The Next 40 Days ...

This past weekend as a church we suggested some significant steps for our folks to take over the next 40 days.  Steps of alignment behind our Lord Jesus; steps of persistence that will hopefully form some new spiritual habits; and steps of faith that will honor God and fill us with more of His presence.

1) Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. Over the next 40 days we're just challenging ourselves to read God's Word to learn more about Jesus and how we are to follow Him.  {This averages out to reading about 3-4 chapters per day.}

2)  Pray and fast in a bold, new way. We have the 24/7 prayer option online AND the 24:00 prayer service on Dec. 1-2.  We are will seek to fast from something (food, internet, Facebook, TV, etc.) on Wednesday, Dec. 1st.  The bottom line: just commit to praying more and praying with greater boldness for God to show up in your life!

3)  Sacrifice and invest your money for the Gospel and glory of Christ. As a church we are taking up a special offering on Dec. 2nd/5th.  Portions of this offering will go to campus needs and another portion to missions. However, there are many other ways to take this step.  Just pray and ask God for direction about where to give AND how much!

4)  Spend an hour together as a family/couple with God. We are very intentional about helping our kids be better students and athletes. Many of us take regular "date nights" to invest in our marriages.  However, how intentional are we about growing as family closer to Christ? How much time is spent on "training" our children to go the Lord's way?

• Every week our Children's Ministry sends something home to parents to help reinforce the lesson and use for family devotionals.  You can use this as a tool to teach your children about the Bible and Jesus.


• In Student Ministry, our web site contains information for parents about each week's topic and the "devotional" activity your teenager is asked to do on their own.  Click here for more details.

5)  Do intentional and consistent disciple-making. Invite people to church; share Christ with someone; get in a small group or go on a global mission trip.  Just be intentional about sharing the love and truth of Jesus Christ!!

• The Story is a great way to share Christ with others!


• On November 18/21 we start a new series on the end of times.  This is a VERY popular topic and a GREAT TIME to invite someone to church with you!!


• For more on small groups -- groups@rockbridge.cc


• Global Mission Trips

6)  Share what happens. Just talk about the next 40 days in your family, with your small group, or on your campus Facebook page.