Wednesday, 3rd April

READING:

Philippians 2:1-7

Imitating Christ’s Humility
1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

MEDITATION:

The Gospel calls us to follow Christ. This will always mean getting off the throne or off-centre stage. Following Christ calls us to deny ourselves, to put the interests of others before our own. If in church, we put our interests or our views above those of others then we will be at each other’s throats. So, let’s work to be like Christ, to love like him, to think like him, to put our pride aside and humble ourselves before him. This Easter is a great time to commit ourselves afresh to Christ and his ways.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:

Jesus, thank you for giving yourself up for me. Thank you for serving me, thank you for considering me. Please help me to commit myself afresh to you and to your ways. Help me to have the same attitude that you have, help me to put aside my own pride to humble myself and consider others far more important than myself. Rid me of my selfish ways. Amen.

 
LENT PRAYER FOCUS:

• Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who truly repent. Create and make in us at CCB new and contrite hearts, that we, rightly lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
• We pray for the Gospel to be faithfully proclaimed throughout this Easter time.
• We pray Christ would become real to us and our hearts would be moved afresh by the message of the death and resurrection of Christ.
• We pray we would understand how Christ came to serve us, and how he identifies with us all.
With the sick
With the lonely
With the oppressed
With the poor
With people from every area of life.
• Pray that we as a church would follow his example as we seek to identify and make sacrifices for all people.
• Pray we would as a church consider the interests of others as more important than our own
• Pray we would repent of selfishness and be filled with a desire to serve others.