UNUSUAL KINDNESS - UNITY OCTAVE DAY 3

Monday - January 20, 2020

CALL: KEEP UP YOUR COURAGE

The WORD says...

Acts 27: 22, 34

“I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship… none of you will lose a hair from your heads…”

Let us PRAY...

God of mercy,

lost and disheartened, we turn to You.

Instil in us Your hope and courage.

May our churches strive for the unity

for which Your Son prayed on the eve of His passion.

We ask this through Him who lives and reigns 

with You and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

Amen.

Let us REFLECT...

·  What are the practices that you can use to keep up your courage? 

· What are your hopes and fears for the churches in your area?

· How might you keep up your courage together to chart a course into the future?

What to DO...

Global: 

Read and respond to the stories of perilous journeys by sea, or across boundaries.

Local: 

Provide welcome and hospitality for immigrants and refugees  

Personal: 

Reflecting on your own journey, how might you assist others on journeying today?.

[courtesy: www.ctbi.org.uk/weekofprayer]

Compromise Kills

WORD 2day: Monday, 2nd week in Ordinary time

January 20, 2020: 1 Samuel 15:16-23; Mark 2: 18-22

Saul defends himself, 'did I not do what the Lord wanted me to? ' Yes, he did. But not the way the Lord wanted. He tried compromising with what the people wanted along with what God wanted. He did not do what God wanted, he did also what God wanted! That is not enough, that was compromise!  

Jesus warns us: compromise kills... don't compromise with the old ways and the new, with what God wants and what the world wants! No one can serve two masters, he would say elsewhere. You cannot have the cake and eat it. Do not lose everything trying to protect what you need not, or should not. Looking to hold on to both the new wine and old skin, you would lose them all!

A very practical and life-oriented message from the Word, as always. What one builds through small tough steps towards perfection can be pulled down in one simple compromise. Compromise might look like it eases a situation, at the moment; but beware, it slowly and steadily kills! 

Be categorical in your choices. Be clear in your priorities. Be unassailable in your values... and remember, compromise kills!