Thursday 1 August 2013

Jesus Challenge:

Make a list of people in your life who don’t know Christ. Do something practical for them. Maybe take them out for coffee, have them over for dinner, be creative and invest your time, talents, and/or treasures in their lives.

 

Read: Luke 14:25-35

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple”. Luke 14:33

 

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu left her family and her home in Albania at age 18 to answer the call of God on her life by joining the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. This call would take her far from home for the rest of her life. In fact, Agnes never saw her mother or her sister again.

 

After spending a number of months learning English in Ireland she travelled to India to work as a teacher in the Lorento Convent School. For the next 20 years Agnes continued to serve as a teacher in the school, eventually becoming headmistress.

 

One day, while traveling away from the convent, Agnes was overcome with compassion for the millions of poor and suffering people in the slums near her convent. Recognising the call of God on her life again, Agnes left the comfortable, safe life of the convent that she had known for 20 years to live amongst the poor and suffering and minister to them. This was not an easy choice. Agnes writes:

“While looking for a home I walked and walked till my arms and legs ached. I thought how much [the poor] must ache in body and soul, looking for a home, food and health.Then the comfort of Loreto [her former order] came to tempt me. 'You have only to say the word and all that will be yours again,' the Tempter kept on saying ... Of free choice, my God, and out of love for you, I desire to remain and do whatever be your Holy will in my regard.”

 

For more than 50 years up until her death in 1997 Agnes served the poor, the suffering, the dying and the destitute in India and eventually around the world. However, Agnes work did not escape criticism. She endured vicious criticisms and attacks from people all over the world. The notable atheist Christopher Hitchens even produced a documentary about her which he scathingly titled Hell’s Angel. Agnes had given up her home and family, her security and comfort and finally her reputation for the sake of her calling. Her response to these attacks? “No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work.”

 

This is what it looks like to give up everything for the sake of a cause. This is what it looks like to forsake family, home, security, comfort and even reputation for the sake of a call from God. Agnes provides an incredible example of what it looks like to truly give up everything to follow Christ.

 

God rewarded her efforts and her sacrifice for the sake of His kingdom. At the time of her death the organisation that Agnes founded had over 4,300 workers operating 610 missions in 123 countries. Hundreds of thousands of people were ministered to through her work. Agnes was even awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Millions of people around the world now know about Agnes and her work. You might know her as Mother Teresa.

 

What about you? Are you willing to invest everything you have: your family, your home, your comfort, your security and even your reputation for the sake of God’s Kingdom? Are you willing to give up all of your comforts and treasures, use all of your talents and give all of your time, even your whole life, for the sake of God’s Kingdom?

 

Prayer:

Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

 

Adoration:

 

Confession:

 

Thanks:

 

Supplication:

Praise God for the example Mother Teresa provides of giving up everything for the sake of God’s kingdom. Pray that God would grow in your heart a desire and a passion to give everything for His sake. Pray that He would use you for His kingdom and that He would give you the courage to allow Him to do so.

¥ Pray for the youth of your church as they begin to plan and dream about their lives. Pray that God would grow in the hearts a desire to spend their whole lives for the sake of His kingdom. Pray that they would be filled with a passion and a hunger for God.

 

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Discuss among your group your understanding of tithes and offerings in the church. What’s the purpose of it? How do you think it should be used? If you’re stuck, read Exodus 35:20–29; Deuteronomy 14:28–29; Matthew 23:23; 1 Corinthians 9:13–14.

2. What sort of attitude should we bring our tithes and offerings? What is God concerned about in your tithes and offerings? Read Psalm 51:16–17; Micah 6:6–8.