Tuesday September 30, 2014

Read Romans 14:5-8

I remember a particular church I was in. Being a smaller congregation meant that Christmas times were always slightly worrying. You simply never knew if anyone would turn up for the Christmas Day service. In one particular year, we held a Christmas service and a family were rather irate that we pandered to the world by having a service. They decided to leave the church! The following year we decided NOT to hold a Christmas service and other families were incensed that we didn’t make the most of this wonderful opportunity to reach out to the world. They threatened to leave the church!

Apart from teaching us that we can’t seek to please people, the episode teaches us how divided sections of the church really are. We tend to elevate the minor issues to major issues. Often the major issues become minor issues! Paul tells us that whatever we think about certain days, we are to be fully convinced before the Lord and we hold our opinions to the Lord. In no way are we to push these opinions on disputable matters upon each other.

Whether we consider Christmas a special day or an ordinary day, we do so to the Lord. Whether we eat only vegetables or both meat and vegetables, we do so to the Lord. In fact, what ever we do, we do to the Lord. We live for the Lord and even die to the Lord. Our lives belong entirely to Him.

If only we had that kind of view of our own lives. I suspect that many believers simply have a predetermined ’To Do’ list for each day of the week. On work days we go into auto-pilot and simply do the things we have to do. On weekends we have a sport filled, house and yard filled, shopping filled To Do list. Having a list is not the problem. The problem arises because God often gets left out of the list or left to the very bottom of the list. The Lord Himself challenges us in these verses - So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

When you wake up each morning acknowledge that you belong to the Lord by praying to Him, committing yourself to Him and by reading His Word. In your busyness, invite the Lord to walk ahead of you. You might be surprised! He might lead you away from your normal ‘To Do’ scenario. Make it your prayer to obediently and faithfully serve the Lord each and every day, even in the midst of your busyness! 

When we commit ourselves to the Lord each day several things happen. We slow down and de-stress. Life becomes a journey rather than a race to be won. Life becomes joyous and meetings, engagements and appointments take on a whole new meaning. Opportunities for Godward service and outreach open up consistently.

When we put God at the head of our agenda and seek to serve Him and to live for Him major issues stay major issues and the minor issues remain minor issues.

Prayer:

Use today’s Bible reading and notes to pray along the following lines.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

¨ Pray for those in your congregation who may be sick or suffering in some way. Ask the Lord’s healing hand upon them and His comfort and peace upon them as they recuperate.

¨ Pray that God would be gracious and merciful to our brothers/sisters in North Korea who suffer intolerably. Pray that the Kingdom of God would grow greatly in this land.

 Walk Moment:

The Lord values and loves obedience. You simply can’t be obedient in auto-pilot mode. To get out of this mode, try reciting Bible verses and singing His praises throughout the day.

 Discussion Questions

1. Can you summarise the main point of Romans 14:5-8?

2. What would be a Godly reaction if your church did not run a Christmas day service when you expected one (or vice versa)?

3. How does today’s passage speak to believers who think that one Sonday attendance at church per week is all that God requires?

 Discipleship Moment For Girls

Intro: Each and every day we have too many things that need to get done. Some times life is really hectic. We can serve God even when life is really busy.  Sometimes it’s easier to run away from God than to serve Him.

Discuss a time when you ran away from God. What happened? How did it turn out?

Read  Jonah 1:1-3

What did God call Jonah to do?

What was Jonah’s reaction?

Pray together that you would not run away from God but would joyously and willingly choose to serve Him.

 Discipleship Moment For Boys

Intro: It’s hard to be a leader but when God calls us to lead we should step up to the challenge rather than run away from it. Sometimes it’s easier to run away from God than to serve Him.

Discuss a time when you ran away from God instead of stepping up to lead. What happened? How did it turn out?

Read  Jonah 1:1-3

What did God call Jonah to do?

What was Jonah’s reaction?

Pray together that you would not run away from God but would joyously and willingly choose to serve Him.