Showprep ideas for a rough week!
“How do we hope again? Reject your rejections. Remember that God knows you and He chose you for blessing, protection, growth, and joy. See God’s hand in your hardships. When suffering increases in your life don’t buy the myths that God doesn’t care and that the suffering will never end. Everything has a season, and God uses those seasons to purify your faith to trust in Him. Lastly, go to the ultimate source. God offers the solid hope that you can build every other hope upon. We are right to expect great things from a great God who has great plans and always—and by always, I mean always—keeps His promises.”
-Jud Wilhite (NY Times Best Selling Author / Pastor of Central Church)
The protests we’ve seen over the last year have challenged me to rethink the way I deal with anger. When my kids get angry they throw temper tantrums. They stomp and yell, but half the time, they just want to be heard. They want their anger acknowledged by their mother and I. Their feelings are real and their point of view is legitimate. They get loud because they feel like we’re not listening or even considering their feelings or their situation, and eventually that anger overflows. The Apostle Paul cut right to the heart of our fallen human condition when he said, ‘Be angry, but do not sin; don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Don’t give the Devil a foothold.’ When we’re frustrated, when we want to yell, when we see injustice, when we don’t feel like anyone is listening or even considering our feelings, let’s take our anger to God and ask Him how He wants us to deal with the layers that have been brewing under the surface. That’s how we’re going to keep our mind clear and our spirit pure. I think that’s the starting place for taking authority over our anger, and our feelings that come along with it. That’s the starting place for a true renewing of our mind where we can learn to take our thoughts captive and put them under the authority of Jesus. - Scott Herrold
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You might be the only voice of encouragement in your listener's life today. So many people have felt isolated recently. Don't believe your listener has already had a lot of encouragement in other places in their life today, they are tuning into YOUR radio show for a reason today!
Speak peace over your listener's life this afternoon. Remind them how God has walked with us through ever crazy season of life. Again and again and again. When we feel discouraged, all we have to do is look back at the ways that God has walked with us through the rough seasons before. He's doing it again with us this week too.
Here's some verses from the Bible that might spark a discussion. Dig in here!
Here's some idea starters to get you thinking about how to lead some encouragement in your listener's life today. What is our listener looking for when they push the button for your radio station during the time you are on the air today? Bring the encouragement and frame the life changing messages in the songs you are playing! Specifically look at the words in the songs you are playing) You don't have to acknowledge DC in every break, just set an underlying theme of encouragement and and remind them how you are feeling the same feelings today. Remind them that you are in the mess with them. Talk about the discussions you had with your kids our your spouse yesterday. Talk about how you are praying for our country and explain how to pray for complex things like this. Your listener looks at you as a spiritual leader, so show they how to start a prayer for the layers of complexity in our country's frustration. Remember, you might be the only voice of encouragement in your listener's life today. So many people have felt isolated. So many people hate their job. SO many people feel like they are not being heard. Show them that you see them. That you hear them!
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In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he talks about how to live life with Jesus at our center, so we can live with the unity and peace that Jesus brought. Paul said, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. THAT is a key to finding unity, hope and maturity in Jesus! (Ephesians 4:1-7 / NIV) MORE here!
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The writer of Hebrews encouraged us to rethink the way we see unity. He said, “Let's consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)
In the second chapter of Genesis, God tells Adam, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” God created Eve shortly after this, but what this verse is proving is that God does not desire for us to do life on our own, but rather, in community. Yes, community can be messy sometimes, but true life and genuine maturing in the faith can only happen in the context of Godly community. You are encouraged to be an encouragement to those struggling around you. (*Written by Chris Gabriel, morning show producer at SOS Radio)
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The Apostle Paul talks about how unity in Christ needs to be a focus for any person who claims to be a Jesus follower. We have one God. One spirit. One atonement, and if we're leading people toward Jesus, we'll have to be intentional to keep unity front and center. Paul said, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."
(That's from Ephesians 4:30-31, but I'd encourage you to read the whole chapter if you need a lift today)
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When I think about blessings, I think about when supernatural things are working FOR us, rather than AGAINST us.
Jesus explains how only one road road leads to real life and freedom in God. He said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road the leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) Take the high road, but remember that gate that leads to eternal life is called “narrow.” This does not mean that it is difficult to become a Christian, but that there is only one way to live eternally with God and only a few that decide to walk that road. Believing in Jesus is the only way to Heaven, because He alone died for our sins and made us right before God. Living His way may not be popular, but it is true and right. Thank God there is one way and it eventually leads to real freedom.
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Discussion angles:
My son asked me how to we even start to pray about something as complex as this? Then I listed off a few ways to start to pray for our country and our culture... today is a day you might actually demonstrate how by praying on the air. (This might be a way to start a discussion about how you teach your kids to pray about complex issues in our fallen world?)
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I know there are a lot of people from different backgrounds and worldviews throughout our county who just don't feel heard. There's a lot of Americans who feel like others don't consider their ideas or their situation when they speak. There's a lot of Americans who go to a job they are frustrated with everyday because they have to, not because they want to. There's poverty in our county. There's pain. There's depression. There's pride that's out of control. There's isolation. There's outrage. There's worry. There's idolatry. There's a lot of frustration that hasn't been dealt with in healthy ways. There's fear. There's feelings of hopelessness. Lord take all of that. Lord we repent and confess of our pride and our sin and our anger that we have allowed to take root in our heart. Start a prayer with that heart behind it?
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We’re all feeling pain in our country today. What do you do when you are down? Discussion ideas here!
This week has really challenged me to rethink my prayer life with so much division & anger in our country. Here’s some thoughts. I want my prayers to move mountains. I want my prayers to heal division. I want my prayers to shift the culture and share the light and heal the brokenhearted. MORE here about revolutionizing your prayers.
Maybe you feel like your prayers aren't making a difference because or world is so complex! Here's some ideas on what to pray for if you need some momentum to start! Here’s some specifics you can share!
New hope IS possible in 2021. Max Lucado explains how Noah saw rain for weeks and weeks on end. Cloudy skies, wind and waves, day after day, but Noah knew God was in control and he knew the season would finally change. “So to all the Noahs of the world, to all who search the horizon for a glimpse of hope, God proclaims, “Yes!” And he comes. He comes as a dove. He comes with a leaf of promise that he can make all things new. Today, accept God’s leaf in your life and step into the promise that no matter what disappointment, heartache, or hardship you’ve endured, you can begin again.” MORE here from Max Lucado on hope for 2021.
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Lisa Barry shared this on the CMB DJ Forum yesterday:
It's a tough day to come up with the right content. The news is too lethal but you don't want to sound like your head is in the sand either. Here are a few ideas that are not new but they might fill in the blanks where you don't know what to say:
Find the highlighted verses in your Bible and find a way to share a few today with a real-life context to sandwich them in.
Laura Chase shared on the Christian Radio Show Prep page about how kids define love. It's very sweet.
Find quotes from your most esteemed authors on Twitter. Beth Moore, Christine Caine, Max Lucado, Rick Warren etc. They were very present last night and will be again today.
Find uplifting stories from your audio archives.
Look for the positive stories today...they will be buried under the rubble of the news.
Ask listeners what verse is bringing them hope today.
Tell them how you're feeling and processing everything (not to make it about you but so they will say "me too")
Encourage listeners to do the drive through difference and pay for the person behind them. Share some of those calls from the past. They transcend current events. Now, what would you add to this list? - Lisa Barry
From Rick Stevens at Lighthouse Radio in Oregon: One of the many things we’ll touch on is the feeling of helplessness that accompanies these events. People know they should “do” something, but often feel like their contribution of “doing” has virtually no impact on the big picture. I often remind them that faithfulness in exhibiting the fruit of the spirit in your tribe is making a tangible and practical contribution to the betterment of your community and that positively affects the whole of society.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control.
Lecrae posted this today: I’m confident that there is a spiritual war happening.
There are two kingdoms at war. The empires of man and the Kingdom of God. Which one has true power? Which one leads people to real freedom?
We saw Moses wrestling with Egypt. We saw God fearing Israelites processing how to navigate the Roman Empire.
I believe God is challenging us to not idolize the empire. Or the “freedom” it provides.
None of the world’s empires will last.
The Kingdom will reign forever, with a King who will righteously rule.
In chaos or calm our role is to leave a picture of the Kingdom wherever we go.
There is a lesson here about what true power looks like.
There’s an invitation to listen to the story that God is telling with His voice.
There’s a powerful challenge to issue to our hearts about what matters most to us.
There’s a message about the seduction of empire, the illusion of control, and the allure of power.
Don’t take the spiritual realities lightly.
The devil has a plot but God has a plan.
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Taylor Hohulin from Life 107.1/Des Moines shared: 2 Timothy 1:7 has been hitting me – God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self control. Strikes me that he doesn’t even say you SHOULD feel this…but that he’s already given it to you.
What’s even crazier is that, if the letter was written when historians believe it was, this was just a few years after all the fires in Rome and Nero was in full crazy mode. And once again, it’s Paul writing from prison.
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