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Week 3 Introduction
Welcome to Week 3 of our 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting
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For this last week of our spiritual journey, we will shift our perspective from asking God to grow the gospel in us individually as well as a church family, to longing to see Gospel Growth Around Us. Our hope and prayer will continue to be that God will begin (or continue) to use you to grow the gospel through your words and actions at work, at school, on your teams, to your extended family, and more.
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But as we move deeper into 2023, we want to see God working through Riverwood in such a way that we are seeing entire communities, people groups, and more come to understand the life-changing gospel locally and globally.
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So with this in mind, let us pray together, asking for God to do what only what He can do through us and our Gospel partners this year.
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Sunday, Jan 15
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DEVOTIONAL: “GROWTH THROUGH MULTIPLICATION"
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Three years, one month, and five days after we said, “I do,” LeAnn and I welcomed our first child into our family. It was no longer just the two of us.
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While we didn’t mind this intrusion, imagine if LeAnn and I were so focused on our marital relationship we ignored our baby’s cries, left her home alone while we went on dates, and neglected feeding her while we readily made dinner for ourselves. Not only would we deserve your scorn, we would deserve to be arrested!
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In order for new parents to be successful, they have to take their eyes off themselves somewhat to attend to the needs of their child.
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Likewise, passages like Philippians 2:3-4, Romans 12:9-18, and Ephesians 4:32 make it quite clear God desires for His followers to take their eyes off of themselves to attend to the needs of others. After all, that is exactly what Jesus did!
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During the first two weeks of these 21 Days of Prayer, we’ve been praying for personal and corporate Gospel Growth. But I hope you’ve noticed that this Gospel Growth should naturally lead us to be others-focused. That’s what Paul is getting at in 2 Timothy 2:2, “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
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Paul’s heart wasn’t for himself. He wanted this life-changing Gospel to not just pass to Timothy, but for Timothy to be “others-focused” and pass it on to others who would be “others-focused” by passing it on to others (who should be others-focused, etc, etc.).
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For you to live the life God has for you, He wants you to share your faith (as we saw on Day 7). And if we are going to be the church God calls us to be, we are going to have to take the Gospel to others while welcoming others into our church family (which we saw yesterday).
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That’s why this week we’ll be praying for God to guide us as a church in how to “multiply” ourselves and be others-focused. But let’s start with the personal. Just as Paul “multiplied” himself, how can you “multiply” yourself?
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- Who can you invite to serve in ministry with you?
- With whom do you need to start a 1-on-1 discipling relationship?
- Who can you invite to a Worship Gathering or Growth Group?
- Who do you need to share the gospel with?
Almighty God, I confess I am far too often focused on myself and not on the people you have put around me. Would you continue to grow your gospel in me so I might be more and more like Jesus, knowing how to care for myself while being used by you to love, care, serve, and welcome others. Give me insight into who you want me to invest in as you continue to invest in me.
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Feel free to open your Notes app to write down a thought or two from today's reading or write out your own prayer.
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