AUGUST 2025 - God's Gym

AUGUST 2025: Gold’s – God’s Gym

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30)

We will take these 5 weeks to facilitate a deep understanding of health.  We will attempt to develop a deeper appreciation of the beauty of God’s design of human beings and His intent for us to live as healthy creatures. He has uniquely created us in His Image. This series will be a time to theologically reflect upon His imprint on our bodies, our emotions, our minds, our hearts---and our will. One of the Domains in the Global Flourishing Study is Mental and Physical Health. This series will be aimed at helping all of us have a better understanding of healthy and flourishing.

August 3, 2025:  What Happened?

     Genesis 3

It all started so incredibly, indescribably, miraculously well! God created human beings after His image and placed them in paradise! They were perfectly innocent. They were in harmony with God, His purpose, His creation, and His place for them in the universe. That is the story of Genesis 1-2. It is a beautiful story. However, the events of Genesis 3 changed everything. We will take the time to connect this story to the ramifications that have been experienced in the human experience ever since the fateful decisions made in the Garden of Eden. The brokenness of our world is underneath and expressed through the individual experiences of brokenness in humanity. Illness and disease are the results of Fall of Man.

 Weekly Reading:  Philippians 1:1-11

August 10, 2025:  Life is Harder than You Expected!

     Job 5:7

Life is difficult! On the one hand, life is precious, miraculous, and filled with so much blessing. However, life is also demanding, challenging, exhausting, bruising, and can be relentlessly difficult. In fact, it is just harder than you expected! Today we will examine how traumatic experiences can shape us as human beings. We will embrace the reality of the difficulties that we may experience in life that can derail us.

 Weekly Reading:  Philippians 1:12-30

August 17, 2025:  God Cares!

     Romans 8:31-39

At the very foundation of our theology is our belief in God! Our God is the God of creation. He is the God of redemption. He is the God of hope and healing. He is the God of restoration. Fundamental to our journey in life is our belief in Him. And – the good news, no, the great news is He cares! He cares for you!

 Weekly Reading:  Philippians 2

August 24, 2025:  You Can’t Control Everything, But You Can Control Some Things!

     Matthew 11:28-30

We cannot control everything! Our health can be threatened by so many factors. For example, we can’t control the effects of aging; if we live long enough, we will get old! We can’t control the actions of other people. Victims of abuse cannot control what has happened around them that result in harmful behavior. However, we can control how we choose to respond to whatever happens to us. Today we will discuss how Jesus helps us manage our way through life.

 Weekly Reading:  Philippians 3

August 31, 2025:  Keep Living!

     Colossians 2:6-7

There will be times when we may wonder – “How can I get through this?” We will question our ability to cope and manage. Life can just be so overwhelming. However, we have the option to just keep living! We can determine that we are not going to drown in our grief, pain, hurt, or despair. We can place our roots deeply in our life with Jesus. He can enable us to . . . keep living!

 Weekly Reading:  Philippians 4