Be a Beacon!
By Rachel Ryan, Media Coordinator

When I first moved away from home to go to college, I lived in campus housing with three new roommates. Although I quickly made friends with them, I missed the sense of home and family. A few weeks into the semester I was introduced to a professor’s wife, Jeanine. She was older than my mother but we quickly developed a friendship and before long you could find a small group of college girls (myself included) at her house.

Each week we would gather and cook dinner together and then sit around sharing what was going on in our lives. Jeanine met a need in our lives -- the need for a haven away from the hustle and bustle, and the need for perspective, friendship, and mentoring. Although I am sure Jeanine didn’t fully realize it at the time, the needs she met in six college girls helped us grow into the women we are today. She was a continual beacon — pointing us closer to Christ. When she opened her front door to us and invited us in, her eyes sparkled with the love she had for us and the light of Jesus shined.

The moms in your MOPS group have the same need for someone to connect with and to shine the light of relationship into their lives. By meeting the need for community and relationship, you can be a beacon to moms, just like Jeanine was a beacon for me during a season of my life.

Have you ever noticed how meeting the needs of those around you points people to Jesus?

Read James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

As a group, answer the following questions:

• What good gifts has God given you — individually and as a group?
• Share examples you have seen in your MOPS group where gifts of service to others have drawn moms into a relationship or closer in their relationship to Jesus.

Read these passages together:
John 13:35
I John 3:16-18

• What part does love play in pointing people to Jesus?
• What does your love or lack thereof communicate to the moms in your group?
• What practical ways can you show Jesus’ love through service in your position on your Steering Team?

Through the service of those who love Christ, each of us is drawn into a closer relationship with him. And in our service we shine the light of Jesus, drawing those around us closer to him. Isaiah 58:10 tells us, “…if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in the darkness…”

Prayer:
Take a few minutes of quiet personal prayer time, giving each leader a chance to talk privately with God about the ways they are spreading light in the dark areas through service and in what areas they could improve this.

Song:
Choose a praise song or hymn about shining light or sharing love to listen to together as you close.