Day 20 – We who are many form one body
Morning prayer
Start you day with this prayer
Heavenly Father, we come before you to magnify and glorify your name.
We, as the body of Christ, give you all the praise and honor you deserve.
We pray for unity in the body of Christ today,
as we pray together as a congregation and community,
for we know where two or more are gathered in your Name,
you are with us, oh Lord.
(Silence)
Let your will be done.
Amen.
Prayer station
Use this symbol to lead you in prayer for the day.
Symbol: Picture of an animal or photo of a pet
We pray for animals – at home and in nature – who depend on us to be responsible and respectful of them and their environments.
We give thanks for the beauty of nature, for the changing seasons, and for the gift of life all around us.
Reflection
Read this reflection on the text for the day.
So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others – Romans 12:5.
Together, believers form the body of Christ on earth. Like any healthy body, the body of Christ does not only consist of certain parts, but of a variety of parts. For this reason, we as believers are different from one another; we did not all receive the same spiritual gift or calling from God.
Nevertheless, every believer – like every body part – is equally important to the functioning of the body as church on earth. Even though believers do not have the same gifts, everyone does have a gift and a specific calling that they have to follow. Therefore, we should not all strive to do the same thing, but rather the specific task that God called us to and that He equipped us to do through his Spirit. Only when every believer is living their own calling, the body of Christ is enriched and growing.
In this time of forced isolation, it is very important that each of us will make sure what our spiritual gifts are, and with that also our calling. In this way, even though we differ from each other, we can make a difference in our community, together, to the glory of the Lord.
Holy Spirit, thank you for every gift that You entrusted me with. Lead me to use it to honour You and to build up the church as the body of Christ. 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.
We’re all in this together …
Throughout this virus crisis I have experienced how people want to support each other, how they want to help and how they try to understand the seriousness of the situation. As time goes by and lockdown becomes longer, people are complaining more and even want to start court cases …
We as people are so different and communities also differ a lot. But we need to realise now that we are in this together. Of course this is also true of our respective households!
Bring a washing basin to the table where you eat together. Washing our hands and general hygiene is a theme that gets a lot of the attention in our houses at the moment. Take turns to wash your hands before and after the meal. We wash our hands because when we are busy with work and play and touch different surfaces, we could pick up germs. And if a germ is hiding somewhere and our hands touch it, our whole bodies can become ill. That is why we wash our hands, not just for the sake of our hands, but for our whole body.
In the same way we are faithful to the precautionary measures of this lockdown and try in this way to keep the number of people that are infected as low as possible, not just for ourselves and the people in our homes, but for everyone who shares this country and world with us.
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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Today’s Scripture reminds us again that a body has many parts that each has its own function. One part of the body cannot function without the others, because then the body becomes ill. The different parts need each other. All of us together are Jesus’ body on earth. This means that we need each other to keep Jesus’ body, the church, healthy.
At the start of lockdown you had to think of how you could care for each other in this time. Time has passed now and people are beginning to feel alone. What can you do today to help the different parts of Jesus’ body, his church, to stay healthy? How can we care for each other?
Activity
Draw the outlines of a person. Decorate this person in as many different colours as you want to. This will remind you that all of us, even though we are different, are part of Jesus’ body, the church.
Build a person with different things you find in your garden or house.
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
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