Use these for group work, or to assist your personal reflection.
- What perilous situations have you found yourself in, and in what ways has God saved you?
- When God has saved you, what have you done in response? Has it changed your life in some way, or affected your worship of God?
- How can God’s people help each other to celebrate the good things that God does in people’s lives, and honour the testimonies of faith that people have?
Use the programme which can be found on the link ‘discipleship challenges’. The ‘worksheet’ will help you follow through anything you feel is right to take up. The following notes are for your interest and consideration.
Personal comment:
I am moved to suggest that most churches go from Sunday to Sunday with little attention to the real lives of those who attend worship. The services themselves often reflect the personal lives and experiences of preachers and worship leaders, who speak about themselves as a part of their routines for conducting services. Really, it would be far more important for the worship to reflect the experiences of members of the congregation, through the use of testimony and sharing, and a more responsive approach to the conduct of services. The psalm we have read has a great deal to offer us as we think about it and what it means!
Ideas for discipleship programme
- How can people make changes to the routines of worship? How can we give thanks to God for the special acts of deliverance and salvation which happen in people’s lives on a regular, if not daily basis? Discuss this with people in your church who are in a position to make a difference.
- Pray for those who seek the Lord’s deliverance from some situation, but do not find it. Pray that they accept the Lord’s love for them and learn to understand how and why God has led them through the troubles they have experienced.
Dear Jesus, You came to earth as a baby boy bringing such hope and joy to so many. Yet at the end, You died for us all so that our sins might be forgiven, and Your death was terrible and cruel. Teach us the meaning of these things so that we do not turn away from either the truth of our redemption or of God’s love. AMEN
