Day 12 – Serve one another
Morning prayer
Start you day with this prayer
Dear God, help my, as I begin this day,
To be loving to everyone I meet
Regardless of appearance;
To be honest in everything I do
Even when no one is looking;
To be caring whenever I see a need
Whether or not there is a hope of reward.
Help me to be like your Son,
Jesus Christ, in whose Name I pray.
(Silence)
Let your will be done.
Amen
Prayer station
Use this symbol to lead you in prayer for the day.
Symbol: Glass of water
We pray for foreigners who are currently in South Africa and who cannot travel back home to their countries and to their families. May they feel safe and welcome here in South Africa.
Reflection
Read this reflection on the text for the day.
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms – 1 Peter 4:10.
One of the traits of the early church was that they cared for each other in practical ways as a faith community. They did not only love one another, but they also carried one another’s burdens. In Acts 4:32-35 we read that the first congregation was one in heart and soul and that no one kept things for themselves, but shared everything amongst each other. This ensured that no one had a shortage of anything, because those who owned land or houses sold it and brought the money to the apostles. The apostles then distributed the money in the faith community so that everybody could have what they needed.
In the words of Peter and Luke, every believer served the other people in the faith community according to their needs with the gifts that they have received. In this way needs and service met each other. The idea was not for everyone to have everything in equal amounts, but rather that no one would be in need.
To be generous with our talents and our possessions, it is important that we recognise it for what it is – gifts of grace. This means they are underserved gifts from God that we did not receive for the sake of ourselves, but for the sake of others.
Father, help me to not be owned by my possessions. Thank you for every opportunity You give me to serve others with the gifts that I have received from You. Amen.
Isaac’s Soap Opera
Watch this video with your children
Liturgy for life
See the ordinary things you do in and around the house as signs of God’s care.
How about a cup of QuaranTea?
We have heard many times that people are actually herd animals – we need each other. In this countdown calendar we have made a few suggestions of how we can support and help the people in our homes. But how can we also help other people who are alone in their own homes?
We want to suggest that you visit other people in a creative digital way in this time. Invite someone for a cup of QuaranTea! What is QuaranTea? It is tea that we drink with other people who are also in quarantine (in this time of lockdown), people we cannot visit at the moment. Our relationships give meaning to our lives and unfortunately our relationships can be hurt in this time with limited contact. While sending messages via SMS, WhatsApp and e-mail are wonderful, it is also important for us to look each other in the eyes.
We want to make three suggestions when you drink QuaranTea with someone. Firstly, make a date. It is so easy for us to say that we will get together or make contact. When we make a date, the other person will wait for us and that will help us to keep to the time we agreed upon. Secondly, put some effort in your meeting. Take out your pretty tea cups and even bake a cake or get something sweet from the cupboard. The idea is to make the other people feel special and to show them that they are important to you. And lastly, do not only make small talk. Create a space where you can really support each other and carry each other’s burdens.
Let’s serve one another in this creative way
Children’s activity
Play with your children.
Wow! 21 Days of isolation. 21 Days in which we’re only allowed to be in our homes (or gardens) and can only go out for the most essential things like food and medicine. It can be a little rough! All the things we usually do during the day, like school, sport, church … are not happening anymore. It can really confuse you and maybe even bore you a little. These daily readings will help you to spend some time with Jesus every day in a creative and fun way. You can do these readings and activities by yourself, with your siblings, or with your entire family. Ask one of the grownups to post your activity on Facebook so that others can enjoy it with you. Tag it with #solitudecalendar #churchtogether
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Everything we have, our talents and the things we are good at, but also our possessions, are gifts that we received by the grace of God. We receive these gifts, not to keep it for ourselves, but to serve and help other people.
What are the gifts that you received from God?
What should we do with our gifts?
Activity
Sort through all your toys. Decide what you don’t need anymore. Throw the broken toys away and pack the good toys in a box to give away when you can.
What talents did you receive? Maybe you can draw, sing, write poems or recite them well. Choose one of your talents and prepare something. You can draw a pretty picture or practice a song. Let someone take a picture or video of it and send it to someone who may feel lonely at this time. You can even ask your minister for the telephone numbers of a few lonely people.
Creative prayer
Colour and reflect (Instructions are available under the picture)
INSTRUCTIONS
• Choose your art materials such as coloured pencils, coloured pens and koki pens. Any of these will work.
• Colour in the picture and do the activity.
TIPS
• Choose no more than five colours. If you’re unsure of which colours to use, take out all the colours and put them on the table. Close your eyes and pick up five.
• It may be easier for you to first start colouring the edges and not big blank spaces.
• Don’t stop halfway, especially if your reason for stopping is that you think your picture isn’t pretty. This is the purpose of the activity – to get your attention away from unnecessary thoughts like, “Am I doing this right?” and to focus on the people that you love.
• When you’ve finished colouring the picture, put the picture in a prominent place in your house, like your bedroom or in the kitchen.
Consider sharing your picture on social media with the hashtags #solitudecalendar #churchtogether
Thank you’s and testimonies
Share your testimony with us! Use the online form below.
I wondered how I was going to get through these 21 days. My friend, Karin Beukes, then told me about these 21 days of reflections and activities and suggested we do it together. Thanks to WhatsApp we can chat about it regularly and send photos. Our lonely days became better in a good way. I actually thought in the beginning that I would do it to help her, but I did not realise that I was actually the one who needed it. In these busy times we live in, we easily live past certain things. Our friendship story comes a long way, through many times that we did not know how we would move forward. But with the Lord in our lives and a strong friendship bond, we are still friends, like sisters. That is why I want to tell those who put these pieces together, thank you so much! The love for God and die spreading of his Word is unfathomable!– Elmarie Ferreira
I thank God for this calendar. As a mother and grandmother of a family it carries me every day through this difficult time. I share this with you and pray that the Lord will keep you safe. This is of endless worth to me and I believe it will bring everyone closer to our heavenly Father. I make time for it everyday. I am so thankful to our congregation and ministers and everyone who prays with us and who made this calendar possible.– Belinda Coetzee
Love it! Thank you so much! The kids were very excited about the obstacle course!– Audrey van Wyk