Your Personal Grow-Pray-Study (GPS) Guide

Day 1: Read Ephesians 4:4-6. If God desires His Church to be one, where do you see that unity happening? Where is it hindered? Where is God seeking to use you to make His Church one in Jesus?

Day 2: Read Ephesians 4:1. For Paul, the calling he emphasizes is not being an apostle, but being a prisoner of the Lord. Where has the Holy Spirit called you to serve in your work/career, family, community and Christ Lutheran Church?

Day 3: Read Acts 2:44-45. American Christians fear the early church was a bunch of communists! Selling stuff and giving it away! They weren’t communists, they were sacrificial Christ-followers. They realized they were not just part of a Church. They were part of God’s family. Where have you seen such sacrificial love at work in your life? When and where have you been part of such sacrificial giving? What led you to such a sacrifice? Where is God prompting you to give what you have received from Him to help others through His Church?

Day 4: Read Ephesians 4:2-3. In addition to Jesus, whom do you think of when you read such qualities that Paul describes? Where do you see the Holy Spirit cultivating such qualities in your life? Where might He need to do some deeper work? 

Day 5: Read Ephesians 4:7. One phrase Christians like to share about calling is: “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called!” That’s different than what some say in our day, when asked to serve they reply – “I’m just not gifted to do that. I don’t feel qualified at all.” Where is the Holy Spirit nudging you to step out of your comfort zone and serve others? What is holding you back? When will you step forward?

Day 6: Read John 16:7. The word for the Holy Spirit in the New International Version 1984 is “counselor”. In the original Greek the word is Parakaleo - tough for translators to find the exact meaning. If you break the Greek word up, you discover that it’s made up of 2 Greek words – Para – means to “stand beside”. Notice its “beside”, not way behind or way in front, but the Holy Spirit is right beside you in living life. And then Kaleo, which means “to call, to prod, to urge on, to encourage”. Where have you experienced the Holy Spirit standing beside you to encourage you this week? Where do you need to see His presence beside you to encourage you to walk boldly with Him? Where does He desire to use you to stand beside someone to encourage them?

You can go deeper by reading The Apostles’ Creed by Raymond F. Cannata and Joshua D. Reitano.

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 estimating completion by the end of October 2019). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

This week's GPS is a deep dive into these words:

“... AND SITS AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY.

HE WILL COME AGAIN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.”

Monday – Read Revelation 4:9-11. One image that describes Jesus’ role is a crown. He is the Ruler. In Revelation, all those around Jesus throw their crowns at His throne. What’s an area of your life where you need to take off your “I Rule This” hat and throw it down at the feet of Jesus?

Tuesday – Read 1 Thessalonians 5:2. The Coming of the Lord will be like a thief in the night. Does that scare you? If so, why? If not, why not?

Wednesday – Read 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Where do you think people find “peace and security” outside of Jesus? Is there a way you can guide them to the only true peace and security? 

Thursday – Read 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Paul encourages us “not to fall asleep.” What are some areas of your faith journey where you have “fallen asleep” or let things slip through the cracks? Can you develop a plan for re-discovering those practices?

Friday – Read 1 Thessalonians 5:9. God does not want wrath for us – which is why Jesus came. Do you want wrath for people in your life? How can you take that emotion and desire good for people?

Saturday – Read 1 Thessalonians 5:11. How can you encourage someone this week? Who can you reach out to and be encouraged yourself?

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 estimating completion by the end of October 2019). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Monday – Read 1 Corinthians 1:12-14. St. Paul says that “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” Why does our faith hinge on the Resurrection? How is the Resurrection good news for you?

Tuesday – Read 1 Corinthians 1:50-58. This verse is often read at funerals. How does this verse make you feel about those in your life who have died and had faith in Jesus Christ?

Wednesday – Read John 11:25-26. Very few things in our life have eternal impact. How does Jesus’ statement impact the way you spend your time?

Thursday – Read 1 Peter 3:21. There is a huge connection between Baptism and the Resurrection throughout Scripture. How can you remember your baptism each day?

Friday – Read Acts 1:7. Jesus didn’t give His disciples all the answers. How is Jesus’ statement both comforting and scary for you?

Saturday – Read Acts 1:8. How can you live as Christ’s witness day in and day out?

You can go DEEPER this week by checking out:

• Dr. S. Joshua Swamidass on Easter/Resurrection
• The Christian Origins and the Resurrection of Jesus by N.T. Wright
• Radiocarbon Dating of Fourteen Dead Sea Scrolls by Bonani
• Psalms 22:16
• Isaiah 53 (NIV)
• The Jesus Legend by Paul Eddy and Gregory Boyd
• Did Jesus Exist? by Bart Ehrman
  

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 estimating completion by the end of October 2019). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Day 1: Read Acts 2:23. When you know the whole story, it’s easy to call the day between Good Friday and Easter “Holy Saturday”. For Jesus’ disciples that Saturday was “a hold on to your faith with all you’ve got Saturday”. When have you been disappointed in how God acted in your life, and your best response was to “hold on to your faith with all you’ve got”? What happened as you look back at that time? How did you grow? How did God act? How is He still acting today in that situation?

Day 2: Read Matthew 12:40. Martin Luther said Saturday was the day God himself lay cold in the grave. Friday was death, Sunday was hope, but Saturday was that seemingly-ignored middle day between them when God occupied a dirty grave in a little garden outside Jerusalem. Saturday is about waiting, about uncertainty, about not knowing what’ll happen. Saturday is ambiguity. It’s about, as one theologian put it, “muddling through” when the future isn’t clear. Where do you find yourself “muddling through”? How is God helping you to persevere? Why is Jesus’ death, laying in the tomb and resurrection, so important to you when you muddle through the challenges of life?

Day 3: Read 1 Peter 3:19. Before this weekend, what did you think it meant about Jesus when you say in the Apostles’ Creed, “He descended into Hell.”? What do you believe today that statement means for Jesus? For you?

Day 4: Read Revelation 1:18. When we say, “He descended into hell”, we believe Jesus proclaimed His victory, His mission accomplished. How does Jesus’ words in Revelation 1:18 help you to see the victory Jesus has won for His followers? Where do you need to trust Him in your life today to see you through?

Day 5: Read Matthew 27:62-64. Jesus’ disciples have lost hope. Jesus’ enemies seek to prevent a hoax. They both agree Jesus is dead. Game over. Yet God is still at work. Death will not have the final word. Where have you tried to box God in, and He has broken through? Where do you need to “roll the stone away” and let God have free access to your life?

Day 6: Read Psalm 139:8. David discovered God in the depths, in Hebrew, that’s Sheol – the place of the dead. Go high, go low, God is there. In life, in death, God is there. There’s nowhere you can go in this life, where God is not already there. He descended into Hell means there is no suffering you go through that Jesus has not endure in order to save you. Take time today to thank Jesus for His presence in any suffering (or success) you are facing in life. Turn your suffering to Him and ask Him to make you aware of His presence today, for He is with you no matter where you go or what happens in life!

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the book The Apostles’ Creed: Rooted by Raymond F. Cannata and Joshua D. Reitano.

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 estimating completion by the end of October 2019). For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.