Month: May 2018

Doing everything to spread the Good News – Week of Prayer Day 5; 2018

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I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

1 Corinthians 9:23

Well, so said Paul and without a hint of ego, it was just a statement of fact.

So often today we might read something like this in scripture and think – wow, that was an amazing character, he must have had a special blessing from God to live like that, but of course, if we stop and think it through even for a second, this is exactly what Jesus calls each of us to do in our Christian lives – to be blessed as we live lives that do everything to spread the Good News. But here’s the “exam question:” Do we do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessing?

Imagine you knew that one of your friends were about to make a dreadful mistake, and from the outside you have the perspective needed to see what is at stake but they have no clue?

Say your friend told you he had started an affair, or your daughter or granddaughter had started to regularly turn up drunk, or your son was spotted hanging around with known drug dealers? What would you do in those circumstances? To what lengths would you go to in order to make these people you care for, see the awful errors of judgement, and the likely outcomes?

I’m guessing most of us would do everything possible, but What if those people were on (to use Chris Rea’s phrase) the road to hell?

For most of us it will be easy to go all out to save someone from their worldly bad choices. For most of us it is not quite as easy to go all out to save someone from choosing the clearly dangerous road to hell.

If you have a hard time motivating yourself to share Jesus, borrow some enthusiasm from Paul. It couldn’t be more important for people to find out about forgiveness. Without Jesus’ forgiveness a very real, very hot, eternity is on the horizon.

Paul would do everything possible to get people to listen to the story he had to share, the story of God’s love for his fallen creation. For Paul, sharing the gospel was the most important thing, and it should be for us too. This is why we are here. God wants to use us, of all people, to show his love to the world.

It all starts and ends with Jesus. Like Paul we were once lost. Like Paul we were joined to God’s heavenly family by the love of Jesus. Like Paul we are compelled by Jesus to do everything possible to share Jesus until he calls us home or comes to collect us.

So today, let us give thanks that we have been saved, and ask the Lord to fill us with His undeserved love so that our lives will overflow with His love to the world around us, and let us by every possible means share His gospel every day.

Children’s Prayer Activity

Day 2

Print and colour in this picture to make it look like you, and as you’re colouring think and pray about your friends who don’t know Jesus!

 

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Watch Out! – Week of Prayer Day 4; 2018

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“But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.”

Deuteronomy 4:9

The importance of sharing the truth of God with the next generation was made clear to Israel. Were we inspired to write these words today, we would have no doubt written them in CAPITALS, underlined and bold. Look at the urgency in this verse – watch out!

As that need was urgent in Old Testament days, it is urgent now. Israel was (and is!) surrounded by hostile and ungodly nations, and hostile and ungodly influences were bombarding them from the world around them. Today the church is bombarded by the same influences – God is a God of love and justice: He knows very well the temptations that will come to water down His word to be ‘more palatable’ to those around who want to continue living rebellious lives, He knows of the lies the enemy will weave to lure future generations to step away from the truth of His word, a little here and a little there… He knows that without good examples, without lives lived showing His Grace and Mercy in action, without firm discipline and full love, children will be left to wander away from Him.

Today, let us give thanks to The Lord for our church family, and lift the children entrusted to us to Him in prayer, and let us, as a church family, recommit ourselves to Him, asking Him to help us to be sure to share His word, show His love, and teach of His righteousness and justice. We must too give thanks for our human families, pray for marriages and relationships within our church, and ask Him to enrich us by His Spirit as we seek to live obediently by His grace, showing Him in our lives to this generation and the next.

 

Children’s Prayer Activity

Day 4

Thank God for the family you are part of and for your church family. Why not draw a

picture/take a photo of your family and use it as you pray to God today.

 

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Follow The Leader – Week of Prayer Day 3; 2018

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“But he led his own people like a flock of sheep, guiding them safely through the wilderness.”

Psalm 78:52

Have you ever noticed, that the people of Israel often remembered what they should have forgotten and forgot what they should have remembered…

Here the psalmist is reminding Israel that they are chosen by God, that they were rescued by God in the most incredible way, that God set his own mark upon His flock, by the blood of the Lamb sprinkled on their door-posts; and He led them through their enemies streets, across enemy territory, through the sea which separated before them, and on into a new land, again protecting them though they grumbled. But, as we know through scripture, the people rebelled against God…. Time after time they wanted to be their own shepherd and time after time the enemy attacked until they cried out again to the one and only Good Shepherd.

We might read through the Old Testament and think why ever didn’t they learn to trust God; we might do that, but then we might also compare the ancient Israelites to ourselves…

Christian people are God’s chosen ones too, not replacing Israel, but grafted into that great vine of Israel, and as people living after Christ, with the whole revelation of God in His bible and the blessing of Him dwelling in us as His temples filled by His Spirit, we might do well to remember as the Psalmist reminds us that we too were rescued by God in the most incredible way. God set his own mark upon His flock, by the blood of the Lamb, and He leads us through enemy territory, and will lead us into that New Heaven and New Earth, again protecting us all the way.

So Christian, today, might you find yourself grumbling, wanting to know the way, but unwilling to follow the one who loves to lead you? Might we find the enemy territory we’re wandering through just a bit hard going? Might we seek for ourselves a cross to carry that is easier and more convenient, might we look for our own paths to follow father than take the narrow path with Him?

Today why not use this verse to remind you what an amazing shepherd we have, and seek His leading, His will for your life and the life of your church. Then be radical, be really radical! Obey Him, continue to listen and stay close to your Lord step by step.

 

Children’s Prayer Activity

Day 3

Sometimes we can get things wrong, can’t we? Maybe we make bad choices instead of good choices?

If you have something to say sorry to Jesus for today, why not have a quiet time just like Snoopy and ask Jesus to help us say sorry and make better choices next time?

 

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He is Jealous! Week of Prayer Day 2; 2018

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You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you. Exodus 34:14

Today when we read of God describing Himself as jealous, we can get confused by the modern understating of Jealous; for us Jealous is a negative unpleasant thing, and so we marvel at how God who is love can also be jealous.

As in all illustrations man may use to describe God, the one I’m about to share will fall short, but I hope it will help a little in grasping what it means that our perfect God of love and justice is also Jealous.

Let’s say you come home one day to find a stranger in your kitchen chatting to your 14 year old daughter. He says they’ve been talking online and they’re madly in love. He looks the wrong end of his 50’s. He goes on to say that they have decided to go to a country where girls her age can marry without annoying things like consent of parents getting in the way.

Now assuming that before you throw him either out, or against the nearest wall, assuming you could control yourself long enough to weigh up what you’re feeling… what you’d find is that you have become jealous for your daughter – jealous for her safety and happiness which rightfully belong to her and jealous for the affection that rightfully belongs to you. And you’d act quickly, and with God’s grace, within the law, to get that pervert out of your daughter’s life, and you would do all you could to reteach her, and care for her, to nurture her and help her understand what good and proper loving relationships are.

When God is jealous, He is jealous like that – He is jealous for his people, for their affection which is rightly His and for their safety, welfare and growth, which is rightly theirs.

Isn’t that just the most humbling thing – God, the only true God, the creator of all things is so in love with you that He will jealously watch over you to keep you from getting hooked up with anything at all that will harm you.

As you pray your way through the day keep that picture of pure jealous love in your mind and let it lead you in your worship of God, as you seek to walk in His way, with the knowledge of His jealous love guarding you.

Children’s Prayer Activity

Day 2

Let’s thank God for all He has made –which is your favourite day of creation?

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