Your Faith Journey

Advent Scripture Reading Plan – “Advent is a season of four weeks that includes the four Sundays before Christmas. Advent derives from the Latin adventus, which means “coming.” The season proclaims the coming of the Christ —whose birth we prepare to celebrate once again.” (The United Methodist Book of Worship) You are encouraged to set aside time each day to be alone with the Lord to pray for God to reveal himself through the Holy Spirit, the words of scripture, music, interactions with others, the normal activities of life, worship services, and holiday gatherings. As you pray, read and study the Bible verses below with an attitude of expectation. Expect Jesus to reveal himself to you when you seek him with all of your heart.

Monday – Isaiah 29:17-24

Tuesday – Psalm 42

Wednesday – Zechariah 8:1-17

Thursday – Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

Friday – 2 Samuel 7:18-22

Saturday – 2 Samuel 7:23-29

Your Faith Journey

Advent Scripture Reading Plan – “Advent is a season of four weeks that includes the four Sundays before Christmas. Advent derives from the Latin adventus, which means “coming.” The season proclaims the coming of the Christ —whose birth we prepare to celebrate once again.” (The United Methodist Book of Worship) You are encouraged to set aside time each day to be alone with the Lord to pray for God to reveal himself through the Holy Spirit, the words of scripture, music, interactions with others, the normal activities of life, worship services, and holiday gatherings. As you pray, read and study the Bible verses below with an attitude of expectation. Expect Jesus to reveal himself to you when you seek him with all of your heart.

Monday – Psalm 21

Tuesday – Isaiah 41:14-20

Wednesday – Genesis 15:1-18

Thursday – Psalm 146:5-10

Friday – Isaiah 9:2-7

Saturday – 1 Samuel 2:1-8

Your Faith Journey

Advent Scripture Reading Plan – “Advent is a season of four weeks that includes the four Sundays before Christmas. Advent derives from the Latin adventus, which means “coming.” The season proclaims the coming of the Christ —whose birth we prepare to celebrate once again.” (The United Methodist Book of Worship) You are encouraged to set aside time each day to be alone with the Lord to pray for God to reveal himself through the Holy Spirit, the words of scripture, music, interactions with others, the normal activities of life, worship services, and holiday gatherings. As you pray, read and study the Bible verses below with an attitude of expectation. Expect Jesus to reveal himself to you when you seek him with all of your heart (Jeremiah 29:13 ESV).

Monday – Psalm 124

Tuesday – Isaiah 11

Wednesday – Isaiah 4:2-6

Thursday – Isaiah 54

Friday – Isaiah 30:19-26

Saturday – Isaiah 40:1-11

Your Faith Journey

Develop as a Disciple – Jesus invites us to follow him into the kingdom reality here and now, as well as throughout eternity. Discipleship is a life-long journey of walking with Christ towards maturity and unity with other believers. As the people of Avon UMC, we vow to faithfully participate in the kingdom ministries of the church with our Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service, and Witness. This week we are focusing on faithfully participating as a “Witness.” You’re encouraged to read and study the Bible verses below as you pray about being Jesus’ witness wherever you go, sharing the good news, expressing how the Lord has worked in your life, and inviting others to follow Christ.

Monday – Romans 5:1-11

Tuesday – John 1:35-51

Wednesday – Romans 10:9-17 and 1 John 1:1-4

Thursday – Mark 16:9-20

Friday – Acts 1:1-8

Saturday – Write out a concise version of your own faith story by answering the following questions, then share it with someone:

Your Faith Journey

Develop as a Disciple – As the people of Avon UMC, we vow to faithfully participate in the kingdom ministries of the church with our Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service, and Witness. This week we are focusing on faithfully participating through “Service.” You’re encouraged to set aside daily time to read and study the Bible verses below as you pray about using your S.H.A.P.E. to serve others as love and faith in action. Your S.H.A.P.E. includes:

Spiritual Gifts

Heart

Abilities

Personality

Experience

Monday – 1 Peter 4:8-11

Tuesday – Ephesians 4:1-16

Wednesday – John 13:12-17

Thursday – 1 Corinthians 12:1-26

Friday – Matthew 25:31-46

Saturday – Rest, enjoy Recreation, and Reflect upon the past week. Re-read verses or phrases that stood out the most.

Your Faith Journey

Develop as a Disciple – Jesus invites us to follow him into the kingdom reality here and now, as well as throughout eternity. Discipleship is a life-long journey of walking with Christ towards maturity and unity with other believers. As the people of Avon UMC, we vow to faithfully participate in the kingdom ministries of the church with our Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service, and Witness. This week we are focusing on faithfully participating with our “Presence.” You’re encouraged to set aside daily time to read and study the Bible verses below as you pray about the theme of God’s presence with us, being present with God and Christians during worship services, and being present with the other believers of AUMC as part of a group or team.

Monday – Read John 15:1-11

Tuesday – Read Isaiah 6:1-8 and Hebrews 10:19-25

Wednesday – Read Luke 22:7-20

Thursday – Read Acts 2:42-47

Friday – Read Matthew 1:18-25 and Matthew 28:18-20

Saturday – Rest, enjoy Recreation, and Reflect on the past week.

Re-read verses or phrases that stood out the most. 

Your Faith Journey

Develop as a Disciple – To become a member of a United Methodist congregation, we professes faith in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. We claim that our desire is to live our daily lives as disciples of Jesus Christ. Here, we covenant together with God and the members of Avon UMC to keep the vows of confirmation and membership into the Church. We vow to faithfully participate in the ministries of the church by our Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service, and Witness. This week we are focusing on faithfully participating with our “Prayers.” You are encouraged to set aside daily time to read and study the Bible verses below as you pray.

Monday – Read Luke 11:1-4 and pray for our denomination, including our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.

Tuesday – Read Philippians 4:4-7 and pray for the United Methodist leaders and congregations in Indiana.

Wednesday – Read 2 Timothy 3:10-17 and pray for the leaders of Avon UMC, our ministries, and those in need within our congregation.

Thursday – Read Matthew 7:24-27 and pray for our community, including the schools, emergency responders, businesses, other churches, local ministries, and residence.

Friday – Read Psalm 119:9-18 and pray for everyone who is disconnected from Christ.

Saturday – Share with God what is on your heart and mind as you pray. Invite the Lord to reveal a word, phrase, or verse that is his message to you for the day.

Your Faith Journey

Today is United Methodist Women emphasis Sunday. From its beginning, UMW has focused on ministries with women, children, and youth. One of the current mission initiatives of UMW is working for justice through service and advocacy. Focused on that initiative, some of the UMW of Avon UMC began partnering with Liz Pitcher of All Worthy of Love in 2016. AWOL is a justice focused non-profit in Michigan, Texas, and Indiana that reaches out to those enslaved by street-prostitution. To learn more and get involved visit: www.AllWorthyofLove.org

You can join the fight to free modern-day slaves by praying for Liz, the AWOL team, the victims, and the traffickers. Consider reading and studying the following Bible verses as you ask God to reveal his heart and will in regards to those in need:

Sunday – Micah 6:6-8

Monday – Psalm 103:6 & 138:7

Tuesday – Isaiah 58:1-7 (Pray for Liz & the AWOL Team)

Wednesday – Luke 19:1-10

Thursday – Isaiah 40:28-31

Friday – Psalm 40:1-3

Saturday – Psalm 146

Your Faith Journey

Develop as a Disciple : You were not born as an adult. You grew mentally, emotionally, and physically over an extended period of time. Unfortunately, being a Christian doesn’t guarantee you’ll grow spiritually more mature. You have to be intentional about taking steps each day on your faith journey as a follower of Jesus. Thankfully, there are many resources available to help us to develop holy habits and grow as disciples of Christ. Below are some suggestions:

Books: If you enjoy reading, you may want to read one of the following to help you grow mentally as a believer:                  “The Heart of the Story: Discover Your Life Within the Grand Epic of God’s Story” by Randy Frazee, “Making Sense of the Bible” by Adam Hamilton, “Think, Act, Be Like Jesus: Becoming a New Person in Christ” by Randy Frazee

Daily Devotionals: You’re encouraged to pray and read, or listen, to scripture daily. There are terrific FREE resources online, apps for smartphones, and printed devotionals as well. Here are three FREE options: “Our Daily Bread”, “The Upper Room”, “YouVersion Bible App”

Download the SmartPhone Apps from the Apple App Store or Google Play. Below are the websites to learn more:

ODB.org, UpperRoom.org, YouVersion.com

Music: Consider listening to Christian songs daily via a local radio station:

101.9 (KLove)

90.5 (Air1)

97.9 (Moody Radio)

Your Faith Journey

Worship God – The apostle Paul encouraged Christians in Thessalonica to “live in a way that pleases God” (1 Thessalonians 4:1 NLT). To live a life that pleases God, we have to know Him, study His will revealed in the Bible, and invite the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions to live in a way that glorifies God instead of simply satisfying our own wants and desires.

Are you living a life that pleases God? If not, what needs to change?

In his letter to believers in Rome, the apostle Paul wrote, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT).

Begin the transformation process to live according to God’s will by following Jesus mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. As you change your thoughts and attitude, the Holy Spirit will guide you to live in a way that pleases the Lord through new behaviors.

For further study, you’re encouraged to read all of Romans 12 and 1 Thessalonians 4. As you read scripture, humbly ask God to reveal a word, phrase, or verse for you for each day.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday = Romans 12

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday = 1 Thessalonians 4