2026 Week 1 GraceMen Weekly Update

This Week:

1. Prayer

2. Meditation

3. Quote

4. Events

5. Book Recommendation

Grace and Peace to you brothers.

As we begin this new year and this new season of renewing our minds in Christ, we start with a foundational challenge: Are you willing to leave behind everything that hinders you from following Jesus wholeheartedly? Just as Jesus called the disciples to leave their nets immediately and follow Him, He extends that same call to you today. Yet unlike those fishermen who walked away from their livelihoods in an instant, we often find ourselves entangled by invisible nets—patterns of thinking, habits, relationships, and ambitions that promise security but ultimately prevent us from pursuing Christ with full devotion. This week, we invite you to examine what's holding you back. What "nets" are currently tangling your life, keeping you from the radical freedom and purposeful obedience that comes from following Christ? The journey of renewing your mind begins not with new information, but with a new allegiance—one that says, "Lord, I will follow You, whatever the cost." Join us this week as we explore what it truly means to break free.

Prayer:

 Lord, give me the strength to leave behind anything that hinders me from following You wholeheartedly. (Matthew 4:19-20)

Matthew 4:19-20:  And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Meditation: 

Jesus called the disciples to leave their nets immediately. What "nets" are currently entangling you and preventing you from fully following Christ?

Quote:

“Sincerity in religion consists in setting God highest in the heart, in choosing him before other things, in having a heart to sell all for Christ. The proper trial whether a man has a heart to forsake all for Christ, is his being actually put to it.” - Jonathan Edwards

Events:

No week day Bible Study this week

Saturday - December 20, 2025

Morning Bible Study - 7am

• At the Church in the Prayer Room
• We start a NEW 10 Week study on John Calvins "On the Christian Life"
• Facilitator: Eugene Allen
• Let Eugene Allen know if. you are interesting in joining in.

Book Recommendation:

“The Mortification of Sin” by John Owen

Be Killing Sin, or Sin Will Be Killing You.

Do you feel locked in a losing battle with recurring sin? Do you find yourself making the same confessions, feeling the same guilt, and wondering why your spiritual life feels stagnant?

You are not alone. In The Mortification of Sin, the legendary Puritan theologian John Owen acts as a master spiritual physician, diagnosing the sickness of the human heart with surgical precision. But he doesn't just expose the disease—he offers the cure.

First published in 1656, this isn't a book of outdated rules or legalistic checklists. It is a timeless battle plan for anyone tired of managing their sin and ready to start defeating it. Owen masterfully demonstrates that true victory doesn't come from grit, willpower, or self-improvement, but through the power of the Holy Spirit and a fresh view of Christ’s cross.

In this book, you will discover:

• Why "peaceful coexistence" with sin is a dangerous myth.
• The crucial difference between merely suppressing behavior and truly uprooting desire.
• How to rely on the Holy Spirit without becoming passive.
• Practical, psychological, and spiritual strategies to crush lust before it takes root.

If you are weary of the struggle and long for the "life, vigor, and comfort" that comes from a pure heart, let John Owen guide you to the freedom found only in the gospel.

Read this classic. Your joy depends on it.

In His Service,
GraceMen