Barb Twigg
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Serving: What If the Church Looks at us Differently?
Hi SUM family, Ann here and we're currently in our series on Serving God while Spiritually Single. Part One is here: Serving God when Spiritually Single: Part One Today I want to talk about how we cope when the church looks at us differently. Does it affect our opportunity to serve? I decided to look…
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God, Where Do You Want Me To Serve?
My friends, Today I want us to roll up our sleeves and thing about whose feet we're to wash and how! Yes, we're launching into a series on serving God while spiritually single. I say 'washing feet' because when we serve the church, our family, or people outside the church that's exactly what we're doing:…
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Prayer Strategies from the Parable of the Sower
By Ann Hutchison I often think it's great to use scripture in our prayers sometimes. That way we know that the words we speak in prayer are spot-on. Of course, there are many other ways to pray too, like having a big heart-to-heart chat with God. But using scripture is one creative little thing we…
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“It is Finished.”
Dear friends It's Ann here, and we've reached Friday, the very last day of Holy Week and the day where Jesus was eventually taken to his death. This particular year I have been thinking a lot about the visual signs of power in that last moment on the cross: "From noon until three in the…
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While in the Wilderness – Fasting Day Two
How did day one of the Fast go for you? If you didn't manage it yesterday don't beat yourself up — It's perfectly normal to have a few hiccups in this big exercise called fasting. Just dust yourself off, get back on the horse, and start afresh. Over here, so far so good. I've not…
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Day One of our Community Fast
Hello friends Ann here and it’s Monday, day one of our fast. I am so looking forward to seeing what God will do among us this week. There is always something exciting that happens. Now, I woke this morning raring to go. However, I was nervous too. I’m going without food all week, and that's…
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A Personal Word for Next Year
Dear SUM family, Ann here. We have certain routines in this community, and one of these routines is that around this time of year many of us will ask God for a word for the year. For ourselves, that is, as individuals. Asking God questions about our own life is such a good way of…
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The Puzzle of the Gospels
By Ann Hutchison Jesus. There is so much swirling disagreement about him that my eyes sometimes widen at that. But this is all part of the package. Long ago, at Jesus's birth it was prophesied by a man called Simeon (Luke 2:34-35) that Jesus would be a "sign that would be spoken against." And so…
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A Quick Hello on Our Day of Worship
Ann here! As I write, it's late night here in New Zealand, and somewhere over the Pacific ocean, three from our community are kicking us off. What a lovely thought! Now, don't worry if you didn't sign up — Just jump in and worship any time during this day. You can look at the list…
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When Someone Seems Impenetrable to the Gospel
Hello friends, Ann here! After our recent series on the Gospel, this week I'd like to share two specific words that God gave me a while ago about our activity in carrying the Gospel. I'll share one of these words today, the other on Friday, and I hope they help you along as they have…
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‘Preaching’ the Gospel — To a Spouse?
Hi everyone, it's Ann here and I hope you've had a good weekend! Today we'll start with these words of Jesus to his then-disciples: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” (Mark 16:15, NLT) "Yes, Lord", we say to that, as modern-day disciples. "In whatever way you want us to…
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A Work of God in My Home
By Ann Hutchison Hi SUM family! Today I'm continuing on from Monday's post, with a curious story about something God did in my home this year. It shows just how good he is, and I really do hope you enjoy this story. As I've shared before, last year none of my family was going anywhere…
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Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
“This isn’t what I married.” Said Bryce. “And there may come a point where I say to you enough is enough.” He stood by the chest of drawers suddenly seeming distant. I sat on the bed. My heart was pounding with fear. “Don’t you ever say to me you can’t give it up if I…
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Financial Giving and Your Unbelieving Spouse
By Ann Hutchison "How can I give to the church when my spouse disagrees?" This one seems to pop up for most SUMites. For me it was an area of challenge in my heart for a good few years. There were so many areas of disagreement already, in relation to faith, that giving ‘our’ money…
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In Our Homes We Are Fresh as a Daisy!
Hi dear friends, On Monday I talked about a particular feature of our Christian life in our homes: That on the one hand we're engaged in fierce battle against the powers of darkness; but on the other, much of our faith life is about enjoying the abundant life of Jesus by receiving his love and…
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Representing Jesus to Our Families
By Ann Hutchison Hi SUMites! I just had a realization that gave me a giggle. I went onto our Instagram page, scrolled down, and realized that I have put so many pictures of weaponry on there. We have at least two sets of boxing gloves … a sword … a spear … a few videos…
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Alissa Berglund Salvation Testimony
This week one of our dear SUMites, Alissa Berglund, sent us the following story. This was one of the salvation testimonies we heard of a few weeks ago behind the scenes, and since then Alissa has been writing it up, knowing just how much it will encourage us all. We're so happy for her, and…
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Bold Speech in Our Homes
Dear friends, It's Ann here, and today we’re looking at our final story in Paul’s life. A story about Bold Speech. Yep, Bold Speech! It’s funny to talk about bold speech here in our community because a motto of our ministry, for years, has been ‘Winning him without words’. Most of us will know that…
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Are You Fighting the Right Battles?
Hi SUM family, Ann here. What a treat to have Martha write for us on Monday — Thank you, Martha! And, phew, the titles of our latest blog posts may look like we're being challenging. Are you kicking against the goads? was Martha's post. Now, mine is titled: Are you fighting the right battles? That…
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Saint Paul — What a Man!
Dear friends, Welcome to our Summer Bible Study on the Apostle Paul! It's Ann here, and I can't wait to dive in to some of his stories, taking a leaf or two out of his book. Somewhat ironically, only this past Saturday I had a more difficult time as a Christian than I've had in…
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Perishing vs Being Saved
Hi friends. For today's post here’s a little video that I just did live on our Facebook page. Enjoy! Ann