Getting Started This Week | Faith Promise 2026 | Week 1

Focus of the Week:

Is Christ worth it? Is sharing the Gospel worth it? Is giving up everything and going to unknown places to share who He is worth it?

This week we will have a guiding post with scriptures for each day focused on the overall topic for the week. Reflection questions are set for the entire week to provide time to dive deeper into scripture each day.

Notes on the practices:

Journaling and reflection both help to slow down and be mindful of what is being read. Both are similar practices; feel free to journal reflection questions or reflect on journalling questions. These are here to be a guide, not a task. Let the Holy Spirit lead you to whatever He may want to highlight for you specifically.

Getting Started:
 
During our last sermon series, we intentionally examined the armor of God to be fully prepared for a defensive spiritual battle. But is that all there is to our walk with God? What about going on the offensive? What does it mean to take ground for His Kingdom and share the Gospel? This radical shift requires us to wrestle with sacrifice; we have to consider how we become less so He can become greater (John 3:30). But are we moved enough to actually see the lost the way God does? Friends, this kind of perspective can only come from experiencing God's heart and the unsearchable riches of knowing Him.

Let’s go all the way back to Genesis for a glimpse of God’s desire to reach us. After Adam and Eve decide to disobey God’s command and eat from the tree, He doesn’t abandon them. God walked through the garden, looking for them, and asked, “Where are you?” Even after His creation rebelled against Him, God still pursued us. We see this time and again across the Old Testament as God reaches out over and over again, calling His people to repentance and drawing them back to Him. But the complete revelation of God’s heart is found in Jesus. Christ fully represents His boundless compassion and mercy; His willingness to give His Son is the ultimate sacrifice to restore what was broken. This is the matchless heart of our God.

Now think about what happens when we come to fully know and experience a relationship with the Lord. When we understand Christ’s gift to us and we find it immeasurably worthy, everything changes. We experience heartbreak, yet we can still have never-ending joy. We weather hardships, but we do so with the power of praise. We face financial hardships, yet we still give freely of what we have, without fear or restraint. Why? Because we remember what our God has rescued us from. We know the depth of His sacrificial love, mercy, and grace. And that gift shouldn’t be something we keep to ourselves. Like the apostle Paul, we should be moved to share Christ with everyone we can (Philippians 1:22).

The question before us this week, and in the weeks to come, is this: We have been armed with the Gospel of grace; do we live with reckless abandon and urgency to sacrifice so others can know that same Good News? As we hear about our mission partners around the globe doing this very thing, consider the inestimable worth of Christ. How will His sacrifice motivate you to action, supporting others who are on the field or taking the bold step of going yourself?

Let this be the starting point:

Ask God to reveal where you are holding onto something instead of allowing Christ to be fully worth it.

May the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.

1 Thessalonians 3:12 NLT

Spend time each day this week reading and rereading the passage of Scripture. Spend time in prayer as you reflect and journal aspects that stood out to you. Join us next week as we explore more of Faith Promise.