Your Personal Grow-Pray-Study (GPS) Guide

Build Up Community

Build Up Community With Service

Serve God

This week's message continues to expanding on the "5 Love Languages / 5 Love Tanks":

  1. Words of Affirmation
  2. Quality Time
  3. Receiving Gifts
  4. Physical Touch
  5. Acts of Service

Monday: Read Luke 9:46-48. How do the disciples gauge greatness? How does Jesus gauge greatness? What values does Jesus hold up in these verses? What in your every-day life do you see battling against these values that Jesus holds up?

Tuesday: Read Luke 22:24-27. Summarize in your own words what this passage teaches about service? What would it mean to apply Jesus’ words about service in your family life? Work or school relationships? Use of money?

Wednesday: Read Luke 7:36-50. In this passage, Simon failed to exercise “common courtesy” acts of service toward Jesus, his invited guest. What did his action communicate? What are “common courtesy” actions in our society and what does withholding them communicate? The woman turned Simon’s omitted courtesies into honoring service, without regard to the cost to her own self. What do you learn from her example?

Thursday: Read Luke 23:44-49. Here we have words that describe Jesus’ greatest service to us. He offered up his life to death, so that you and I may have eternal life with God. What is the meaning of the darkness and the torn curtain? Describe how Jesus’ words were those of a servant. Do you, as God’s servant need to pray these words to God?

Friday: Read Matthew 8:5-13. A humble spirit is essential to serve. Where in this passage do you see humility? Why is Jesus’ offer to go to a centurion’s house so remarkable? What does Jesus’ offer to the centurion tell us about Jesus’ desire to serve? What are obstacles that attempt to keep you from serving?

Saturday: Read Acts 6:1-7. How did service show itself in the earliest church? How did the Devil attempt to divide the church through its acts of service? What was the church’s response to this conflict? How might the Devil use this same tactic to divide today’s church? Pray for unity and service in the church.

You can go deeper this week by:

  • Read the 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman.
  • Download the app at iTunes or go to 5lovelanguages.com
  • Questions to help you discover where you can serve: Where do I see people serving? Who do I know who serves? How can I better serve at home? What are the opportunities at work to serve? Where have I served in the past and enjoyed the experience?

You can also listen to this week's message or read the full PDF of the message & GPS.


Build Up Community With A Loving Touch

Healing-touch-300x200

This week's message continues to expanding on the "5 Love Languages / 5 Love Tanks":

  1. Words of Affirmation
  2. Quality Time
  3. Receiving Gifts
  4. Physical Touch
  5. Acts of Service

Monday: Read John 1:14, 20:25-28 and Matthew 17:6-7. What does it mean to you that God became human and walked among us, lived life with us, talked with us, and touched us?

Tuesday: Read Mark 1:40-42 and Luke 22:47-51. In each case, which of the love languages did Jesus use to communicate God’s love to the man he healed? Why did Jesus touch the man with leprosy first, before speaking? Does “touch” play a significant role in your life? If yes, how?

Wednesday: Read Luke 18:15-17. How did Jesus communicate God’s love to the children and to their parents? When Jesus blessed the children, it involved touching them. Discuss the statement, “To touch in love is to bless. To refuse to touch is to dehumanize.”

Thursday: Read Philippians 2:3-4. How does this passage of Scripture guide what you should and should not use your hands for? How can hands be used selfishly? Describe a time when you used your hands to bless another person.

Friday: Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. In what way does God engage us through touch in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper? What are your habits to prepare for, and receive, this Sacrament?

Saturday: Read Matthew 28:18-19 and 1 Peter 3:20-22. These two passages of Holy Scripture mention baptism. Baptism involved the spoken Word of God, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” joined to ordinary water. Once again, God chooses to bless us and involve the sense of touch. How does 1 Peter help us understand one of the reasons why God chose water?

You can go deeper this week by:

You can also listen to this week's message or read the full PDF of the message & GPS.