Use the programme which can be found on the link ‘discipleship challenges’. The ‘worksheet’ will help you follow through anything you feel is right to take up. The following notes are for your interest and consideration.
Personal comment:
It is not easy to respond to this reading today and feel that there is anything worthy we can ‘do’ by way of response. On the one hand, the best we can offer is to continue to do in faithfulness what God has set before us; for this is what our Lord Himself was doing in the Garden. On the other hand, the example Jesus gives us is a challenge to persist in extreme circumstances and never give up on doing what we know to be right. This may be the toughest call for us, as it was for Jesus.
Ideas for discipleship programme
- What is the hardest thing for you as a Christian? Only you can make this call, but it is worth making it and being clear. We cannot afford to hide the hardest calls; rather we need to openly accept that our hardest challenges are most likely to be our most fruitful work; this is a spiritual as well as a practical truth.
- Fast and pray for those who find it hard to keep up the pace of life and feel left out of what the church is doing. Pray that all God’s people will be understanding of each other as we respond to the call of the Gospel.
Through love, Lord Jesus, You have won for us the greatest of gifts, the redemption of our souls. From Your birth at Bethlehem to Your death on Calvary, Your life was given for us; how can we ever thank You? We offer You our love and give You all glory and honour Lord Jesus. Thank You for our salvation: AMEN
Use these for group work, or to assist your personal reflection.
- Have you been led to bow down, perhaps even ‘prostrate’ on the ground before God? What has this meant to you
- In what ways does the Father enable Jesus to face the work that He has been given. What clues does the passage give us?
- How does the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane affect you? Where and how does this touch your spirit, and why?