Your Personal Grow-Pray-Study (GPS) Guide

Day 1: Read John 10:11-13. How have you sensed Jesus’ presence with you in the past day? Where do you need to remind yourself of His presence in the day ahead? Pray to live this day, aware of Jesus’ presence.

Day 2: Read Psalm 23:4. In the past, where have you experienced God’s comfort in times of trouble? What “trouble” do you need to stop running from and turn over to God?

Day 3: Read John 10:14. Here’s the beauty of a relationship with Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Jesus is your closest friend, not a distant deity. How do you think Jesus knows you? In what ways do you know Jesus as your Good Shepherd? Where have you recently seen His hand of care at work in your life?

Day 4: Read Psalm 23:1. Read and personalize this verse replacing the word “my” with the possessive form of your name (Example: My = Lillian’s). How does that feel to personalize this verse (and this Psalm) as being in your name? What does it mean to you that the Lord is your shepherd?

Day 5: Read John 10:18. Jesus guards your life by giving His own. What comes to your mind and heart, when you think of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for you?

Day 6: Read 1 Peter 2:24-25. What is Peter’s before and after story here about the difference Jesus has made in their lives? How has Jesus been working in your life this week as your Good Shepherd? As you look back over the past seven days, what is your before and after story of God at work in you and through you?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller.

Don't forget you can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

CREATE FOR COMMUNITY PRAYER REQUESTS: For patience with parking challenges during construction (currently estimated as 30% done). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Monday – Read John 10:3. Jesus says that the sheep can hear His voice. In our life, we are surrounded by different voices. Whose voice are you listening to right now? President Trump? Hillary Clinton? Bernie Sanders? Fox News? Rush Limbaugh? Oprah Winfrey? Whose voice do you need to tune out to hear the Voice that matters?

Tuesday – Read Psalm 145:18. The Psalm says that the Lord is always near. We are the ones who run away. In what areas of your life have you chosen distance over closeness with God?

Wednesday – Read Matthew 28:19. Obviously, we should be going forth into our communities and throughout the world baptizing, but we forget the “making disciples” part. Where do you need to be “discipled” (that is, where do you need help in following Jesus)? In what areas can you assist others in being discipled?

Thursday – Read Matthew 25:35-36. Jesus calls us to love “the least of these”. How can the “least of these” be welcomed by you and made to feel as though they belong?

Friday – Read Hebrews 13:1-2. The author of Hebrews says: “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers.” How can you treat others as though they were angels—or even Jesus?

Saturday – Read Romans 15:7. Do you have any ideas of how Christ Lutheran Church can be more welcoming? Think about it, and feel free to reach out to us with any ideas you might have!

Don't forget you can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

CREATE FOR COMMUNITY PRAYER REQUESTS: For patience with parking challenges during construction (currently estimated as 30% done). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Day 1: Read John 9:1-2. The disciples see this man as a theological case study. What leads them to their two options they present to Jesus? How have you been the recipient of blame when you have suffered? When are you tempted to blame when suffering comes?

Day 2: Read John 9:3. Jesus comes up with a third option for the blind man’s condition – glorify God. How have you been the recipient of blessing when you have suffered? What lessons do you learn in comparing your answers on Monday with your answers today?

Day 3: Read John 9:4-5. Jesus invites us to join Him in the work. Notice the use of the word “we” in verse 4. When are you moved to bless when suffering comes? When difficult times of darkness come, how do you keep your eyes focused on Jesus and His work in you and through you? What “work” has He been doing in your life in the last week?

Day 4: Read Ephesians 5:8-10. Where do you need to “look for the gift”? As you look back over the past 24 hours, what gifts has God graciously provided?

Day 5: Read John 9:6-7. Jesus tells the man to go wash. I don’t think He would have to tell me! Where is Jesus calling you to step out in obedience to learn to follow Him?

Day 6: Read Isaiah 42:16. How are you experiencing the things God promises to do in this verse? Where is He guiding you? Turning darkness into light? Making rough places smooth? Not forsaking you?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book Joni & Ken: An Untold Love Story by Ken and Joni Eareckson Tada.

Don't forget you can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

CREATE FOR COMMUNITY PRAYER REQUESTS: For patience with parking challenges during construction (currently estimated as 30% done). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

THE EXAMEN PRAYER

1. Look back over today. For what do you want to thank God? What gifts have you received?
2. Jesus said, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything.” Ask God’s Spirit to guide your memory as you look back over today.
3. Look back peacefully over today and see what comes to mind. What is God trying to show you?
1. Look at places you’ve been, things you’ve done, and people you’ve been with.
2. Look for those moments where you’ve experienced light and life, where you’ve experienced love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trust, gentleness, self-control…
4. God is always present in our lives to bring about the greatest good and the good of others. Ask yourself, “When did you most fully connect with God? Where did I feel most alive?”
5. Become aware of the times where you felt out of tune with God. Ask yourself, “Where did you feel least alive?” Try not to be judgmental… but simply notice.
6. For what do you want to ask forgiveness? Where have you chosen distance over closeness with God?
1. Receive God’s forgiveness with confidence…
7. For what do you want to ask God? Where do you need to be strengthened in order to follow the way the Spirit is leading you? Ask God for whatever you need. Ask God to open your heart to whatever surprises may come. Ask God to open your eyes to notice Him in unexpected places, to open your ears to tune into His Almighty voice.

JOURNAL THROUGHOUT THE WEEK

Monday: ______________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday: ______________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday: ___________________________________________________________________________

Thursday: _____________________________________________________________________________

Friday: _______________________________________________________________________________

Saturday: _____________________________________________________________________________

Don't forget you can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

CREATE FOR COMMUNITY PRAYER REQUESTS: For patience with parking challenges during construction (currently estimated as 30% done). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Monday: Read Luke 24:6. G.K. Chesterton observed, "Jesus' resurrection is the ground and basis for all true love, hope, and joy; for if Jesus is still in the grave than all of humanity will remain in the grave too. But he is not in the grave, then this makes all the difference." What difference have you seen the resurrection of Jesus make in someone's life? Your own life?

Tuesday: Read Luke 24:7. At least three times Jesus had told His disciples what Luke records here in verse seven.  Why is it significant that Jesus knew what was coming, told His disciples, and then that is what happened?

Wednesday: Read Luke 24:8. What are some significant experiences in your life that you return to in memory and share about with others? Why have these experiences impacted you so?

Thursday: Read Luke 24:44-47. What circumstances helped you to come and see the empty tomb of Jesus with eyes of faith, or what is holding you back from knowing Jesus?

Friday: Read Luke 24:11-12. What one truth in these resurrection appearances stands out as personally significant to you? How have you seen this truth affecting your life already? How would you like it to affect what you do and think more than it does now?

Saturday: Read Luke 24:48. What are the easiest things in life for you to get excited about and want to share with others? What are some of the hardest? Why do think we so instinctively desire to share our experiences with others? Whom can you share the story of Easter with this week?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book "Jesus: The Greatest Life Of All" by Chuck Swindoll.

Don't forget you can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

CREATE FOR COMMUNITY PRAYER REQUESTS: For patience with parking challenges during construction (currently estimated as 30% done). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Monday: Read Zechariah 9:9. Why is it important that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecy? What does riding in on a donkey signify about Jesus’ leadership?

Tuesday: Read Hebrews 13:7. Who have been the great leaders in your life? What principles from their leadership can you use in your own life?

Wednesday: Read James 4:10. Humility is something we should all be praying for. The donkey is naturally a humble animal. The donkey knows his place in the world, and is content with being a donkey. Where do you need to pray for humility and contentment in your own life?

Thursday: Read John 3:30. John the Baptist famously proclaimed “He must increase and I must decrease.” How does a humble spirit point to Christ?

Friday: Read John 13:13-17. Jesus led with a servant-like leadership that we don’t often see today. He came to serve, not to be served. In the leadership roles in your life, how can you be a servant leader?

Saturday: Read Luke 19:28-34. What do you need to be “untied” from? Consider fasting from these things in your life that tie you down. Ask God’s Spirit to help you.

You can GO DEEPER this week by listening to “Make Me A Servant (You Tube)."  Be sure to put in your calendar our upcoming worship opportunities:

• Maundy Thursday (April 18th): 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary
• Good Friday Tres Ores (April 19th): 11:30-3 p.m. in the Sanctuary
• Good Friday Tenebrae (April 19th): 7 p.m. in the Sanctuary
• Easter (April 21st): 7 a.m., 9 a.m., and 11 a.m.

Don't forget you can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

CREATE FOR COMMUNITY PRAYER REQUESTS: For patience with parking challenges during construction (currently estimated as 30% done). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Join us during Lent for food, fellowship, and video series study!

Day 1: Read Luke 23:34. When Jesus speaks His first word, the good news is He is not only speaking to the crowd gathered in His day, He’s speaking to us today. Jesus is not merely pointing out sin, He is praying for God’s mercy for those who sin. Turns out, when Christianity speaks of sin, the aim is not to make us feel guilty, but to help us discover the grace and healing mercy of God that we so desperately need. Where do you need, today, to experience God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness?

Day 2: Read Matthew 18:21-22. Forgiving someone three times was the typical rabbi answer to how often do you need to forgive someone. Peter feels generous with seven times, until Jesus says 77 times or as some translations put it, 70x7 times. On the cross, Jesus’ first words demonstrate God’s willingness to forgive our sins, and they call us to become people who follow in His path – people who can pray, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” To whom do you need to extend God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness today?

Day 3: Read Luke 23:42-43. In the Bible, “remember” is a loaded word. In the Old Testament, when God remembers individuals, He delivers them. God remembers Noah and delivers him from the flood. God remembers Abraham and saves Abraham’s nephew, Lot. God remembers Rachel, Jacob’s wife, and she has a son. God remembers His covenant with Abraham and saves and delivers the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. And so, this convicted criminal, experiences amazing grace –Jesus will remember, and this criminal will get paradise. Where do you need to remember God’s amazing grace in your life today?

Day 4: Read Luke 19:10. In Luke’s Gospel account, this verse provides the theme for all that Luke writes: for Jesus’ mission to this tax collector, to the criminal on the cross, to each person then and now, Luke reminds us that He comes and dies for all people. His mission is to seek and to save those who are lost, to bring us to be with Him in Paradise. Who is someone God wants to seek and save, that you know? Pray, not only for that person to come to Jesus as their Lord and Savior; pray also God uses you as part of His rescue mission to seek and to save!

Day 5: Read Luke 23:46. Make Jesus’ prayer, your prayer today: Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.

Day 6: Read Psalm 31:1-5. How does this Psalm help you understand and pray again today: Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book No Wonder They Call Him Savior: Experience the Truth of the Cross by Max Lucado.

Don't forget you can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

CREATE FOR COMMUNITY PRAYER REQUESTS: For patience with parking challenges during construction (currently estimated as 30% done). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Join us during Lent for food, fellowship, and video series study!

Day 1: Read Luke 23:18-19. In the Sweet Swap, Jesus shows God's love is for real people. As it turns out, Barabbas is first on the list, but not the only one on the list.  Jesus has tried to show throughout His whole ministry, who He is and what God's love is about ... even when He's on trial. What surprises you about the crowd choosing Barabbas? About God letting them choose Barabbas? About God choosing you and taking your place?

Day 2: Read Luke 22:67-69. The religious leaders ask for Jesus to tell them who He is, but they won't believe anything He Says. Instead He will show Barabbas, Caiaphas, and the rest, the full extent of His love on a cross. Where have you had the opportunity to show and/or tell of God's love? Who listened to what you had to say about Jesus? To whom, instead of listening to what you said, were you able to show God's love?

Day 3: Read Isaiah 53:6. Usually when we think of the story of Jesus' death, resurrection, and early church beginnings, we tell the story of Peter's transformation, or how Jesus' brother James, who at one time thought Jesus was crazy, becomes the leader of the church of Jerusalem. Perhaps such success stories give us hope, remind us what God can do, and such stories should. But God's love is not just for Peter and James. It is also for Barabbas, Caiaphas, Pilate, and the rest. Who can you pray for today who does not know Jesus, to come into a living relationship with Him? Who can you pray to invite to our Easter services?

Day 4: Read Luke 23:23-25. Legend has it that Pilate and his wife Claudia become Christians and devote followers of Jesus. The Coptic Church has adopted this legend as truth and calls them both saints.  Who could have guessed there'd be a Saint Pilate? I don't know if that legend is true, but I do know that Jesus died for all sinners - from those in the crowd who shouted for his crucifixion, to Pilate who condemned him to death - no mater what we've done. God loves you as He finds you. Take time today to come clean with your sins and confess them to God, ask for and receive His forgiveness.

Day 5: Read Isaiah 53:5. What wounds do you need to give to Jesus for healing? Give those wounds to Jesus today in prayer.

Day 6: Read 2 Corinthians 5:14 and 2 Corinthians 5:17. What is God making new in your life these days?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine by Max Lucado.

Don't forget you can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

CREATE FOR COMMUNITY PRAYER REQUESTS: For patience with parking challenges during construction (currently estimated as 30% done). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Join us during Lent for food, fellowship, and video series study!

Day 1: Read Luke 22:31-32. Jesus warns Peter he will fail, and Jesus even lets Peter know that He’s praying for Peter and God will even use Peter’s failure to lead others to know Jesus. What area of life do you need to remind yourself Jesus is praying for? What is a past failure Jesus is now using to tell of His love to others.

Day 2: Read Luke 22:61. When Jesus turns and looks at Peter, what was in that look? Judgment? Hurt? Anger? Forgiveness? When Jesus looks at you, what do you think is in that look? When life is going right? When life is going wrong?

Day 3: Read Luke 22:61-62. Repentance means we go from thinking, "I'm not THAT bad," to realizing, "This is my sin. This is how it affects me and others and my relationship to God." Take time today in repentance – confessing your sin to God, thanking Jesus for the forgiveness He provides and asking the Holy Spirit to guide you to live life God’s way.

Day 4: Read Mark 16:7. What if you read this verse and put your name in the place of Peter’s name? What does it mean for you to personalize Jesus resurrection as being for all the disciples and for you by name?

Day 5: Read John 21:17. Failure humbles us. Failure can also teach us. Jesus uses Peter’s failure to teach him, to open Peter up to a whole new level of serving. Jesus love for others was demonstrated by His death on the cross. Our love for Him is demonstrated by our care for others. How do you answer Jesus’ question, “Do you love me?” With your words? With your actions?

Day 6: Read Acts 2:38-39. Since Peter had overcome his greatest failure through the forgiveness of Jesus, Peter makes that same offer to his listeners then and now, to you and me. Where do you need to receive God’s forgiveness today for the fresh start God desires to give?

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine by Max Lucado.

Don't forget you can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

CREATE FOR COMMUNITY PRAYER REQUESTS: For patience with parking challenges during construction (currently estimated as 30% done). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Join us during Lent for food, fellowship, and video series study!

Monday: Read Matthew 5:43-48. Why is loving your enemies so difficult? Who are the “enemies” that you might identify in your life? Pray for those enemies throughout the week.

Tuesday: Read Romans 12:14. What are ways that you can be a blessing to those who “persecute” you (or inconvenience you, or make you mad)?

Wednesday: Read 1 Peter 3:9. God doesn’t want us to return evil for evil. What are ways that you can actively practice that with the people that make your life more difficult.

Thursday: Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. God is love. He gives us a perfect word picture of what that love looks like. In all honesty, we will never be able to give the same love that Christ gives. But how can this love impact the way you love others in life?

Friday: Read Proverbs 24:17. Purposefully pray for your enemies who have succeeded.

Saturday: Read Exodus 23:4-5. How can acts of love towards your enemies (like rescuing his/her donkey) impact your discipleship journey? How can it impact your enemy?

Don't forget you can watch this week's sermon message or read the full PDF of the sermon message & GPS.

CREATE FOR COMMUNITY PRAYER REQUESTS: For patience with parking challenges during construction (currently estimated as 30% done). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.