Your Personal Grow-Pray-Study (GPS) Guide

Day 1: Read Luke 2:11. What do you hope to remember from this Christmas to put in practice until next Christmas?

Day 2: Read Luke 2:17-19. The word “pondered” means to put in context, to connect. Such connection is the work of the mind and Spirit. Mary begins to connect the dots – angels didn’t come to the priests to announce the good news but to common shepherds working the night shift. As you look at the past week, month, year, where can you see God “connecting the dots” in your life?

Day 3: Read Luke 2:6-7. The story of Christmas is not about us trying to stumble our way into finding God. It's about God coming to be with us, being present in our lives, taking our steps with us, day-in and day-out.  Where do you need to remind yourself of God’s presence in your life for the day ahead? How have you sensed His presence with you this Christmas season?

Day 4: Read Matthew 1:21-23. God with us. He is with us in the midst of the mess. And even after He comes, dies, rises again, and ascends to heaven, He is still with us. What mess do you need to turn over to Jesus and become aware of His presence to transform your life and others?

Day 5: Read Luke 2:10. God wants to rewrite your story from the mess of this world and of sin, to the masterpiece of His grace and our Savior Jesus. Where have you seen God guiding you to a new beginning, a new start, a rewrite of the story of your life in the past year?

Day 6: Read Ephesians 2:8-10. By grace…through faith…for works. No situation is beyond God's redemption. No soul is beyond salvation. Jesus Christ died on the cross so that you might be forgiven, and He rose from the dead so that you, too, can experience His resurrection power. Take time to thank God for the gift of Jesus in the past year and for the year ahead.

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the following book - Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ by Tim Keller.

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

 AS PRAY THIS WEEK FOR CREATE FOR COMMUNITY: For patience with parking challenges during construction. For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Please join us for Christmas Services!

Day 1: Read Micah 5:4. One of the great gifts, Jesus our Christmas Savior gives is that you don't have to live life in your own strength. You don't have to handle it on your own. You have help. You can turn to God for strength, and He will give it to you. Where do you need to turn to God’s strength today? What’s holding you back? Why?

Day 2: Read Philippians 4:13.  Where have you sensed Jesus’ strength at work in your life in the last 24 hours? Where have you seen that strength at work in someone else’s life in the last week?

Day 3: Read Micah 5:4. Through Micah, God invites us to know Jesus and the security He brings. Jesus offers the security of knowing that he is in control, and he has the power and ability to take care of us. That's what a shepherd does, and that is what he wants to do for you. Take time to turn over all that robs you of peace and security over to Jesus in prayer.

Day 4: Read John 10:27-28. Jesus offers the kind of security the world cannot — security based not on things and circumstances, but on his never-ending love for you. And His greatness, Micah says, reaches to the ends of the earth. There is no place you can go, or nothing that can happen, that extends beyond the power of God to take care of you. How secure is your relationship with God? What makes you certain you are secure in Jesus’ care?

Day 5: Read Micah 5:5. Jesus came to bring peace to all who follow him. How can you share that peace Jesus brings with others? Where do you need to experience His peace in your life today?

Day 6: Read John 14:27. Jesus came to give us peace. Even when we can't experience peace in the world around us, we can experience his peace in our inner world. Jesus came to take away all the things that destroy our peace. He wants to carry your burdens; he wants to lift your anxieties, he wants to take away your sins. Take time in prayer to turn all that robs your peace over to Him.

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the following book - Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ by Tim Keller.

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

 AS PRAY THIS WEEK FOR CREATE FOR COMMUNITY: For patience with parking challenges during construction. For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

This week features prayers from Paul’s letters. First read through each prayer, notice what Paul prays for people and what you can pray for yourself and for others. Pick someone to pray this prayer for each day. Let Paul’s prayer be a guide and start as you pray for each person (including yourself). Each prayer is taken from a conversational paraphrase of the Bible called “The Voice”.

Day 1: Pray 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 -- "I am continuously thanking my God for you when I think about the grace God has offered you in Jesus the Anointed. In this grace, God is enriching every aspect of your lives by gifting you with the right words to say and everything you need to know. In this way, your life story confirms the life story of the Anointed One, so you are not ill-equipped or slighted on any necessary gifts as you patiently anticipate the day when our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, is revealed. Until that final day, He will preserve you; and on that day, He will consider you faultless. Count on this: God is faithful and in His faithfulness called you out into an intimate relationship with His Son, our Lord Jesus the Anointed."

Day 2: Pray Ephesians 1:17-19 -- "God of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, Father of Glory: I call out to You on behalf of Your people. Give them minds ready to receive wisdom and revelation so they will truly know You. Open the eyes of their hearts, and let the light of Your truth flood in. Shine Your light on the hope You are calling them to embrace. Reveal to them the glorious riches You are preparing as their inheritance. Let them see the full extent of Your power that is at work in those of us who believe, and may it be done according to Your might and power."

Day 3: Pray Ephesians 3:16-19 -- "Father, out of Your honorable and glorious riches, strengthen Your people. Fill their souls with the power of Your Spirit  so that through faith the Anointed One will reside in their hearts. May love be the rich soil where their lives take root. May it be the bedrock where their lives are founded so that together with all of Your people they will have the power to understand that the love of the Anointed is infinitely long, wide, high, and deep, surpassing everything anyone previously experienced. God, may Your fullness flood through their entire beings."

Day 4: Pray Philippians 1:9-11 -- "Father, may their love grow more and more in wisdom and insight— so they will be able to examine and determine the best from everything else. And on the day of the Anointed One, the day of His judgment, let them stand pure and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness that ripens through Jesus the Anointed."

Day 5: Pray Colossians 1:9-14 -- "Father, may they clearly know Your will and achieve the height and depth of spiritual wisdom and understanding. May their lives be a credit to You, Lord; and what’s more, may they continue to delight You by doing every good work and growing in the true knowledge that comes from being close to You. Strengthen them with Your infinite power, according to Your glorious might, so that they will have everything they need to hold on and endure hardship patiently and joyfully. Thank You, Father, as You have made us eligible to receive our portion of the inheritance given to all those set apart by the light. You have rescued us from dark powers and brought us safely into the kingdom of Your Son, whom You love 14 and in whom we are redeemed and forgiven of our sins [through His blood]."

Day 6: Pray 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 -- "All this is why we are constantly praying for you, so God will make you worthy of the great calling you have received from Him and will give you the power to accomplish every good intention and work of faith. Then the great name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified through your lives, and you will be glorified in Him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, our Liberating King."

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the following book - A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller.

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

 AS PRAY THIS WEEK FOR CREATE FOR COMMUNITY: For patience with parking challenges during construction. For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.

Day 1: Read 1 Thessalonians 3:9. Paul was grateful for his relationship to the believers in Thessalonica; he expressed his gratitude to God and expressed his appreciation to them. He took the time to say "Thank you...I appreciate you...You fill my life with joy." Take time to thank God by name for each one on your “appreciate the most” list. Write a note of appreciation to send by snail mail or email.

Day 2: Read John 3:16. The Revised Burkey Version invites you to put your name in this verse. What does it mean to you that God puts you on His list of people He appreciates? Whom can you pray for this Christmas to come to know Jesus, to be on God’s list?

Day 3: Read 1 Thessalonians 3:10. Paul wanted to meet with his friends in Thessalonica to build up their faith. He knew, at that particular time, it was what they needed most. As you think of all the people you love, ask yourself, "What does this person need most? What can I say to them? What can I do for them? How can I give them a lift?" Take time to pray for them and to see where God leads you to make those intangible gifts happen.

Day 4: Read 1 Thessalonians 3:11. Instead of (or in addition to) the gift of a present this Christmas, who might want the gift of your presence? Where might God be calling you to be present more in someone’s life? Why do you think that? What will you do next?

Day 5: Read 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13. Paul shares his “wish list”/prayer list for the Thessalonians. Whom might you share your prayer list in a positive way with someone?

Day 6: Read Luke 1:76-79. We have an excerpt of Zechariah’s prayer for his son, John the Baptist. “Son, God is going to use you to be a gamechanger for the world.” And that’s not just true for Zechariah’s son, that’s true for your sons and daughters, for your friends and co-workers. Whom are you praying for to be a gamechanger for God in this world? (It’s great to include yourself on this list!) Pray today for God to use people in our church and world to be used by Him as a game changer today.

You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the following book - Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ by Timothy Keller.

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

 AS PRAY THIS WEEK FOR CREATE FOR COMMUNITY: For patience with parking challenges during construction. For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.