{"id":1625,"date":"2018-02-02T17:10:19","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T17:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/?p=1625"},"modified":"2018-02-02T17:15:25","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T17:15:25","slug":"ministers-letter-feb-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-feb-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister’s Letter – Feb 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.
\n<\/b><\/em>Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
\n<\/b>Is anyone among you ill? Let them call the elders of the church
\nto pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
\n<\/b>And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well;
\nthe Lord will raise them up.
\nIf they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
\n<\/b>Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
\n(James 5: 13-16 NIVUK)<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

The beginning of 2018 has not been easy for many of us in Clincarthill Church. Several people have been ill; others have either spent time in hospital and are now home, while others are still in hospital. Saddest of all, a number of our church family have been bereaved over these past few weeks.<\/p>\n

These are difficult times for many of us. I am please, however, to hear how well people feel supported and cared for in our congregation. I am grateful that we make a point to look after one another in our church family; especially as it takes me time to personally get around everyone, to see them and make sure they are supported.<\/p>\n

The support we receive from people can be invaluable. There is, however, another avenue of support which we must not forget: that of prayer. James, when he was writing his letter, emphasised how important and all-encompassing prayer is, and how it can offer us real help and support in times of trouble.<\/p>\n

Firstly, James encourages us to pray for our own circumstances. If we are in trouble, if we are happy, if we have a confession to make, then we are to pray. If we give these things over to God, He will help us in difficulties, celebrate with us in our happiness, and give us assurance of His forgiveness and grace.<\/p>\n

Secondly, James highlights that we are to pray on behalf of others. James describes a very specific situation: one which, I think, we would do well to explore more and take more seriously in the Church today. The principle of this situation can be applied more broadly: as Christians, we are called to pray for one another. What an encouragement it can be to have someone pray for you!<\/p>\n

Whether we pray for ourselves, or for others, our prayers can be both \u201cpowerful and effective\u201d. Let\u2019s be praying then, especially as this year is off to a difficult start for some of us.<\/p>\n

May God bless you, and keep on praying!<\/p>\n

Stuart<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you ill? Let them call the elders of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8z2vw-qd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":502,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/prayer-breakfast\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":0},"title":"Prayer Breakfast","author":"admin","date":"9 October 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The next Prayer Breakfast is at 8.30am on Saturday 11 October. We will begin with a simple breakfast together and time for fellowship and chat over concerns for prayer. Out of this we will pray together and finish by about 9.45am. This will take place in the quiet space in\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":645,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/message-from-our-locum-joan-kilpatrick-may-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":1},"title":"Message from our Locum \u2013 Joan Kilpatrick \u2013 May 2015","author":"admin","date":"3 May 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear friends I\u2019m sure we\u2019re all aware that time is moving on at quite a pace.\u00a0 Many of our organisations are winding down for the Summer, our Kid\u2019s Church and YPC are looking forward to their Prize-giving during May.\u00a0 The BB have held their display and I\u2019m sure it all\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4049,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/prayer-breakfast-sat-3rd-feb-at-8-30am\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":2},"title":"Prayer Breakfast – Sat 3rd Feb at 8.30am","author":"admin","date":"29 January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"We invite you along to our Prayer Breakfast at Clincarthill Church this Saturday, 3rd February at 8.30am. All are welcome to come and share in some breakfast and to pray for matters of concern to you.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4135,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/prayer-breakfast-sat-13th-april\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":3},"title":"CANCELLED Prayer Breakfast – Sat 13th April","author":"admin","date":"7 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Sorry, this event is now cancelled. We invite you along to our Prayer Breakfast at Clincarthill Church on Saturday, 13th April at 8.30am. All are welcome to come and share in some breakfast and to pray for matters of concern to you. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Praying-hands-1.jpg?fit=846%2C491&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Praying-hands-1.jpg?fit=846%2C491&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Praying-hands-1.jpg?fit=846%2C491&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Praying-hands-1.jpg?fit=846%2C491&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4203,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/prayer-breakfast-saturday-12th-october-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":1625,"position":4},"title":"Prayer Breakfast – Saturday 12th October 2024","author":"admin","date":"17 September 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"We invite you along to our Prayer Breakfast at Clincarthill Church on Saturday,12th October at 8.30am. 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Even I, as a 27-year-old, have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1625"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1626,"href":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1625\/revisions\/1626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}