work so we can’t make it.

Anyway, Children’s church starts up again tomorrow and we are all looking forward to it - we are back to “normal”!

You are very welcome DazzelePants. Your small parish church will be very glad to have you.

Songs of Praise can be anything you like. Snuggled in bed with a hot chocolate? Go for it.

Hi Rafals. Yes still plodding on with it. Are you?

I have found the prophets hard hard going. I've not been enjoying the bible bit but I like the prayer and explanation. Often it just washes over me. I'm enjoying the books of Daniel and Judith more.

I was much more interested in the 'story' at the start of the year. Even with all the endless names, the dullness of Numbers, nonsense about grain offerings and cereal offerings and cubits and directions for temple building and rules in leveticus. I feel like I'm going to have to do from King's onward over again. Straight away! Looking forward to the NT.

So I need to take a note of that podcast thanks as I'm not giving up on bible study after this year. I just need to do it in a different way.

It's been really good for me.

Waves to @coffeecup88. Seems like churches reopening now is the time to church shop. You don't have to keep on with the one not working for you! Still it's good to get back to it!

Hello and welcome to @DazzlePaintedBattlePants I know you're being flippant but why second rate? I used to think my church was full of "better Catholics" but I realised we are all just doing our best and sometimes failing.

Zebra it's nice to hear about your 90 year old. I love it when people can be positive about faith and the church. So much of the time faith and church is made out to be negative and its positives viewed with suspicion.

I think Jeff Cavin's bible timeline is very good and the way they've organised it for BIAY podcast is great. Nice to drip feed the proverbs and psalms alongside 2 closely related separate books. I actually got confused doing chronicles and kings side by side because I have zero clue who everyone is and it kept jumping back and forth.

I'd prefer another short daily course next year rather than trying 1 hour a week. I'd like to join a group as that will keep me accountable. My friend has invited me to her bible book club so if they're still doing that next year and I can join that.

Having said I was quite enjoying Judith a got a shock when the story involved a beheading! I didn't see that coming. Am a but more engaged with it but still fed up of Jeremiah!

Hi, lovely to find this thread on Mumsnet, I'm previously Catholic and now attend a very small, non-denominational Pentecostal church, (part of the Barnabas fellowship of churches) as that's where the Lord planted me, and it's great. When I say small, I mean it, as there are usually no more than 10 of us in a service! As we are so small we have our services in a community centre. I love it, such a supportive spiritual family, and for such a small church, it's amazing how many missions/ministries/people we support.
Re worship we're a real mixture of old and new. I sometimes lead worship and I prefer the more modern style of worship although I do appreciate some of the old hymns too. I do love though the more immersive full band worship events, I was at David's Tent worship festival in the south of England a few years ago, it was fab. But in our church (in Northern Ireland), we just usually have a keyboard and we all belt out the tunes as best we can.
My mum's very suspicious of my church as it's not Catholic, but when I moved to this area I prayed to be led to a church where they really knew the Lord, and that's what happened. So I'm a born again Christian, I was baptised in the sea in 2013 (yes, I was baptised as a baby, but I do believe in believer's baptism and full immersion, that was the way the Lord led me anyway and definitely the gifts of the Holy Spirit are real!) Suffice it to say, I love the Lord, I love having a relationship with Him, and I love the fellowship with everyone, whatever denomination people are (or indeed none - my mum can't get her head round this "non-denominational" stuff at all bless her, but I don't try to explain it to her much - she quizzes my sister about it sometimes though).
My church is back, we just keep a distance and mask up -easy to stay socially distant in a hall with 10 people! :-D