GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Tuesday, November 30

Ezekiel 34:1-16 

Ezekiel was an Israelite exiled in Babylon (Ezekiel 1:1). Like Jeremiah, he said God had not forgotten the people, but cared about their tough conditions. The future, he said, did not belong to those who enriched themselves at the people’s expense. “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them,” was God’s promise.

• In John 10:11, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” In what ways did Jesus’ earthly ministry bring Ezekiel’s promises to reality? In what respects is the complete fulfillment of the promises still something we await in the future? 

• When (in any type of organization or family setting) have you seen “shepherds” who cared for their own interests, but not for “the flock”? Does knowingly self-centered leadership ever seem to “work” from a human point of view? How sure are you of the truth of Ezekiel’s message to self-serving shepherds?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Monday, November 29

Jeremiah 33:14-22 

This week we’ll read how the Old Testament prophets promised a Godly kingdom that would upend human ways. Jeremiah wrote when God’s promises seemed futile, and the vast Babylonian armies threatened Israel with total ruin, God, he said, promised a better future. An heir of David, Israel’s greatest king, would rule in justice forever.

• Through Jeremiah, God says the Branch from David’s line “will do what is just and right in the land.” Since all human leaders and systems eventually fall short of doing what is just and right, what do you believe God was promising? In what parts of your life do you most wish for a King who would do what is just and right? 

• If you had lived in Jerusalem with Jeremiah, what might this promise have led you to expect? (e.g., ongoing Temple sacrifices, unbroken Israelite political power.) What does the phrase “the days are coming” convey to us as Christ’s followers today? How can the core of this promise be true, even if some details change?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Saturday, November 27

Matthew 25:31-46 

People who are so poor they don’t have enough to eat or to wear, who can’t get good care when they’re sick, who are in prison, who are outsiders in our community—most of us are willing to do a little something to help them. But Jesus called such people “these brothers and sisters of mine.” We truly “buy into” in God’s transforming work in the world when we realize that the poor, the sick, the prisoners and the aliens are not “them”—they’re “us.” Jesus calls us to commit to doing his work as one family, bound by mutual caring and sharing.

• At church last week , we heard the Implementation Teams report on the future of our congregation and we invited people to pray and dream about these questions: what can we do together to be part of God’s work of transforming the world in the next ten years? In what ways can you personally take part in First Presbyterian Church ‘s work to transform the world in the next ten years? Pray over these questions, write out your God-given dreams, and put them where you will see them regularly.

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Friday, November 26

Romans 12:16-21 

The world Rome ruled was full of poverty, suffering, hatred and injustice. To Christians in the capital city itself, Paul offered this “strategy” for transforming that world: “Overcome evil with good.” It would sound awfully naïve—except that, looking back over 2000 years, we see that it’s made a difference (though many wrongs remain). It is still our strategy today.

• 1 Peter 2:23 cited Jesus’ example: “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats.” What moral dangers do we create if we try to repay evil with evil, or seek revenge for wrongs done to us? Is this counsel only for powerless people, or for well-off, powerful Christians as well? 

• This is a hard ideal! author Stuart Briscoe notes, “We are not to feel that there is any… insensitivity on the part of the apostle as he instructs the disciples of the Lord….On the contrary, he knew what it meant, as did his Master, to feel the heat of adversity.” In what ways would a choice to “overcome evil with good” change your life?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Thursday, November 25

Luke 10:25-37 

We often see this parable as only a pleasant “be nice to your neighbor” story. But the “cast” of characters embodied many of that day’s social frictions: a priest, a Levite and (above all) a Samaritan, a hated non-Israelite. Then Jesus made the Samaritan the hero! It’s as if he drew back a curtain and said, “If I had my way, these hatreds, fears and divisions would vanish.”

• We usually apply this parable to the need for us to help others—a big part of Jesus’ teaching. But in this story, an Israelite accepted a Samaritan’s help, though Israelites usually shunned such help. How open are you to accepting help from others when you need it? What makes it easier sometimes to offer help than to accept it? 

• “Jewish teachers usually used ‘neighbor’ to mean ‘fellow Israelite.’” (The IVP Bible Background Commentary : New Testament) But Leviticus 19:34 said, “The foreigners residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself.” What made that hard in 1st century Palestine? What makes it hard today?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Wednesday, November 24

Luke 4:16-21 

For centuries, rabbis debated who Isaiah’s “servant of the Lord” might be. Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1-2. Then he stunned his hometown audience by saying, in effect, “I’m the one Isaiah meant.” Jesus “platform” said that as the Messiah, his mission was to transform the world, to bring spiritual and social good news, healing and deliverance.

• In Jesus’ day (and ours), religious reformers urged people to pray, read the Bible and go to synagogue more often. Social reformers urged them to drive Roman oppressors out at sword point. Neither group liked Jesus saying his spiritual mission was closely linked to the social change he brought. What do you believe: was he right? How has your spiritual growth showed itself in giving help to the poor, oppressed or prisoners? 

• Luke says Jesus went into the synagogue “as his custom was.” And Jesus didn’t agree with everything said there, or even always find a warm welcome! Would an observer say it’s your “custom” to be in worship regularly, as Jesus was? Why or why not?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Tuesday, November 23

Isaiah 1:11-18, 42:1-7 

Isaiah, one of Israel’s great prophets, spoke of God’s distaste for hollow rituals carried out by “religious” people who ignored both justice and mercy. Chapter 42 promised “the servant of the Lord.” Three times in four verses the prophet said “the servant” would bring justice. Jesus and his followers believed Jesus lived out the mission of Isaiah’s “servant .

• What actions led Isaiah to say that his people gave God “meaningless offerings”? Could it be that our offering s, and the ministries and budgets they make possible, lose their meaning if they are divorced from our whole way of life? To what extent are your offerings a sign that you are giving yourself to God and God’s purposes? 

• What are some ways you know of that Jesus brought justice during his life on earth? Though Christians have often gotten it wrong, what are some of the ways the work of Jesus’ church has increased justice since his ascension? In what ways can we be Jesus’ hands and feet, seeking to increase justice today?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Monday, November 22

Genesis 11:27 - 12:3

The early chapters of Genesis set the stage for the whole Biblical saga. God created a good world, and assigned humans to take care of it. They failed—by Genesis 6, their thoughts were “only evil all the time.” Sad but undeterred, God found Abraham, a man willing to listen and follow. “Through you,” God told him, “I will bless all the peoples on the earth.”

• Abraham faced a huge decision: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household.” The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament says, “When Abraham gave up his place in his father’s household, he forfeited his security. He was putting his survival, his identity, his future and his security in the hands of the Lord.” What are you willing to give up to follow God’s call, and be a blessing to others? 

• Childless at 75, Abraham trusted God’s call to father a nation. In what ways, big or small, is God calling you to trust in your life?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Saturday, November 13

Hebrews 13:1-6 

In the midst of exhorting Christians to live according to the gospel the writer to the Hebrews actually commands contentment. Just as contentment is a result of trusting God, it is also the means of trusting God. T o be discontent is to accuse God with being either unloving or impotent. Contentment with our life is therefore as important a virtue as love, hospitality, mercy, or fidelity.

Sadly, we live in a culture of discontent. Every day we see an average of 3,500 ads, each trying to convince us that what we have is not good enough. We need something new, something better, something more fashionable. Desires become hopes, which become wants, which become 'needs'. "I've just got to have that new HDTV wide-screen TV." Once the newness wears off, it's time for another new thing.

Paul advises Timothy to stay focused on the lasting joy of contentment. "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." (l Tim 6:6)

• Are you content with what you have? If not, then why? 

• How do you handle the pressure to 'keep up', or conform to a higher standard of living?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Friday, November 12

Matthew 6:24-34 

Jesus personifies wealth as Mammon. He even gives it the status of a false God, an idol, and lays down an all-or-nothing claim: if you worship wealth, you won't worship God. Our heart cannot contain two masters, two gods.

Worry is an indicator of worship. What you worry about is what you don't want to lose. Therefore, Jesus says that worrying about money and your future is an indicator of a lack of trust in God. Worse, it shows that the heart's true hope is in wealth. "His words are so uncomfortable that even those of us who say we love him find ourselves looking for ways around what he says.

Research has shown that many people do not give because they are afraid. The only way to ever stop worrying about money is to break its stranglehold on your heart by becoming generous. When you give money away, you stop worshipping it.

• If you gave until it lowered your lifestyle, would you be worried? Of what? 

• What would you give up to become enormously rich? Would you give up friends and family? Would you give up your time? Christ? What would you give up just to be 'comfortable'?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Thursday, November 11

Luke 12:13-21 

The rich fool thought that he could trust in his grain. Yet the grain outlasted his own life. He invested his wealth with something it could not give: security. It would always be there to make his life comfortable. But the things of this world are unstable, a pile of sand ready to collapse. God's response to him is blunt: "You fool."

Having lots of money can be like a drug. It can make you feel powerful and giddy. It can convince you that everything is going to be okay. We think that only if we accumulate more and more we will have enough. That day never comes-'enough' is never reached.

When we trust our Lord we can stop hoarding wealth beyond our needs and become 'rich toward God.' The only true security comes from trusting in God's care for his children. As Christians, we can be assured that God loves us because of Christ's work on our behalf. Therefore, we can loosen our grip on our treasures. We see them as temporary and God's kingdom as eternal.

• How much money do you want left when you die? Why? 

• What does becoming 'rich toward God' look like? Does that reflect your own lifestyle? Why or why not? 

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Wednesday, November 10

1 Corinthians 4:7-14 

Everything good in our lives comes from God: our abilities, our upbringing, our educational background. We would not be where we are without countless interventions by God on our behalf. Beyond those temporary blessings, God has given his children the greatest gift of all: his only Son. The Corinthian church, and many of us today, practically ignore the full wonder of that claim.

The Gospel is a gift. Our union with Christ is all by God's grace. There is nothing we did to deserve it or earn it. In fact, we all were in rebellion against God (Romans 1:18ff, 3:23). And yet Christ died for his people.

What if someone loaned us $100,000? Would we resent giving them five bucks? Would we treat all those resources as ours alone? God gives us things of this world to use on his behalf. He didn't have to. But we are his children now, he loves us and gives us what we need and what we can employ to further his kingdom, to spread his grace even more. His goodness includes giving us the joy of commitment to him.

• Would you treat your things differently if they belonged to someone else? What if you acted as if God owned everything you have: your home, your clothes, your furniture, your money, your time? 

• What have you received from God? How is your life different because of Christ?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Tuesday, November 9

Psalm 50, especially 7-15 

God is the creator (Gen 1:1), the sole ruler and Lord over all creation. He controls all things in this world, the whole creation (Psalm 50:12). Nothing that we do takes away from God's guiding presence throughout all of creation. It is God’s to create, and protect, and use for God’s glory. So whenever we use the resources of the world, we use the resources of God's world.

That also means that "the silver is mine and the gold is mine" (Haggai 2:8). When we look at our own finances, we tend to forget God's sovereign ownership of creation. We expect him to care for us as if he owes us something. In Job 41: 11, God replies, "Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me." Or, we think that we have earned our treasures because of our own abilities (See Deuteronomy 8:17 above).

Therefore, God doesn't need our money as if he needed an income. Instead, we need him every moment to sustain us. Our worship, and the dedication of our whole lives to him, is an acknowledgment of his control over everything. It's a thank offering, a giving back of what we have so abundantly received (Psalm 50:14).

• Do you act like God "owes" you something? Why? 

• What causes you to forget God's loving control of the world?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Monday, November 8

Matthew 6:21 

Jesus here tells us the most important lesson about money. Our heart, our desire and hope, is tied closely to our treasure. Our money and our heart go together. We all know that, of course, to some extent. But when Jesus calls our attention to this part of our character, he confronts us.

He alerts us to the powerful tug that material wealth possesses, an allure that makes us do and act and believe contrary to our Christian confession. We say that we live for God. Our checkbook shows us what we really live for. Jesus calls us to examine where we place our money and our heart: earthly pleasures that fade away or eternal kingdom investments that last forever.

• Where is most of your treasure? Is that where your heart is? 

• When you give, does that frighten you or excite you? Why?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Saturday, November 6

Matthew 5:43-48 

Scholars often study these verses and suggest we can become “perfect in love”—not by never sinning, but having a deep heart desire to love God, and all of our human “neighbors.” According to Jesus, that’s getting it right.

• Jesus says that God causes it to rain on the just and the unjust alike. How often are you tempted to limit your help and your efforts to bless only the people you like, or consider “worthy”? How can you become more like God in your willingness to bless anyone who needs it? 

• How do you understand the idea of loving your enemies? Does that refer more to having mushy, affectionate feelings about them, or to choosing to act for their good despite what they have done to you? How can making those hard choices help you grow in character and maturity?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Friday, November 5

Matthew 5:13-16 

As a popular Christian song says, when Christians get it right, we ask God to “Make me salt, make me light, Let Your holy fire ignite, reveal Your glory in my life….As a city on a hill, a lamp on a stand, mold me in Your image, the work of Your hand.” (Lyrics by Jan and John L’Ecuyer)

• What’s the difference between doing good selfishly, from a wish to be seen and praised, and doing it unaffectedly, so that others are moved to praise God? What place on that spectrum do you tend to occupy? How, if at all, has it become more natural over time for you to let your light shine? 

• In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrases these verses as saying we’re called to bring out the “God-flavors” and “God-colors” in the world. In what ways, if any, has your experience of faith enriched life, making it more flavorful and colorful? How can you share that with others?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Thursday, November 4

Romans 12:9-21 

It’s a challenge to get it right with one another—here the apostle describes in considerable detail what that looks like. But we don’t only get it right with our close friends—a deeper key, says Paul, is to let God teach us how to get it right even with those who consider themselves our enemies.

• What historical or contemporary figures can you think of who practiced, in visible, public ways, the principle of overcoming evil with good? How can you apply that principle in the personal relationships you’re involved in every day? Paul quotes Proverbs 25:21-22 as a divine guideline about how to treat “your enemy.” 

• How do you grasp the image that says treating the enemy kindly is like “heaping burning coals” on his head? Have you ever tried this approach? What were the results in the relationship? In your inner life?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Wednesday, November 3

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 

As you read Paul’s lyrical description of when Christians get it right, note the things love doesn’t do—the signs of getting it wrong. But even more, note the things that love does, because these are the qualities, inward and outward, that God’s Spirit will increasingly grow in our lives.

• In verses 4-7, we get a compact list of how love does and does not act. Which of the items listed do you value most from someone else? Which is the most challenging for you to offer to another person? How will you open your life to God’s influence, so that you can grow in these qualities? 

• Verses 1-3 list many admirable, demanding things that a person could do. In what ways does the absence of love diminish and spoil even these positive actions? How, if at all, does accepting that “the greatest of these is love” alter the standards by which you judge greatness?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Tuesday, November 2

Luke 15:11-24 

Few characters in Jesus’ teaching are less “deserving” than this grating, ungrateful son. Yet Jesus shows the father running to meet his son, and welcoming him in lavish ways the son wouldn’t have dared ask for. He’s calling us to get it right, to love others (even the “undeserving”) as lavishly as God does. Jesus told this story to answer a complaint from the religious leaders that he welcomed sinners, even ate with them (Luke 15:2).

• How do you react to God (and God’s family, your church) welcoming people you consider sinners? How, if at all, have your feelings changed over time? Have you ever identified with the boy in this story? 

• How were you received by those who you considered righteous? How does this picture of a father’s welcome celebration speak to your heart about your heavenly parent’s welcome of you?

GPS - Grow, Pray, Study Weekly Guide: Monday, November 1

Matthew 22:34-40 

Christians “get it wrong” when we defend any valued “truth” in ways that keep us from loving God fully and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus said “getting it right” means acting on the reality that any other truth or orthodoxy has value only as it leads us to more fully love God and all our neighbors. Jesus says that all the Bible teaches, all the truths we know about what God wants, “hang” or “depend” on the two commands he quoted.

• What do you believe makes these two commands so essential? Can you recall a time when a belief you held led you to be unloving, even without realizing it? 

• How well can you love your neighbor as yourself if you don’t have healthy ways of loving and caring for yourself? How well have you learned to nurture and value yourself? (If you struggle with this, Mindy Caliguire’s book Soul Care may be helpful.)