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, 4/20/26 – 4/25/26
Faith UMC
MONDAY 4/20/26: 1 Corinthians 15:35-49, trans-physical resurrection
True, there are other ancient stories of resurrections, but there is something different about Jesus’s, and every early tradition agrees: Jesus wasn’t just revived; he was transformed. Scholar, NT Wright, calls it a “trans-physical resurrection.” Something new has happened, and the early Christians took Jesus’s transformation as a sign of our own hopes. Our fates are intertwined with Jesus’s. How does this shape your thoughts on the next life?
TUESDAY 4/21/26: Luke 9:43-50, Who will be the greatest
Now that it’s clear to the disciples that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus continual teaches what the Messiah must do, which is suffer and die. The Messiah must take up the place of the servant, the scape goat, and the sacrificial lover for the sake of the world. They don’t get it, and it’s clear in their question about who will be the greatest. If we follow the Messiah’s way, we must recognize that it is a way of servanthood and sacrifice.
WEDNESDAY 4/22/26: Psalm 23, My cup overflows
Today, read this familiar psalm in a different Bible translations. Different translations have the special ability to draw our attentions in different ways, especially when it comes to stories and Scripture that we are familiar with. The psalm ends with feasting in front of enemies, and what an opulent feast it is! Oil overflowing. Cups filled with plenty for refills. Feasts like this only happen in peace time! What is God promising you in this reading today?
THURSDAY 4/23/26, 1 Samuel 3:1-21, Listening for God
Samuel, Hannah’s son, grows up in the temple, learning from Eli the high priest. Eli’s biological sons, it turns out, are not fit for taking on the high priest position after Eli. As Samuel grows, he begins to hear God speaking to him, but he doesn’t recognized God’s voice. Perhaps God has been speaking to you. Perhaps you have mistaken God’s voice for the voice of a friend, the lyrics of a song, or the sound of nature. God uses a variety of means to speak to us. Listen for God. What is God saying to you, today?
FRIDAY 4/24/26: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Faith, Love, and Hope in action
The Thessalonians are the model church of the New Testament. They are doing everything right (for the most part). Paul begins by thanking God for their “work of faith, labor of love, and enduring hope.” For Paul, the faith, hope, and love motif is critical for the life of the church, but here they are given action words. How is faith, hope, and love active in your life and in your church?
SATURDAY 4/25/26: John 21:1-8,15-19 Have you tried the other side of the boat?
Where do we find the disciples when they are “leaderless”? They went back to fishing. They went back to their old life. But they’re not leaderless. Christ is alive and with them. His restoring of Peter is also his commissioning. Christ is alive with us, leading us, restoring us, and commissioning us. Join us in worship as we rehear these wonderful words and make them our own. You matter to God.
Faith UMC
MONDAY 4/20/26: 1 Corinthians 15:35-49, trans-physical resurrection
True, there are other ancient stories of resurrections, but there is something different about Jesus’s, and every early tradition agrees: Jesus wasn’t just revived; he was transformed. Scholar, NT Wright, calls it a “trans-physical resurrection.” Something new has happened, and the early Christians took Jesus’s transformation as a sign of our own hopes. Our fates are intertwined with Jesus’s. How does this shape your thoughts on the next life?
TUESDAY 4/21/26: Luke 9:43-50, Who will be the greatest
Now that it’s clear to the disciples that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus continual teaches what the Messiah must do, which is suffer and die. The Messiah must take up the place of the servant, the scape goat, and the sacrificial lover for the sake of the world. They don’t get it, and it’s clear in their question about who will be the greatest. If we follow the Messiah’s way, we must recognize that it is a way of servanthood and sacrifice.
WEDNESDAY 4/22/26: Psalm 23, My cup overflows
Today, read this familiar psalm in a different Bible translations. Different translations have the special ability to draw our attentions in different ways, especially when it comes to stories and Scripture that we are familiar with. The psalm ends with feasting in front of enemies, and what an opulent feast it is! Oil overflowing. Cups filled with plenty for refills. Feasts like this only happen in peace time! What is God promising you in this reading today?
THURSDAY 4/23/26, 1 Samuel 3:1-21, Listening for God
Samuel, Hannah’s son, grows up in the temple, learning from Eli the high priest. Eli’s biological sons, it turns out, are not fit for taking on the high priest position after Eli. As Samuel grows, he begins to hear God speaking to him, but he doesn’t recognized God’s voice. Perhaps God has been speaking to you. Perhaps you have mistaken God’s voice for the voice of a friend, the lyrics of a song, or the sound of nature. God uses a variety of means to speak to us. Listen for God. What is God saying to you, today?
FRIDAY 4/24/26: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Faith, Love, and Hope in action
The Thessalonians are the model church of the New Testament. They are doing everything right (for the most part). Paul begins by thanking God for their “work of faith, labor of love, and enduring hope.” For Paul, the faith, hope, and love motif is critical for the life of the church, but here they are given action words. How is faith, hope, and love active in your life and in your church?
SATURDAY 4/25/26: John 21:1-8,15-19 Have you tried the other side of the boat?
Where do we find the disciples when they are “leaderless”? They went back to fishing. They went back to their old life. But they’re not leaderless. Christ is alive and with them. His restoring of Peter is also his commissioning. Christ is alive with us, leading us, restoring us, and commissioning us. Join us in worship as we rehear these wonderful words and make them our own. You matter to God.