Advent
Welcome to the Advent Edition of Envoy!
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Over the next few weeks, we'd love to introduce you to our wider family: Church Army! Church Army gave birth to Envoy and looks after us very well. Church Army is a charity dedicated to evangelism, we are part of the Anglican church but not limited only to Anglican settings. We love to partner with Christians just about everywhere and anywhere if it means helping others encounter God's amazing love.
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When you signed up to Envoy, you were added to the numbers of people being prayed for in our mission community. You also in Spring will receive Church Army's 'In Touch' updates in your email inbox.
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Have you checked in with our wider Envoy community? If not, this is your prompt [link is in the 'shameless plug' section at the bottom of this page! We know you already have your WhatsApp group for Envoy but this community section is for all our communities to share what we are getting up to locally in terms of mission and evangelism. The focus during Advent is connecting with people who do not share our faith.
If you haven't already done it, join the big Envoy community (we will let you in when you apply) Drop the community a quick message right now about what you hope to get up to missionally during Advent. Add emoji praying hands to other people efforts. keep checking back in and let us know how you're doing with making connections with people over Advent. Remember: we need to haver each others back and are praying for each other and for the people/places on your heart.
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Whilst we are on the topic of prayer, don't forget to pray for the others in your own Envoy community as well as their people by name. You never know the impact that your prayer could have on conversations that they might have with those people!
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Below are some videos for you to check out. The first set of two videos is for those who are brand new to Church Army. The second set are for those of you who are familiar with Church Army already. Once you've watched the videos, don't close the web page! Instead, scroll to the bottom of this page where you'll find a prayer guide which will help you to pray over Advent. Last of all, go to the shameless plug and join our big Envoy community.
Happy watching & happy praying!
BRAND NEW TO CHURCH ARMY?
Watch these videos:
fAmiLiAr WITH CHURCH ARMY ALREADY?
Watch these videos:
Over Advent, we are encouraging you to step out and have conversations with the people you named in your last few meet ups. The simple conversation starter we suggested was, "seeing as it's Advent, I'd love to know.. who or what lights up your life?" Remember: there is no pressure with this. We are simply having a chat with the person in front of us and if God opens doors to deeper conversation then that's a wonderful added bonus!
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We have also encouraged you to pray for people on your list, for the people on the lists of the others in your Envoy community, and for the other members of your Envoy community, too. If you're anything like me, you probably start off with very good intentions in prayer. But then your phone buzzes, or your doorbell rings or your mind wanders and suddenly it's an hour later and you realise that your prayer time didn't quite go to plan!
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Below is a really easy & quick guide that will help you to pray. Set the timer on your phone/Alexa/device of your choice for 5 minutes (yes, just 5 minutes!) and follow the guide below each day. Hopefully, you'll find that your praying becomes much more focused and it might even start to form a habit.
Prayer Guide:
DAILY ENVOY
THANKSGIVING (1 minute)
Leave the life you live (good and bad) with Him and thank him that you trust him to have it all. Thank Him for taking ownership of it and you.
Moves us to a posture of letting go and readiness to receive. It readies us to change.
PRAISE (1 minute)
Begin to focus on Jesus as the one who is now present and if He is present then all other things have to reposition themselves around his goodness and affection for you.
Causes our thinking to be at rest. We get more in line with how things are and who God is.
WORSHIP (1 minute)
You are no longer in prayer on your terms or because of your needs. You are within His realm. The focus has shifted from you to Him.
Flicks the light to on in our spirit. Our soul lights us. We are ready to connect and have something to give that is more likely to be overflow than residue!
Spend two minutes on these next three points - one minute for you and one minute for someone else in your Envoy group.
OPPORTUNITY
Lord open a door (open an opportunity)
We are asking for a natural (or supernatural) opportunity to have a faith/Jesus conversation with another person that is not forced, not manipulated, contrived or cojoling.
OPENNESS
Lord open their heart (that they are at ease/eager/ready to have the conversation)
We are asking God to prepare them, to make a way/a space./a hunger within them. It also means we need to stay sensitive as any conversation is happening.
OPEN MY MOUTH
Lord open my mouth (where I see that opportunity and openness are aligning).
We are asking God to give us courage. That we would have the right words. That God would give us the right approach, the space and timing.
And finally, a bit of a shameless plug at the end.
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We would love it if you could head over to our social media channels, like/follow our pages and perhaps share some of our content with your friends. You can find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/envoycommunity and instagram: www.instagram.com/envoycommunity
The absolute last shameless plug.
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Click on the image below. It will open up the page you normally use to access your weekly teaching. Instead of opening teaching, click 'Request To Join', it will ask you to join community, we will within the next 24 hours say a big YES and send you a confirmation link that will let you in. Sorry for the extra layer - we want to keep the space safe so only those legitimately doing Envoy can share their missional lives knowing its safe to do so.
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