This month's book of Faith theme is 'The Ten Commandments'

I have created both an off the page item for hanging in a handy spot to remember...The instruction downloads are just below the pictures of the projects.



bible verses for the project
project instructions

and an 8.5 x 11 layout

the commandments download
Instructions for this Layout

Lara

Let your light shine.


I've been having a little stained glass window fun.

In the same way LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Mattew 5:16

When reading this verse I kept thinking of a stained glass window, high up in a beautiful church somewhere. It's real beauty can't be seen unless the light is able to shine through and the light can't shine through unless it's clean and free from dust and dirt. How beautiful it looks when the light shines and the colours dance and the room is transformed with it's beauty.

In the same way, our lives should be free from the dust and dirt of sin and the room should be transformed with the beauty of God that shines from within us.

I used tinfoil, transparencies and glass paint to make my layout shine. Instructions on how to do this yourself can be found here.

This month Scrap of Faith these is all about reaching out to others or evangelising. When presented with the theme this month, God immediately brought these couple of verses of scripture to my mind.
I decided to use the verse in Mark 16:15 as the title of my layout.

“Go into all the World and Preach the good news to all creation”
Mark 16:15

As a young person I remember a quest speaker at church one night speaking on evangelising and how Acts 1 v 8 is as relevant to us today as it was to the early church. He pointed out that our responsibility to evangelise was world wide, and broke down this scripture so that it applies to our situation and location today. This really challenged us as a couple and has played a huge part in our lives as we have prayed about the different ministries in which we have felt the Lord has led us to be involved.

“But you will receive power when the HOLY SPIRIT comes on you: and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the Earth”
Acts 1: 8.

I would love to challenge you all to apply this verse of scripture to your lives and look at the areas in which you are reaching out to others with the good news of the Gospel of Jesus. My layout represents some of the ministries of reaching out with the Gospel of Jesus, that we have been or that we are involved with at the moment. Our reaching out needed to be amongst the people in our own town. – Rockhampton = Jerusalem I have used a photo of the girls I meet with monthly to scrapbook with. It needs to be in our State, Queensland = Judea, and for this I have used a photo of the Scripture Union logo, as over the years we have been heavily involved in SU camping and chaplaincy ministries. For our country Australia = Samaria, I have used the logo of Scrap of Faith, as I see this as a ministry which touches the lives of lots of woman in this wonderful country in which we live, and our witness also need to reach out globally (world) and I have used the Compassion logo to represent the sponsor children we support overseas. This is a relatively cheap layout to reproduce as I have not used any patterned paper at all. You could use it instead of paint if you so desire.

You will find a full set of instructions HERE

oooh, my first post on the SOF blog, very exciting!

click on this link to find out 'how' to do the layout above!

Well... it's all about 'the biggest lesson God has taught me'... only, he's still teaching me! I'm a bit slow... but his word teaches that He will finish the work He has begun in me (Philippians 1:6).

The Big lesson I want to share with you is that It's not about us!!!
This was said during open worship time at Church last Sunday and is one of the 'biggest lessons' God has to teach me over & over again - Yep, still going. With this thought in mind I was reminded of Rick Warren's 'Purpose Driven Life' book where the opening chapter is all about this. The first chapter is titled 'It all starts with God' and the first two paragraphs read:
It's not about you.
The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.

The Bible talks of 'loosing my life for His sake' & tells me that I'll then find it... This verse has stuck with me since I used to listen to it driving home from school or evenings out as a teenager (home was half an hour from town) in my wee '84' Mazda 323 about 17 years ago (I said it's a long time lesson). The song was by David Meece:

DAVID MEECE TO THE GLORY OF GOD LYRICS
For awhile it was fine, hearing the roar of the crowd,
For awhile it was mine, flying up over the clouds,
But then the sun melted my wings, now I’m on my knees.
To the glory of God,
Next time I fly it will be to the glory of God,
I want my life just to be to the glory of God.
And once I used to ride off to war,There was glory to win, thought I knew what it was for,
But most of the battles were mine; and now so is the pain.
To the glory of God
Next time I fight it will be to the glory of God,
I want my life just to be to the glory of God,
To be to the glory of God.
They say the man that finds his life will lose it, and mine was slipping away,
But, oh, the man that has the faith to lose it will find that his life is saved.
To the glory of God,
Next time I fly it will be to the glory of God,
I want my whole life to be to the glory of God,
Next time I fight it will be to the glory of God,
I want my whole life to be to the glory of God,
Next time I fly it will be to the glory of God,(fade)

It's not about me,
It's about Him!