Grow • Pray • Study
daily Devotional Guide
Our Grow • Pray • Study (GPS) Guide offers daily readings and thoughts that follow along the Scriptural themes of our Sunday Worship services.
G•P•S - Grow, Pray, Study Guide, 10/20/25 – 10/25/25
Faith UMC
MONDAY 10/20/25: Matthew 25:14-30, Investing or burying God’s gifts
We often hear this parable as teaching about using God’s gifts rather than squandering them. The owner in the story comes off greedy, seemingly angry about not getting a return. What changes in the reading when we recognize that the workers with returns must have used the money to bless others? Perhaps the owner wasn’t only concerned about his returns but that his gifts were used in the world?
TUESDAY 10/21/25: Mark 13:1-13, An ominous prediction
As the end nears for Jesus, he tells us of impending destruction. First, the temple–the symbol and center of the sacrificial system–will be torn down (a prediction of a new sacrificial system to take its place). Second, kingdoms will war (as God’s kingdom enters, the old ones don’t go without a fight). Finally, disciples will be hated. It’s not cheery, but Jesus’ announcements realistically portray the “birthing pangs” as God’s kingdom and reign begins on earth, the beginning of all things being made right.
WEDNESDAY 10/22/25: Psalm 84, Dwelling with God
Richard Foster writes in Celebration of Discipline, “To worship is to experience reality, to touch Life. It is to know, to feel, to experience the resurrected Christ in the midst of the gathered community.” The psalm writer is experiencing just this! It feels like we are dwelling in God’s home. We are living together. When have you had worship experiences like this? What is it like to dwell with God?
THURSDAY 10/23/25: Leviticus 16:20-30, How can we be cleaned from sin?
This is a glimpse of the sacrificial system God sets up for Israel as they wander in the desert. This is the dilemma: when the people have disobeyed God, how can they make it right? There needs to be more than renewed “obedience,” since the people already owe that to God. God sets up a sacrificial system so that the people can and will know that they are thoroughly forgiven and in a right relationship with God, again. Even though these practices are foreign to us, can we glimpse God’s grace as he creates this method for people to know their sins are forgiven?
FRIDAY 10/24/25: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58, Death, where is your sting?
The hope of the New Testament is that we will be raised from the dead with imperishable bodies. What those bodies are like, we can’t say, but we can look to Jesus’ resurrected body for an example. In any case, death is put into perspective. It’s for this reason that we can stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord. How does this perspective of death influence the way Christians ought to work in the world?
SATURDAY 10/25/25: Matthew 12:46-50, Disciples into Family
Jesus bends the definition of family when he includes his disciples as his mother and siblings. This is a strange development, given the importance of bloodlines in Jesus’s tradition. What is changed when we declare that we are a family for all? Who is this good news for? Join us in worship as we conclude our series, “Modern Christian Family.” You matter to God!
Faith UMC
MONDAY 10/20/25: Matthew 25:14-30, Investing or burying God’s gifts
We often hear this parable as teaching about using God’s gifts rather than squandering them. The owner in the story comes off greedy, seemingly angry about not getting a return. What changes in the reading when we recognize that the workers with returns must have used the money to bless others? Perhaps the owner wasn’t only concerned about his returns but that his gifts were used in the world?
TUESDAY 10/21/25: Mark 13:1-13, An ominous prediction
As the end nears for Jesus, he tells us of impending destruction. First, the temple–the symbol and center of the sacrificial system–will be torn down (a prediction of a new sacrificial system to take its place). Second, kingdoms will war (as God’s kingdom enters, the old ones don’t go without a fight). Finally, disciples will be hated. It’s not cheery, but Jesus’ announcements realistically portray the “birthing pangs” as God’s kingdom and reign begins on earth, the beginning of all things being made right.
WEDNESDAY 10/22/25: Psalm 84, Dwelling with God
Richard Foster writes in Celebration of Discipline, “To worship is to experience reality, to touch Life. It is to know, to feel, to experience the resurrected Christ in the midst of the gathered community.” The psalm writer is experiencing just this! It feels like we are dwelling in God’s home. We are living together. When have you had worship experiences like this? What is it like to dwell with God?
THURSDAY 10/23/25: Leviticus 16:20-30, How can we be cleaned from sin?
This is a glimpse of the sacrificial system God sets up for Israel as they wander in the desert. This is the dilemma: when the people have disobeyed God, how can they make it right? There needs to be more than renewed “obedience,” since the people already owe that to God. God sets up a sacrificial system so that the people can and will know that they are thoroughly forgiven and in a right relationship with God, again. Even though these practices are foreign to us, can we glimpse God’s grace as he creates this method for people to know their sins are forgiven?
FRIDAY 10/24/25: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58, Death, where is your sting?
The hope of the New Testament is that we will be raised from the dead with imperishable bodies. What those bodies are like, we can’t say, but we can look to Jesus’ resurrected body for an example. In any case, death is put into perspective. It’s for this reason that we can stand firm, unshakable, excelling in the work of the Lord. How does this perspective of death influence the way Christians ought to work in the world?
SATURDAY 10/25/25: Matthew 12:46-50, Disciples into Family
Jesus bends the definition of family when he includes his disciples as his mother and siblings. This is a strange development, given the importance of bloodlines in Jesus’s tradition. What is changed when we declare that we are a family for all? Who is this good news for? Join us in worship as we conclude our series, “Modern Christian Family.” You matter to God!