Your Faith Journey 141

This month we are continuing on our journey through our sixth annual all-church sermon and small group series. The series is entitled, “Discipleship: Virtuous Life in Christ.” Throughout August, we are uniting together as a congregation to focus on four of the many virtues of Jesus. Our hope is that these virtues of Christ will guide us throughout the next few years as the Holy Spirit forms us more and more into the likeness of our Savior as individuals and as a church family.
 
This week you are invited to begin each day praying, “I am yours today,” read Psalm 8, read the daily Bible verses about humility, then pray using a portion of the Serenity Prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr, or using a portion of the hymn lyrics of the hymn “Take My Life, and Let It Be” by Frances R. Havergal, using your own words, or a prayer of your own inspired by Niebuhr’s prayer or Havergal’s lyrics as you seek to grow in your relationship with Christ and to be a person of humility like Jesus.
 
 
Monday (8/9)
PRAY – Begin your day praying, “God, I am yours today.”
 
Read Psalm 8 as a way to center your heart and mind in the Lord as you prepare to receive God’s message to you for today.
 
Read Peter’s message about being humble in 1 Peter 5:5b-7. What does Peter’s message reveal about humility?
 
PRAY – You are invited to use the portion of the “Serenity Prayer” that is below to guide your prayer:
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
The things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
Which should be changed,
And the Wisdom to distinguish
The one from the other. Amen.
 
 
Tuesday (8/10)
PRAY – Begin your day praying, “Jesus, I am yours today.”
 
Read Psalm 8 as a way to center your heart and mind in Christ as you prepare to receive the Lord’s message to you for today.
 
Read Jesus’ story in Luke 18:9-14. What does the parable reveal about humility?
 
PRAY – You are invited to use the portion of the lyrics for “Take My Life, and Let It Be” that are listed below to guide your prayer:
Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands , and let them move at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.
 
 
Wednesday (8/11)
PRAY – Begin your day praying, “Spirit of the living God, I am yours today.”
 
Read Psalm 8 as a way to focus your heart and mind on worshipping the Lord as you prepare to receive the Holy Spirit’s message to you for today.
 
Read the message to believers about humility from the leader of the first-century church in Jerusalem that are found in James 4:1-10. What do the verses reveal to you about humility?
 
PRAY – You are invited to use the portion of the “Serenity Prayer” that is below to guide your prayer:
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
The things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
Which should be changed,
And the Wisdom to distinguish
The one from the other…
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
 
 
Thursday (8/12)
PRAY – Begin your day praying, “Christ, I am yours today.”
 
Read Psalm 8 as a way to center your heart and mind in Christ as you prepare to receive the Lord’s message to you for today.
 
Read the account of Jesus’ humble act of service during the Last Supper in John 13:3-5, 12-17. What do the verses reveal about serving others and humility?
 
PRAY – You are invited to use the portion of “Take My Life, and Let It Be” that is below to guide your prayer:
Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as thou shalt choose.
 
 
Friday (8/13)
PRAY – Begin your day praying, “Lord, I am yours today.”
 
Read Psalm 8 as a way to focus your heart and mind on worshipping the Lord as you prepare to receive the Holy Spirit’s message to you for today.
 
Read God’s message shared through the prophet Micah about what the Lord requires of his people, which is found in Micah 6:1-8.
 
PRAY – You are invited to use the portion of the “Serenity Prayer” that is below to guide your prayer:
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
The things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
Which should be changed,
And the Wisdom to distinguish
The one from the other. Amen.
 
 
Saturday (8/14)
PRAY – Begin your day praying, “God, I am yours today.”
 
Read Psalm 8 as a way to center your heart and mind in the Lord as you prepare to receive God’s message to you for today.
 
Read God’s message to King Solomon recorded in 2 Chronicles 7:11-22. What does the Lord’s message to the king reveal about humility?
 
PRAY – You are invited to use the lyrics from “Take My Life, and Let It Be” that are below to guide your prayer:
Take my will, and make it thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is thine own; it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for thee.
 
Consider observing the sabbath either today or tomorrow as a time to rest, reflect, and enjoy recreation. The questions below can be used to help with reflecting:
 
How did I see, hear, or encounter God during this past week?
 
Who needs to hear about my experience sometime in the coming days?
 
*If you do not have a Bible, consider downloading the YouVersion Bible App for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play for your smartphone or tablet. You can also use www.BibleGateway.com to look up and read various translations of Bible verses online on a computer.

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