11.29.08

Daily Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-9

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—

3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.

7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8 Infants will play near the hole of the cobra;
young children will put their hands into the viper’s nest.

9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com

Reflection Questions:

For the next four weeks, the GPS readings and questions will be in the Advent Devotional booklet—be sure to pick one up at church this weekend. This passage gives us one more prophetic picture of the mission of God’s redeemer, the son of David, the baby born in Bethlehem.

• The Messiah’s ministry, says Isaiah, will be characterized by righteousness and faithfulness. What images does this passage use to help us understand what those qualities look like? What do you particularly value about being a citizen of the Kingdom of God?
• God’s ideal is that the Kingdom is a place where nothing hurts or destroys. Sadly, we aren’t entirely there yet, are we? What is one place of hurt or destruction where you can act, with God’s help, to bring healing during this Advent season?

Read insights and reflections from today’s passage by our pastors at gpsinsights.wordpress.com

Weekly Prayer:

Lord God, thank you for the ways you have provided for my life. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and look ahead to Christmas, guide me and shape in me the values of gratitude and generosity that grow from the deepest meaning of these celebrations. Amen.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

11.28.08

Daily Scripture: Luke 11:9-13

9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com

Reflection Questions:

It’s nearly impossible for us to think about preparing for Christmas without focusing on gifts—the ones we want to give, and the ones we want to receive! A new kind of Christmas, then, may involve thinking about gifts in a new way. Jesus said God’s perspective on gifts is different from ours.

• Jesus’ promise that God will give us what we ask for didn’t come “out of the blue”—he made it right after giving the Lord’s Prayer. How do you understand his promise? Review what you’re wishing for, and asking God for. How well do your requests fit the pattern of the Lord’s Prayer?
• Think of a time in your family when a child received a gift that was different from what was asked for, but better. Did the child see immediately that the gift received was better than the gift requested? How open are you to trusting that God is giving you good gifts?

Read insights and reflections from today’s passage by our pastors at gpsinsights.wordpress.com

Weekly Prayer:

Lord God, thank you for the ways you have provided for my life. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and look ahead to Christmas, guide me and shape in me the values of gratitude and generosity that grow from the deepest meaning of these celebrations. Amen.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

11.27.08

Daily Scripture: Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26

Psalm 136

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.

His love endures forever.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods.

His love endures forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:

His love endures forever.

4 to him who alone does great wonders,

His love endures forever.

5 who by his understanding made the heavens,

His love endures forever.

6 who spread out the earth upon the waters,

His love endures forever.

7 who made the great lights—

His love endures forever.

8 the sun to govern the day,

His love endures forever.

9 the moon and stars to govern the night;

Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com

Reflection Questions:

Happy Thanksgiving Day! If you’re with others today, you might want to read this great passage from the Psalms aloud—it’s easy to teach everyone the responsive refrain. But even if you’re alone or in pain, this Psalm can speak to you. God’s love is with us always, in all circumstances.

• The psalmist reflects his day’s picture of how life worked, praising God for spreading out the earth (probably flat) on (or over) the waters. We understand our planet and our universe a bit differently. Try writing your own stanzas of praise for God’s power and provision through the creation.
• What challenges and low points have you faced since last Thanksgiving? What have been the high points of the last year in your life? How has God been with you through the highs and the lows to strengthen you, comfort you and help you grow?

Read insights and reflections from today’s passage by our pastors at gpsinsights.wordpress.com

Weekly Prayer:

Lord God, thank you for the ways you have provided for my life. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and look ahead to Christmas, guide me and shape in me the values of gratitude and generosity that grow from the deepest meaning of these celebrations. Amen.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

11.26.08

Daily Scripture: Luke 3:1-14

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.

5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.

6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’ “

7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com

Reflection Questions:

Jesus saw John the Baptist’s ministry as carrying out Isaiah’s message from more than 700 years earlier. John faithfully proclaimed that God was ready to break into human history in a new way, and challenged his hearers to reset their priorities and lifestyles accordingly.

• We learned in our last sermon series that the word usually translated “repent” means to turn around, to think differently about, to “reset.” What attitudes and actions did John challenge his hearers to reset? Which of these speak to your heart and your life, and how will you respond?
• Some responded to John by saying, “You’re talking to the wrong people—we’re already good church members” (or “children of Abraham”). What’s the spiritual danger of relying on our heritage or our connection to a certain group? Why do “good” people need to take John’s message seriously?

Read insights and reflections from today’s passage by our pastors at gpsinsights.wordpress.com

Weekly Prayer:

Lord God, thank you for the ways you have provided for my life. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and look ahead to Christmas, guide me and shape in me the values of gratitude and generosity that grow from the deepest meaning of these celebrations. Amen.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

11.25.08

Daily Scripture: Isaiah 40:6-15

6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all human faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”

9 You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”

10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.

11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?

13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the LORD,
or instruct the LORD as his counselor?

14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
or showed him the path of understanding?

15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com

Reflection Questions:

Isaiah continues preparing us to welcome the coming redeemer by focusing our attention on the difference between human promises and power and God’s awesome power and grace. (Anyone who loves Handel’s Messiah will recognize much of the language in this passage!)

• God’s coming is good news—God is like a shepherd who feeds the flock and gathers little lambs into his arms. (In John 10:1-18, Jesus used this imagery to describe his mission.) Are you willing to let God be your shepherd, or do you feel a need to hold onto ultimate control of your own life?
• In verses 6-8 and 15, the prophet gives us God’s perspective on all human power. How have the events of 2008 highlighted the limits of human promises of security and permanence? Do you trust in God’s power and promises above all others, and if so, for what reasons?

Read insights and reflections from today’s passage by our pastors at gpsinsights.wordpress.com

Weekly Prayer:

Lord God, thank you for the ways you have provided for my life. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and look ahead to Christmas, guide me and shape in me the values of gratitude and generosity that grow from the deepest meaning of these celebrations. Amen.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

11.24.08

Daily Scripture: Isaiah 40:1-5

1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand
double for all her sins.

3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.

5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com

Reflection Questions:

This week we prepare spiritually for the Advent season. As Isaiah thought about preparing for the arrival of God to save his people, he drew on a familiar image in his day—a work party going ahead of a king, preparing the road and making it smooth so that the royal person could ride undisturbed and in comfort.

• What kinds of steps come to your mind as means to spiritually “prepare the way” for God to enter your heart and life more fully during Advent? How, if at all, would you like this Christmas season to be different from last year’s?
• When the way is prepared, Isaiah says, then the glory of the Lord will be revealed. Where do you find God’s glory most clearly revealed? How can you open yourself to that revelation during this Advent season?

Read insights and reflections from today’s passage by our pastors at gpsinsights.wordpress.com

Weekly Prayer:

Lord God, thank you for the ways you have provided for my life. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and look ahead to Christmas, guide me and shape in me the values of gratitude and generosity that grow from the deepest meaning of these celebrations. Amen.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

11.23.08

Use this weekly prayer to help you begin your time with God each day.

Lord God, thank you for the ways you have provided for my life. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and look ahead to Christmas, guide me and shape in me the values of gratitude and generosity that grow from the deepest meaning of these celebrations.  Amen.

Click here to download a printable version of this week’s GPS.

11.22.08

Daily Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:6-10

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com

Reflection Questions:

In the last few months, the news has been filled with words like “worry,” “fear,” “uncertainty” and “trouble.” This passage was written by a traveling preacher and tent-maker (Acts 18:1-4) with little money and no retirement plan—yet he talks (again) about “contentment”!

• Do you find the principle Paul states in verse 7 a source of contentment, or does it trigger other feelings in you? What attitudes and values in our world need to be reset in order for that principle to become a cause for contentment?
• Have you at times in your life felt trapped in “the rat race”? What is godly contentment worth to you (or, if you don’t have it, what would it be worth to you)? Open your heart to God in prayer, and ask for divine help in incorporating contentment and true joy into all of your life.

Read insights and reflections from today’s passage by our pastors at gpsinsights.wordpress.com

Weekly Prayer:

O God, am I so consumed with accumulating “stuff” that it draws me away from you and your kingdom? A part of me doesn’t like this question, and is afraid of the answer! Please guide me as I sort out my “needs” from my “wants.” I truly desire to live out the vision you’ve given in your word.  Amen.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

11.21.08

Daily Scripture: Philippians 4:10-13

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com

Reflection Questions:

From a prison cell (Philippians 1:13), Paul reflects on his inner response to gifts he had received from the Christians in the city of Philippi. He gives us some challenging and profound insights to consider as we think about the relationship of “needs” and “wants” in our own lives.

• Paul does not glorify poverty or hunger in these verses—he expresses heartfelt gratitude for what the Philippians had sent. How did those gifts represent God’s care for Paul’s needs? In what ways are you able to be God’s physical presence to bless someone else who is in need?
• Paul had learned to be content in every situation. How does he express his “secret” (verse 13)? How, if at all, have you learned to take strength from God’s presence with you when you deal with scarcity? Is it difficult to find contentment when dealing with plenty? If so, how does God help?

Read insights and reflections from today’s passage by our pastors at gpsinsights.wordpress.com

Weekly Prayer:

O God, am I so consumed with accumulating “stuff” that it draws me away from you and your kingdom? A part of me doesn’t like this question, and is afraid of the answer! Please guide me as I sort out my “needs” from my “wants.” I truly desire to live out the vision you’ve given in your word.  Amen.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

11.20.08

Daily Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com

Reflection Questions:

If we’re locked into this world’s values, any fiscal crisis or constraint can leave us feeling deprived and scared. Jesus tells us, “Don’t worry.” (For an uplifting Bible study project, look for all the places where Scripture tells God’s people, “Don’t be afraid.” Luke 12:32 and John 14:37 are good starting points.)

• Jesus approaches this passage from two angles. His main point is that worry puts our attention on the wrong things (verse 33). What does your life look like when you are focused on God’s kingdom and righteousness? How does worry take you away from that kind of life?
• Jesus also makes the more practical point that worry usually doesn’t do any good (verse 27). Can you think of things you spent considerable time and energy worrying about that never came to pass? How does worry differ from sensible foresight and precautions?

Read insights and reflections from today’s passage by our pastors at gpsinsights.wordpress.com

Weekly Prayer:

O God, am I so consumed with accumulating “stuff” that it draws me away from you and your kingdom? A part of me doesn’t like this question, and is afraid of the answer! Please guide me as I sort out my “needs” from my “wants.” I truly desire to live out the vision you’ve given in your word.  Amen.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.