GE: February Prayer Meeting Message Summary: by Allen Vargheese and family

GE: February Prayer Meeting Message Summary: by Allen Vargheese and family

Theme of the message: 2 Corinthians 13:5, 6

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?"

Pretext: The message was delivered on the saturday before the start of the Great Lent. At this point in time, we examine ourselves and identify the things to do as we enter the Great Lent. We look at the 5 T's of the Great Lent season.

Lent season is a

1) Time of preparation
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We must get examine if we have Pride. If we have, we must get rid of it since it destroys relationships.

Galatians 6:3-5

"If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load."

Pride is the oldest sin in the world

Pride can be in many ways

 a. Pride in appearance
 b. Pride in position
        Ex. Nebucadnezzer - gave credit to himself

        Light reading: The story of 2 ducks and the frog in the pond. :)

Why we must get rid of Pride

 a. Pride destroys relationship

We must get rid of the attitude in which we think 'i dont need anyones help, and i wont help anyone'.

As we enter the Lent season, Examine if we have PRIDE!

2) Time for discipline
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We need to discipline ourselves. We can discipline us by

 a. Giving up something regularly
 b. Live more for others than yourselves
 c. Invest more in heaven than in retirement
 d. Watch less TV, read more Bible
 e. Make Sunday a day of worship

Examples of lack of Discipline

 a. Will go to church if we get up
 b. The grass was tall, so did the lawn moving on Sunday morning (instead of going to church)
 c. Will give time to God if we had a 8th day

3) Time for special prayers
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We must get up early and pray (Give the First hour of the day to God)
We must pass on the tradition of Great Lent prayers to our next generation (Kumbidal)

4) Time for spiritual renewal
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Observe fasting with diligence

 Ex. Yunus (Aby's classmate) is a Muslim young boy who takes fasting very seriously during their religious time. Do we?

 Question for Thought- Will we not fast if the doctor asks, but why we do not fast if the Bible says?

5) Time to share with others the blessings of Jesus
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Spend more time for Jesus and spread the hope in Jesus to others.
Help others who are in need.

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by Allen Vargheese and family