Knowing Jesus,
making Jesus known
making Jesus known
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Web manager Simon Ford
Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End.”
Rev 22.13
the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End.”
Rev 22.13
EDGE 6 – Autumn 2004 – Courage, Confidence & Life
Living Life to Full
Welcome
Chill with a drink!
Split in to teams – doesn’t matter how many in each. Have five minutes where each team comes up with ten questions to ask the other team. (No more than one question can be about any subject – so James only one on everything to do with Star Wars, Simon only one on cricket etc.) You must be sure of the answers yourselves. They can’t be personal questions either (No, when is the name of my gran’s cat or what is my favourite girl band song etc!)
Then ask them of each other… team who gets most right
Worship
Tell this story (taken from page 84 of ‘Live the Life’ by Mike Pilavachi)
“I Am a Five-Cow Woman”
I once heard a student being interviewed on Radio One about what he did in his gap year between school and university. He spent his time travelling around the world, soaking up the experiences that life offered him. This traveller was telling the DJ about his first destination, which was Indonesia. If I hadn't been so petrified of flying I would have grown increasingly jealous as his description covered the remote islands with white sands and turquoise seas. He wanted to get as involved in the culture as possible, so he travelled to the most remote island he could find.
On the boat trip to the island he noticed a group of locals laughing hysterically. Through an interpreter he asked them what was going on. On this particular island - and I make no comment about it - they had a custom that a woman's hand in marriage was paid for by the groom in cows. There had been no inflation for centuries, and the going rate for an average one would set you back about two and a half moo-moos. The most that had ever been paid was five cows, for the most beautiful and perfect woman the island had ever seen. The least was half a cow, which was for one with bits dropping off who was well past her sell-by date. The islanders were all laughing because there was one man who had actually paid five cows for a wife who, at a real push, could only ever be considered a three cow-er. He had been well and truly conned by her father and they all found it particularly funny.
Once the student was on the island, he made up his mind to find the man with such poor bartering skills and let him know what people were saying. Eventually the two met, and our friend from North Devon tactfully told the man that he was a fool with no concept of what a good woman was worth. ‘Ah yes’ was the reply, ‘I paid for my wife what I wanted to pay for her, and I paid what I thought she was worth. To me she is worth every udder, and when she walks through the village now she walks with her head held high. She says to herself, “I am a five-cow woman.” Because she believes that she is worth five cows she acts as if she is worth five cows, and she even looks as if she is worth five cows.’
Many of us struggle because we don-t know how much we are worth - many of us think our worth doesn’t even get near half a cow, but hovers around the half-pint-of-semi-skimmed mark. Instead of opting for Jesus to value us we estimate our value ourselves. Some of us work it out by the amount of money we have, some of us go by our looks, others by our jobs or friends. If we measure our worth by these values we’re in trouble. The good news of the gospel is that God has shown, through the death of his Son on the cross, exactly how much we are worth to him
Encourage one another with words and high fives and encouragements – you are amazingly special – you are a five cow man a five cow woman. Be praise-full!
Word
Read John 20:19-31
First bit 19-25
The disciples were afraid, then had courage to change the world. They became tough (for those of you at EDGE Worship this week).
What were they frightened of?
What are you frightened of?
What changed them?
What could change us?
Second bit 26-28
Thomas doubted then had confidence in Jesus as his Lord and God
What were Thomas’ doubts?
What are yours?
What changed them…
What could change us?
Third bit 29-31
We can go from death to life
What has John written about… Jesus’ words, his life, the things he did
What is this life he offers…?
Eternal (it’s the quality not the quantity), what else?
John 3:36 “And all who believe in God’s Son have eternal life. Those who don’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life, but the wrath of God remains upon them.”
Witness
Pray for one another – for courage, confidence and the reality of living life to the full.