Showing posts with label need help?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label need help?. Show all posts

Wednesday

Looking for Devotionals or Bible Studies - Stuck at Home and Need Help?






Are you stuck in the house?

If you are confined to home

             or self-isolating

                          or off work because the kids are ill

    or perhaps the weather is just too cold or stormy to get out

  you may be looking for some devotionals to read each day

or Bible Studies to dig into.



If So
THEN
This is the place to find all my devotional & Bible Study type posts 


Just click on the Titles to find out more.




Each of the blog posts that fall into the category of Devotionals will be listed here 
under 
Themes or Topics.



Why We Worship

#1   God is Great                                                  
#5   God is Holy                                                 
#9   God is Merciful                                             
#17   God is Wise                                                




It's God's Love                          
                                                   

It's God's Love #4
It's God's Love #5                                                
It's God's Love #8
It's God's Love #9                                                
It's God's Love #12
It's God's Love #13                                              
It's God's Love #16
It's God's Love #20
It's God's Love #21                                                 
It's God's Love #24
It's God's Love #25                                                 




Songs for Worship



Pondering the Psalms




Smile God Loves You







Sunday Scripture

Sunday Scripture  Luke 1v37
Sunday Scripture  Psalm 145v1-3
Sunday Scripture  Matthew 8v27
Sunday Scripture  2 Timothy 1v7
Sunday Scripture  Romans 8v25 
Sunday Scripture  John 16v24 
Sunday Scripture  Hebrews 12v14
Sunday Scripture  Psalm 16v8
Sunday Scripture  1 Thessalonian 5v16-18
Sunday Scripture  Philippians 1v21
Sunday Scripture  Psalm 34v1
Sunday Scripture  Proverbs 22v17-21









New Testament





                  

Just click on the Titles to find out more.




I started the Advent Reading Challenge through the Gospel of Luke where you read 1 chapter each day from 1st December to 24th Dec and by then you have reached the end of the book.

Then I thought I would write a series of blog posts as I went along mostly covering 2 chapters at a time.


Each time I publish my post I will put the link to that post in the list below so have a good wander around and read my thoughts on the Book of Luke.


The Gospel of Luke 


Overview & Chapter 1
Chapters 2 & 3
Chapters 4 & 5
Chapters 6 & 7
Chapters 8 & 9
Chapters 10 & 11
Chapters 12 & 13
Chapters 14 & 15
Chapters 16 & 17
Chapters 18 & 19
Chapters 20 & 21
Chapters 22 & 23
Chapters 24 & Summary




                    ************************************************************





I started blogging each day for 31 Days for an October challenge and reached the end of chapter 17 so then I decided to continue on through Acts but only posting approx. twice a week.


Each of the posts are in the list below so have a good wander around and read my thoughts on the book of Acts.










SCHEDULE

DAY 1  -  Do You Read Everything in a Book?  
DAY 2  -  Who is your Attention on?
DAY 3  -  All Together Now?
DAY 4  -  Is there Strength in the Promise?
DAY 5  -  What Happened at the Gate?
DAY 6  -  Have We Got Your Attention?
DAY 7  -  Who Complains About Good Things?
DAY 8  -  Responses to the Gospel
DAY 9  -  Because of a Lie
DAY 10  -  Who Does the Miracles?
DAY 11  -  What's the Outcome?
DAY 12  -  Wise & Respected Men
DAY 13  -  A Result of Hatred.
DAY 14  -  Good Out of Evil.
DAY 15  -  Important Questions, Simple Answers
DAY 16  -  Darkness! Now the True Light!
DAY 17  -  Changing Lives & Communities
DAY 18  -  Death & Life
DAY 19  -  It's not about Us, It's all about God!
DAY 20  -  We all need to be Encouragers
DAY 21  -  A Miraculous Escape
DAY 22  -  Daily Scriptures
DAY 23  -  A Specific Job for the Kingdom
DAY 24  -  Love & Hatred
DAY 25  -  All the Same?
DAY 26  -  Believe in the Right Thing!
DAY 27  -  Empowering People's Lives
DAY 28  -  The Call
DAY 29  -  What Does God Need?
DAY 30  -  The Power & Destruction of Envy
DAY 31  -  Knowing God



This is the rest of the Book of Acts .



Chapter 18  -  Reactions of People
Chapter 18 (contd)  -  A Godly Couple
Chapter 19  -  Questions are Important!
Chapter 19 (contd)  -  The Influence of Paul
Chapter 20  -  A Short Eventful Visit
Chapter 20 (contd)  -  Paul's Goal
Chapter 21  -  The Journey to Jerusalem
Chapter 21 & 22  -  Paul's Defense
Chapter 23  -  A Murder Plot
Chapter 23 & 24  -  Accusations & Indecisions
Chapter 25  -  The Big Appeal
Chapter 26  -  Paul Comes Before the King
Chapter 27 & 28  - 

                    ************************************************************




Looking at 4 studies 
of 
the

 What 

When

  Where, Why, Who

 and 

 How 

of 
Mercy





                    ************************************************************
Looking at the Story of Ruth and Boaz from the Book of Ruth from the relationships of the 3 main characters Ruth, Boaz and Naomi.


Ruth & Boaz - The Start of the Story



Ruth & Boaz - Unconditional Love








Why not pin this to be able to come back later 













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How to Keep in Touch & Encourage Others When We Have To Be Apart - A Dose of Encouragement


We are in lockdown in Northern Ireland just like many are in lockdown all over the world during this month of April in 2020 and may be like this for many weeks or months to come.

We are confined to our homes or as many of us would say - we are stuck at home.

Many of us want to keep in touch and encourage our family, friends and church family.

What can we do to encourage others when we cannot go out to visit, talk in person face to face, or meet together in our different churches?







Yes I'm sure it is in your mind right now that there is one obvious thing we can do - PRAY!

I agree the first thing we should do is pray for
  •  our situation 
  •  our families
  •  our friends
  •  our neighbours
  •  our church community
  •  the lonely, vulnerable and anxious people we know
  •  those who are ill
  •  doctors, nurses, other hospital workers
  •  home carers
  •  foodbank workers
  •  key workers

BUT

What else can we do to keep in touch?

What else can we do to encourage each other?


Yes here I am sitting at the computer as I do for at least a little while each day - okay much more than a little while most days - and in this day and age most people do spend time each day on computers, mobiles, tablets etc.


My computer is where I do most of my blogging, online shopping, work on kids resources,  playing with graphics, storing photographs and filing Home info.

My iPad is where I do most of my emailing, make lists and notes, facetime our kids, go on facebook, play a few games' and browse Ebay and Amazon.

My mobile is where I text, message, whatsApp, take pictures & videos


Now on each of these things I do have contact with other people but everything via these things is in a kind of shortened form.


However in the situation we are at this moment I need to change my ways and add something that is not so much in shortened form - I need to start using my phone as a phone.
I hate talking on the phone and will do almost anything else so as not to have to do it.
Partly because I don't feel that I hear these so clearly on the phone even though my hearing is fine.
Partly because I talk with my hands, and you can't do that while holding a phone and of course there is no-one to see it.
And
Partly because I can't see the person to see how they actually feel as they are talking to me.


So I'm going to have to get out of my comfort Zone and actually phone people because it is just not enough to ask Fred how each person is after he has called them.


That sort of brings me to what our church is doing in this time of Lockdown.



What our Church is Doing

  • Live online service each Sunday morning.
  • Online Prayer Meeting on Zoom midweek
  • Bible Study online midweek
  • Milk Note*
  • Leadership Phone contact rota
  • WhatsApp group for prayer requests and encouraging news and uplifting videos etc.
  • Videos of some of the congregation singing (individual videos put together)

*A little note put in the door (one day in the week) of people who may need some extra help during the week to get some extra groceries or something else from a shop and then collected another day and the items delivered as soon as possible.







Types / Groups of People within the Church Family

  • Elderly
  • People who live alone
  • People who do not have any family living locally
  • People suffering from Chronic illnesses
  • Couples
  • Families with teenagers
  • Families with young children

All of these people need to know that others are thinking about them, praying for them and care about them.



How can different people within the church family encourage each other?



What We can Do as Individuals

  • Phone calls - Just ring someone to encourage and check up on them.
  • Text Messages - a little check-in text is quick & easy & maybe a conversation will ensue.
  • Send Cards - it doesn't take long to write a greeting on a cheery card or postcard.
  • Write letters - it takes more time than to write a card but some of us are better at letters.
  • Support Foodbanks
  • Buy a special treat or make a tasty treat for someone on their own
  • Use our Hobbies - to support other organisations or people*
  • Use our Abilities - to support other organisations or people**
  • People living in the same area can take their daily walk some days to go past homes of others - wave to them or stop and have a brief chat or take a picture from a proper distance.
  • Encourage Each Other to Exercise - easy things together on facetime or phone & have a laugh  
  • Encourage Each Other to Listen to Good Hymns & Songs - send YouTube links* 
  • Encourage Each Other to Read the Bible - decide to read a certain passage and then chat on the phone about it or on facetime**
  • Encourage Each Other to Memorize Scripture - decide to learn a particular verse and then test each other on facetime or a phone call***
  • Use our Hobbies - to support other organisations or people****
  • Use our Abilities - to support other organisations or people*****

*Take turns to choose a song from your own play lists or decide to find new songs

I have some recommendations here:
  Looking for Good Songs 


**All you need is to pick a book of the Bible or chose a reading plan 

Here are some posts to help you:
  

***All you need is to determine you want to memorize a verse of the Bible and follow my tips 


****Remember that if you have any hobbies like card making, knitting, crocheting, quilting, cross stitching you can use them to encourage and show love and care for others.


 *****Remember that if you have any knowledge of computers you can be of help to get other people online when there are church services and prayer meetings and Bible Studies available there. 


SOME EXAMPLES:

Help them set up a Zoom account for prayer meetings, Bible Studies or even ladies meetings - yes this is how I had to speak to ladies from another church a week ago.  Quite awkward when you have too many people for one screen as we did as you feel you aren't interacting so much because you can't see them.






Help them to get a facebook account set up so that they can access the live streams.


Help them  to find good facebook pages.


Help them  to get unto WhatsApp to be in a group of people for contact and prayer requests.


They may even want to come join others on my Facebook page which was primarily set up to encourage others as is this Blog.
  Just click on the pic below.

Sandra's Ark








IDEAS for Children to be Involved within the Church Family


Children can make cards for the older people on their own.
Our grandchildren made cards for us and because they know what they like to play with in our house and they know the things we like they customized them for us.
My card had a large heart and some butterflies because you will find hearts and butterflies all over my house.
Fred's card had a guitar on the front because he loves guitars.
Both of our cards had pirate stickers on them because our grandson Matthew loves to play with a pirate ship we bought him which stays in our house.







Parents can share little videos of the children

Families could take a little video of them all saying hello and waving to people.




Children can dictate little messages for their parents to send to others.

Our daughter-in-law wrote a postcard to me for our granddaughter who is not quite 3 years old yet and she wrote it by asking Ruby questions to help her think what she might like to say.
I can tell you now that we are going to have sausages and pasta the first time we get back to see them in their house after Lockdown, partly because she likes pasta and I like sausages.







People who know the children well can facetime the children to chat with them, read a story, sing a song with them, or play a little game.
We sing songs with our grandchildren and find out if they have learnt any new songs recently that they can teach us.


We do a hide and seek over facetime where we get the grandkids to close their eyes and count while we hide a cuddly toy bear in different places in our house and they then have to tell us where to go in the house to look in the places they think we may have hidden it.







We can do a jigsaw together with them over facetime.
This was one that their mum got us for Christmas and it was rather special because it was made from a picture of Fred and I and the three grandchildren the day the youngest was born.






Here are some links to other blog posts for tested Facetime ideas:






The Church can produce simple materials for the children

The Church can choose themes or topics and produce a
  •  little prayer,
  •  story idea,
  •  colouring page
  •  simple memory verse
  •  and maybe a simple craft idea for the parents to use with the children.
for each one.

Having been a Sunday School Curriculum Writer and A Kid's Club leader for many years those kinds of things come more naturally to me and every church will have someone who can develop a little system like this.




WHAT CAN WE ALL DO TO KEEP IN TOUCH?

 WHAT CAN WE ALL DO TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS?


Can you encourage someone?
Yes you can.

 Can you do any of the things mentioned above?
Yes you can.

No matter who you are, you can do at least one of the things mentioned here in this blog post.



 Do you think that one thing you are able to do can make a difference?

If you said no then you are wrong.

Every little thing we do out of love and concern and compassion for another person can make a difference to a day for them.

In times of loneliness, vulnerability, anxiety or stress one thing in the day can help to brighten someone's life - that's what encouragement is all about.

People always need to be reminded of God's Love

People always need to be reminded that:





I actually received that poem above many years ago after an extremely sad time in my life and I was very thankful for some encouragement.




Can you encourage someone?

YES!

To encourage someone means to leave them seeing their day, week, life, changed even in a very simple way so that they are lifted out of any discouragement, loneliness, dismay, they may be feeling.

With the added advantage we have of turning their eyes toward Jesus to know He still cares for them.



And what about the person doing the encouragement?

 Well if you step out and do some act of kindness to encourage another I tell you it will also encourage you.



Let me encourage you from my own experience how simple acts of kindness encourage others.

I know how a little letter can help someone   -   See  Tears over a Little Letter

I know how receiving a handmade card can encourage someone.   -  just look above to the cards we got from the grandkids.

I know how a phone call can help someone   -   I'm not good at making them but I do appreciate them.

I know how keeping in touch on facebook messenger regularly can help someone.

I know how checking in with someone on WhatsApp helps them.

I know how thankful people are for little cards sent out to them to show your love and concern.

Here are examples of some of the lovely Postcards I found that I am sending out to people within our church who are on their own.






I picked them because of the attractive, encouraging Bible Verses they display.

I bought them from a company called "10 of Those" who are a UK company and sell lots of books as well with everything being at really good prices.

 There are two packs of the postcards and they each have 5 different designs, the picture above show three from each pack.






I get no commission from "10 of Those" - I just wanted to give you an example of what you can get for a good price but I'm sure other Bible Book shops online will have similar products.



I also know how providing that bag of pasta or flour or toilet rolls or other essential items to a foodbank will not only help the people who receive gifts from the foodbank but will also help to relieve the pressure on the foodbank organisers.  -  Our son is in that position.


I also know that just being the person someone else can turn to at any time for prayer is a great encouragement.


I also know that being the person who is inviting you wot pray online with them, or read the Bible or sing the Psalms together online is a great help to others.  -  Our other son is in that position.


I also know that having someone just to remember you live far from your homeland and in a different culture and to make you laugh at times can be a great gift.  -  Our daughter is in that position.


So why not think how you feel and how you would like someone to encourage and help you and then do that for someone else.





You may also find the following blog posts to be of help for phone calls, letters and cards and even for encouragement on social media.

  BIBLE VERSES OF ENCOURAGEMENT IN TIMES OF ANXIETY WORRY & STRESS

  BIBLE VERSES OF ENCOURAGEMENT IN TIMES OF BEREAVEMENT

  BIBLE VERSES OF ENCOURAGEMENT IN TIMES OF COMFORT






Or you can click on ENCOURAGEMENT in the Menu Bar at the top of this post for other blog posts on Encouragement.


There are also many FREE PRINTABLES available on this blog which may encourage you or others and these can be found in  SANDRA'A ARK RESOURCE LIBRARY  







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10 Bible Verses of Encouragement in Times of Anxiety, Worry & Stress


We all need encouragement and the best place to go is to the Bible.

In this blog Post I have tried to gather some Bible passages or Bible verses which will encourage us all when we are anxious or worried or under any kind of stress.







I do believe that we should not just grab a verse and read it on its own but we should always lift our bibles and read a passage of scripture to make sure that we know the real meaning and context of each of the verses we are putting our trust in. 

I pray that you will do the same and only use this list to guide you as to where you may find help.



So here are 10 Bible verses or short passages for us to turn to in times of  Anxiety, Worry & Stress



1.   Philippians 4 v 4-9     

Starting off with a great passage in Philippians, look it up, read it through and then focus in on these three points:

This tells us to Start by Rejoicing in the Lord  v. 4







Then We Should Turn to God in Prayer and tell Him how we feel because that is what we are instructed to do  v. 6-7








Finally we need to turn our eyes and minds away from the things that make us anxious and focus on the good  v. 8






and always remember we are instructed again and again in the Bible not to worry about anything in the future.




2.   John 14 v 1
    
The whole of this chapter is worth reading and it will aptly speak to your heart

 Just as the disciples needed to be told to believe in Jesus and not be worried, so must we believe and trust in Him.







3.   Luke 12 v 22 - 34    

Again lift your Bible and read through this passage for yourself and see how Jesus explains why we as well as the disciples should not worry. 


22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 
 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.


The two verses above are just the basis of it.




4.   Psalm 55 v 22

This verse is on a post-it note because we really must remember it, daily.





5.   Philippians 4 v 19

One of my favourite chapters in the Bible and yes we were in that chapter for the first portion in this list but this is later on in the chapter.


And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.


I want to draw your attention to the "all" in that verse because sometimes we can believe for some but not all.




6.   1 Peter 5 v 7




Do we truly believe we can cast everything on Him?

We should if we trust in Him and believe His Word.



7.   Psalm 94 v 19

It's not just one care or worry that God cares about but all of them.

In the multitude of my anxieties within me,

Your comforts delight my soul.


Our God can make the difference in all our circumstances.





8.   Matthew 8 v 19-31


Oh we know this story so well or at least we think we do.

Read the passage and then be in awe of the Lord who can take care of us through anything because everything that besets us is subject to Him.









9.   Matthew 6 v 34


God is the one who knows what tomorrow holds and Jesus wisely tells us to concentrate on today and not to worry ahead in time.


Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.








Then we must also remember that we should always consider how we can help others in their anxiety, worry and stress.


So to finish here is a verse to encourage us to encourage others by the way we treat them and talk to them.



10.   Proverbs 12 v 25



Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression,

But a good word makes it glad.



A simple action "a good word" and then we can direct others to the Bible passages and verses that have helped us already and on to Jesus the Saviour of the World.









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