Your Personal Grow-Pray-Study (GPS) Guide

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Don't forget that Pastor Burkey would like you to take 90 seconds every day from now until Christmas to sit silently before God.

Day 1: Luke 1:41. Joy in living begins in faith in what God has done, and not in what you or I am able to do. Joy in living begins with the action of God in human history in the creation of the world, in the birth of his son, and in his reaching out to save us today. As you think about God’s work in history, what brings you joy? As you think about God’s work in your life, what brings you joy? Who are you sharing that joy so that others can have faith bearing joy in Jesus? 

Day 2: Isaiah 12:4. Pray 5 statements of praise to God. Pray for 1 group of people  (or more) to come to know Jesus today!

Day 3: Luke 1:43. Like Elizabeth, you too are highly favored with God’s presence in your life. When our eyes are opened to God’s possibilities, we see that Jesus is there and that He has gone on before us and prepared the way. Where are you seeing and sensing Jesus at work in your life? What change is He working on with you?

Day 4: Isaiah 12:5-6. Theologian J. I. Packer observed, “I've experienced God's presence most powerfully in worship, often during the singing, I suppose because when we sing to him, we are looking hard in his direction.” Turns out you can worry or worship. You can’t do both because your eyes can only look in one direction. Do you find yourself spending more time worrying or worshiping? Why?

Day 5: Luke 1:45. Elizabeth views the coming of the Christ child as already an accomplished fact. Elizabeth views the salvation that God will bring as already hers and ours. Elizabeth views the future promises God has made as already kept and fulfilled. How does the promise of the future hope of heaven fuel your faith and how you live life today?

Day 6: Isaiah 12:2-3. Just as you can only worry or worship, you can only be moving forward in life with fear or faith. Perhaps you feel a bit of both. When do you notice fear driving the way you live? Faith driving the way you live?

Recent additional GO DEEPER reading opportunities:

• "The Characters of Christmas: 10 Unlikely People Caught Up in the Story of Jesus" by Daniel Darling (Amazon Kindle #ad)
• “The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus” by Scot McKnight (Amazon Hardcover #ad)
• “Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence” by Ruth Haley Barton (Amazon Paperback #ad)

You can also watch this week's sermon or read the full message & GPS here.