Saturday 29 March 2014

Read: Ephesians 5:19-20, Colossians 3:15-17
Aussies, Aussie men in particular, don’t like to sing unless of course it’s a victory chant at a football match! But as Christians we are command to sing to sing to God and to sing to each other. Here in Ephesians we have a command to speak to each other in a variety of songs - with Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs. Corporately we are told to be singing together.

Individually we are told to sing and to make music in our hearts to the Lord. Singing and praising God then, forms a part of our Christian walk whether we are alone or gathered together. These are not optional extras that we can add on or take off as if we were buying a new Harley Davidson with optional extras. Even though Aussie men may find it hard to sing to each other, or to make music in their hearts, it’s something we are commanded to do.

This is why churches sing when they gather together on Sonday. This is why we make such a big deal of singing the Lord’s praises. It blesses God and it blesses us! Now of course it can be argued that I don’t need to go to church to sing praise to God. Of course you don’t but that’s no excuse to avoid church! When’s the last time you sang to another believer outside of Church? When’s the last time you taught or admonished another believer outside of church?

Tomorrow is the day set apart together with your Christian brothers and sisters. It’s a time to sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. It’s a time to sing together psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. It’s a time to teach one another and to let the Word of Christ well up and dwell richly among us. You’d be crazy to miss it. See you there.

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

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Pray that our Lord and Saviour would be powerfully present among us tomorrow as we meet in His name. Pray that our hearts would be attuned to His Word and that we would all walk in step with the Spirit.
• Pray that God would show each person their role in the church so that they can use their spiritual gift(s) to bless and edify the body of Christ.

Friday March 28, 2014

Read: Hebrews 10:19-25, 10:32-36
The Christians to whom the Letter to the Hebrews was written suffered much for their faith. Early on, they were actively persecuted and stood firm through the storm. At various times they were publicly insulted and attacked. At other times they stood side by side with others as they endured the same treatment. These believers were imprisoned for their faith and several lost property and assets simply because they refused to deny the name of Jesus. They looked upwards to Christ and forward to His return when they would receive their heavenly reward.

But over time some in the church began to fall away. It was easier to stay home, to avoid church meetings and to hide than to shine the light of Jesus. Though many Christians are actively persecuted in the same way today, we in the west are rarely persecuted physically. However, we do face persecution! We do face persecution but it’s very subtle and sinister. We face the persecution of wealth and abundance. To see how this acts as a persecutor you need only remember Jesus’ words, ‘How hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven’ (Luke 18:23-25). Having wealth and abundance creates an insatiable lust for more and causes us to want to enjoy or use the things we’ve blessed ourselves with. Inevitably, because we are all time poor, something has to give. Church is often the first option when something has to be dropped. The persecution of wealth and abundance draws our heart further from the Lord and causes us to think that we don’t need God, or that we don’t need to sit in church because God has obviously blessed us enough. Even worse, abundance can lead to greed which could cause us to work longer hours or to get a job that demands Sonday work.

In the letter to the Hebrews we are encouraged, in the face of persecution, to recall that we can approach God’s throne with confidence and that we have a great High Priest standing for us before God. This constant recollection will encourage us in several ways. Notice the repetition of the phrase ’let us’.

• We can draw near to God in full assurance because all of our sins have been dealt with at the cross. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
• We can hold tightly and consistently to the faith we profess because the God we draw near to, is faithful. He will not let us go. He will not forsake us. He will not break His promise to us.
• We can spur each other onto love and good deeds because we are all in the same boat and we are all brothers and sisters standing before our Heavenly Father, with our big brother Jesus as the High Priest over the House of God.
• We can continue meeting together without flinching or making up excuses.
• We can encourage one another daily because the day of Jesus’ return is near.

The point regarding church attendance is clear. Since we have a great High Priest over the House of God and because we can draw near to God we should be spurred on to consistent and regular fellowship. We can encourage one another to be at church. We can spur each other on to be engaged and switched on at church. We can follow each other up in times of absence and we can care for each other and support each other in times of illness or difficulty. It all stems from what Jesus has done for us at Calvary.

Thursday March 27, 2014

Read: Hebrews 8
Christians have a lot of good excuses and comebacks. When confronted with a challenge to their decision many Christians respond by saying, ‘God told me to...’. There’s no argument that can be advanced because I have no right to argue with God. Whether or not God told that person is undecided but that statement stops any further discussion. The other remark oft quoted is, ’That’s just legalism...’ When I challenge people to be regular in their church attendance or to attend extra-church activities I often hear some form of this reply. According to their logic, as soon as church attendance is encouraged, the encourager is disparagingly or negatively called a legalist.

Is this really the case? The New Covenant gives an interesting answer! Under the Old Covenant Israel turned from God time and time again. She refused to walk in obedience and fell into sin and idolatry over and over again. God prophesied a time (Jeremiah 31:31-34) and Hebrews looks at the fulfilment when God would write a new covenant with His people. This new covenant would not be external like the tablets of stone on which the old covenant was inscribed. This new covenant would be internal. God would write inside the heart/mind of each and every believer.

As the Lord spoke though Jeremiah

I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts.

As we consider this inner writing by the Spirit of God, we can begin to answer the question about legalism. A legalist is a person who seeks to buy favour with God by doing things or going through motions. It’s a question of the heart or of motives. But God, through His Holy Spirit writes His law on a believer’s heart/ mind. One would assume that if the law of God is in one’s heart and one’s mind then that person loves God and wants to serve and please by keeping or doing what God desires. This is as far from legalism as one could possibly get.

But not only has God given us His Word written on our hearts and minds, He’s also given us His Spirit so that we are empowered to live life as He pleases. We are commanded to live by the Spirit (Gal 5) and by the Spirit to put to death the misdeeds of the body (Romans 8). Striving to please God is not legalism. It’s love. It’s love in action. It’s the kind of love that drives a believer to be at church to love God, to serve God, to love others and to serve others week in week out without making excuses.

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

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Pray for the work of Shiloh Church ministries and pray especially that the orphans and widows supported will grow strong in their faith and will shine brightly the love of Jesus. Pray that Shiloh will have all they need to continue ministering to the poor and needy.
• Pray that your church would grow through conversions as each believer takes the Word of Life and shares it with friends, family and neighbours. Pray that there’ll be a missionary zeal among the congregation so that more and more people are reaching out with the gospel.

Wednesday March 26, 2014

Read: 1 Corinthians 12
Would you be willing to do this experiment for a full week? Tie one arm to your body so that you can’t use it all for the whole week. Alternately, you could tie up one leg so that you can’t use it. Alternately you could blindfold one eye or stop one ear from being able to hear at all.

How would you fare for the entire week? I think you’d be rather frustrated and fatigued by the end of the week. I think you would gain a new appreciation for that particular body part that you willingly lost use of!

God describes the Church as the body of Christ. The body image conveys exactly what the experiment above conveyed - that every part of the body is useful and is needed. Every part is to be appreciated. When individuals stay away from church (accepting that there are valid reasons) it’s like not being able to use a particular body part. It’s frustrating and fatiguing for those who do attend.

God’s plan is that each and every single person in the church has a vital role to play. This includes our Sonday gatherings but is not limited to it. Verse 7 makes this exceedingly clear. God tells us that each one has a manifestation of the Holy Spirit through which they can serve the body and bless it. What is your role in the church? Are you an evangelist? Are you a welcomer or greeter? Can you make new comers feel welcome and invite them for a meal at your place? Are you gifted in preaching or teaching? Could you help out with the children’s program? Perhaps you’re an encourager and you can bless people before or after the service. Are you musical or do you have a singing ability? Are you technically minded? Perhaps you could help out behind the scenes making sure that all the equipment works.

God makes it clear (vs14-24) that we can neither opt out of the body because we don’t have certain other gifts or abilities. We should never seek to be like so and so. We should never leave a church because we aren’t as gifted or talented as someone else. Nor can we opt others out because we don’t think they are needed. God is the organiser of the gifts in the body and it is His role, not mine or yours, to determine who is in the body. Our job is to accept and love every believer in the body of Christ.

Finding your gift (if you don’t already know it) is relatively easy. Here’s a 5 step plan to work through should you not know your spiritual gift.

1. Pray. Ask God to show you what your gift is. This is parallel to asking God what He wants you to be doing in the church. The answer from God will never be that He wants you to sit back and spectate.
2. Passion. Think about where your passion is and move towards that area.
3. Perceive the needs in your church. Ask the elders about what needs are currently present.
4. Practice. Choose a need and fill that need. Stick at it for some time, say 6 months.
5. Peer Review. Seek to get input from your peers about how you have been going in filling that need. If you have made a discernable difference, this is one of your gifts. If you have made no discernable difference go back to step 1 and repeat the process.

God’s Word is exceedingly clear about your role in the church.

Now you (plural) are the body of Christ and each one of you (single) is a part of it.

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

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Pray that our cell groups would be building people up in the faith and that they would be utilizing people’s gifts and putting them to work for the sake of the Kingdom.
• Pray that we would have a blessed Sonday this weekend as we fellowship, worship together and sing glory, honour and praise to our God. Pray that the preacher would be Spirit filled and courageous to preach the unadulterated Word in all its power and glory.

Tuesday March 25, 2014

Read: Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:14, 2:1, 42-47, 20:7
The Gospel of Luke closes with a fascinating scene. For three years the disciples have been with Christ. They’ve witnessed His life up close and personal. They’ve seen the miracles, the power over demons and the authoritative teaching. Added to this, they’ve seen Him betrayed, arrested and sentenced to death by crucifixion. The disciples watched as Jesus died on the cross. But they also witnessed the risen Jesus Christ. At this point, as the Gospel closes, Luke could have focused on many things. Perhaps we would expect him to focus on God’s greatness or the majesty of the risen Christ.

Instead he focuses on the disciples. Luke records for us that they were blessed by Him. Then Luke allows us to zoom in on the disciples and to see them constantly in the temple praising God. We are left pondering the group of disciples committed to the risen Lord Jesus Christ but also committed to each other.

As we turn to Dr Luke’s second volume, the Book of Acts, we see that the disciples are still together and are praying together constantly. In Acts 2 we see that the disciples are still together. Their commitment to each other hasn’t waned, it had grown and strengthened. In fact, the disciples are so transformed by the love of Christ and the filling of the Holy Spirit that they love being together. Worshipping God and praying through Christ appears to be their main priority. They love each other so much that they share their possessions. They sell their assets and give to anyone who has need. There are no needy persons in the Church. In fact, the love of Christ was so prevalent among them that the Lord added to their number daily the number of those being saved. By the time we are at Acts 20, we see that the early church is still meeting together to break bread among other things. This is a reference, most likely, to celebrating the Lord’s Supper and fellowshipping together. The practice of the early church was clear - they continued steadfastly to meet together each Lord’s day.

Praise God that there’s still a believing remnant that loves fellowship and wants to worship God corporately. It’s this kind of love and togetherness that will show the world that we are Jesus’ disciples. It’s this kind of love that will communicate our priorities to a lost and hopeless world. It’s our commitment to Christ and to each other that will draw the world into the love of Christ. Half hearted church attendance, apathy, diminishing love for the brotherhood at church and misaligned priorities will communicate to the world that Jesus really doesn’t matter that much to us. But as we love one another and sacrificially serve one another the world will truly see Christ in us.

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

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Pray that God would grow love among your congregation. Pray that He would allow members to reach out to each other in love, to forgive each other as needed and to really enjoy being together on Sondays. Pray that God would draw others into Christ through this love.
• Pray that God would bring numerical growth to your congregation through conversions. Ask God to bring opportunities for everyone in your congregation to share their faith and to make disciples in Jesus’ name.

Monday 24 March 2014

Read: Deuteronomy 6:1-6, 1 John 4:19-21
Let me encourage you to answer the following questions by circling yes or no. Try not to sit on the fence on any question. Be honest and true in your answers.

• Would you skip work to watch a football match?
• Would you quit/leave your job without telling the boss?
• Would you skip lunch with your family to go shopping?
• Would you miss your weekly sport’s training just because you couldn’t be bothered going or because you wanted to rest?

Most of us would say ‘No’ to these questions, if nothing else, out of a sense of decency and honesty. Yet I wonder how we would answer if the underlined words were changed to ‘Church’? Given that many churches have Sonday absentee rates of anything up to 50% of the congregation I am tempted to think that we would skip church to watch a football match, or that we’d leave without telling the leadership, or that we’d go shopping rather than attend church. I’ve been personally told by people that they didn’t attend church because they were too tired or couldn’t drag themselves out of bed.

God calls us to love Him with our entire heart, soul, mind and strength. Yet the lax attitude to church attendance across the board betrays our hearts and priorities. God sits idly on lower shelf often subject to better offers and relegated to the ’nothing better to do’ pile. Still others attack anyone who challenges them with the well worn cry of “legalism”, seeking to justify their own choice place God somewhere down the ladder of importance.

Loving God is not a legalism issue. Since God has loved us in Christ and has given us every spiritual blessing in Christ and because He has spared nothing, not even His one and only Son, in loving us, we should willingly and joyously love Him. Attending church is not the only way to love God but it is a key ingredient in expressing our love and gratitude for all He’s done for us. We simply cannot claim to love God if we cannot love God.

While these may seem like harsh words, let us live up to all that we are in Christ. Let us match our claim to love God with our lives and let us live joyously in His daily presence.

Prayer:

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

Adoration: 

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Pray that God would grow and mature both yourself and your congregation in love, in knowledge and in depth of understanding of how much God has given you in Christ Jesus. Pray that your joy would increase dramatically as you live in the love of God daily.
• Pray that your Session will be godly, Spirit filled and willing to apply the Word of God to themselves firstly before they apply it to everyone else. Ask God to make their work a joy as the congregation submits to their Christ-given authority.

Saturday 22 March 2014

Read: Revelation 21:1- 22:5
Focus is everything. For the sportsman or woman, focus can mean the difference between winning gold or not. For the hunter it can mean the difference between bagging an animal or losing it. For the businessman it can mean the difference between sealing a deal and losing millions of dollars in potential income/profit. For the Christian it can mean the difference between a life of praise or a life of perversion.

The Christian heart and mind is to be focussed on God but also on the final outcome to this world. As we read in Revelation 21-22 God will create a new heaven/earth where there is no sickness, no disease, no crying or mourning or shame. This new world will be free of death - the original curse will be undone and obliterated. Even more so, the new world will have God at the centre and all believers will have the exuberance of worshipping God face to face. Everyone who’s name is written in the book of life will be there for eternity.

But when we do not have a proper focus our hearts are loaded down with anxiety. The concerns of this world, the worries of life choke the Word of God and cause it to be unfruitful. Rather than seeking the Kingdom of God we begin to seek relief from the stress, worry and anxiety of life. We seek the thrills of the world. The result is inevitably perversion. It need not necessarily be a totally depraved perversion but it will be perverted. As soon as God is removed from our heart and mind, the void will need to be filled. As soon as the focus of our heart and mind moves away from God, it is filled with something or someone else. Usually that equates to me and my needs. The resulting quest to fulfil me and my needs inevitably leads to a perversion of God’s intended goal and direction of your life.

Church has many functions. One function is to help us regain a right priority in our heart and mind. Church allows us to forget the things of this world and to be renewed and transformed in our hearts and minds so that we can worship Him acceptably in reverence and awe all the days of our life. Church is given to us by God to help us keep a right focus and if need be, to bring us back to that right focus. Tomorrow your church will gather together. Don’t miss this God given blessing.

Witness Moment
If you keep your focus on God, you’ll make the most of every opportunity. As you live in the sight of God and focus on Him, you’ll see the opportunities to share Christ in every meeting and in every ’chance’ encounter. If you lose your focus, opportunities will come and they will go just as quickly.

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 opportunity to meet together tomorrow. Ask God to make this meeting a glory and exaltation of His name in Christ Jesus. Pray that the Spirit would be powerfully at work in and through believers. Pray that those who are distant from God or that are rejecting Him would be converted through His grace and mercy.
• Pray that the Word of God would be boldly and faithfully proclaimed tomorrow in your church and throughout the entire city/nation in which you live. Praise God that His Word will achieve the purposes for which He has sent it.

My Additional Prayer Points

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2. 
   

Friday 21 March 2014

Read: Luke 23:48-49, Acts 4:23-31, Psalm 2
The best response to God’s sovereignty is unbridled and unadulterated adoration and praise.

When we consider what happened to Jesus we see the depth and veracity of this statement.

To help you understand what is going on, put yourself in the shoes or sandals of a first century witness to the events of the crucifixion of Jesus. After 3 years of seeing Jesus do amazing miracles, hearing Him teaching boldly and with a different authority to the regular teachers and hearing the claims He made about Himself, it would be very easy to be deflated as you watch Him die upon the cross. Many beat their breast and walked away from the cross, dejected, sad and disappointed. From a purely human point of view, they had hoped Jesus would be the appointed Messiah but He died. Their hopes died with Him on the cross.

But three days later the disciples see Him alive and well! He’s not a ghost or apparition. You poke Him and you prod Him to make sure He’s real. And as the Holy Spirit fills you, you realise that this was God’s plan right from the very start.

God had always planned to send His Son into the world. This Son would face the rage and plotting of the nations. This Son would face the stand off against the nations. And yet God laughs. God scoffs at them. Why? Because through this Son Jesus, God would accomplish what He had already decided before hand. No plan of God’s can be thwarted. No person or organisation or government department can outsmart or outwit God.

The disciples have gathered in the upper room, having been persecuted and they lift up their voices to God in adoration and praise. With joyful hearts they sing God’s Glory and recite Psalm 2 to Him. They declare the wonder of God and praise His glorious name, His wonderful plan. In short, they praise God for His sovereignty!

Whether you realise it or not, your life comes under the sovereignty of God. Nothing that has happened, is happening, or will happen to you that can catch God by surprise. Nothing in your life can thwart God’s purposes. God is at work in your life, just as He was at work in the life of Joseph and in Jesus. God has a plan and that plan is in full swing.

Even if your life is an absolute misery at present you can praise God for who He is. You can sing God’s glory and praise because of God’s character and qualities. Your life doesn’t make God any less sovereign or loving or gracious or kind or compassionate... Get the picture? When we praise God, when we worship God we focus on Him to the exclusion of everything else, especially ourselves.

If your life is difficult at present, try to find one thing to praise God for. Tomorrow try to find 2 things to praise God for and so on. Pretty soon, you’ll be lifting up the praises and adorations of God just as the beaten and bloodied disciples did in that upper room.

Worship Moment
We’ve all the heard the adage that Sonday church is not worship, all of life is worship. I think we’ve heard it to death.

But think about your life as worship. No matter what you are doing, be it working or sporting or relaxing or driving or partying.... your life can be a song of adoration and praise to the Lord. Your life can be a testimony of worship whatever you are doing.

When you think about it like that, it makes you want to do your best for God doesn’t it?

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

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Pray that the Word of God would be boldly and fearlessly preached this weekend in your church and in the churches across the city. Pray that each person would sit under the authority of the Word and grow in adoration and praise of God.
• Pray that your Youth Group would faithfully and consistently teach the youth what it means to worship our awesome and sovereign God. Pray that they would grow in wisdom, in knowledge and in their willingness to surrender all things to God. Pray that the youth group would grow by conversions.

My Additional Prayer Points

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2. 
   

Thursday 20 March 2014

Read: Matthew 6:25-34, Deuteronomy 6:1-6
Unfortunately we are all prone to worry or anxiety. Though some are more prone than others we are all subject to bouts of worry or anxiety. Even more unfortunately, anxiety draws us away from God and causes us to act in ways that may be contrary to the will or desire of God.

Anxiety arises when we take our eyes off God and focus on the situation before us. As we move away from God we begin to think of all the ‘what ifs’ and all the possibilities - usually the negative ones and usually the worst possible scenarios. The result is anxiety or worry.

What ensues is really a battle of the mind. While we are anxious or worried we simply cannot trust God or praise God! Worry and worship are mutually exclusive. They cannot and will not occur together. It’s one or the other. When we think anxious thoughts we are not loving God with our entire heart and mind.

Jesus teaches us about how much God loves the believer. He feeds the birds and clothes the grass of the field. How much more will He not look after you. You are far more important to God than birds and grass! We do not need to worry about our needs and requirements. Jesus wants us to seek first the Kingdom of God and to put all these other things into proper perspective. Jesus wants us to pursue His Kingdom and His righteousness and He promises that all these things will be added unto you as well.

Walk Moment
Philippians 4:6-7 shows us that anxiety and praise (giving thanks) are mutually exclusive. You will do one or the other.

Start training now to develop an attitude of gratitude. Start training now to praise God no matter what you are going through.

Make it your goal to shoot up an arrow of adoration to God at regular intervals throughout the day, say on the hour every hour!

Pretty soon the peace of Christ will overwhelm you.

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

Adoration: 

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Pray that God would teach you and your fellow church goers not to be anxious but to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. Pray that worry/anxiety will be a thing of the past.
• Pray that the children in Shiloh Church Ministry’s orphanages will grow in faith, in their trust in God and in their ability to seek first the Kingdom of God. Pray that they would be a shining light to the surrounding villages concerning the love of God and His daily provision.

My Additional Prayer Points

1.  
2. 
   

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Read: Genesis 45:1-8, 50:15-21
If anyone deserved to think that God had lost control it was Joseph. As a young man he showed little tact and diplomacy with his brothers and ended up being sold by them to Midianite slave traders. They sought to kill him because they hated him and the favouritism he attracted from their father. But God intervened and had him sold into Egypt as a slave. If that wasn’t bad enough, life took a turn for the worse when he was falsely accused of wrong doing and ended up in jail for quite some time. Even worse still, when he thought he’d get out of jail quickly, he was forgotten about and remained incarcerated even longer.

But God intervened yet again and brought Joseph before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams. Through this event Joseph was set free, promoted to second in charge in all Egypt and was honoured among all the people.

Joseph suffered unjustly for decades. If anyone had the right to be bitter, he did. Yet as he confronted his brothers he proclaimed: "So then it was not you who sent me here but God." (Gen 45:8)

Later, as his brothers cowered before him, after the death of their father, he proclaimed:-
"Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You indeed meant to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Joseph could see God’s hand at work in and through his life. He refused to give way to bitterness which defiles many. He refused to use his power to gain vengeance upon his brothers.
All too often we have difficult and painful experiences. Sometimes these are deliberately caused by the ones we love. If we fail to see the sovereignty of God then the result will be bitterness and a desire for revenge.

The antidote is to accept and rejoice in the sovereignty of God and to see His hand at work in our lives and situations. Like Joseph we need to forgive our brothers/sisters for hurting us, let go of the pain and relinquish the desire for revenge. We need praise God that His plan is in full swing and that even through my situation, He can be working for the saving of many lives.

Witness Moment
Anyone can praise God when life is going well. Anyone can sing to God in times of abundance. But in bad times, in times of little or loss singing praise and adoration of God has a powerful effect upon non believers. They expect you to worship God in good times. But when they see you praising God and adoring Him even through tough times, they’ll be drawn to God in a way that no debate or explanation could ever create.

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 that He is sovereign and that nothing happens apart from His will. Pray that each person in your church would understand this sovereignty and rejoice in it. Pray that a spirit of forgiveness would come upon all those who are hanging onto bitterness and hurt from the past.
• Pray that our cell groups would be a powerful testimony to the love, sovereignty and forgiveness of God as they meet, worship and encourage each other in their walk with the Lord.

My Additional Prayer Points

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2. 
   

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Read: Genesis 3:6-24

If there was ever a moment when God would have given up on creation, this was it. God had created for mankind an incredible and wonderful world. Everything was good. There was no evil, no sickness and no suffering. He placed mankind into this world and He walked closely with them, in intimate and perfect relationship. Everything was very good.

God gave Adam and Eve eternal life in the garden with only one prohibition, one thing that they were not to do if they were to remain in relationship with Him and in that perfect state. That prohibition was that they do not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or they would surely die.

What did they go and do? In a way which has become typical of mankind they rejected God and ate of the tree. In a terrible act of rebellion and defiance against the almighty God they did the one thing which was prohibited for them to do.

We read in Genesis that after Adam and Eve had sinned they hear God walking in the garden, calling out for them. Afraid of how God will respond to their act of defiance they hide themselves in fear. Imagine the scene. Adam and Eve have defied the living God and now He is coming in the garden. They are about to be face to face with the one that they have rebelled against. They tremble in fear as they anticipate what will happen. How will God respond to such a terrible thing that they have done? Will He kill them outright? Will they suffer some kind of terrible punishment? What will God do?

If there was ever a moment when it would seem fit for God to totally reject His creation and choose to never again be involved this was it. He had created a paradise and His people had responded by turning against Him. They had responded to His rule with rebellion. They had responded to His love with disinterest. They had responded to His kindness with disobedience. They had responded to His abundant provision with dissatisfaction.

How does God respond to this terrible sin? After confronting Adam and Eve about their sin He dishes out His just yet gracious punishment. The curse is a terrible act of justice. God deems that mankind and the Earth shall live with the results of the fall. But even here, in God’s just punishment for sin, God confirms His commitment to mankind and to creation and promises that He will work to undo the terrible results of sin. In verse 15 God promises that He will send a seed of the woman who will crush the serpents head. This is the way that He will deal with sin and how He will be involved in His creation forever.

God did not abandon creation as the Deists would say. Even after mankind rebelled He graciously committed to work in creation to bring about redemption and rescue from sin. God is not uninvolved. God did not see the terrible things that were happening and abandon His creation, God is intimately involved in all that happens. Praise God that He did not abandon us but loved us enough to be involved!

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups
There are hundreds of moments in the Old Testament that point forward to Christ like this moment in Genesis.

1. What other moments like this can you think of?
2. Imagine that you are talking with someone who says that nothing in the Old Testament actually talks about Christ. How would you explain each of these moments to them?

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 His grace and love towards mankind that He would choose to stay involved despite man's horrible rejection of Him and rebellion against Him. Thank Him that He is involved and active in your life despite your sin against Him. Thank Him that He is working to bring about a reversal of the effects of sin and a redemption for His people.
• Pray for all those in your congregation who are currently sick or unwell. Pray that God would strengthen and encourage them. Pray that God's healing hand would be upon them. Pray that the church would encourage and serve them well during this time.

Monday 17 March 2014

Read: Psalm 135:1-14, Hebrews 1:1-4

Is God really in control? This question is one that has been asked and re-asked for thousands of years. One popular modern view is that of Deism. Although Deists believe that God created the world they do not believe in His involvement. God is like the manufacturer of an incredibly sophisticated machine. He designs it, builds it and starts it up. After that He leaves, never to return to His machine. The machine keeps going and it is left to someone else to maintain and service. In this view God has created the world and set up it’s laws and rules. Then He leaves forever, leaving mankind to maintain and service the machine and to determine their own destinies. In this view God is not involved in the day to day running of creation at all.

The Biblical view is totally different. The Psalmist writes that God is King and in control of all that happens on the Earth. God is involved with the weather, with politics and with the rise and fall of nations. In other passages we even read that God is involved in the feeding and lives even of animals let alone people. God is intimately involved in all of creation. From the largest events of history down to the smallest moment of everyday life, God is in control over all things. Nothing is outside of His control and power. Even the way the dice or the lot falls is the work of God Himself (Prov. 16:33). In fact, without His intimate and every- moment involvement in sustaining and keeping the order of creation, nothing would be able to continue to exist.

This creates a modern dilemma. How do we reconcile God being in control and the existence of evil? Despite being in control and in charge of all things, God is not morally responsible for the evil that happens in the world, man is. This is one of the areas of theology that are most difficult to understand. How can God be the cause and will behind all that happens and yet not be responsible for the evil that happens in the world? If God truly causes and controls all things doesn’t that make evil His fault?

The Bible clearly teaches that God is in control of all things and yet man is rightly held responsible for any and all evil that happens. In theology this is known as concurrence. That God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility can co- exist or concur at the same time without cancelling each other out.

Take this example. We are told in Acts 4 that everything that happened in relation to Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection was foreordained and planned by God. We are told that God is the one that brought about these things and caused them to happen. Yet, those who did these things were still morally responsible for what they had done. Jesus said “Father forgive them” clearly indicating their responsibility for their actions. God had planned this and brought it about by His will and yet they were responsible for what they had done. God’s will and man’s responsibility co- existed or concurred at the same time.

This is one of the great mysteries of the universe, one of the things that we will never be able to fully understand this side of eternity. Whilst we cannot fully understand or fully explain it, this is the way that the Bible describes things and we must take it on faith. We cannot truly understand the way that God’s will and the responsibility of mankind can interact, but we can take God at His word and trust that what He tells us is true and trustworthy.

This week we will see many examples of how God is still involved and active in creation and in the world. We will see that God did not abandon creation at the fall but instead promised to redeem it. We will see how God worked in a single life to preserve His people. We will see how God is involved in every tiny detail of life. We will see how God worked to redeem His people and finally how God will act at the end of time to deal with evil and suffering once and for all.

Worship Moment
Why do bad times come upon good Christians?


One reason is that through these tough times we learn to praise and adore God despite our circumstances. We learn to praise and adore God in our circumstances. Genuine worship flows out of the heart and is God directed no matter what our life is going through.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. What do you think would be the practical implications for life if the Deists were right and God was uninvolved/uninterested in creation? How would this affect your life?
2. Why is it important to remember that God is involved with every detail of life? How does this change the way that you live?

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

Adoration: 

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Thank God that He has not abandoned the world or left us to be punished as we deserve but that He is intimately involved in every moment of our lives. Praise Him that He is involved and aware of every area of your life and that He is working everything out for the good of those who love Him.
• Pray for the millions of Christians around the world who are suffering and dying for their faith in Christ. Pray that God would strengthen and encourage them. Pray that they would remember that God is always in control and that He is watching out for them. Pray that they would be courageous in their proclamation of the Gospel.

Saturday 15 March 2014

Read: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Ephesians 4:11-13

There are not many issues that have caused so much contention, disagreement and debate amongst Christians as the issue of spiritual gifts. On one extreme there are many churches who teach that if God is not working regularly in the church through the overtly miraculous gifts then God is not active and working in that church at all. These groups are always looking for the obvious and extreme examples of the Spirit working. Such churches tend to look down on major denominations and deny any involvement of the Spirit in churches there.

On the other hand, many major denominations and Christian churches tend to the other extreme. Rather than respond with a healthy, biblical view of spiritual gifts some churches tend to minimise and deny the involvement of the Spirit in the church. Such churches, rightly disagreeing with the extreme focus on the miraculous, will deny the miraculous
altogether and deny the work of the Holy Spirit in the church.

Both extremes are far from the teaching of the Bible on spiritual gifts. While it would take a whole week of studies to completely understand this area, these two passages from Paul’s letters to the churches in Corinth and Ephesus will help us to get a biblical overview of spiritual gifts.

Firstly, each and every believer receives a gift. In 1 Corinthians 12, verse 7 Paul says that to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given. There aren’t some better Christians who receive gifts and others who do not. It’s not the haves and the have-nots of spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit gives a spiritual gift (or gifts) to each believer. These gifts are not always miraculous. In fact, right alongside gifts like healings and prophesy, Paul lists gifts like faith, wisdom and even the gift of administration (vs 28). These gifts are not something that a believer can take credit for, as if they did something to earn the gift. Instead, Paul makes it clear that they are a gift and a work of God (vs 4-6).

Even more importantly than this, however, is the reason that God has given us spiritual gifts. Some churches will teach that God gives spiritual gifts so that believers can live powerful and effective lives. They might also teach that these gifts are given primarily to grow a persons relationship with God and bring them greater joy. These things might happen but they are not the main reason God gives spiritual gifts to believers. Paul makes this clear in verse 7: ”Now to each one the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good.” In Ephesians 4:12 Paul reiterates this when he writes that spiritual gifts were given to believers “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
Spiritual gifts are given by God for the good of all believers. They are given for the growth and encouragement of the church and for the growth of the kingdom through evangelism. They are not given for the good, joy and pleasure of the individual. They are given for the common good of all believers.

How about you? If you have faith in Christ then you too have been given spiritual gifts for the common good and for the growth of the church. You have gifts that can be used to build up other believers, to grow the church and the increase the Kingdom. You have been given gifts for the sake of others. Are you using those gifts for the common good? Are you involved and contributing towards others with your gifts. You gifts are not for you, they are for others. Are you using them?

Walk Moment

Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? See if you can write a list. If you don't know what your gifts are, there are many things that can help you. Pray that God would show you where He has gifted you, talk to other mature believers about what gifts they see in you, even consider taking one of the many surveys available to assist you. (Check out one here: http:// www.elca.org/en/Our-Work/ Congregations-and-Synods/Faith- Practices/Assessment-Tools)

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Share your spiritual gifts with each other if you know them.
2. What ways can each of you use your spiritual gifts in your church? Think about what areas need help and how you might be able to serve.
3. How can you encourage one another in this area of service?

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 that He has gifted individuals for the growth and encouragement of the church.Pray that He might give you wisdom and understanding as to how best use your giftings for the sake of others. Pray that others in the church would also seek to use their gifts for others.
• Pray for the gathering of believers tomorrow in your church. Pray that God's Word would be rightly and powerfully preached. Pray that believers would be encouraged and grow in the love for each other and their love for the Lord.

Friday 14 March 2014

Read: 1 Corinthians 12:7-20, Romans 8:5-11

As a Christian do you have the Holy Spirit? Have you been baptised in the Holy Spirit? When do you receive the Holy Spirit? In our day there is a lot of confusion amongst Christians about the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. If you are interacting with other believers, especially those in pentecostal and charismatic churches, you will undoubtedly come across some of these questions.

Many such churches and denominations teach that not all believers have the Holy Spirit. They believe that the Holy Spirit is not something received by believers automatically at conversion. Instead they believe that the Holy Spirit is received at a later point in time upon earnest and fervent request by the believer. Whilst there are a variety of beliefs about how this actually happens the end result is the same: some believers have the Holy Spirit and have the power of God working in their lives and others do not. The implication of this belief is clear, there are two classes of Christians: the haves and the have-nots, the spiritual Christians and the carnal Christians, those who are sanctified by the Holy Spirit and those who are merely ordinary.

In his letter to the Corinthian church Paul was dealing with a similar kind of issue within that church. The Corinthians had come up with their own type of two class Christianity. They believed that at the pinnacle of spirituality was those who could speak in tongues and then below that there was everyone else. They had elevated this single gift as the sign that a person is truly spiritual. Paul’s rebuke and correction is clear. We are all part of the one body. The hand cannot say that it is better than the foot and go it alone. The eye cannot say that it doesn’t need the legs. The body is a whole and each part needs each other part. Those who speak in tongues and consider themselves ‘more spiritual’ cannot say that they are superior to or do not need those with other spiritual gifts. Paul makes his reasoning clear in verse 13: ”For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

Paul is clear: there is no division or classes amongst Christians. There is no longer any separation between Gentiles and Jews, slaves or free people, spiritual Christians or ordinary Christians. Why? Because we have all been given the same Spirit and are now part of the same body. All Christians have received the same Holy Spirit and are now all part of the same body of Christ. They cannot be separated or ranked according to whether or not they have the Spirit, they are all part of one body and all have the same Spirit.

Paul’s words in Romans 8 are even clearer about the Holy Spirit being involved in the life of each and every believer. Notice especially verse 9: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”

Paul is describing the way that the Holy Spirit works to bring life to the believer and to transform them to be more like Christ. This work is so vital to the life of a Christian that Paul concludes that if a believer does not have the Holy Spirit he could not possibly be a Christian at all.

Rather than being confused by other teachings about the Holy Spirit be encouraged that as a believer the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you and is actively working in you. There are no classes of Christians. God is active in all those who believe in Christ.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. What are some of the practical implications that would result from having a two-class Christianity in a church? How would this start to show?
2. What are some of the subtle ways that we have our own two-class Christianity? What could we do to guard against this kind of thinking?

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 gift of the Holy Spirit that He gives to each and every believer. Praise God that He is working through His spirit to bring you life and to transform you to be more like Christ. Pray that today He might grow you to be more and more like Him.
• Pray for the Youth as they gather tonight. Pray that as they study the Word together that they might grow in their knowledge and love for God. Pray that they might grow to be more like Christ. Pray that the leaders would be encouraged and that they might be wise in the way that they teach the youth.

Thursday 13 March 2014

Read: Acts 2:1-21

Have you ever had a day in your life where everything changed? A day when something momentous happened that meant your life would never be the same again. If you’re a parent maybe it was the day that you held your child for the very first time. From now on you are a parent responsible for this little person. If you are married maybe it was your wedding day. From now on you are committed and devoted to another person, no longer only responsible for yourself. Maybe it was your final day of school or when you graduated from university, finally able to start that career you have been dreaming of. The possibilities are endless. What is that day that changed everything for you?

Pentecost was the day that changed everything for the church. From this day forward things would never be the same. In the past, only specific individuals had been empowered by the Holy Spirit for certain, special moments in the history of redemption (have another look at Tuesday’s study if you have forgotten). Today, for the first time, the Holy Spirit was poured out on all believers. From now on it was not only those special, empowered individuals who received the incredible, life-changing power of the Holy Spirit, it was every single person who put their faith in Jesus Christ.

The scene would have been truly spectacular. Not long earlier Jesus had given the disciples a mission of epic proportions. This mission seemed impossible for the disciples but, knowing that it would be impossible for them to accomplish this mission on their own, Jesus had told them to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit to empower them.

On this day all the disciples had gathered together in the one place. Suddenly a sound like a great wind surrounded them and what looked like tongues of fire came to rest on each one. The spirit of the Lord came upon each and every one of them with great power, each and every person preaching the gospel with great power. Even in languages they didn’t know!
Imagine the scene. You are gathered together with the other disciples when suddenly this immense wall of sound seems to envelop you. It’s a sound you have never heard before. You can only describe it by saying that it is like an unstoppable and violent wind. Above each of the believers you see something that looks like a tongue of fire. All of the sudden you and everyone else gathered is filled with the Holy Spirit and begins preaching the gospel powerfully in all kinds of languages.

For the disciples and the Jews who believed they would have known immediately what had happened. Just like the Spirit of the Lord was poured out on the Old Testament prophets, each and every believer received the Holy Spirit. Where before this sort of Holy Spirit power was only poured out on particular individuals for a particular task, now this power had been poured out on all the believers who were gathered.

This wasn’t a total surprise. For hundreds of years the people of God had been waiting for the time that God’s spirit would be poured out on everyone. The prophet Joel, amongst others, had prophesied that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on all believers. Young and old, men and women, rich and poor. All would receive the Holy Spirit of God.

We live in an unprecedented age. An age where all believers are given the awesome power of God. An age where all believers have the great privilege of God dwelling within them. To borrow from the movie Spiderman: “with great power comes great responsibility.” God’s power is not given just for our pleasure or enjoyment. The Holy Spirit is given for a mission. As soon as the disciples receive the Holy Spirit they begin preaching the Gospel and sharing the good news of Christ. Because of their witness and the work of the Spirit at least 3,000 people came to faith in Christ that day.

If you believe in Christ, you have the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit within. Are you using this gift that God has given you for the sake of His Mission?

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Share with each other some of the opportunities you have had recently to share the Gospel. How did it go? Seek to encourage each other even if you didn’t take advantage of the opportunity.
2. Take time to pray for each other, that you would have the courage and wisdom to take advantage of every opportunity.

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

Adoration: 

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Pray for the work of evangelism by Christians around the world. Pray that God would fill all of His people with a passion for those who are lost. Pray that God would go before His people and soften hearts.
• Pray for all the Presbyterian churches in Queensland that are lacking a full-time minister. Pray that the elders and those who are leading in the church would be encouraged in their service. Pray that God would raise up men who can lead and serve these churches.

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Read: John 16:5-15

Have you ever wished that you could have been alive when Jesus was on the Earth? It would truly be amazing wouldn’t it? Have you ever thought, "If only I could have been there to meet Him and to hear Him teach." Have you ever wondered if the Christian faith would be easier if you could only meet Him face to face? Surely things would be better if you could have been taught and trained in your faith directly by Jesus, just as the disciples were.

Jesus’ words here in John 16 put this idea totally to bed. Jesus explains to His disciples that soon He will be leaving them. Understandably the disciples are filled with grief. After spending nearly 3 years following Jesus and learning from Him they have grown extremely close to Him. Now Jesus is telling them that He will be leaving. You can imagine their grief.

Jesus’ words in verse 6 shock both the disciples and us: “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I go away.”

You can imagine how the disciples might have responded. How could this possibly be? How could it be good that Jesus was leaving them? Jesus explains in the next part of the verse: ”Unless I go away, the counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
How is it better that Jesus would go? Because He will send the Holy Spirit to them. It is better for the disciples (and for us!) that Jesus go and send the Holy Spirit to be with them than that He remain with them Himself.

Think about that for the moment. Jesus Himself tells us that it is better that He goes and sends the Holy Spirit than to be with us in person. It is better for us to have the Holy Spirit dwell within us than it would be for us to live face to face with Jesus. It is better for us to have the Holy Spirit than it would ever be for us to have been able to spend our time face to face with the Son of God.

It is not that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit cannot co-exist on Earth at the same time. Instead, because of sin, Jesus must die, rise again and ascend to heaven so that He can send the Holy Spirit, here called the Counsellor or Advocate, to the disciples. If He does not accomplish the work of dealing with sin the Holy Spirit cannot come and indwell His followers in the way that we enjoy now.

We live in a time of incredible privilege and blessing as God’s people. Those who have put their faith in Christ alone have been blessed with the Spirit of God dwelling within them. God Himself dwells with us His people. Instead of wishing that we could go back to the past let us be thankful for the work of God in the present. Let us praise and thank Him for the tremendous privilege it is to be His people and the wonder it is to have the Holy Spirit dwell within us. Take a moment today to thank God for all that He has done and for His incredible blessings through Christ.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. In verse 14 Jesus says that one of the main roles of the Holy Spirit will be to bring glory to Him by making Jesus and His work known to them.
2. How does this change the way that we understand the role of the Holy Spirit?
3. Think about some of the teachings you have heard about the Holy Spirit. How do they line up with this role of the Holy Spirit to bring glory to Jesus?

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

Adoration:

Confession: 

Thanks:

Supplication:

• Thank God for the blessing that He would dwell within you through the Holy Spirit. Praise Him that He is working in your life and the life of all believers. Pray that He would continue to work in you to change you to be more like Christ. Pray that He would help you to be open to the work of His spirit and that, with His empowering, that you would strive for holiness.
• Pray for the MOPS group that gathers at ChristLife this morning. Pray that the community mums in the group would be encouraged and would grow in relationship with the church mums. Pray that God would give the leaders wisdom and understanding and that they would be courageous in sharing the gospel.

Tuesday 11 March 2014

Read: Genesis 1:1-2, 1 Samuel 16:1-13

C.S. Lewis coined the term chronological snobbery to describe the belief that thinking, science, art and even people of the current time are inherently superior to those of a previous time. Put simply, we fall into the trap of chronological snobbery when we think that everyone who lived before our time was stupid and we are smart. We fall into it when we think that people of the past were unsophisticated or uninterested and we are sophisticated and superior. This is mistaken and arrogant thinking that should be avoided.

As Christian's we sometimes fall into chronological snobbery regarding the work of the Holy Spirit. From our superior vantage point of the New Testament age and the benefits of the New Covenant we look back on the people and times of the prior ages with derision. We tend to think, sometimes subconsciously, that God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit are doing something incredible now whereas before they were inactive or uninvolved. We count it a great privilege to live in the age that we do (as we should) but in doing so we can disregard the work of God in the past.

The truth is much more amazing. The Holy Spirit was not simply waiting in the wings until the New Testament times so that He could swoop in and get to work. In fact, the Holy Spirit has been active and involved in His people ever since the beginning of time. His work is not limited to the New Testament ages, although His work has taken different forms. He has always been deeply involved in the work of redeeming God's people.

We cannot read the Old Testament without seeing this work. Before we have even read 30 words we encounter the work and involvement of the Spirit. Here in Genesis 1:2 we read that the Spirit was involved even right at the beginning in the work of creation.

As we continue reading the Biblical account we see time and time again that the Holy Spirit is involved in the work of redeeming God's people. This involvement certainly takes a different form to what we see and experience in the New Testament age. In the Old Testament the work of the spirit is mainly in empowering key individuals for key moments in history.

We see this in the book of Judges where we are told that the Spirit of the Lord comes in power upon both Gideon (Judges 6) and Samson (Judges 13-16). In the same way both Saul (1 Samuel 10:10) and David (1 Samuel 16:13) receive the spirit of the Lord to enable and empower them to do the work that God has prepared for them although the Spirit is later taken from Saul because of his disobedience (1 Samuel 16:14). Later, we read of prophets like Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 11:5) upon whom the Spirit of the Lord comes with power to empower them for their ministry.

Ever since the very beginning of history the Holy Spirit has been at work amongst God's people. In the Old Testament the power of the Holy Spirit was something special given to few for the sake of God's great purpose. We are extremely privileged to live in an age where that special blessing of the Holy Spirit is given to each and every believer through the work of Jesus Christ.

We must also remember that just as the Holy Spirit was given for a purpose and a mission in the Old Testament we are given a purpose and a mission by Jesus. We are not given the Spirit merely for our own good but to equip and enable us to serve each other and to share the good news of Jesus Christ. How will you carry out that mission today?

Witness Moment
Each and every believer is given the power of the Holy Spirit to equip and enable us to do the work of ministry and to share Christ with others who haven't heard about Him. Each day this week pray that God would give you opportunities to share your faith with your co-workers, your family, your friends or whoever you come into contact with. Pray that He would give your courage and wisdom to take advantage of the opportunities that He provides.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. See if you can think of some other examples of the Holy Spirit being active in the Old Testament.
2. Does this change the way that you view the Holy Spirit? If so how?

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 that He has freely gifted the Holy Spirit to all believers. Pray that He would grow a passion in your heart for those who are lost. Pray that He would give you opportunities to share Him with those you know who don't know Him and that He would give you the courage and wisdom to take full advantage of those opportunities.
• Pray for the Committee of Management in your church. Pray that God would give them great wisdom in their decisions. Pray that they would be encouraged in their service and that they might continue to serve the church joyfully. Pray that God would be glorified and the church encouraged and grown through all their decisions.