Dag 21 – Be united and humble
Morning prayer
Start you day with this prayer
Father,
in Micah 6:8 You say,
“O people, the LORD has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right,
to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.”
Today we choose to walk humbly with You,
So that we may live in unity with others.
Help us to hear your voice clearly.
(Silence)
Let your will be done.
Amen
Prayer station
Use this symbol to lead you in prayer for the day.
Symbol: Family photo or drawing of your family
We pray for our family, for those who live far from us and to whom we cannot be near during this time.
We are grateful for the love of those who are dear to us.
Reflection
Read this reflection on the text for the day.
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited – Romans 12:16
It was very important to Paul that we as believers will be united. United in the sense that we are working towards the same goal – to glorify God. Paul doesn’t ask everyone to think and act in the same way. In practice that would come down to following one person’s thoughts religiously. Paul asks of us as a family being led by the Spirit of God to strive for unity in our calling in the kingdom of God.
Then Paul gives three practical guidelines that will make it possible for believers to be this united. Firstly, we should not be arrogant in thinking that we always know better than others. Secondly, we should make an effort to listen to the opinions of others, especially those who are often forgotten or left out. This is why we should associate with humble people. Thirdly, we should be willing to be convinced by others. This is why we cannot be stubborn or conceited. All of these characteristics were demonstrated to us by Jesus. He was humble (Phil 2:5-11); He associated with humble people (Luke 5:30; 15:1-2), and He wasn’t conceited (Matt 26:39).
Lord, give us as your family one heart and one mind to serve You together. Free us from arrogance and selfishness. Protect us from all the things that can estrange us from one another. 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 aren’t conceited, we’re still learning …
And so the first three weeks of lockdown is behind us! We had the opportunity to learn so much about and from one another. To really listen to each other. To support one another.
Think about how you would complete this sentence: In this last three weeks I learned that …
Give each person in the house the chance to share the end of their sentence with the others. Ask each other what you would like to learn or experience in the next two weeks.
To not be conceited means that we are open to learn more and we welcome new experiences. We are still learning, from each other …
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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Can you still remember what the difference between the same and having the same attitude is? The difference between these two is so important that we read in many places in the Bible that we should be united (have the same attitude). Today’s verse reminds us that having the same attitude doesn’t mean that everyone has to do as one person says, but that we should all work together towards one goal.
Which instructions do you hear in today’s verse?
What does each of these words mean to you?
Activity
Play Snap, Go Fish or any other card game. When we play cards, everyone has the same goal: We want to win. Yet we use different strategies to win. In the same way Christians have one goal: to serve Jesus, even though we do this in different ways.
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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