Here a recap from the last Catalyst session we had a couple of weeks ago. This past Sunday was a special Remembrance Day service and we did not have a session.

This was part 4 of 4 in the Social Justice series, titled “We Can Do Something”. 

There is a always a question that people ask themselves when they encounter the issues of social justice.  They see the issues, the needs, the hurts etc  and wonder what could I, one person do?  God uses some ordinary people to accomplish some great things….just open the Bible read a few narratives, see where these people came from, were called out from.  Then read the beginning of the Book of Acts, specifically Acts 1:8.

These were the scriptures we used in the session:

Ephesians 2:10, Micah 6:8, Isaiah 1:17, I Peter 3:15, I John 3:17, Matthew 23:23, John 10:10

• Seeking justice is the task of bringing the truth and power to bear on behalf of those who are oppressed.
• There are roles for everyone to engage in Social Justice
• Pastors, Teachers etc…need to be teaching about the God of Justice. Teaching about the authority of the Word of God, to know God’s passion for justice.  They can show us how God can use everyone to meet the needs of social justice.
• Frontline workers…live in the communities where the victims of abuse live. Living and working among the poor.
• There are so many gifted, talents of people that can help meet the needs of the oppressed, Christians that are trained as police officers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, business, politicians, cooks etc.  These talents and skills can be used to help meet the needs of these people in situations not just in places around the globe, but in the neighbourhoods and communities that they travel to work in everyday.
• Poetry, art, music, video, these are creative talents that can be used to help capture and tell the story to others to show what is happening.  To help bring awareness and attention.
• No matter what talent a person has, God can use it to help someone in need.

We ended the session and the series with the following two scriptures:

Luke 10:25-37, Matthew 25:31-46

The next series starting next week is based on the book by Francis Chan, called “Crazy Love”.

Here is another Thomas Nelson Blogger Book Review

Finished this book about a month ago.  Here is the review of the second book by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. To start I never read the first book, so jumping into the second one had me thinking I may not be able to follow some of it. 

Even though I didn’t read the first one, as I started with the chapters, the authors were able to include enough info to help me follow along. It is a really easy and quick read. The book is a result of the success of the first one, and includes details of what has been the outcome since that book was written.

This book has enough challenges in it, that I found myself underlining and make notes in the margin to use as quotes when teaching and speaking.  Throughout the book I found myself thinking, very strong point of view and it we could only apply that to our lives, what a difference it would make.

Here is a sample quote,

If all the Christians – I mean all of ‘em – got outta the pews on Sundays and into the streets, we’d shut the city down.

We’d shut down hunger

We’d shut down loneliness

We’d shut down the notion that there is any such of a thing as a person that don’t deserve a kind word and a second chance. (Pg 56)

I would recommend this book…it will not take long to get through, but you will make many mental notes as you make your way through the pages.