Happy Sunday!
What a wonderful joy to know that people all over the world are gathering today to worship our Savior, Jesus Christ. Reflecting on our theme for the trip “This is Church” we’ve been focusing so far on “being the church” in our everyday life… of finding time (like a morning commute) to get into God’s Word on our own, of seeing needs around us and meeting them, of serving others… but we can’t forget another very important function of the Church: the actual act of Christians gathering together to support and encourage each other as we study and worship our King together on a consistent basis.
In our exploration of “this is church” our team will split up into three groups and worship with three different congregations in Manhattan this morning. I already can’t wait to gather back together tonight and hear about these different experiences. Our afternoon is also bound to produce many stories as each of the three groups will head out after worship with one main simple goal: to meet needs… to use their collective gifts to BE the church. Our theme for the day is SHARE and the prayer is that with open eyes and hearts, our teams would find people they can impact in big or small ways. Whether it’s praying with someone that needs it or sharing their lunch with someone who is hungry, I truly believe that God is going to use our team to reveal himself to people in NYC today!
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Sunday June 3 – Day 4 – SHARE
GET INTO GOD’S WORD WITH US:
Read Romans 12:9-21 with us and reflect on these questions:
- What do these verses have to do with the theme “this is church”?
- In what ways do you see Christians as a whole living these verses out and where could we maybe step it up?
- Some people think that they can “be the church” alone… never gathering together with other Christians in worship or study. Why is this not true?
GET INTO PRAYER WITH US:
- Pray for interactions we may have as we SHARE in worship at the churches we attend this morning as well as anyone the teams may meet this afternoon… that they would have many opportunities to SHARE Christ.
- Pray specifically for each team (Team A – Nate, Alexa, and Anna; Team B- Jeremiah, Jon, John, and Megan; Team C: Bekah, Ben, and Kristina) that as we walk around, God would give us eyes to see needs and the people whose needs we meet would have eyes to see Him. Ask him to open our eyes to our own gifts, talents and passions and opportunities to use them to SHARE him.
- Pray for pastors around the world today (including your own) as they seek to effectively SHARE God’s Word.
- Pray for energy for the mission before us as we’ve already had a couple LONG days.
- Pray for our team as we wrap up the main debriefing tonight and prepare to come back to Buffalo tomorrow. Ask God to bless our reentry so that what we’ve learned and experienced here becomes an everyday part of our life… that we would BE the Church.
GET INTO ACTION WITH US:
- As you read through Romans 12:9-21 pick one area in which you want God to grow you spiritually and focus on that each day for the next week. Perhaps you struggle with pride (vs 16) and want to ask God to help you be more “willing to associate with people of low position.” Or maybe you’re in a situation where it would be really easy to want revenge, but instead you ask God to help you to, “as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (vs 18). Maybe you want learn to be more “faithful in prayer” (vs 12) or how to “practice hospitality” (vs 13).
- Think of one friend or family with whom you might want to SHARE Jesus. Begin praying everyday for their heart and for opportunities to SHARE the beautiful truth of our Savior.
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