Week: Mission - God's plan, God's purpose
Each day we will simply pray (P.R.A.Y.) together.
P: PAUSING to be still.
R: REJOICING with a Memory Verse and REFLECTING on some verses from the Bible.
A: ASKING God to help us and others.
Y: saying YES to God’s ways.
We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
God of rescue and restoration, thank You for Your beautiful mission to save the whole world. Here we are, Lord. Fill us with Your Spirit, and send us so that we can join in with Your mission.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Max
Ephesians 1:10
When the time is right, God will do all he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth.
Ephesians 1:10 (CEV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we are REFLECTING on a few verses from Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae. Here he explains that joining in with God’s mission in the world begins with telling people the good news about Jesus.
Read by Max
Colossians 1:5-7
You learned about this hope when you heard the message about the truth, the Good News that was told to you. Everywhere in the world that Good News is bringing blessings and is growing. This has happened with you, too, since you heard the Good News and understood the truth about the grace of God. You learned about God’s grace from Epaphras, whom we love.
Colossians 1:5b-7a (NCV)
Imagine if we found a special code that gave anyone loads of free items in our favourite video game, but we didn’t tell anyone else about it. Or if we found a way to get free tickets to see our favourite singer, but we didn’t tell anyone else about it. It sounds silly, doesn’t it? Of course we’d tell our friends.
And so Paul reminds the Colossians that the only reason that they know about Jesus is because someone told them the good news about him. Someone told them about Jesus, and so they should tell other people too. It sounds simple, doesn’t it?
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: When have we been to a special event or on holiday with a friend? What can we remember about it?
Telling our friends about Jesus can feel a bit scary, but God promises to be with us and give us courage when we do. And often a good way to start is to simply invite them to church with us. ‘Would you like to come to our church sometime?’
Let’s pray about that now.
Holy Spirit, we ASK You to put one of our friends into our minds now – someone we know at school or at work or in our community; someone we can invite to come to church with us over the next week. And please give us the courage to ask them!
In today’s Bible passage, Paul says that ‘everywhere in the world the Good News is bringing blessings and is growing.’
Lord Jesus, we pray for Your church around the world. We ASK You to bless her and grow her – we pray for more and more people to become Christians and join Your church.
As we read the Bible again, let’s listen for a word or a phrase that the Holy Spirit might want to say to us from today’s verses.
Colossians 1:5-7
You learned about this hope when you heard the message about the truth, the Good News that was told to you. Everywhere in the world that Good News is bringing blessings and is growing. This has happened with you, too, since you heard the Good News and understood the truth about the grace of God. You learned about God’s grace from Epaphras, whom we love.
Colossians 1:5b-7a (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, we say YES to telling our friends about Jesus, and to playing our part in Your mission to save the whole world.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Ephesians 1:10
When the time is right, God will do all he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth.
Ephesians 1:10 (CEV)
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
Joy lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and her dog. She works for Bridgetown Church where she leads kids as they grow, learn, and have lots of fun. Joy loves gardening, summer camp, eating ice cream, and reading her favourite books, The Chronicles of Narnia.
Max is 9 years old and lives in Melbourne, Australia with his older brother and mum and dad. He often rides his bike to school and enjoys being creative by drawing or building with Lego. Max is also learning how to play the electric guitar and loves turning it up loud!
