Week 43 GraceMen Weekly Update

This Week:
1. Prayer
2. Meditation
3. Quote
4. Events
5. Book Recommendation

Grace and Peace to you brothers.

This week we turn our attention to a virtue that lies at the heart of Christlike manhood—sacrifice. In a world that often tells us to look out for ourselves first, the gospel calls us to something far greater: to lay down our preferences, our comfort, and our pride for the good of others. True strength is not found in asserting ourselves but in humbly serving those God has placed in our lives. As you reflect this week, ask the Lord to form in you the mind of Christ—one that counts others as more significant than yourself and finds joy in giving rather than receiving.

Prayer:

Lord, teach me to be a man of sacrifice, putting others before myself. (Philippians 2:3-4)

Meditation: 

Consider how you can cultivate a more sacrificial spirit in your relationships.

Quote:

“The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment. Real faith leads to dying to self.” – John MacArthur

Events:

 Tuesday - October 21, 2025

 Morning Bible Study - 6am - 7:15am

• At the Church in the Tower Room

 Thursday - October 23, 2025

 Evening Bible Study - 8pm

• At the Church in the Tower Room

 Saturday - October 25, 2025

 Morning Bible Study - 7am

• At the Church in the Prayer Room
• Topic: Hosea 9:1-17:  Coming Exile 
• Facilitator: Eugene Allen

Book Recommendation:

A Treatise of Self-Denial by Thomas Manton

Thomas Manton's A Treatise of Self-Denial delivers a surgical strike against the modern church's most dangerous enemy: the enthroned self. This 17th-century Puritan classic exposes how self-idolatry - not gross immorality - constitutes Christianity's greatest threat. Manton dismantles a comfortable religion that embraces Christ for benefits while refusing to surrender personal autonomy, reputation, and comfort.

His diagnosis proves devastatingly relevant for contemporary believers drowning in consumerism, self-promotion, and therapeutic culture's obsession with self-fulfillment. Unlike shallow motivational Christianity, Manton presents Biblical discipleship's non-negotiable cost: denying self comprehensively, continuously, and completely.

Yet this isn't mere moralism. Manton anchors everything in Christ's incarnation and cross, demonstrating that self-denial flows from grace and union with Jesus. His balanced wisdom avoids both worldly accommodation and harsh asceticism, while his practical insights expose subtle self-deception in even religious performance.

For anyone serious about authentic Christian discipleship, this treatise is indispensable. Manton doesn't merely inform - he transforms.

In His Service,
GraceMen