GBC community Update: Spiritual Practices to help us draw closer to God

​Good morning! I hope you’re making this a great week.  Its nice to have seen the heat break.  These fall-like temperatures are perhaps appropriate for September.  The season is starting to change and with it a lot of ministry is starting up soon.
 
 
Join us on Sunday in-person or on our livestream as we look at what it means to be at the Junction
This Sunday at 11am I will be continuing our summer series, Living at the Junction.  I’ll be looking at Joshua 7 and what causes a surprising defeat for Israel. What does it means when things don’t go our way?  We’ll find out Sunday. It should be challenging.
Remember, you can join us as we gather in-person or you can connect through our website www.guelphbiblechapel.ca  our YouTube channel as well as Facebook LIVE.
 
 
Summer thoughts to keep you on the journey: Spiritual Practices to help us draw closer to God
I’ve been talking about the choices that come from living at the junctions of life lately.  I hope you’ve been gathering that a key element of success is walking close to God.  This can be more than just an attitude, it can become a spiritual discipline or practice. There’s lots of ways we can draw closer to God.  One practice to consider is turning our hands up to God at various times and praying like the Canaanite woman, “Lord, help me” (Matt 15:25) or with blind Bartimaeus, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mk 10:47). Or we might consider meditatively praying the Lord’s Prayer morning, noon, and evening. The verse “Give us this day our daily bread” will seem more relevant than ever. Perhaps as we take in news updates, we could imagine presenting the need or concern found in it to Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father. Additionally, short prayers of lament can aid us in bringing our loss, anger, and confusion to God: “How long, O Lord?” (Ps 13:2), “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?” (Ps 10:1), “Come quickly, Lord, to help me” (Ps 40:13), “Lord, have mercy on us,” (Matt 20:21), and “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matt 26:39). These are not practices that are meant to take us out of the moment. Instead, they are practices that allow us to remain in the moment in a faithful, redemptive, life-giving way and that helps us walk closer to God.  Bring these ideas into your daily life and you can’t help but draw closer to God.
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris