Wellbeing Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Denham Parish Church

Wellbeing Thought for Monday 15th March 2021

March 15, 2021/0 Comments/in Wellbeing /by Victoria Lucas

Monday 15 March
Not good to be alone

Loneliness is one of the greatest problems we are facing today. It is bad for our health. In the biblical creation account God says, “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2.18). And so he created ‘another’ – a woman and wife for him. While this passage celebrates the special place of marriage, it has a wider application: we are not designed to be alone.

However, in many relationships we can experience
(a) no connection: through circumstances or choice we fail to connect, to be invested in other people
(b) bad connection: a pull towards a person who is making you feel bad or ‘not good enough’

(c) pseudo-good connection: it can make us feel good for a time without meeting our deepest needs.

The goal for relationships is (d) true connection: you can be your whole self and both parties are invested and ‘safe’ for the other.

> Think about the four types of relationships above. Which describes most accurately where you are right now? Ask God tohelpyou develop healthy, live-giving relationships.

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Wellbeing Thought for Sunday 14th March 2021

March 14, 2021/0 Comments/in Wellbeing /by Victoria Lucas

Sunday 14 March
Relationships matter!

There is healing power in relationships. We are hardwired to need one another. It’s often through our relationships with others that we survive life’s lowest moments.

The Bible says that God himself is a relational being. There is one God who exists in three ‘persons’ – the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. At the heart of this divine community is eternal love and concern for each other. And we are made in his image!

At the heart of biblical wellbeing (or shalom / peace) is relational harmony with God and with others.

> Consider your relational ‘dial’. Who do you love being with? How could you deepen the relationships that are most life-giving?

210314 Mothering Sunday Service

It’s Mothering Sunday! This service is brimming with encouragement, with your contributions, and with helpful insights into relational wellbeing. Join us for Church Coffee on Zoom afterwards. [Find all the links below the video]

Church Coffee on Zoom:
Meeting ID: 836 9097 1697
Passcode: Coffee

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES:
A special Mothering Sunday Craft…

BONUS CLIP on relational wellbeing…

Amy Crouch: My Tech-Wise Life…

A special prayer for Mothering Sunday…

Wellbeing Thought for Saturday 13th March 2021

March 13, 2021/0 Comments/in Wellbeing /by Victoria Lucas

Saturday, 13 March

God’s school of financial wellbeing

If God had a school with different levels of learning about principles of financial wellbeing, the foundation class would be called ‘Perspectives’ and contain two lessons:

Stewardship: God is the owner and we are the stewards of everything he has given us. We can seek his guidance in managing our resources his way.
God’s plan: God has a plan for our financial wellbeing, focused on Matthew 6.33 – seek first his kingdom and everything else will also find its place. This helps us to avoid a poverty mindset or a materialistic mindset.

Next would be the class ‘Practices’, with three lessons:

Spend carefully. Learn contentment and rein in spending, live within your means.
Save wisely: without fear-based hoarding, set aside money for emergencies and long-term goals
Give generously: This is the ultimate goal and a key to our wellbeing.

There is, however, an advanced class: ‘Surrender all to God’. It is the most liberating, trusting that ultimately God will take care of us.

Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:29–30).

> Where are you on your financial wellbeing journey? Which perspectives or practices do you need to attend to? What is the one thing you will focus on over the next months?

Wellbeing Thought for Friday 12th March 2021

March 12, 2021/0 Comments/in Wellbeing /by Victoria Lucas

Friday 12 March
Pray

Praying for provision is embedded in the Lord’s Prayer: We pray “hallowed by your name” and one of the names of God in the Bible is Yahweh Jireh (Genesis 22.12), which means ‘the Lord provides’. Then, after re-aligning our lives with the prayer “Your kingdom come, your will be done”, we can confidently pray, “Give us today our daily bread”.

Be in the will of God: it means a lifestyle that is in line with God’s Word and the leading of His Spirit. Put in place the principles explored this week. A key part of God’s provision comes by us working diligently and honourably.
Believe it is God’s will to provide for you. Let go of a poverty mindset.
Be specific. Ask specifically for God’s provision.
Be persistent. If you believe your request is in the will of God, don’t give up praying.

> Take a few moments to pray for specific needs – whether it is for yourself or for others.

Wellbeing Thought for Thursday 11th March 2021

March 11, 2021/0 Comments/in Wellbeing /by Victoria Lucas

Thursday 11 March
A journey of generosity

If we want to build generosity into our lives, we need to do it intentionally and with planning (read 1 Corinthians 16.23). This verse shows that giving is to be prioritized, regular, planned and proportional. We give to God first, not from our leftovers (priority), because he gave us the first and very best, his only Son Jesus, so we can be children of God.

The New Testament emphasises grace-motivated generosity. Many Christians follow the Old Testament principle of ‘tithing’ (giving 10% of your income to God). You can give proportionally no matter how little or much you earn! Honouring God with the first 10% and living off the other 90% is far better than trying to go it alone with the 100%! Once people start giving generously, they often experience God’s provision and can be even more generous as a response to God’s grace at work in their lives.

> Thank God for his provision and invite him to reveal more of his love and generosity towards you. Consider which steps you can take in giving that is a priority, regular, planned and proportional.

Wellbeing Thought for Wednesday 10th March 2021

March 10, 2021/0 Comments/in Wellbeing /by Victoria Lucas

Wednesday 10 March

Save and Give

The 18^th century preacher John Wesley famously said, “Earn all you can, give all you can, save all you can.” Receiving an income helps us to gain financial margin, save wisely and live generously.

“Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.” (Proverbs 13.11)

Sensible saving makes provision for the future. Robert Morris highlights five purposes of saving:

Emergencies – sometimes called the ‘boiler fund’.
Needs. Many essential items (shoes, washing machines, cars) wear out, if we want to avoid debt we need to save up.
The future. Saving for a wedding, retirement or for a time when we will earn less is sensible.
Wants. There is nothing wrong with buying things you want as long as you don’t go into debt.
Giving. This may be the most important reason to save (read 1 Timothy 6.17-19). If we don’t have money, we can’t save money!

There are two ‘seas’ in Israel – the Sea of Galilee in the north and the Dead Sea in the south. The difference? The Sea of Galilee has an inflow and an outflow. The Dead Sea has only an inflow – that’s why it is dead. Generosity is the outflow from our lives and a key to our own flourishing. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” and research back that up. The Bible doesn’t teach we should give to get, instead we get to give, it’s a privilege! But many Christians have experienced that we can never out-give God – there truly is blessing in giving!

> How can you save and give more? Can you start giving regularly to a cause, an organization, a church you support? Be ready to be generous whenever you can (without going into debt!).
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Wellbeing Thought for Tuesday 9th March 2021

March 9, 2021/0 Comments/in Wellbeing /by Victoria Lucas

Tuesday, 9 March

Cultivating contentment

The goal of financial wellbeing is ‘margin’ – to live within our means and to have a little left. The enemy of financial margin is not being content with what we have and to compare ourselves to others (typically those who have more!).

The antidote is cultivating contentment (read Philippians 4.11-13). In 1 Timothy 6, St Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Here are a few suggestions to get us started:

If you are spending more than your income, find out by how much.
Develop a budget and don’t exceed it.
Do everything you can to get out and stay out of debt. Seek advice – check out capuk.org.
Avoid impulse spending. Talk to God and to a person you trust before buying a more expensive item. If in doubt, don’t buy it!
Cultivate a habit of thankfulness for what you do

Look at the suggestions above. Choose one area to start working on.

Wellbeing Thought for Sunday 7 March

March 7, 2021/0 Comments/in Article, Wellbeing /by Christoph Lindner

Stewardship, not ownership

Did you know that 16 of the 38 parables Jesus told were concerned with how to handle money and possessions? True wellbeing includes the financial and material area of our lives. Worries about money are one of the main causes of stress. God wants us to live in financial peace (“shalom”) – having margin each month, with opportunities to save for the future and to give to help others.

As Christians we believe that all things come from God – we don’t own them, but God wants us to steward them. That is a crucial difference if we want to enjoy internal freedom from fear and worry. Once we have settled that God is the owner, we can begin to learn how to manage our finances his way!

Where is your financial dial – red, amber or green? How might knowing God is the owner and you his steward help you grow in financial peace and wellbeing?

(Excerpt from: Dave Smith, God’s Plan for your Wellbeing.)

210307 Sunday Service: Financial Wellbeing

March 6, 2021/0 Comments/in Nnamdi Maduka, Sermons, Service, Wellbeing, Worship and Music /by Christoph Lindner

You can’t win a Rolls Royce in today’s service, but it is full of helpful contributions about our financial wellbeing! We’re showing off the second batch of your beautiful mugs during the countdown. Edda and Christoph are leading the service live from the Rectory as we continue The Wellbeing Journey. [Find all the links below this video]