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Prayer Friday #28 + making friends

OBSERVATION: Because I'm freed up from secular work to do Christian work – it means it's super important that I'm intentional at making friends with people who don't know Jesus. I play sport. This has been successful in establishing real friendships with real opportunities to share life and Jesus. Tim B and Josh D have been good examples to me recently of working outside of the office in a public place (ie cafes). This week has been great for me doing this. Good conversations and good friendships being established. I used to drink around – but I'm now taking my computer to the one cafe. This has been brilliant!

"G'day Dave – the usual?"… "Yes thanks James."

Are you in ministry? Are you intentional in making friends for Jesus? Do you go to a Christian school but have no non-Christian friends? Make friends for Jesus. Jesus says to use money to buy friends for eternity. Are you? Don't be tight – spend $3 for a coffee and make friends with people. Maybe even buy one for someone!!

PRAYER:

>The stuff above
>Had a great year 12 breakfast this morning. Pray our year 12's would know the biggest picture ( 2 Cor 4:16-18)
>Swing into Action campers
> Lost and Found talk prep
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How’s the weather?

People often talk about the weather. I think it might be a polite way of saying that I have no other way of interacting with you than talking about the weather. That’s okay. It’s actually an opportunity to interact with people in your community and build a relationship with them. Neighbours, Cafe owners, Check out chicks, mechanics, other parents, the bus driver, etc…

Jesus. He’s the most important subject anyone can talk about. Imagine if you had a couple of extra insights into the weather… it would help you to engage with someone for a few more moments… and hopefully it will lead to a conversation about Jesus (not necessarily immediately).

Got it? Having something to say other than “yeah, it is hot” might mean you can make a more meaningful attempt at getting in conversation with someone. There are a whole bunch of desk top widgets (mac, google, yahoo) that have weather trackers. Matt, a friend from church, works for weatherzone. They have a great tracker with accurate details and other little pop-up bits with weather warnings etc. Spend a minute a day glancing at this tracker so that you can point people to Jesus – the Lord of the weather.

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Lost and Found 5: The Rebel

The Prodigal Son. He’s famous. His story is famous. It’s a much loved story of God’s amazing love.

The Older Son. He isn’t famous. His story isn’t well known. Often when we reflect on Luke 15 we stop at verse 24.

We have the story of the Lost Sheep (vv1-7).
We have the story of the Lost Coin (vv8-10).
We have the story of the Lost Son (vv11-24).
We forget the story of the Lost Son II (vv25-32).

It’s obvious that the younger son is lost. He tells his dad that he wishes he were dead (v12). He gets his share of the inheritance early and moves to a foreign land and wastes it all in wild living (v13). When tough times hit – the son comes to his senses and returns to his loving Father (v20).

There are two types of people present when Jesus tells these three parables: the tax collectors and sinners (v1) and the Pharisees and teachers of the law (v2). The tax collectors and sinners can clearly identify with the story of the Prodigal son. They, like the Prodigal, have wandered a far way from God and need to come home to him. They are the ones with ears to hear (14:35) who have come to hear (15:1) the offer of forgiveness from Jesus.

The Pharisees are more like the older son. They may not have wandered as far from God, they may not have squandered everything on wild living like the sinners and the first son, but they still need to recognise that without relationship with God they are lost. Their trust is in themselves rather than God. They claim to know God but don’t really know him.

What’s the point of this parable? There are two lost sons, not one. Both of them need to come home to their father. It seems that the first son does. The older son? Does he? We don’t find out. This is good – it leaves hope that even Pharisees (have you heard of Saul of Tarsus???) and religious nuts can come home to God.

Have you come home to God? God offers remarkable love and forgiveness in Jesus. The ultimate demonstration of God’s love is Jesus’ death for sinners (Romans 5:8). At the cross of Jesus, God is calling both religious nuts and worldly pagans, to come back home.

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Swing into Action 2007

After more than 15 years of Swing into Action (10 years of which I've been a part), it's with sadness that I announce that the camp has been called off for 2007 due to an insufficient number of campers. This is disappointing, yet God is still sovereign. Pray that those signed up for SIA will find other holiday camps to attend and more importantly will be connected into a youth group/church. The future of SIA is unsure – but it is exciting to help youthworks keep thinking through how to effectively proclaim Jesus (like they have been for the last 70 years) on school holiday camps. There have been many joys on camp including young lives changed by Jesus and… finding a wife!

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Lost and Found 4: The Prostitute

What do Paul Keating, John Howard and the Prostitute from Luke 7:36-50 have in common? They all dealt with Royalty in a way that wasn’t considered acceptable by the public. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating touched the Queen (on two occasions!) in a way considered unacceptable. Current Prime Minister John Howard did likewise in greeting the Queen. The prostitute in Luke 7 likewise touched the King of the Universe in a way that onlookers considered unacceptable.

What did Jesus have to say about this? He considered that this sinful woman’s response was more appropriate than the Pharisee hosting the party. Simon hadn’t recognised just how great his debt was to Jesus. The Prostitute demonstrated in her love for Jesus that she understood how much she had been forgiven. Her love for Jesus didn’t earn her forgiveness – but her love demonstrated that she understood the gracious forgiveness offered by Jesus.

Both Simon and the Prostitute were lost. Simon didn’t recognise he was lost. The Prostitute did. She came to Jesus knowing that he came to ‘seek and save those who were lost.”

Do you recognise you are lost? Has Jesus found you?
How do you treat sinful people (really really bad people) when they come to your youth group or church?
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Part 4 of Lost and Found. I’m writing a series of talks and studies on Lost and Found. These aren’t talks or studies… just some thinking. 1, 2, 3.