In the book of Exodus, God’s people are called out of Egypt into freedom – and we are invited to join them. The God of freedom offers life with him as we follow him, learning his ways and discovering his heart – and so, over the next eight weeks, we encourage you to pursue God through one or more of the following spiritual disciplines:

READING GOD’S WORD

Over these 40 days there will be an opportunity to reflect more closely on the passages we are looking at our Sunday gatherings and Gospel Communities, but also some practical activities and challenges. We hope you’ll find it both enjoyable and refreshing to the soul. There are 5 readings to do over the week, which gives you some flexibility if you aren’t able to go through it every day. The first few readings will be focussed in Exodus itself, while the last couple will be looking more broadly at how the themes continue in the Old Testament and are then fulfilled in Christ in the New Testament.

FASTING

Fasting is ‘a physical act with a spiritual focus’. In fasting, we voluntarily choose to give up something important to us, and ask God to fill the space left behind. Over the coming eight weeks, then, you might choose to fast from food one day a week, or log off social media for 40 days, or resolve not to watch Netflix for a while. Whenever you miss that thing, turn your heart to God, and seek him in prayer and praise, asking him to give you more of him.



1:1:1

The Israelites were brought up out of Egypt to be God’s witnesses in the world, showing the goodness and wisdom of God to all people. We too are called to this task of making God known to our friends, our family, our colleagues, and the world around us. Over the next eight weeks, take time out to pray for God’s blessing in this work: at 1 o’clock each day, pray for 1 minute for 1 of your friends – and see what God does

Whether you do one of these spiritual disciplines or all of them, we pray that the next 40 days will be a time of re-focusing, re-energizing, and re-wiring, as God leads you into the freedom he promises.

> DOWNLOAD 40 DAYS OF FREEDOM

Luke Nelson

Luke is the Lead Pastor of City on a Hill Melbourne West. He joined City on a Hill in its early days, serving as the Community Pastor in Melbourne, before being asked to lead a new church plant. Having grown up in Melbourne’s western suburbs, he has a deep knowledge of and passion for the area, and a great desire to see the gospel bring transformation. A gifted communicator, he loves the work of pastoring a church, opening God’s word each week and seeing the Spirit work. Luke graduated with a BA (Hons) from Melbourne University, has a Grad Dip in Divinity and a Masters of Ministry from Ridley College. He is an ordained Anglican minister in the Diocese of Melbourne.