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Beginning to Flourish - Week Two

Administrator February 16, 2025 1 3

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Sheltering together — welcomed by God

 

The desire for a roof runs deep. We all need somewhere to lay our head. We need protection from the elements, but also somewhere we can let down our guard, feel safe and sound. Stress about a lack of shelter, or the quality or security of that shelter gets to us like little else does. This is why shelter makes for such a powerful metaphor of God’s love for us. Even when every other shelter has let us down, or fallen through, or kicked us out — God still welcomes us.

SEEDS TO SOW: This week consider how you can support individuals and organisations that work to provide shelter and support to those who need it.

 

Read Genesis 12: 1-4

Leaving shelter.

Shelter provides a comfort zone for our protection and security. What if God called you like Abram to leave those comfort zones and the luxuries of your shelter to follow him. Abram was called from his country, his people and his family to follow a vision with no guarantee, save that God would be with him.

Q: Take time to share with others the places where you have lived and how it has affected you. Could God have called you to these places?

Q: Where will be your next stop in God’s schedule?

 

Read Psalm 27

One thing I ask from the Lord…

Consider the positive statements about the provision of the Lord in the psalm.

Q: How can we express thanks to God for the way he provides for us? 

Q: What do you think it means to “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life”? (See verse 4.)

 

Read Isaiah 58: 4-12

Shelter as a shared resource.

So often the focus today is on ourselves and making sure that we are okay. Isaiah’s challenge is not about self but about others. 

Q: Can you identify in the passage the things we are challenged to share together rather than hoard for ourselves. The Christian life is not an individual life but a collective life.

Q: What resources could you share better with others, including shelter?

 

Lent Transformation Week 2

The Transforming Shelter

Think about your local area/town/city and reflect on the people living near you who could be struggling or suffering, who perhaps can’t rely on their shelter or accommodation. 

Commit to pray for your neighbourhood and those same people every day this week.