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[0:00] A second Adam walked the earth, whose blameless life would break the curse, whose death would set us free, to live with him eternally.

[0:17] Alleluia! Let all creation stand and sing. Alleluia! Fill the earth with songs of worship, tell the wonders of creation's king.

[0:36] Alleluia! Creation longs for his return, when Christ shall reign upon the earth.

[0:49] The bitter wars that rage, of the pains of a coming age. When he leaves the land and sky, all heaven will sing, and earth reply, with one resplendent theme, the glory of our God and King.

[1:15] Alleluia! Let all creation stand and sing. Alleluia! Fill the earth with songs of worship, tell the wonders of creation's king.

[1:36] Alleluia! Let all creation stand and sing. Alleluia! Fill the earth with songs of worship, tell the wonders of creation's king.

[2:00] Heavenly Father, we meet this morning to worship you. We're here to bring our praise, honour and worship to you. For you're a great God. You've given us life and you've provided for us every day of our lives.

[2:12] We want to thank you. We thank you for the promise that whatever we go through, you won't allow anything to overtake us that is not more than we're able to handle with you as our Lord and our Saviour.

[2:28] The promise that you'll never leave us or forsake us. The promise that you'll forgive us as we confess our sin to you, you forgive. Lord, we come into your presence and acknowledge you as our King.

[2:41] And we want to sing about the hope that we have in you. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him. I pray that each one of us will put our trust in him today, for whatever the future might hold, that he has control.

[2:59] We sing this together. May the God of hope. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.

[3:22] May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.

[3:34] As you trust in him. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him. So that you might overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

[3:49] So that you might overflow with hope, with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

[4:00] Lord, I love you, your joy and peace as you trust in him.

[4:15] As you trust in him, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace. As you trust in him, as you trust in him.

[4:30] So that you might overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

[4:41] So that you might overflow with hope, with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

[4:54] Father God, I love you. Father God, I trust you. Father God, I need you every day.

[5:08] Fill me with your hope, Lord. Fill me with your joy, Lord. Fill me with your peace. Let your love flow.

[5:24] Karen will come and bring our all-age talk. Morning.

[5:39] Oh, that was feeble. Morning. Morning. That's more like it. The sun is shining. Morning. And we can praise the Lord today.

[5:50] We are very, very blessed indeed. I have press-ganged some volunteers. But I seem to have lost an envelope. Is there an envelope down there? Please let me have an envelope.

[6:04] Oh, well, this will be interesting. Is it in the bag? Oh, there it is. So he's found it. Brilliant.

[6:15] Oh, panic. Over. Okay. Come on then, three volunteers. Up you come. Thank you very much, Jameson. Brilliant job done. Right.

[6:27] I've got to stand that side of me. That's probably easier. Okay. So I've got three envelopes. They've got messages in. And these are our stand-in recipients this morning.

[6:39] Okay. So I'm going to give the biggest one. Does he deserve the biggest one? We will wait and see. Middle size one, small one.

[6:54] I think, Oriana, you're getting the small one. You get the middle size one. Thank you. Okay. So inside is something for each of them. Amen. We're going to start with Oriana.

[7:07] So would you like to open your envelope? Great suspense here. She doesn't know what she's going to get. She doesn't know what she's going to have to do.

[7:18] Right. Have a look at it. And I want you to read it out loud and clear into the mic for me so everyone can hear it. Thank you for all you do. You bring so much fun and you make everyone smile.

[7:30] You are helpful and kind. You share skills and talents with everyone. Thank you for being you. I think she deserves a round of applause, don't you, for that? Well done.

[7:41] Okay. Have a look at the picture. What is it? It's a sunset. Sunset. Actually, I think it was going to be a sunrise, but the same thing will do.

[7:51] The sun is in the picture. Okay. Got that? Okay. We'll have Helen next. Is that a moment to read it?

[8:04] Oh, do I? Yes. Yes. Okay. Ready? So I've got a picture of two holding hands and it says, Please could you help me with a problem that I have? I want to tell you all about it as I know that you will listen and understand how I feel.

[8:22] Sharing my problem with you will help me feel stronger with dealing with it. And I know that you will give me good advice. Is that a good one for Helen?

[8:33] Good one for Helen. Okay. Ready? Sam's turn. He's taking his time, isn't he?

[8:49] What have you got? A blank piece of paper. No, nothing. Nothing there at all? Nothing. Sorry.

[9:05] I should learn about cake or something later. Okay. Ariana, how do you feel about your message? Happy. Helen, how do you feel about your message?

[9:16] I encourage that I can share anything with God or my friends and they will listen. Sam? And Sam? I haven't got anything, so I don't know. Pretty upset.

[9:28] Ah. Okay. And that's exactly how God feels when we forget to talk to him. He wants to hear from us the thanks we can offer to him.

[9:42] He wants us to take our problems to him. He does not want us to be silent. So this week of prayer, don't be silent. Take it to God.

[9:53] Thank you, volunteers. Thank you.

[10:25] A real blessing to both adult and child. And we'll bring honour and glory to you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Paul's going to play the next song as the children leave.

[10:37] And then the music group will come up and we'll sing together the next song. Loved before the dawn of time. Thank you, Paul. And the music group will come up and we'll sing together the next song.

[11:15] Thank you.

[11:45] Thank you.

[12:15] Thank you. With every breath that I have given, I will sing salvation song.

[12:56] And I'll join the chorus of creation, giving praise to Christ alone.

[13:08] All the claims of Satan's curse, lifted through his offering, satisfied through suffering.

[13:22] All the blessings he deserves, poured on my unworthy soul.

[13:34] So with every breath that I have given, I will sing salvation song.

[13:46] And I'll join the chorus of creation, giving praise to Christ alone.

[13:59] Sing glory, honor, wisdom, power to the Lamb upon the throne.

[14:11] Alleluia. Alleluia. I will lift him high. Sing glory, honor, wisdom, power to the Lamb upon the throne.

[14:32] Alleluia. Alleluia. I will sing with every breath that I have given, I will sing salvation song.

[14:50] And I'll join the chorus of creation, giving praise to Christ alone.

[15:03] 전전 Good morning, I'm Roger Mundy and I'm up here as missions coordinator this morning.

[15:52] As you probably know, we support quite a lot of missionaries in various parts of the world. BMS missionaries Mark and Andrea Hodgkin who work in the hospital in Bardi, Northern Chad. Claire Bedford who works at Guinabour 2 Hospital near Germaina in Chad.

[16:07] And the Hallidays who work in France and they're going to be with us in a month's time for the evening service, first Sunday of July. So do come, we're going to have a tea and they're going to be speaking at the service.

[16:19] Meanwhile, we also pray for other groups such as the Emmanuel International Group that Miriam and Andrew were part of in Tanzania. Chris went there last year and shared an awful lot about that and there's a report in the current broadcast about Emmanuel International.

[16:39] We support Matt and Rachel McNulty. You may remember they were here last year too with their little boy Jack who worked with WAC in Australia. Now, we pray for them at our monthly missions prayer meeting and it's great that this month it coincides with this week of prayer.

[16:55] It's in fact tomorrow night, 8pm on Zoom. And it would be great if many of you could join in with us. You might have already signed up for some hours in the week but this will be an hour of joint prayer together for our missionaries.

[17:09] And having been one myself overseas for many years with Wycliffe, I can assure you that we really know that we need the prayers of people back home when we're on the field.

[17:20] So please come if you can. There's details, I believe the Zoom link is in the guide that's been put out for this prayer week. And I've got copies of it here with me and I can give you more information if you would like to hear.

[17:35] So join us tomorrow night if you can, 8pm on Zoom and we'll be praying for all those people who are working for the Lord and we're supporting them overseas.

[17:46] Thank you. We come to our time of prayer and intercessions but in the pre-church prayer meeting we shared this verse together from Timothy.

[18:10] I urge you first of all to pray for all people as you make your requests. Plead for God's mercy upon them and give thanks.

[18:24] Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority. So we come to our time of prayer and intercession and we will remember people who will eventually and we don't know who yet will be our prime minister, our leaders in a few weeks time.

[18:48] But we will pray for other things as well. So let's come before the Lord. Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you for our fellowship here.

[19:01] We thank you that we are brought together because of Jesus, because he gave his life for us and we are all one in him and we thank you for that.

[19:11] We thank you for the way in which we can come to you in prayer. We thank you for the way in which you answer us and we thank you, Lord, for being with us. And Father, we, as your word instructs us, we want to pray for our country.

[19:28] We want to pray for those who are currently running for parliament. Father, we first of all want to thank you that there are people willing to stand for without government, Lord, things would be chaos.

[19:41] And so we thank you for their willingness to stand. But Lord, we pray that as we as a country make our choice, we pray, Lord, that you will give to us a government that will care for all, that will manage the economy well, and Lord, we'll enable a government, Lord, we pray, to stop the endless cycle of the rich getting better off and the poor getting poorer.

[20:08] Lord, we pray that there will be some equality within our nation and with all peoples. And we ask too, Lord, that those that are elected will be honest and will be open with us, Lord, as to the true facts of the situation rather than to perhaps con us into believing things that are not exactly as they really are.

[20:29] So, Lord, we pray for honesty and we pray for people, Lord, to be elected who will be truthful with us and will be a blessing to this country and will take us forward in the days to come.

[20:44] And we'll be able to deal, Lord, with all the various difficult issues that this country and this world faces. We pray too, Lord, for our town and we thank you for High Wycombe.

[20:57] We thank you, Lord, that it's been our home and it is our home. And, Lord, we thank you, Lord, for Love Wycombe that will be next weekend. We pray, Lord, that this will not just be a gathering of Christian people having a good time together, but, Lord, we pray that it will have an impact on our community and on the people that pass by.

[21:18] We pray, Lord, that the local press will respond and will report it favourably. And, Lord, we pray it will touch hearts and lives and people here in High Wycombe.

[21:30] We think too, Lord, that we were asked to pray for kings and others who are in authority. We thank you, Lord, for the situations that there are where there is good in the world.

[21:41] But, Lord, we pray for the areas of Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza, Sudan, and, Lord, so many other places in this world where there is conflict of one kind or another.

[21:53] Lord, we ask that you will give the leaders of those countries, of those various parties, an earnest desire for peace and that there will be negotiated settlements.

[22:05] Lord, we pray for peace in our time. Lord, you can do it. We know that you have prophesied that there would be wars and rumours of wars as time went by.

[22:18] But, Lord, we do ask for peace and, Lord, that settlements will be arranged and will come to pass. Lord, we also come to you for those within our fellowship and those we know who are in need of healing of one sort or another.

[22:37] some, Lord, need healing through forgiveness. They need you as their Lord and their Saviour. And we pray, Lord, that you will move in their hearts and their lives, that they will come to know you and come to love you.

[22:52] Some need relief from the stress they're going through. Some need relief of healing from their physical or mental issues. Lord, we pray for all those who are in special need of your touch.

[23:04] we pray for your presence with them. We pray for your healing. We pray too, Lord, for those who are caring for them or trying to help. Give them wisdom.

[23:16] Give them strength and give them peace. And, Lord, what we have just asked applies particularly for one of our number, critically ill at this moment of time.

[23:30] Lord, we pray for her and the family. Lord, we plead with you to bring her home. Your work here needs her.

[23:43] Her family needs her. We need her. Lord, we commit her care and care as to you. We beg you to restore her to health and to strength.

[23:58] Guide the hands and minds of those who are caring for her. Lord, what we are asking for may be a miracle, but you are the God of miracles.

[24:11] Please, we pray, bring her home. Restore her to us and to her family. In the meantime, strengthen the family.

[24:25] Give them peace and confidence in your ability to save. again, we ask, Lord, bring her home.

[24:42] And as we embark on our extraordinary week of prayer, Lord, we pray that you will help us to seek you and to listen to you.

[24:55] Teach us how to pray. give us cause to rejoice because of you who have heard and answered our prayers.

[25:07] May we, Lord, as the verse in Timothy says, feel an urge to pray and an urge to seek you. And for Living Stones, Lord, we thank you for the progress so far.

[25:22] and Lord, the current issue, Lord, you know, is we're seeking planning permission for our windows for them to be replaced. Lord, we pray that you will be with those who have yet to make the decision and we pray, Lord, that your work in Living Stones will progress and Lord, that planning will be granted to us.

[25:49] And finally, Lord, we pray for Lynn. We thank you for her, for all the work that she does here in this place for us. And Lord, we pray, particularly this morning, that you will be with her as she speaks to us.

[26:02] Lord, empower her. May she know the power of your spirit as she ministers to her. Bless her as she ministers and Lord, may she speak to each one of our hearts and lives.

[26:13] May each one of us hear what you want us to hear and have to say to us. And may, Lord, we willingly respond to it. Because we ask all these prayers in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[26:26] Amen. Amen. Our Bible reading this morning is from Acts chapter 4, verses 23 to 31.

[26:50] that's on page 1096 of our church Bibles. On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priest had heard of them.

[27:10] When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. Sovereign Lord, they said, you made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

[27:22] You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

[27:34] The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

[27:54] They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

[28:07] stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And they prayed.

[28:20] The place where they were meeting was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Good morning.

[28:41] I'm Lynn Manktler, for those of you who don't know me, and I work in the church office here, and it's lovely to be able to share with you this morning. After they raised their voices together in prayer to God, after they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

[29:12] I'm just going to repeat that. They raised their voices together in prayer to God. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

[29:34] Wow. we need to hear this, don't we? In those times when we wonder why we pray, and in a week when some of us in particular may have been praying really hard, calling out to God and wondering, as O'Brien put it in his sermon last week, whether we're in a yes, a no, or a wait situation, how reassuring it is to read in God's word of a direct response to prayer.

[30:09] We need to know that God hears us and that God responds. We need to know with assurance that God is sovereign and God is in control.

[30:22] And that's particularly the case when we face opposition or difficult times as these apostles and friends did. When we're trying to be obedient to God and everything around us seems to challenge us, it's hard, isn't it?

[30:36] It's a struggle. This group of people called out to God in their time of need. God heard and he responded.

[30:49] He made his power evident. He shook the place where they were so that they would shake in awe of God and have their faith strengthened and not weakened.

[31:02] Their praying was significant. If we ever question whether our prayers are worthwhile then this passage shows us that, as it says in James chapter 5, the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

[31:20] It doesn't then mean that all our desires are met, that we won't face other difficulties in the future. These believers in Acts continued to have struggles and some of them actually died for their faith.

[31:36] But God blessed this group of his followers with a filling of the Holy Spirit that made them even more certain that what they believed was true. It equipped them in a mighty way.

[31:48] prayer. As we come to God's word today especially as we start this special week of prayer, may we receive that same reassurance that prayer is powerful.

[32:02] So we need a bit of context first to understand why it was that these believers prayed in the way that they did. At the start of the book of Acts, Luke tells us that the apostles had seen the resurrected Jesus after his crucifixion and he told them not to leave Jerusalem until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit and that they would be his witnesses to the ends of the earth.

[32:29] The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost enabling them to speak in different tongues and Peter explained to the crowds that this was all fulfillment of scripture, that Jesus is the Messiah and he called on people to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus and tells us three thousand were added to the group of believers in just one day.

[32:51] The group of apostles then began to perform many signs and wonders including the healing of a lame beggar who had been lame for 40 years. All this disturbed the chief priests, the temple guards and especially the Sadducees because they didn't believe in the resurrection of the dead.

[33:11] But many people could see that a physical healing had taken place in the name of Christ and lots of people had started praising God for what had happened. By what power or name did you do this?

[33:24] They asked Peter and John. So these members of the Sanhedrin didn't know how to handle the situation. How could they stop these people spreading this word about a resurrected Jesus?

[33:36] In the end because they hadn't broken any laws they released Peter and John from jail. but they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

[33:48] They commanded them not to do exactly what Jesus wanted them to do. So for the first time we see the apostles facing direct opposition.

[34:02] Jesus wanted them to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. The Sanhedrin basically told them not to say anything to anyone. Problem.

[34:13] Following God's commands was going to lead them to face real trouble. They were experiencing exactly what Jesus said they would. That in this world you will have trouble.

[34:27] And for us in 2024 many of us will have faced just that opposition as we try to speak out for God today. Increasingly our workplaces are camping down on us being able to share our faith.

[34:43] Schools and universities are making it much more difficult to set up Christian units and establish them. And we may face rejection from friends, family members and colleagues for talking to them about Jesus.

[34:58] So what did these believers do? They returned to their people and they prayed and this is the believers prayer that we're going to look at this morning.

[35:09] And we're going to look at three aspects. What did they do? What did they say? And how did God respond? First it tells us that they went back to their people and they shared honestly with them.

[35:27] Verse 23 says, On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. They didn't run and hide.

[35:39] They didn't sugarcoat the situation. They went and told their friends exactly what had happened. It's very easy, isn't it, when things go wrong or are difficult to want to cover up, to hide, to not share with others, to pretend that the situation is not happening.

[35:59] But this group of believers knew each other sufficiently well that they felt able to go back and share honestly with what had been going on. We've got small groups in this church and the whole point of those is that you get to know each other well so that it becomes a place where you can go and share openly to tell others what's been happening in your life.

[36:21] It's somewhere where you don't have to gloss over things and pretend all is well. You can drop the mask and you can say everything is not okay, that you don't know what to do.

[36:33] They recognised that they needed support. Peter and John could have chosen to go off and try and sort everything themselves but they went back to their people, they went back to those who were going to be able to support and help them.

[36:49] Next it tells us that they raised their voices together in prayer. They didn't share and then try and work out a strategy and then pray about it.

[37:00] their first action after listening was to pray together. And this was something they were used to doing. Acts 1 14 tells us they all joined together constantly in prayer.

[37:15] So it was an established habit that they had. This was nothing new. We'll look at what they prayed in a moment but it's important first to notice how they prayed.

[37:28] They prayed together together and it was audible prayer. We don't quite know if it was literally in unison all at the same time or more likely that it was following someone's lead but it was together and with raised voices.

[37:42] People were able to hear and follow what was being prayed so that they could all pray with one accord. It's very important for us as a church that we don't just pray as individuals on our own although of course that is very very important and Jesus obviously models that but that we do spend time praying together.

[38:05] God wants our individual and our corporate prayers. We need to encourage and support each other in prayer. There will be times in our lives when we struggle to pray.

[38:19] Even Pete Greg the founder of 24-7 prayer will have had times when he found it difficult to pray. Maybe we're physically or mentally exhausted or maybe we just don't know how or what to pray.

[38:34] So our brothers and sisters in Christ can help us. They can help us by voicing prayers for us. That's why we have people leading into sessions each week.

[38:45] I don't know about you but I found it so helpful when someone else has prayed from the heart exactly what I needed to pray but I just didn't know how. they've given us the words we needed to express ourselves to God.

[39:00] And you don't need to have eloquent prayers. If you're someone who's afraid of praying out loud and I can relate to that because I was absolutely terrified the first time I prayed out loud.

[39:15] Please can I reassure you not to worry about trying to find the right words. I and many of my praying friends we've voiced prayers that were really faltering not grammatically correct and just a bit of a jumble but God still hears.

[39:31] As long as people can vaguely make sense of what we're saying it doesn't matter if it's not beautiful flowing language. And sometimes scripture tells us the Holy Spirit himself will step in when we don't have words.

[39:44] The important thing is to pray. Our faltering and stumbling prayer may have the depth and the honesty which just enables someone else to really connect with God about whatever we're praying about.

[39:59] I love liturgy and I love communal response prayers but it's often those short heartfelt prayers that resonate the most and help us to pray in earnest.

[40:13] And we need to remind ourselves that Peter the apostle we're talking about here was completely unschooled. He was not erudite. So what did they say?

[40:25] The first thing they prayed was sovereign Lord you made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. They record what God had already told them through his word before they told him something.

[40:43] They reminded themselves that God is the creator of the universe and that he is sovereign. The sovereign Lord who can create all things can also control all things.

[40:56] However bad things look nothing happens outside God's control even though it may feel like it at the time. When we're worried the first thing we need to do is to recalibrate our minds so that we get the big picture of the situation and we recognise God's sovereignty.

[41:16] they then also quoted from Psalm 2 because they recognised that some of the things that had been happening had already been foretold. Verse 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant our father David.

[41:33] Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. David had said years before that the apostles would plot and the rulers would band together against the Lord's anointed one but that it would be in vain.

[41:54] The context of the psalm the Lord's anointed one referred more to himself but it was also foreshadowing of what would happen to the Lord's ultimate anointed one the Lord Jesus. They confirmed that what Herod and Pontius Pilate did to Christ was exactly what had been foretold.

[42:11] In verse 28 they say they did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. So the majority of their prayer is simply reinforcing from scripture we know you are sovereign and in control.

[42:31] They then ask God not to intervene and to stop the Sanhedrin from doing what they're doing but to take notice of the situation and firstly to enable them to speak with great boldness and then to perform signs and wonders through Jesus.

[42:51] First boldness then for the Lord to do miracles. Recognising God's sovereignty doesn't reduce our human responsibility.

[43:05] They knew they still had to play their active part in God's plan. God so they prayed for their enabling not for any suspension of their role. God give us the courage to witness and you perform the miracles.

[43:22] Sometimes when we face opposition and difficulties our desire is to run away and hide. But God wants people who are obedient to him even in the face of difficulties.

[43:34] It wasn't a prayer to ensure their own safety but a prayer to make sure God was glorified. And I wonder how often our prayers are focused on putting God first rather than ourselves.

[43:53] So how did God respond? For them it was a very tangible response. he physically shook the place where they were. Each person was filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God boldly.

[44:10] Throughout the Bible there are instances of God shaking the place to make people know that he is all powerful. In Exodus 19 we read how God shook Mount Sinai and the Lord descended on it in fire.

[44:24] He shook the temple where Isaiah was in Isaiah chapter 6 and a number of the Psalms speak of the Lord's voice shaking the earth. He gives a physical demonstration that he is all powerful to remove any sense of doubt.

[44:40] And the people were filled with the Holy Spirit so that they could speak boldly. It wasn't just to have a kind of wonderful warm fuzzy feeling that they kept to themselves but to enable them to speak boldly.

[44:56] I remember Andrew sharing with us when he was praying and talking to God in Tanzania about whether coming back to High Wycombe was the right thing. And he had quite a dramatic experience of God's presence with him and a feeling of almost being broken by God.

[45:17] Why? God God needed him to know that he is all powerful and he was equipping him to come to the UK to be a pastor and to speak the word of God boldly.

[45:32] Wouldn't it be amazing if our praying this week was so pleasing to God that he shook this room we were each filled with the Holy Spirit and we all had courage to speak the word of God boldly.

[45:44] But it can happen it still happens today. The power of prayer should not be underestimated.

[45:57] This group of believers they weren't super humans they weren't people with degrees in theology or accredited ministers they weren't superheroes they were ordinary people like you and me but their hearts and their motives were in the right place.

[46:16] They asked God to enable them to do exactly what the Lord Jesus had asked them to do. They asked God to enable them to speak courageously and to perform signs and wonders through Jesus so that more and more people would come to know him.

[46:33] When God's people join together to pray in obedience to honour and glorify God God blesses and equips them. So what should we do?

[46:45] What should we say? And what should we expect from God? Firstly, we need to share with one another and pray together as well as on our own.

[46:59] Be part of a small group. Raise voices together to God as we have already this morning so that we pray together in unity wanting to serve God.

[47:10] God. Make the majority of our prayers a recognition of who God is rather than a request for ourselves. These believers were filled and equipped because they recognised the power of the almighty God.

[47:25] How can we speak boldly about Christ unless we've recognised and stated ourselves who he is? Expect God to shape and change you as you carry out what he wants.

[47:40] The believers wanted to witness for Christ. They didn't just receive one filling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It happened here and at other times. The apostles needed to be filled again and again and we need that too.

[47:56] Be expectant. Invite God to help you and to move you on in being able to speak up for God. So I think it's appropriate as we end this time of looking at this passage that I now pray this same prayer that these believers prayed.

[48:13] Let's pray together. Sovereign Lord, you made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

[48:26] You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant David. Why did the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? the kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.

[48:40] Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

[48:55] Now, Lord, consider the threats we are under in 2024 in this place in High Wickham and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

[49:09] Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And all God's people said, Amen.

[49:28] Thank you so much, Linda. Just have a quiet time and think what we've heard and how God might want to speak to us.

[49:45] Is it to seek to join a house group, life group, a small group where you can share and receive from others? Is it fixing a regular time for prayer that God's not left out during the day?

[50:04] Is it a time to learn to listen, which is what I'm asking for this week? Don't have to know everything.

[50:16] The hymn writer wrote, I know not how this wondrous grace to me was made known, but I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he will keep what I've committed until that day.

[50:35] Don't need to know everything, but do need to know that you can trust God with your prayers. And in order for us to pray and in order for us to be bold, we need the Holy Spirit, as Lynn has shared.

[50:50] Holy Spirit, living breath of God, breathe new life into my willing soul. This is a prayer we're going to sing now to our God.

[51:02] Let the presence of the risen Lord come renew my heart and make me whole. Cause your word to come alive in me. Give me faith for what I cannot see.

[51:16] Give me passion for your purity. Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me. We stand and sing.

[51:39] my For what I cannot see Give me passion for your purity Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me Holy Spirit, come abide with me

[52:48] May your joy be seen in all I do Love enough to cover every sin In each thought and deed and attitude Mindness to the greatest and the least Gentleness that sows the path of peace Turn my stripes into works of grace When the Lord shows Christ in all I do Holy Spirit, come creation's birth Giving life to all that God has made

[53:52] Show your power once again on earth Cause your church to under the joyful ways Let the fragrance of our grass arise Lead us on the road of sacrifice That in unity in the face of Christ May be clear for all the world to see Let the fragrance of our prayers arise Lead us on the road of sacrifice That in unity in the face of Christ May be clear for all the world to see

[54:55] Holy Spirit, living breath of God Breathe new life into each one of us Let the presence of the risen Lord Be seen in all that we do Father God, answer our prayer in your time And in your way we pray In Jesus' name Please be seated Welcome back from holiday Andrew, come and share Good morning Good morning everyone Really great to see you And thank you Lynn for your message And yeah, just feeling really inspired Having heard that about prayer And hopefully you would have gathered by now Because we've hopefully mentioned it enough times That today marks the start of our special week of prayer And I think often we're prompted to pray By the circumstances that we face And Colin has already very helpfully led us in prayer For members of our leadership team Who are facing significant challenges This is a call to the church to pray

[55:56] But what we want to do during the week of prayer In addition to that Is to set aside more time to pray And go further and deeper in prayer Because as we've heard This is how spiritual battles are won And God does amazing things When we call on him together in prayer As his people So this week we're challenging each other To extraordinary prayer So we take the ordinary prayer That we normally do every day Every week And we want to challenge you Challenge each other To add something extra to that And when we add something extra To our ordinary prayer We have extraordinary prayer And these are some of the things That you might be able to think about trying This week in this week of extraordinary prayer You could try praying for a whole hour We've got a prayer guide And you can pray in the prayer room at the Hub So the prayer room is going to be the Walnut Suite I think some people are going to set it up this afternoon But it's kind of It's underneath the back corner Back left corner Where I'm looking down there So to get to it

[56:56] If you come into the Hub reception Turn right Past the reception desk Past the gents' toilets And kind of round the corner The Walnut Suite is going to be set up As a quiet, peaceful place Where you can spend an hour or more in prayer We encourage you to try prayer walking So right now our young people Our Salt and Light group Are out prayer walking In the streets of High Wycombe Which is a great thing to do There's a little app to guide you We'd encourage you to try fasting Maybe something you haven't tried before Try give up a meal One meal during the week And use that time you would be eating Praying Or maybe give up something else Maybe give up your phone or TV Or social media And you can join others to pray At various points during the week as well So just show you some of the We've got some brilliant resources All on the website You can follow them from the homepage We've got a prayer guide It looks like that We've sent it out to those of you Who are on our mailing list And you can use that to guide you Through an hour or more of prayer There's also a family prayer guide Which is designed to be done with young children

[57:57] And their carers We encourage you to sign up To pray for an hour So you can follow the link on the website To get to this page on 24-7 prayer It's a lot fuller than that already But there's still quite a few slots That haven't been filled We'd love it if we could have people From the church Praying for every hour Between this afternoon And next Sunday To fill up that 24 hours time Seven days time So we've got the whole church Praying throughout that time So you can sign up online You can pray for another slot That's already taken It doesn't matter if you pray at home In the prayer room here Or somewhere else Out in the park Or in your shed Or anywhere where you find it helpful To pray You can also sign up There should be a sign up sheet On the registration table When you go out for coffee So you can sign up on that If that's there as well So consider signing up for an hour There's a wonderful prayer walking app So together with the other churches in High Wycombe We're aiming to prayer walk The streets of High Wycombe

[58:58] And that means you just walk along the street While you're praying For the people who live there And for the town And just listen to what God might be saying To us As you pray That shows As it looked this morning The streets that have been prayed Or earmarked to pray And we'd love to fill up all those streets So that we're praying for the whole town This week So you can download the app If you don't do apps Don't worry Just go out prayer walking anyway It's wonderful weather To be prayer walking this week You can go out early in the morning Or late in the evening We'd encourage you to To join us For some Zoom prayer meetings Throughout the week Roger's already highlighted The missions prayer meeting Monday evening 8 o'clock Which we commend to you There's a ladies prayer group Which meets on 1 to 2pm On Mondays And also on Thursdays 7.30 to 8.30pm You can also pray for the Children and Young People's Ministry That's a prayer meeting That happens every month It's this week That's on the 4th of June Tuesday 7.45 to 8.30 Come and pray for our children And young people And you can also pray

[59:58] A specific meeting To pray for our Job Club It's a really important ministry That we do That we're able to minister To many people Who wouldn't normally Come into the building For any other reason And we can share God with them And we'd love to pray For those people At the Job Club So join us on Thursday morning 8.30 to 9.15 The links should have gone out to you We'll send them out again Just to make sure Do please try and join us For at least one of those meetings During the week To pray with other people And to be inspired So do hope you can join us Praying throughout the week And then That all leads up to A great celebration next Sunday We mentioned it in the prayers Love Wickham So next Sunday Don't come here for a service Go to the Rye Bring a picnic And something to sit on Because it's an outside service It's at this end of the Rye Turn up at 10.30 The service starts at 11 o'clock There'll be a service From 11 to 12 And then there'll be things to do For all the family All ages After that as well So come along to the Rye 10.30 Next Sunday Rather than coming here

[60:58] Be a great way to finish Our week of prayer Thank you Mike Thank you Does everybody know What this week is? Good Good Just to say That after the service There's tea and coffee Downstairs Hopefully anyway And I'd like to Just give a prayer Of thanks For the offerings That we We don't have A plate going round But we We do give To the work Of the church here Just want to thank God For For that Father God We want to thank you For the way that you've Provided for each one of us Maybe some have Struggled harder than others But we We thank you That every giving That has come from the heart Lord Is to give Blessing and glory To you So we pray Father For those that are given That that money Will be used wisely With good stewardship To bring others To know Jesus As their Lord and Saviour We commit that to you Lord Thank you Our closing hymn

[61:58] Is Come Lord Jesus In your glory Come and fill this place Come and have your way Among us As we seek your face When we lay our cares Before you May our strivings cease As we worship And adore you Lead us To your peace May that be amen Let's stand and sing Come Lord Jesus In your glory Come and fill this place Come and have your way Among us As we seek your face When we lay our cares Before you

[63:00] May our strivings cease As we worship As we worship And adore you Lead us to your peace Come Lord Jesus My Redeemer Breathe on me Anew Search me Know me Saviour Make me more And more Like you Change from glory Into glory Till we're face to face Ransom

[64:03] Rescued Rescued Healed And holy By your saving grace Come Lord Jesus Come Lord Jesus King of heaven Come in victory Now the darkness Is defeated You have set us free It is finished Death is beaten Death is beaten Death is beaten Death has overcome Every tear will turn to gladness Every battle won't

[65:07] Join With the saints And angels Praising you You Alone There Will be With you Forever Our eternal Hope Come Lord Jesus My Redeemer Breathe on me Anew Search me Know me Savior Make me Make me More And more Like you Change from glory Into glory

[66:08] Till we're face to face Ransom Ransom Rescued Healed And holy By your saving grace Now the darkness Is defeated You have set us free It's finished Death is beaten Love has overcome Every tear Will turn to gladness Every battle won A blessing After they'd prayed The place where they were meeting Was shaken And they were all filled With the Holy Spirit And spoke the world Boldly May God Our heavenly Father Bless each of us With the fullness Of the Holy Spirit Guiding and leading us To be his witnesses!

[67:05]  To be his witnesses to the saving grace Of our Lord Jesus Christ Through this week And the week ahead Amen Bless you Please be seated Thank you And pray