SUMT Podcast

Our devotional today comes from John 10: 4 – “…his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” 
 
Bees are amazing. They have 5 eyes and 6 legs. They can fly up to 20 miles per hour. They live together in hives that on average hold around 50,000 bees. The foraging “scouts” of the hive travel up to 14km to find the best source of nectar. Truly astonishing for such a small creature. But there is one un-BEE-lievable fact that I love the most about bees… 

When a bee has found a particularly fantastic patch of flowers, laden with pollen and nectar, they fly back to the hive to tell their fellow bees about it. To communicate what they’ve found and where it is, the bee begins to ‘dance’. It starts with a ‘round dance’ – communicating what they’ve found – an awesome pollen area nearby, a must-see location. Then the ‘waggle dance’ tells them exactly where it is, how far to go and in which direction to fly.  

These dances are essential to the growth and efficiency of the hive. The bee doesn’t keep this information to themselves, selfishly guarding such a tasty and nutritious secret but instead spreads the word! It is specific in its instructions, not merely taunting its fellow bees with the knowledge that there’s an amazing crop nearby but giving them adequate information to be able to fly out and find it for themselves. That first foraging bee might never see its fellow bees land on that particular patch of flowers, but it has communicated the best it can. 

The primary aim and vision of SUMT is much the same as that little bee. We know the lifegiving truth and love of Jesus Christ and we exist to communicate that truth to children and young people in the best way we can. We might not perform a ‘round dance’ or a ‘waggle dance’ – although we absolutely have been known to put on quite a show – but we take seriously the mission given to us by Christ himself to “go out to the street corners and invite everyone you find to come to my feast.” (Matthew 22:9) 

Decades of historic relationship building and working as an ecumenical trust that represents the whole church on the Isle of Man gives SUMT the privilege of speaking and teaching about faith in areas that are increasingly closed to Christians and churches. We communicate what we know – that God loves each and every one of us, that He takes an interest in our lives, that we all have a purpose and a future, that we hold great value and that in making positive choices we can change our own future and the future of those around us. 

In some cases, just like that little dancing bee, we may never see for ourselves whether those who hear our message choose to follow it. But we trust God with the seeds we’ve sown. With others, we’ve seen a brief but significant moment with SUMT be the catalyst to meeting Jesus, choosing to walk in His way and exploring the individual mission He has for their life. We look back and praise God for the young people we walked alongside who are now teachers, church leaders, worship leaders, preachers, pioneering justice ministries, heading up charities, fighting for godly changes in healthcare, law and education and raising up children who know and love Jesus. 

Jesus speaks in the Gospel of John about the image of a Good Shepherd and his flock of sheep. John chapter 10 vs 4 says “…his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” Please pray for SUMT today as we seek in all we do to tell children and young people about our loving God so that they would know and recognise His voice. In a world where so many other voices are clamouring to be heard, spreading lies and deception about what makes you good enough, worthy and loved – God may your Voice of Truth be the loudest.  

Booise da Jee. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Our devotional today is from Proverbs 11:25 –  “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”  

For most of our married life, my husband and I have been exceptionally generously blessed with cars to drive. From banged up Mazdas and fords to crumbling Kias we have loved and driven them all – tentatively – right until the end of their days. These cars were all in various states of disrepair and have provided us and our friends and family with many adventures and anecdotes surrounding their quirky features and misfortunes. We often had people ask us why we didn’t just ditch these cars and get a solid, reliable vehicle. But for years our budget simply didn’t allow this. Every time we were struggling, we would sit together and pray that God would provide us with a car to use and every single time our prayers would be answered and within days we would become the proud owners of a new vehicle that became our treasure. Each of these cars, despite being old or wobbly or rusty, could’ve quite easily been sold on for a couple of hundred pound or at least made some cash from the scrap man. But instead, amazing people generously thought of us first and gave them us expecting nothing in return. And they meant the world to us as they gave us the freedom to get from a to b (almost every time!) and do the things we felt God was asking us to do. 

Generosity is such a godly concept. We may convince ourselves that only displays of great faith or prayer are markers of our relationship with God (and of course these are not to be dismissed!) however the practical actions of love and generosity are to be taken very seriously. It is interesting to note that in the Bible the word ‘believe’ is used 272 times, the word ‘pray’ is used 371 times but the word ‘love’ is used 714 times and the word ‘give’ is used over 2000 times! 

In SUMT we feel richly blessed with the many resources we have been given. The spaces we work from, the churches and halls offered up for us to use, the art resources, books, bibles, pens, paper – the list of things we grab and box up and drive all around the Island to help us teach children and young people is endless! The things we are perhaps most grateful for though, are the creative minds we have been blessed with over the years that have enabled us to write and edit truly amazing resources that are used year upon year. From relationships education courses to curriculum days helping children explore beliefs and choices to assemblies that teach children Bible stories and the morals behind them, we sit on a rich treasure trove of material.  

Proverbs Chapter 11 vs 25 says “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” The riches SUMT possesses are not necessarily monetary, however the command to be generous remains. 

 Please pray with us as we focus a central part of our mission on resourcing schools with high quality, creative and thoughtful material to holistically care for young people and engage them with faith and thinking through their values and beliefs. Pray especially for our schools who often feel overwhelmed with the high expectations and demands places on them. Pray that God would help us be wise in how and when we reach out to schools and generous in sharing resources that can help them support their pupils. Pray that through these resources, children and young people will hear God’s voice and know His truth. 

Bohweese Booise da Jee. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Our devotional today comes from 1 Samuel 17:40 “Then he took his staff in his hand, chose 5 smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherds bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Phillistine.” 

Did you know that chimpanzees use rocks to crack nuts for eating and crush up leaves to use as sponges to obtain water? Did you know crows bend twigs or sometimes even wire to create hooks to pull larvae out of holes in trees? Did you know octopuses use coconut shells as portable shelters? Elephants clean their ears out with grass? Herons sometimes drop floating bait, like bread, into water to attract fish for them to hunt? Did you know that the oldest and arguably the most important tool human use is the knife – a tool which has been used in one form or another for over 2.5 million years! 

We bought our children little multi tools, and they love them!  Armed with scissors, knives, tweezers and saws means they can go adventuring around the Isle of Man and create dens, fires and even creative art projects with their trusty tools. 

A tool is a device or implement which equips the user to successfully carry out a particular function. For the animals mentioned earlier, the tools they use are usually to help them find or eat food in order for them to survive and become the fittest, strongest, or longest living. For Christians, we know that the greatest tool we can use to successfully live out our faith and grow in relationship with God is the Bible. Every page is filled with praise and wisdom and knowledge, it never goes out of fashion or becomes irrelevant! The Prophet Isaiah exclaimed that “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever”. (Isaiah 40:8).  

Within that truth, Christians also acknowledge that to carry out God’s plans and purposes, we often need to be equipped in extra ways. David knew this when he chose to face the giant, Goliath. He was confident of God’s presence with him and the power and strength that came with that, however he still ensured he was extra equipped, collecting the additional tools he could use to defeat Goliath. 1 Samuel chapter 17 vs 40 says this – “Then he took his staff in his hand, chose 5 smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Phillistine.” With God on his side, and equipped with his stones and sling, David was unstoppable. 

In SUMT we take seriously the mission to equip children and youth leaders and helpers in churches across this Isle of Man. We offer digital and physical resource materials and training and host ecumenical meet ups and socials to bring leaders and helpers together. The roles these people have been called into are precious, demanding and held to a high standard by God! Pray for us today in our work to enhance the tool kit of the leaders and volunteers we work with. To support, train, teach and encourage them and offer accountability. God, would you please help us to equip them well so that when they face challenges they stand strong and victorious in your Name, just as David did. 

Booise da Jee. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Our devotional today is taken from 1 Timothy 4:12 “Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”  

Think back to when you were in your teenage years or early twenties. What were you up to? What hopes and dreams did you have? What bad habits were you hanging on to? Where was your relationship with God?  

When I was a teen, skateboarding was the coolest thing so me & my friends tried very hard to look like we were skaters. For a long while I purposely wore loose fitting jeans so that they would droop below my waist, sometimes revealing my underpants. I was such a frequent offender of this heinous crime that a woman at church once crept up behind me and with great gusto hoiked up my trousers like I was her little toddler. Sadly this intervention was not enough to open my eyes – I just could not see how silly I looked, I genuinely thought I was the coolest guy around. Years later I look back and cringe, and I can only hope that my sons do not follow my example…  

Throughout history it seems that teenagehood and young adulthood has inspired quite a mix of complicated emotions and attitudes. Some have seen it as a formative time where aspirations are formed, and individuals possess the time and energy to throw themselves wholeheartedly into the things they want to change or create. Others perceive it to be a sort of “waiting room” in life. A time where you are neither a carefree child or responsible adult, but merely a ball of emotions and hormones, bad haircuts and questionable outfits. Perhaps it’s both?! 

At SUMT we feel incredibly passionate about getting alongside young people during these years, nurturing them, encouraging them in their questioning, their faith and their discipleship and helping them grab hold of the potential God has placed within them to be leaders – both now and in the future. We don’t believe that your youth is purely a waiting time, we believe that God can and will use young people for His glory in all seasons of life and that often the energy and impulsive spirit in young people – when used in the right way – can be an incredible catalyst for change, especially when young people are walking in faith with Jesus Christ. 

Matt Redman, the influential worship leader who wrote Heart of Worship and Blessed be your name started writing songs and leading worship in his teenage years. Amy Carmichael, Irish missionary who served the poorest children in India for 55 years started this journey when she was 17, working with young, impoverished mill workers in Belfast. C.S. Lewis wrote his first book when he was 20 years old. Timothy in the Bible, was just 16 when Paul the Apostle visited his home in Lystra and proceeded to take Timothy with him on his journey and we read in Acts 16 that “churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in number.”  

As Timothy went on to develop his own ministry for Christ amongst the early church, we can assume that he faced challenges due to his age and had his ability and authority questioned by those older than him, for we can see that Paul wrote this to him in 1 Timothy 4:12: “Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”  

At SUMT, we share this same heart for the young people that we work with. That we would wisely and prayerfully identify and raise up young leaders who will set an example to their churches, peers and communities through the words they speak, the way they live their life, their love, faith and purity. Please pray with us today for these young people. That we would be there for them when they need us most. That we would be able to offer many opportunities for young people to come alongside us in our work on the Island for them to discover their gifts and talents and feel excited and equipped in mission. That we would have the wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit to guide us as we teach and disciple them and that we would see them bring many others to know and love Jesus.  

Booise da Jee. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Our devotional today is taken from Philippians 2:15-16 – “Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.”  

One of our curriculum days we run here as SUMT is a workshop-based day for Primary school aged children called Stars. Schools bring their Year 3’s to a pre-located space where they spend a whole day wondering and exploring their own beliefs and the beliefs of others. It is a fun, engaging and reflective day and the children, staff and leaders absolutely love it! 

If I was to bring every highlight of STARS to you, this devotion would go on forever. But two I can immediately think of – one was held at St Ninian’s Church. As the children walked into the building to start the day, there was a “WOW” moment “This is amazing!”, when they looked up and saw the expanse of the church building, and in all its beauty. The second one was in the workshop that I’m going to talk to you about. The teacher said “The children would never get this opportunity at school, to do something like this. It just was mind-blowing.”

So, the workshop I’m going to talk about, the children participate in a workshop called Special People. The children can think about the special people they have or have had in their lives through a variety of different crafts. One craft on offer, is the chance for children to consider themselves as a shining star, and then think about other shining stars in their lives and begin to think about how they are all connected to make something even more beautiful. We show them pictures of constellations and how the groupings of stars in the sky have been used throughout history to make shapes and patterns and bring forth amazing stories and myths and legends. The children use colour revealing cards to scratch themselves and their special people as stars and then join them together to make a constellation of their own. It is such a simple but beautiful way for children to understand the importance and power of community – of your ‘tribe’, your ‘hub’, your ‘people’. 

Christian connections and community is so important. The Bible has a lot to say about it. We are taught that “God puts the lonely into families”, that we are “one body”, we are described as sheep following one Good Shepherd. Thinking about our curriculum day, Stars, we read in the book of Philippians the words Paul writes where he says we are Children of God. That we will “shine like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” Philippians 2:15-16. One star alone is beautiful and can shine brightly. But many stars, all together, making one beautiful constellation is something even more spectacular. 

Thank you so much for being part of the constellation of believers who support and stay connected to SUMT. Whether you have shone bright alongside us for many years or if today is the first day you heard of us and decided to pray for our work. Forming lasting connections is really important to us and we ask that you would pray for us today in our vision to do this. Pray that God would equip, resource and enable us to connect our supporters, volunteers, partner organisations and churches in purposeful ways to continue to bring faith within reach across the Isle of Man. 

Booise da Jee. Thanks be to God. Amen.