2026 Week 4 GraceMen Weekly Update

This Week:

1. Prayer

2. Meditation

3. Quote

4. Events

5. Book Recommendation
6. New Blog Posts

Grace and Peace to you brothers.

As we head into the end of January, it's worth pausing to think about endurance. Not the kind that wins marathons, but the kind that keeps a man faithful when life gets long and the road gets hard. Hebrews 12:1-2 reminds us to "run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith." This week's prayer asks God to grant us that kind of staying power, the kind that keeps our eyes fixed on Jesus even when the race feels more like a grind than a glory. The cloud of witnesses who've gone before us didn't run perfectly, but they ran faithfully. And that's what we're after too: not perfection, but persistence. As we think together this year about what it means to "Renew Your Mind," let's start here by asking what sins are clinging so closely that they're slowing us down. The race is long, but it's worth finishing well.

Prayer:

God, grant me the endurance to run the race set before me, keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Hebrews 12:1-2: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Meditation: 

Reflect on the "cloud of witnesses" who have gone before us. How does their example encourage you to cast off the sin that clings so closely?

Quote:

A.W. Pink “The Christian is not called to lie down on flowery beds of ease, but to run a race, and athletics are strenuous, demanding self-sacrifice, hard training, the putting forth of every ounce of energy possessed… It is only as that is kept steadily in view, only as faith and hope are in real and daily exercise, that we shall progress along the path of obedience.”

Events:

Thursday - January 22, 2026

• Morning Bible Study - 6am thru 7:15am 
• At the Church in the Prayer Room
• Beginning our new series "Everyday Wisdom: Walking with Christ & One Another through the Book of Proverbs"
• Craig Fain will be facilitating

Saturday - January 24, 2026

• Morning Bible Study - 7am
• At the Church in the Prayer Room
• We will be in Week 4 of our 10 Week study on John Calvins "On the Christian Life"
• Facilitator: Eugene Allen
• Let Eugene Allen know if you are interesting in joining in.

Upcoming Events:

Register your Interest

• Every Man a Warrior Groups Forming - Register [HERE]

Saturday - January 31, 2026

• Men's Breakfast - 8:30am
• Registration is now open [HERE]

Book Recommendation:

The Christian Race
by J.C. Ryle

If you’re tired of Christianity that doesn’t challenge you, The Christian Race demands your attention. J.C. Ryle writes to men not to coddle them, but to call them to run hard and finish well.

At the heart of this book lies Hebrews 12:1-2: lay aside every weight, fix your eyes on Jesus, and run with perseverance the race marked out for you. Ryle takes this athletic metaphor seriously. He refuses the notion that faith is passive comfort or self-improvement. Instead, he calls you to sprint, to strip away distractions, to endure when tired, and to keep your gaze locked on Christ alone.

The collection diagnoses what derails men from finishing strong: self-righteousness that masquerades as virtue, worldly ambition that erodes conviction, compromise that feels reasonable, and spiritual apathy that creeps in unnoticed. Ryle exposes these obstacles and shows you how to overcome them through faith in Christ’s finished work.

Whether you’re beginning the race, struggling midway, or approaching the finish line, these twenty-four sermons chart your course. Ryle models Christian manhood as it should be: focused, resolute, Christ-centered, and eternally minded.

This is a book for men who refuse to drift. Men who want to run their race well and hear at last, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

New Blog Articles:

A Year of Biblical Manhood: Introducing Our 2026 Content Strategy

Why the Christian Life Is a Race and a Fight

Coram Deo,
GraceMen