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 more verses from Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae. In these verses he explains that joining in with God’s mission in the world means loving one another.
Read by Max
Colossians 1:12-14
God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So you should always clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. Even more than all this, clothe yourself in love. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity.
Colossians 1:12-14 (NCV)
So far this week, we’ve learned that joining in with God’s mission in the world involves telling people about Jesus so that they believe in Him and begin following Him. And then teaching people about Jesus, so that they grow strong, deep roots in Him and live every day with Him. Maybe the next thing feels a bit more difficult – Paul says that joining in with God’s mission means loving people.
And not just loving people, but… being kind to people, being gentle with them, being patient with them, forgiving them when they’ve done wrong to us. And Paul says we need to do this ‘always’. ‘Clothe yourself in love,’ he says. Wear love all the time.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What do we think of when we hear that phrase, ‘wear love all the time’? What do we think it means for us at school, at work, at home? Let’s see what ideas we can come up with.
And now, let’s use some of Paul’s words as we pray.
Holy Spirit, we ASK You to clothe us with love, all the time… Help us to be kind… Help us to be humble… Help us to be gentle… Help us to be patient… Help us to forgive those who have done wrong to us. Fill us with Your love for everyone.
Maybe the Holy Spirit put someone’s name into our minds as we prayed just now. Someone we can be kind to. Someone who we might need to forgive. Someone we can show God’s love to in some way this week.
Holy Spirit, we ASK you to show us what You want us to say or do, and give us the courage to do it.
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 1:12-14
God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So you should always clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. Even more than all this, clothe yourself in love. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity.
Colossians 1:12-14 (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 wearing love… all the time! We say YES to joining in with Your mission to save the whole world by filling it with Your love.
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!
