FAITH COSTS SUFFERING CHURCH SUNDAY RESOURCES

In many countries around the world, believing in Jesus Christ can cost you your status in society, your education, your job, your livelihood, your freedom and sometimes even your life.

Contempt and discrimination from society at large very often lead to poverty. The Lord Jesus asks us to care for our brothers and sisters in need, and this year’s theme for Barnabas Fund’s Suffering Church Sunday centres around the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46. It looks at our responsibilities towards those in the Christian family who experience daily that “faith costs”.
On this page, you will find resources and ideas you can use for your Suffering Church Sunday service. Choose a Sunday in November (or another month if your church calendar is already fully booked) and use the “Faith Costs” resources to remember our Christian sisters and brothers who suffer poverty, hardship and persecution because they believe in Jesus Christ.

The following resources are available either to download or to order free of charge from our online shop [link] or your national Barnabas Fund office [link].

1. Sermon outline on Matthew 25:31-46 “Little Actions Remembered in Eternity”

2. Powerpoint presentation to accompany the sermon

3. Bible study on Matthew 25:31-46 for use in home-groups or personal Bible study

4. Information file: Persecuted Christians and the Global Food Crisis – facts, figures and testimonies. Also includes "God at work in Zimbabwe": an eye-witness account from a Barnabas Fund representative who went into Zimbabwe to help feed the hungriest there.

5. DVD “Faith Costs” (approx. 3:30min, traditional and contemporary versions - Please see above for a preview of the contemporary version). Also comes in German and Russian languages. Please order from the online shop or your national office.

6. Poster “Faith Costs” to advertise your Suffering Church Sunday service (A2 and A4). Please order the A2 version free of charge from the online shop or your national office. Download other posters in the series: "Sick", "Thirsty", "Homeless", "Hungry", "Naked" and "Prison".

7. Prayer-and-response card which can be distributed to everyone attending the service so they have something to take home with them [?]. We will send you printed copies free of charge. Please order from the online shop or your national office.

8. “You” – Song for the persecuted Church by Australian singer/songwriter Claire Hazzard. A great song to start off or end your Suffering Church Sunday service (a preview can be heard above). Click here for lyrics and here to download the song.

9. Ideas and Challenges for youth groups (and others too!): Sponsored Shack Sleepovers, “Ready, Steady, Cook” challenge, “Buy one, give one meals”...ideas how you can help our persecuted brothers and sisters

10. Past material from previous Suffering Church Sundays.