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Prayer

Lord, please set my heart aflame with love for You. Let not my heart desire anything before You. Please grant me purity of heart that I may see You, feast upon Your beautiful countenance, and grow in love for You each day.

Lord, who can ever comprehend the height of Your love? For You loved me and died for me, even though I hurt You and continue to sin against You.

I love You, Lord, for you first loved me. To even see Your back, like Moses, would be enough for my cup to run over with the tremendous love You have for Your creation. Even when I am overwhelmed with Your love, I know it is still but a glimpse, a shadow, of Your limitless love.

Lord please grant me a heart like Yours – a heart over-flowing with love for my neighbour, even those who hurt and persecute me. Remove any trace of hatred or pride dear Lord, but rather grant me sacrificial love that seeks the comfort of others before my own, a love that would lay down its life for the sake of its friends. Amen.

Challenge

Write the name of at least one person you haven’t seen in a while and contact them before the next meeting*

Focus Quote

“The Lord wants us to love one another. Here is freedom: in love for God and neighbour. In this freedom, there is equality. In earthly orders, there may not be equality, but this is not important for the soul. Not everyone can be a king, not everyone a patriarch or a boss. But in any position, it is possible to love God and to please Him, and only this is important. And whoever loves God more on this earth will be in greater glory in His Kingdom.”

St Silouan the Athonite

The Greatest Gift of All

New Testament Passage

1 Corinthians 13

¹Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. ⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁸ Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰ But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. ¹³ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Discussion Questions

1. Even the greatest sacrifices are worth nothing without love. It is not what we give, or how much we give, that matters, but rather the love that compels us to give what we can. How then, does that affect the way we give and receive?
2. Love bears all things, regardless of how burdensome or grievous they may be. How does that affect our relationships and the way we interact with others?
3. In what ways do we “show” people love rather than just saying, “I love you?”

Old Testament Passage

1 Samuel 18: 1-4

Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. ² Saul took him that day and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. ³ Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armour, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

Discussion Questions

1. “… having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” (John 13:1). How can we love God and our neighbours every day?
2. According to Gary Chapman, there are five ways we express and experience love. These five languages of love include: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time and physical touch. Is it necessary to demonstrate all five languages of love?
3. How important is it to understand our partners / friends preferred language(s)?

The Church: Why It Matters

By Sara Malak

Original post by Becoming Fully Alive blogsite

In a world in which we are constantly bombarded with a need to be and to do, where we are frequently asked “what do you do? what do you want to be?” We seem to have lost a clear vision of what we are here for.

In the midst of the noise of trying to figure out who we want to be and what we must become, we hear a church bell ring, a symphony of praise, and a gathering of people like you and me. We have joined them many times but in the busyness of all the running around and our sweeping thoughts we did not notice what was happening, our senses could not be still, could not behold the great and awesome Presence before us.

Other times we were too busy all together – too busy trying to be busy – to take off our shoes, walk on holy ground, and enter into the divine place in which the Divine offers Himself. Consequently, we have hindered the body we are part of from being whole and unshaken.

You see, this great hostility that lies between the world and the church, as though the church were somehow pulling us away from moving forward and the world pushing us towards becoming something or someone, is a lie. It’s a lie that we have chosen to believe and commit our lives to living, but it is in striving to live that lie that we have silenced Truth. Since ‘Satan is a liar and the father of it’ (John 8:44) and ‘he who is of the devil has no part in Him’ (John 14:30) the more we pursue that lie the more we are left lifeless.

We are not here to ‘move forward’ to somehow be the masters of our destiny, or to ‘save’ the world. Indeed, I cannot even help myself, let alone be of use to the world. That is where the secret lies.

The church is a gathering of people who have dared to step away from that lie and allowed themselves to be useless for a moment, a people who are not afraid to know and see that they are broken, wounded, and lifeless. They come as one body and partake of one Loaf. Here they know there is no special ‘use’ to them, you do not receive a bigger portion because you are particularly useful, no my dear you receive all that is offered, you receive the fullness of Life, you receive Him who is Life, simply because you have come. You have come with a heart open to receive and not an ego too puffed up to believe it is in need.

Pour out your entire ego O my soul that the uncontainable may find room in that small heart of yours. Come knowing that your uselessness is not despised – it is welcome! It is welcome and it is given to stand in heaven on earth, where the Angels come down and we ascend, where the heavenly and earthly unite, and we stand before the only One who was and is and is to come.

Ephesians 2:10 says we are God’s workmanship. Workmanship or masterpiece in Greek translates to poem. We are God’s poem. What is a poem? Dare I say it – it is a useless thing! It is a beautiful, soulful, completely and utterly useless thing. In the language of today’s hustling and bustling world, things that are of no practical use are eliminated. But do you realize how much beauty we miss out on? You are God’s poem. He delights in you, he takes pleasure in you, He was thinking of you before you even came to be. He loves you and remains to adore you.

And to commune with His precious poem, to meet with you in a real and intimate way, He offers you His flesh and blood that you may have a share and inheritance with Him and his family, the saints who have pleased Him since the beginning. So that you can continue to live your life each day not believing the lie and striving to be something but living bravely and faithfully as the flesh and blood of Christ. So that the sound of that church bell ringing may be the sound we hear when you walk by reminding us we are on holy ground and so that your whole life may be a symphony of praise, that Christ may be seen in you, that pure precious temple in which He dwells.

The Church, why then does it matter? It matters because you matter; you are a beautiful, useless, gratuitous being who is called to make Christ incarnate in everything you do; you are the Church.

Original blog found at- http://becomingfullyalive.com/the-church-why-it-matters/

Radical Hope

By Monica

Original post by Becoming Fully Alive blog site

It’s been an ‘eventful’ few months, when you befriend every type of pain and anguish, it seems like the most radical thing you can do is be hopeful.

But what does hope really mean? We say it almost interchangeably with ‘wish’ or ‘good luck’. Understood correctly, it is not to be confused with a whimsical naivety. Hope is anything but fluffy, it’s as solid as an anchor.

 “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.” Hebrews 6:19 

It is not to be mistaken for escapism and retreat because that would be a direct contradiction to the command, “Take up your cross and follow me.” And it’s never been about indifference.

I’ve been thinking about what hope IS, and have come to the conclusion that it may be simply realising that often times, the new wine is yet to come. Hope is the power of a conviction that the life built on faith will produce its fruits. Hope is the confidence that, despite all darkness and sin, the light of the loving forgiveness of God is upon us to do, with us and for us what we can’t. It’s about redeeming what was lost.

Hope, is to proclaim that we believe in the Resurrection. It is to look at the nails and the cross and see victory and salvation for all mankind.

Hope is the part of the three fold cord (faith, hope, love), that cannot be broken. Because, one of the most important things I have learnt is that, hope is not just nice, it is necessary. When it really feels like you are drowning, hope is the air that keeps us breathing.

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.” Romans 4:18

Abraham had a hope beyond hope. Where all human logic and wishful thinking had expired, he remained steadfast.

Without hope we become cynics or we fall into despair.

Cynicism often means assuming the worst about people, their motives and the outcomes of decisions. It’s picking the dark shades out of the palette, to paint the world a shade of negativity. Without hope we are sick and we become unresponsive to the grace of God and the support of our brothers.

The dangerous thing is, it is so easy to justify, because, in truth, humanity is broken, bad things happen, sometimes people have sinful motives, maybe we know ourselves well enough to project that onto others. We can’t assume people will always do good but maybe we just need to give people the opportunity to be. With hearts and minds wide open, we will see God’s hand. We see that people are good, though this goodness is nuanced and idiosyncratic, and God is great.

We see a story of redemption throughout the Bible. In the book of Isaiah, we meet a Pagan king named Cyrus. Despite the fact he didn’t know God, God still used him to encourage the Jewish people to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple.

Finally, Let us remind each other to flee from the dark gripping forces of despondency and despair. With a renewed hope, let us walk in the palm of His sovereign hand.

“The force of despondence … overwhelms him and oppresses his soul; and this is a taste of hell because it produces a thousand temptations: confusion, irritation, protesting and bewailing one’s lot, wrong thoughts, wandering from place to place, and so on (Saint Isaac of Syria, 6th c., Directions on Spiritual Training).”

Original blog found at – http://becomingfullyalive.com/cynicism/

The Joy of The Resurrection

By Fr Abraham Fam

Original post by goCoptic blogsite

Christ is Risen. Truly He is Risen. 

During the Holy Fifty Days of the Resurrection, I visited a very remote village in Congo called Masuika. His Grace Bishop Paul told me to prepare talks about the Resurrection; the joy and power of the Resurrection.

As the trip started, I went from Lusaka, Zambia to Lubumbashi, Congo, which took half a day journey. From there, the following day, early in the morning, we flew half a day journey to Kananga, Congo. We still were not in our final destination. Again, early the following morning, we drove 20 hours on an undrivable and unbearable road. 

Honestly, I felt broken and down and I kept thinking to myself how am I going to preach about the joy of the Resurrection. 

However, once we arrived to Masuika, it was one of the most amazing sights ever to see. The people were so joyous for our arrival and so excited for the five days to come. They were jumping, singing, waving palm branches, giving all of us flowers, and hugging us. I was overwhelmed! 

I was looking at their poverty and sicknesses but after seeing real joy, I realised I was the one learning from them about the joy of the Resurrection. That no matter what my situation, I still can have joy. 

We continued to visit the 15 churches and were gathering leaders and doing training every day. It was hot and I was sleeping on a hard, wooden bed with no mattress every night. No rest. I continued to complain. No real toilets or place to bath or shower and more complaints under my breath. With no electricity and no refrigerator, most of the food we brought went bad. We ran out of water then we all started to panic. 

Then, we would visit churches, do liturgies, and H.G. Bishop Paul would ordain deacons. What I saw after liturgy again touched me. The deacons showed so much joy and would hug one another after being ordained. It really touched me so much to see how joyous they were for this occasion. 

I remember when I was ordained deacon I didn’t even crack a smile. And they are happy with little. God sent me to Masuika to learn the joy and power of the Resurrection. This is the mission life – that we learn and gain more than we can ever give. 

I feel we all need to stop looking at all the bad and the sad things around us. Instead, we should be grateful and thankful for what we have and who we have. To really enjoy the small moments before they are gone. 

We saw simple people living a simple life and really enjoying it. And we, who have so much, continue to complain, remain sad and complicate life. 

I really saw in reality 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.‘ People in the deep bush of Congo understand and live the Resurrection. 

I pray that through this blog, you can consider that your life is actually better than you think. That you have more than you really need. That troubles will come but look at the good in everything and everyone. And to know God is taking care of all of it.  

I pray also that this blog inspires you to consider doing some type of mission work. Sometimes we need to leave the comforts of our home and go on a mission trip or have a mission experience to open our eyes. 

God Bless you and I pray we live and experience the Joy of the Resurrection daily. 

Original blog found at- https://gocoptic.org/masuika-congo-the-joy-of-the-resurrection/