Each week, we offer daily Scripture readings and thoughts in our Grow • Pray • Study (GPS) Guide. 

Come back on Mondays for the weekly GPS, and spend time in study and prayer daily! 

You matter to God. 

St. Paul’s UMC GPS:
GROW † PRAY † STUDY
for the week of April 15-20, 2019
The Way: The Final Week

Destination:  To gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a deeply committed follower of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  To be able to recognize your experiences of God and to discover God in new and different ways.

Memory verse:  I encourage you to read this Scripture every day and by the end of the week have it memorized or to the point of where you can paraphrase the verse(s).  Try writing it down on post-it notes and place them in areas where you will see it daily, for example the bathroom mirror or the dashboard of your car.

“They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes upon it, and he sat on it.” Mark 11:7 CEB

Daily Prayer: God, in this Holy week from Palm Sunday through the Passion, we have so many mixed feelings inside of us. We remember your son’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem with the people shouting praises and waving Palm Branches. And we join them with our own praises and yet we remember too that this wonderful parade for your son, becomes another kind of parade before officials and the booing crowds. And instead of the crowds singing his praises they are shouting to crucify him. And our hearts are broken by those very shouts, and the pain and suffering he bore that day. And yet we know that it is because of his choosing to enter Jerusalem and taking the path he knew he was taking, there is hope, grace, love and salvation for all. And there are still many in need of hope in our world. There are still many in need of your grace in our world. There are still many in need of your love in our world. And there are still many in need of salvation in our world. Lord, enter our lives, our churches, our cities, our countries once again today. Heal us, Lord. Transform us. Renew us. Draw us closer to you in this journey of Holy Week, empower us with strength and courage and with the assurance that you are with us, world without end. Amen. ~ written by Rev Abi, and posted on her Long and Winding Road blog.http://vicarofwadley.blogspot.ca/

Monday, April 15, 2019 read Jeremiah 7; Mark 11:12-19. Jesus seeing that the poor were being ripped off in God’s name became furious. He quoted Jeremiah’s warning to the people about the Lord’s Temple. Whenever we find Jesus angry in the Gospels, it is always at hypocrisy in the name of religion. What was the hypocrisy Jesus was furious with in the Temple this day? How can you help underprivileged people not be taken advantage?

Tuesday, April 16, 2019 read Mark 11:20-33. Jesus continues confrontations with the religious leaders. They asked by what authority Jesus came into God’s Holy Temple to teach. The chief priests and elders thought their authority trumped God/Jesus! They understood that Jesus was saying that the religious leaders had promised to do God’s work but had not done it; while the “sinners” rejected God’s call at first but then began following God through Jesus. Where do you see “sinners” people who claim to not follow Jesus doing the work of God?

Wednesday, April 17, 2019 read Matthew 24-26:13. Don’t miss the irony here, Jesus is the incarnation, personification of God and the religious leaders of the Temple didn’t recognize the Great I Am. Now, in a way that no one could understand except Jesus, the glory of the Lord left the Temple and no one really noticed. Wow! When has Jesus been near to you, but you failed to notice at the time?

Thursday, April 18, 2019 read Matthew 26:14-75. Jesus demonstrated servant leadership in the most humble way...He washes the disciples’ feet. The Passover meal had been celebrated for 3,000 years. This meal takes the faithful back to the night when the Israelites were finally set free from slavery. Jesus transforms the Passover meal into a time when we are taken back to that night in the Upper Room. This meal becomes the Christian’s defining story. After dinner, Jesus leads them to the Garden of Gethsemane and reverses Adam and Eve’s battle with sin. Jesus is a servant willing to suffer for his people. What are you willing to suffer for Jesus?

Friday, April 19, 2019 read Matthew 27:1-61. The soldiers wanted to make an example of anyone who claimed to a messiah. They stripped, mocked, beat and put a crown of thorns on Jesus. This was the cruel coronation of our King. A King suffering for his people, laying down his life. When you read about the death of Jesus, what do you feel? How does this impact you following in the way of Jesus?

Saturday, April 20, 2019 read Matthew 27:62-67. The disciples have gone into hiding. Trying to work through the events of the last 24 hours. Trying to sort through tumultuous emotions. The Pharisees ask for soldiers to guard the tomb. In case someone stole Jesus body to prove his resurrection predictions. The tomb is sealed and a soldier is placed on guard. It is a day of emotional unrest, inner turmoil. Pray for God to give you a deeper understanding of this time between crucifixion and resurrection.

Resources:  Bible by God, The Way, Following in the Footsteps of Jesus by Reverend Adam Hamilton