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words of encouragement for the long journey ahead

THE PLAN: ACT SUMMER GROW!

5/14/2019

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Beginning Tues May 28th

THREE INGREDIENTS FOR SUMMER GROWTH!

At our last meeting of the school year, we talked about three ingredients for growth this summer. We sent everyone home with a freshly planted seed but we let everyone know that it's up to you whether or not it grows! You'll need to make choices that provide your seed everything it needs to grow. We shared about how many students over the years went into their summer break without a real plan on how they were going to grow. They would go home and just work, play, eat, sleep, and repeat! But what about your faith over break? Will faith just grow without any effort? We are providing some concrete practices for your break that will put you in a better growing position (God's handiwork) and enable you to come back with a FAITH ON FIRE! Just like the plant we gave you, choices need to be made in order for you to grow! Click the link below for details about the ACT SUMMER GROW plan! ​
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GOOD SOIL - PREPARING YOUR HEART!

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​Schedule a DAY RETREAT with the Lord! DO THIS AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR BREAK once you are done with finals. Make it a super big deal. Pack a lunch and head off to a special place that really speaks to you (a park, zoo, river, lake, etc.). Spend some time there, just you and your Lord. Don't rush this! Talk to Him about how much you want this summer to belong to Him. Talk about how your previous summers went. Talk about why you've never dedicated a summer to Him before? Pray over your job, your fears heading into summer, the people you work with, pray for your friends at home, your family. Ask Jesus to use your summer for His glory! Ask Him to help you become less self focused, to love others more, to love people you don't like more than ever! Ask Him to deepen your faith over break. Then open up your Bible and just spend some time in the Word with Jesus and as you read also just be listening with your heart and eyes as you hang out with Him. Jot down any thoughts you have during this time, or anything that jumps out at you. 

GOOD SUN - SCHEDULING TIME WITH THE SON!

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​You are going to need a lot of SON-LIGHT (see what I did there?) if you want to grow, you will need a plan! Many folks head into summer with a desire to grow BUT NO PLAN. If you AIM AT NOTHING guess what happens? YOU'LL HIT IS EVERY TIME! So the plan we are inviting you to join is a simple one (key is consistency). 
  • A Daily Quiet Time & Journal - schedule at least 15 minutes daily for time with Jesus. Some have called this a daily quiet time, others have called it daily devotions. Call it whatever! We can't encourage you enough to begin the practice of daily devotions. This is best accompanied with a journal to record the date, your thoughts/prayers from the passages you read, and anything you think He is telling you. There are many topical reading plans through the Bible App called YouVersion with pop-up reminders daily!  ​​

GOOD WATER - A PARTICIPATING COMMUNITY

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You are going to need a lot of GOOD WATER if you want to grow over the break. We talked about the importance of Christian Community and how you can't grow it alone! We have several ways you can put yourself into a good position to receive the Good Water: 
  • ATTEND CHURCH WEEKLY! If you are able to get off of work on Sunday make that a priority! If you just can't (but ask anyway) then try to attend a Saturday night service!  
  • READ THE NEW TESTAMENT IN 90 DAYS. Every night we will post a link (through the ACT GroupMe - ask if you are not in the groupme) for you to join us live to read with us. It takes only 20 minutes to read 3 chapters out loud. OUR READING PLAN (link)
  • READ TWO CHALLENGING BOOKS. As a community we are reading two books over break. "Plugged In" is the book we will be using as our weekly summer study guide for those still in the area over summer break. Both available in paper back or kindle version (Kindle app available for all devices). Click book title for amazon link.
    1. SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR THE SOUL - our book study for summer
    2. PLUGGED IN   
  • SERVE - Talk with your church leaders about how you can serve weekly. Get involved don't just attend.  
  • ACCOUNTABILITY! None of this will likely happen unless we enlist a few "work-out" buddies to help us stay the course. Ask another ACT'er to be your summer prayer partner who will check in with you weekly!  Share with one-another how the ACT SUMMER GROW PLAN is going, and pray for one another. ​
    • Let us know your summer prayer partner by leaving a comment below! 

SEEM LIKE A LOT? However, how many times have you binged watched a TV show? How many hours spent sleeping in? The plans/practices we want to put into place over break will take far less time with 10x the life/rest/peace! We do what we value the most! May this be the summer of all summers in making Jesus the number one priority in your life! 
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