Category Archives: Christian Fellowship

Hospitality to Strangers

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Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Word:

Hebrews 13:1-2

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Matthew 25:43

I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me

Thought:

The author of Hebrews in the first reference urges the readers to show hospitality to even strangers.  Jesus also associates our treatment of strangers with our treatment of Him.  How many times are we quick to ignore strangers and turn the other way? Is that the way we would want to treat Jesus?

Prayer:

Lord, we pray that you work on our hearts to be loving and hospitable to be people around us. Amen.

Recognizing our critics

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Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Thought:

Apostle Paul in his instructions to the church of Thessalonica asks them to recognize three important characteristics in people; those who work hard, those who care for others, and those who admonish others. It seems sensible and practical to appreciate hard-working and caring people but it’s not easy to appreciate them when they strongly criticize us. The type of admonishment that Paul talks about is done in love where the person who admonishes someone cares enough about them to boldly warn them of their sinful ways. A simple illustration is a mother admonishing her child for playing with fire. We know she does it in love and it is for the child’s well-being. As believers, we should be able to humbly accept and live with people who admonish us, at the same time, when a situation arises, we should also be courageous enough to admonish others in love.

Word:

1 Thessalonians 5: 12, 13

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord, and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.

Prayer:

Lord, help us to be humble when You or others admonish us, help us fix our sinful ways, and also give us the courage to admonish others in love. Amen.

Thoughts, words, and actions

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Greeting in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Thought:

Sometimes our thoughts are not often as talked about as our words or actions. In many cases thoughts will be the starting point of a good or bad thing that we may do in the future, so we need to guard our thoughts. Apostle Paul gives a good idea of how our thoughts should be: pure, true, noble, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. We should avoid sinful thoughts to stay, sometimes being too busy can also stop us from those good thoughts as mentioned in verse 8. In verse 9, He leads by example and asks us to follow either by what we have heard from him or from what we have seen from him, which essentially is his words and his life in actions respectively. Our thoughts are for us, and words and our lifestyle is for us and others to witness, but all need to align with God’s will.

 Word:

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.          

 Prayer:

Lord, give us your Spirit, to govern our words, thoughts, and actions. Amen.

Humility and Serving

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Greetings in the mighty name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Thought:
As we approach the holidays, let’s remember to imitate Christ in terms of humility and serving. Though our God is mighty above all, we are here on earth to be humble and serve others, just like Jesus. We can do this only when we place more value on others rather than ourselves. Death on the cross was not only a painful experience but also an extremely shameful form of punishment. But Jesus, at the cost of His dignity and His life, did that to serve us with the hope of salvation.


Word:

Philippians 2: 3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.
 
Prayer:
Lord, help us stay humble and serve others. Prevent us from having any selfish or prideful thoughts and tendencies. Amen.

Christmas Season. Are our hearts in the right place?

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Dear all,

Greetings in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Thought:

With Christmas approaching, where are our thoughts, on our vacations? Gifts? Decorations? Parties? family get together? Sometimes it might overshadow the reason for the season which is Christ. The world may know it as Christ’s birthday, but we can go a step further to explain what it means. Since almost everyone celebrates Christmas, it’s a great opportunity to share the love of Christ with non-believers during this season. We can invite them home or to the church where we can ask God for wisdom and boldness to share the gospel. It’s also a time where we can be radically generous to people who can’t afford to celebrate. Let’s celebrate God’s love for us this season by loving others.

Word:

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Prayer

Lord, help us to remember You as we head into this Christmas season, help us to share Your love with others. We pray that others also open their hearts and come to know you. Amen.

Submit to all Authority

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Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ.

Word: 1 Peter 2:13-14
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.

Thought:

Human authority can be upper management at the workplace or local/national governments. In any case, they aren’t always believers themselves. But in all cases they are appointed by God and thus we should submit to them, this doesn’t necessarily mean we agree with them, but we are called to be humble and respectful to them. Grumbling, gossiping, being disobedient and hateful are some ways we fail in being submissive. When we find it hard to live under any authority, we just need to pray and ask God for endurance through it rather than react to their wrongdoings.

Prayer:

LORD, We know You appointed all authority, therefore help us to be submissive to them and we pray that you bless the authority and provide them with wisdom and strength to lead the people and make decisions as per Your will. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul!

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Dear all,

Greetings in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Word: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Matthew 10: 28-31

Thought: A very common reason believers hesitate in sharing the gospel is that there is fear of being rejected harshly. It can either be direct in the form of threats or indirectly like being ignored and cast aside. But Jesus says as believers we know anything that happens on earth dwarfs in comparison to what lies ahead for us in terms of eternity. God also assures that we are more worthy than any of his creations and hence we are more protected in His care. As believers we should boldly share the gospel through our words and our lifestyle.

Prayer:

LORD, we ask that you give us the courage in sharing the Gospel. Help us overcome any fear and distractions that come our way. In Jesus’s mighty name. Amen.

Unity is Strength – Unity among Believers!

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Dear all,

Greetings in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Word: I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 1 Corinthians 1:10

Thought: Today we have so many different churches, sometimes, even within a church we have groups with different opinions on how the church is to be run. Just imagine if each part of our body has its own mind, there will be total chaos and confusion. Very little to nothing gets accomplished as each part looks out for its own good. Therefore, as members of the body of Christ, we must be humble and stand united so that we all can be extremely effective in doing God’s will.

Prayer:
LORD, help me and other believers to be of similar mind and thought. Let Your will unite us over our own ideas. Give the churches the ability to look over their differences to work together for Christ. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen

Undivided Heart

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Dear all,

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.  II Cor 1: 2

Word: Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. Psalms 86:11

Thought: We learn of doing God’s will as we seek to know him through studying his Word and constant communication with Him through prayers. The more we know about God, the more we know what he expects of us. Let us ask God to give us the “undivided heart” to walk humbly with him.

God’s word into Action!

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Dear all,

Be strong in the Lord and His mighty power. Ephesians 6: 10

Word: I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalms 119: 11

and I Peter 3: 16 says, Keep your conscience clear. 

Thought: Let us Put God’s word into action in our lives, making it a vital guide for everything we do.

Have a Victorious walk in Christ

Multiply – Disciples making disciples – Pass it on

Proclaiming Jesus Wherever He Leads us!
To make ready a group of people to meet our LORD Jesus Christ.
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