Week: Holy Spirit Adventures - the Book of Acts
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 hospitality, thank You for inviting us into Your family. As we sit at Your table and taste Your words to us, may they give us all the strength we need.
Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 to a wealthy English family, but she is well known for caring for those who were sick and injured. Let’s REFLECT on what Jesus said about how we should care for those in need.
Read by Max
Matthew 25:37-40
(The people said) ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’
(Jesus answered) ‘I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.’
Matthew 25:37-40 (NCV)
Florence Nightingale was only 16 when she felt God asking her to dedicate her life to helping others. She started out by visiting local hospitals, but what she found shocked her. In those days hospitals were filthy, horrible places, full of rats and diseases and hardly any real nurses or doctors. People who went to hospital were more likely to die than get better.
Florence was determined to fix this so she went away to train as a nurse, and then she came home to train others. She cleaned up the hospital where she worked, and she made sure that patients were fed and cared for properly. By doing all this, Florence saved many lives.
But then Britain was involved in a terrible war. Lots of injured soldiers weren’t getting proper care, and some were just abandoned to die, so Florence took teams of nurses onto the battlefields to try and save lives, sometimes working right through the dark and dangerous nights. This is why Florence Nightingale became known as the ‘Lady With The Lamp’.
When she returned home, Florence was a public hero. She was asked to help improve hospitals all over the country, which she did brilliantly. She also wrote books to help train nurses – thus spreading good healthcare around the world.
Let’s pause and talk about today’s question which is; When have we been to hospital, or when have we been looked after by a nurse or a doctor?
We may not be trained nurses or doctors, but we can still care for other people. Let’s ASK God to help us be more caring towards those in need.
Loving God. Thank you for caring so much for us. We ASK you to help us to notice when people need to be cared for, and give us courage to reach out and do something to help them.
Unfortunately, many people around the world still don’t have access to safe and affordable healthcare. Let’s ASK God to help change that.
Loving God, it’s not fair that some people have access to trained nurses and doctors, the right medicines and clean hospitals, while so many others around the world don’t. We ASK you to do something to change this. Change the hearts and minds of leaders and governments so that everyone can get what they need to live well.
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, we say YES to living like Florence did – listening to your heart and obeying Your call to care for those in need. Help us to be brave like her!
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!
