Day 9 - Help each other on the right path
Morning prayer
Start you day with this prayer
Your love…
Gives us forgiveness and freedom
From all the things that bind us
And binds us together
And to You
Your call
Whispers to us
Encouragement and gifts
On our journey
And pulls us closer to You –
The source of all goodness
(Silence)
Let your will be done
Amen
Prayer station
Use this symbol to lead you in prayer for the day.
Symbol: Crayon
We pray for children who are in a creche, play group, preparatory school or primary school.
We pray for them in this time of isolation that they can play at home, be creative, and continue to learn new things.
We are grateful for the joy of laughter.
Reflection
Read this reflection on the text for the day.
I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another – Romans 15:14.
When Paul wrote his letter to fellow believers in Rome, he kept in mind that he wasn’t the one who started the congregation. In fact, he hadn’t even visited the congregation at this point. This is why he was hesitant to tell them how to live. Yet, he was sure that as believers who were equipped by the Spirit of God, they would be able to help one another.
It is important to recognise that Paul did not entrust the spiritual welfare of the believers in Rome only to certain people, like the pastors and elders. All the believers were responsible for one another. Each of us has the responsibility to care for our fellow believers; it is not solely the responsibility of the pastors and spiritual leaders.
It’s not easy to tell others when they are wrong, and it’s even more difficult to accept admonishment from others. This is why it’s important to act with humility and love towards one another.
Lord, give me the wisdom to admonish others with love when they are living a life that does not honour You. Give me a teachable and humble attitude so that I can accept admonishment from others. 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.
What do we take with us on the road?
At the end of last year we decided to go away for a few days. My daughter Catherine asked if she could help pack. My mouth said yes, but my whole being screamed, No, please do not! For there were still a lot of things to be done before we could leave, and when she helps, it does not always help. To my surprise we actually got things done quickly, until we had to choose her shoes that had to be packed. Two pairs of shoes were enough, in my opinion, but my five-year-old daughter said, “Daddy, one can never take along too many shoes.”
We carry a lot of things with us on our journey through life. Some of these things have meaning and make the journey easier. Others are just unnecessary baggage. Things that break our speed and stop us from growing. In our relationship with God it may also happen that we carry with us a lot of ideas and thoughts that make our journey so much more difficult. I think one of the pieces of baggage most of us drag along is the thought that we are not good enough for God. We think we should do more, give more, more and more and more, before God will accept us. I understand God differently. I believe God chose us, not because we do good deeds, but because He wants to. God chooses us because He loves us. This is all that we have to take with us on our yourney through life. God’s law is like road signs that will help us to stay on the road with the One who has chosen us.
How can you remind one another today that you are good enough for God? How can you help one another to stay on God’s road? Maybe today will not be easy, but we can remind one another that God is with us. You can help one another to stay with God on his chosen 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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Often we think that we have to be someone important like a school principal, a minister, a missionary or a church elder to be able to tell others about Jesus. Today’s Scripture reminds us that we don’t have to be elected as special leaders to tell others about God, for God has already chosen all of us to be special leaders. Anyone can tell others about Jesus.
Where did you hear about Jesus the first time?
How can you tell others about Jesus?
Activity
Build an obstacle course. Take turns to blindfold one another and lead each other through the course. It helps us to remember that we were all chosen as leaders.
Make a special medal for everyone with the words: “Specially chosen.”
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.
Thank you so much for this wonderful calendar! We are a family of five with three little girls aged 6, 10, and 12. They take turns to present it to us and every day we spend time together as a family around these themes. Sakkie is just so good and we laugh a lot at the videos!
– Claret Walker
My wife, Hannelie, and I live alone at home (our children are young adults).
We received this calendar through our small group. It very is precious to me because despite all the things we can’t enjoy at the moment, we now have what we have been dreaming about our entire working lives: unscheduled, unplanned, ordinary time!
Initially I was a bit confused (almost panicky) about what I would do with all this time. At the start I spent it undisciplined, unplanned and unproductively, but my wife and I decided to start at the beginning: We are immersing ourselves in time for reflection. Usually we would do Bible study for about 10-15 minutes every morning. Then we would jump in our cars and rush to work. Now, with the help of this calendar, we start each day with at least one hour of quiet time.
– Andre Engelbrecht