Hope Hunters

“But let all who take refuge in you, be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name can rejoice in you.” – Psalm 5 vs 11

From Helen Machell:

One Sunday I themed the family prayers around God as our ruler, protector, refuge and judge. I thought it would be good to expand a little on where this one came from. For many of the prayer ideas, I have seen, heard or talked about somewhere in the previous week. This one was no different but it was a longer thought process.

For the last three years we have headed to the Lake District for, not only a holiday in that wonderful part of the country but to attend the Keswick Convention. A great place to meet and worship with other Christians and to receive some great teaching.

This year we still headed to The Lakes but the convention was a little different, anyone could join in with the convention live as, like most things, it all went online. Bible talks for the adults, kids, youth groups, those with additional needs, and seminars on hot topics were all part of the programme.

As parents there was a great chance to see what was happening in their teaching; usually you drop the kids off at their group and see them an hour or so later having had a marvellous time.  This year all the teaching was based on Psalms 1-6 and the kid’s group were Hope Hunters. They went hunting for hope. They had activities, sketches, craft, a memory verse and songs all about hope, Where would they find it? Clearly this was in Jesus.

The kids discovered over the week that they could find hope in knowing Jesus as he is our ruler, our protector, our refuge and that he weeps when we hurt too. For each of these there was a craft to remind us of all we had learnt about Jesus, knowing that we can have great joy when we spend time in God’s Word and that we can all find hope in Jesus as he reigns over the world. When we know this we can then also invite others to take refuge in God’s chosen King Jesus. Who will you chose to invite?