Tag: Self Denial

SELF DENIAL 2015

In the Christian calendar, Wednesday February 18 is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  Lent is a time of preparation for Easter, for us to prepare to enter into the death of Christ on Good Friday and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

It is a period of 40 days of examining our lives and relationships in the light of the cross and resurrection of Jesus, his act of love for the world and its people.

It’s a time for putting things right, with prayer and fasting, It is one of the most important periods in the Christian calendar.

As is our practice over the past few years here at MBC we will focus our period of Prayer and Self-Denial during Lent.

The programme of Prayer and Self-Denial in our church is centred on God’s message of salvation, for all people and the messengers who take this good news to the ends of the earth with Tranzsend, the missionary arm of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand and the local churches they partner with.

The theme this year is, “ ‘Til the nets are full “

The three themes  are, “The Waters Edge”, “Into the Deep” and “Spreading the Nets”

We will focus upon this theme during three Sundays in Lent, March 15, 22 and 29 and be praying for the work of the New Zealand Baptist Missionaries and local churches in Kolkata and Tripura India, Bangladesh, Thailand, China and Macau.

We will stand with these people in prayer and in financial support as they share the Gospel with those that God brings across their paths and into their lives. We will tell the story of one who has heard the Good New and has found freedom from the prison of prostitution

We are asking our congregations to:.

(a)    consider a special way that they might  prepare themselves for Easter through times of prayer, self-examination, confession, putting things right where necessary and denying themself over the 40 days of Lent as part of their spiritual growth and preparation for Easter.

(b)   Consider a pledge this year towards the sum that we as a Church would like to raise for Self – Denial.  Our prayer is that God will bless us and help us to fund the sum for our Self Denial. Any amount over our target we will use to help fund the Mobile Bible School,  a Community Development project in Tripura in India that we are committed to.