Free Reading Plans and Devotionals related to Matthew 26:27

New to Faith Devotional

Matthew’s Gospel opens the New Testament by brilliantly introducing the culmination of the entire Old Testament story. After thousands of years and dozens of generations, Jesus had come “to save his people from their sins” (Mathew 1:21). Matthew focuses on Jesus as King of Kings, who had come to reign on the throne of David forever.

As people who follow Jesus, we are considered to be His disciples. This simply means that - through the Spirit’s power – we are learning to be with Jesus in order to embody His teachings for His mission. Throughout Scripture, we see a variety of ways that Jesus and the people of God have learned to commune with God. Historically these have been referred to, by the Church, as the spiritual disciplines or spiritual rhythms. The purpose of these rhythms are not simply to do them, but to grow in our relationship with Jesus.

Why does America like fast food? Because it’s quick, convenient, and tastes amazing. But when we view our faith through that lens, we become spiritually out of shape consumers who end up living a faith dependent on speed, convenience, and hyper-palatability. But God’s desire for us in life is to slow down and live lives of intentional discipleship; to develop lasting faith in a fast culture.

Exploring Scripture can align ourselves with truth and help us grow in our relationship with God. The devotionals in this plan are not designed to unpack the meaning of passages for you, but to help guide exploring Scripture personally. We will be journeying through the Bible with Jesus by taking 30 days to follow this Scripture reading plan.

In the beginning was the Word … but what came next? This plan is for anyone who wants a better understanding of the Bible. It provides a chronological reading program that endeavors to place all biblical passages in their date order. Part Eleven of this twelve-part one-year reading plan is titled ‘God Provides the Lamb and Starts the Church: AD 33–AD 58’.

Daily Bible Reading is designed to facilitate consistent interaction with Scripture. It includes background information on each day’s Scripture passage and key verse for meditation, reflection questions to help you dive deeper into Scripture, a prayer and prayer concern to help you connect to God and be of spiritual support to others. Journey with us this month as we explore the theme “God’s Life-Giving Word of Hope.”

Through Christ's death and resurrection, we receive grace upon grace–more than we could ever need or exhaust. This plan helps readers reflect upon all the spiritual blessings our Father has given us in Christ as we learn to rest deeper in His grace, experience greater freedom through His truth, and ever-deepening intimacy with our Savior. Edited by Karen Greer.

Daily Bible Reading is designed to facilitate consistent interaction with Scripture. It includes background information on each day’s Scripture passage, key verses for meditation, reflection questions to help you dive deeper into Scripture, and prayers to help you connect to God and be of spiritual support to others. Journey with us this month as we explore the theme, “God’s Saving Word: Hope.” [Note: All Scriptures are quoted in the Good News Translation.]

This is the fifth part of a reading plan through the Bible, following the lectionary pattern of reading in the Psalms, Old Testament, and New Testament each day. In addition, each day this month will feature a memorization challenge for the Apostles' Creed, and there will be brief devotionals from different people in our Church scattered throughout the plan.