GIVE GOD TIME
Prayer and Praise
Jesus said, “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” Matthew 26:40,
We start our journey of giving God time to work in us, by praying along with this hymn… Yesterday, Today, Forever, Jesus is the same…
A WORD IN YOUR EAR
John 15: 18-27 – A Friend from the Father.
18 “My disciples; does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first.
19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you like one of its own. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
20 Remember what I told you… I said; ‘A slave is not more important than his master.’ (John 13:16) If people hated me and tried to hurt me, they will do the same to you. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
21 They will treat you like that because of my name. They do not know the one who sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
24 I did works among them that no one else did. If I hadn’t, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen those works. And still they have hated both me and my Father.
25 This has happened so that what is written in their Law would come true. It says, ‘They hated me without any reason.’ (Psalms 35:19; 69:4)
26 “I will send the Friend to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth, who comes out from the Father. When the Friend comes to help you, he will be a witness about me.
27 You must also be witnesses about me. That’s because you have been with me from the beginning.
—-Summary
John 15:26 “I will send the Friend to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth, who comes out from the Father. When the Friend comes to help you, he will be a witness about me.
(ie The Work of the Holy Spirit.)
Today’s Verse…
Who is Jesus?
When the Friend comes to help you, he will be a witness about me.
27 You must also be witnesses about me. That’s because you have been with me from the beginning.
Today’s Challenge
The World hates Jesus and His Disciples …
15:18 “My disciples; does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first.
Christians have an enemy as soon as they join God’s family. Persecution is to be expected which is the only explanation why Christians were being burned at the stake by the Catholic Church throughout its empire and later drowned by Henry 8th’s Church of England as far as it could reach. How’s your courage?!
Prayer and Worship
“… He went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.” Matthew 14:23.
Jesus taught His disciples what we call ‘The Lord’s Prayer’; (Luke 11).Listen here to Albert Malotte’s ‘The Lord’s Prayer’.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever;- Amen.
Prayer suggestions;-
- The world. (ie ‘For those in authority.’)
- The ‘suffering church.’ https://barnabasfund.org/nz/pray/daily-prayer/#previous-dates
- Your own situation. (Suggest ‘needs’ rather than ‘wants’.)
Second reading. John 15:18-27 (NIV)
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well.
24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
Closing Prayer:
‘I treasure your Word in my heart, so that I won’t sin against you.’ Psalm 119:11
‘Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus…’
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