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DEVOTIONS
FOR October 12-17, 2009
Topic:
The Body of Christ - Learning to Grow and Share Life in a Small Group
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Spend time with the devotions this week. Read the Scriptures and then
think how you can apply them to your life.
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MONDAY
October 12
Look
up and read
1 Corinthians 12:12; 18-19
Have you ever played on any team sports? For most team sports it takes the
whole team to work together to accomplish a common goal (to score a basket,
a goal, a touch down, 3 outs). If any member on the team decides that they
are the whole team it could result in hurting everyone and causing the team
to not accomplish that common goal. Each player on a team plays a part and
belongs to the whole team. The only way a team functions properly is if
every player is committed to the team. I’ve been a part of some extremely
talented and gifted soccer teams but when we got out on the field to play it
was just a bunch of individuals trying to do their own thing. The end
results were lost games and frustrated, hurt players. Yet I have been a
part of teams where everyone was committed to the team, maybe not as
talented but because everyone worked together for that common goal we were
very successful and players felt unified. As Christians we are a part of
the body of Christ. Every person is different and everyone works
together so that God be glorified. The awesome thing about this “team”
(body) is that when one person hurts others come along to help because
everyone is committed to God and the body. Spend some time in prayer today
for the body you are a part of. If not ask God to help you be a part of His
“team”. There’s no other team I’d rather be on than God’s. How ‘bout you?
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TUESDAY
October 13
Look
up and read
Ephesians
4:15
Have you ever said
something to your parents, siblings or friends that was not out of love?
What was their reaction? How did the conversation go? When we say things
not out of love people usually get feelings hurt and it puts a wall between
us and the person we hurt. As Christians, God calls us to speak the
truth in love. If we are seeking to say things to others out of love we
will grow to become more like Christ. God’s Word is a guide to helping us
to be able to speak the truth in a loving way. There are statistics that
prove when loving/truthful words are spoken it brings health to the person
spoken to. I have found in small groups I have been a part of that when I
have said something out of love the response by the other person has usually
been positive. When I haven’t it has caused unnecessary hurt and problems
that eventually I have to go back to ask for forgiveness. Take the
opportunity in your small groups to speak the truth in love. Pray today and
ask God to help you to learn from His Word so that you will understand
better how to speak the truth in love in your small group as well as to
everyone else in your life. |
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WEDNESDAY
October 14
Look up and read
Philippians 1:27
Do you ever find it
difficult to follow the rules in school? Maybe you have a strict dress code
or behavior conduct in your school. Sometimes we think that we don’t need
to follow the rules but they are there for a specific reason and purpose.
God’s Word is filled with commands, rules and conduct. If we follow and
obey God’s Word there are promises and blessings we receive. Not only that,
but by following and obeying we are growing spiritually and becoming more
like Christ. Not obeying the rules and God’s Word didn’t get us anywhere
but in trouble and we don’t grow in our relationship with God. God desires
that we conduct our selves in a way that gives Him glory. If we all
do this as Christians, as a body we will stand firm together. In
Philippians, Paul encourages the people in Philippi to conduct themselves in
manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. He said this to them so that whether
or not he came to visit, he’d know that as a group (small group) of
believers they would stand firm in one spirit, continuing to living out
God’s Word as one. Will you today commit to conducting yourself in a way
that gives glory to God? Hopefully everyone in your small group is
committed to that so you all will stand firmly together in Christ. Meditate
over this verse and honestly examine your heart to see if you are conducting
yourself in a way that gives God glory. Pray for the rest of your group
that you all will stand firm together.
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THURSDAY
October 15
Look up and read
1
Thessalonians 5:11
Have you ever laid
brick? No I don’t mean basketball “brick”. Laying brick for either a wall
or building is no easy task. You have to make sure you have enough mortar
to put in between each brick you lay. You also have to make sure that you
lay the bricks properly. If you use too much mortar or not enough it could
cause all the other bricks to come apart. Like laying bricks if we aren’t
careful of how we are in our relationships with family, friends and others
we can cause what we’ve built up in those close connections to crumble. In
I Thessalonians 5:11 Paul challenges the church in Thessalonica to
encourage one another and build each other up. He sees the importance
of healthy relationships and hopefully through your small group each person
will be encouraging and say things that build the others up. I have seen
what happens to a small group when one person does not encourage and say
things that build the others up. Everything falls apart and the group
struggles to work together. If one person (one brick) does not encourage
(not placed properly) and build others up with the right words, (amount of
mortar) they will cause the others to crumble. May I challenge us all to
be encouragers in our small groups to and to building everyone up. Spend
some time in prayer today and ask God to help you be a better encourager and
to look for ways to build others up in your small group. |
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FRIDAY October
16
Look
up and read
Colossians 3:15-17
Some of you are
getting ready to start driving which is a huge responsibility. Many don’t
take this privilege seriously and tragic accidents and situations have
resulted. Road rage, texting while driving, drunk driving, driving while
under the influence of drugs is not being a responsible driver when many
lives are at stake. Can you imagine what our roads would be like if
everyone had it on their hearts to work together to help others out and not
be concerned with their own needs? In Colossians 3: 15-17 Paul writes to
the church in Colosse how the peace of Christ must be in their hearts. He
also encourages them to be thankful, let the word of Christ be lived out
in their lives and bless and tell others of Christ’s love. Not only that
but he also challenges them that as they sing in worship, read the Bible and
pray that they do it with grateful hearts to God. No matter what it was,
Paul wanted the people of Colosse to do everything in the name of Christ
giving Him thanks. This living at peace with others and having the
peace of Christ in your life can happen in your small group. Everyone
simply has to commit to living it out. Pray today and ask God for that
peace to be in your life and in your small group and that in everything you
do and they do that it be done for His name to be glorified. You can even
do it while driving!
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SATURDAY
October
17
Look
up and read
Hebrews
10:25
Have you ever missed a
bunch of days of youth group, school or sports practices and then when you
came back it seemed like you missed so much. “The show must go on”. Youth
group, school, sports and other things continue even when you’re not there.
We don’t want missed opportunities to grow in our faith through youth group
and church, learn more in school and fine tune our skills in sports. The
biggest thing we don’t want to miss out on is our relationship with God.
He’s got to come first in our lives in order to help us prioritize
everything else. The passage in Hebrews 10:25 challenges us to not give up
meeting with other believers (in small groups) as some do but to encourage
each other in faith and to keep coming because we don’t know when Christ
will return. As the school year continues so many different things will
come up, good things even but let us not allow it get in the way of us
coming each week to youth group so we can commit to meeting in our small
groups and encourage each other in Christ. Meditate over the verse and
honestly examine your heart and ask yourself if you are putting God first.
If not ask God to help you prioritize in order to commit to meeting each
week in your small group.
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See you at Sunday
School, Worship and Youth Fellowship this Sunday!
Bible references provided by
www.biblegateway.com
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