GOSPEL TRUTHA N O U T D O O R R E F L E C T I O N G U I D E

A 12-week guide toenjoying nature,growing your faith, and exploring thetruths of the Gospel

AS WE MOVE THROUGH OUR "GOSPEL TRUTH" SERMON SERIESAT HOPE, WE INVITE YOU TO MAKE GOOD USE OF THIS GUIDE.

Each week, there is a new Gospel truth connected to the Sunday sermon.

This guide will help you (and your friends, family, small group, or neighbors)

engage on a deeper level with these beautiful and powerful truths. 

You'll see a QR code to scan (just open your phone's camera app to do this)

with information about an outdoor location around the city of Richmond.

Take this guide with you to that spot, listen to the song, read the Scripture,

meditate on the prayer, and take time to engage with the meaning behind

these truths as you enjoy being in God's creation.

It's our hope that this guide is an encouraging resource that helps us not just

hear these truths and forget them, but truly connect with them on a deeper

level as we engage our senses and encounter God in nature.

We would love to see your photos as you visit these places and work

through this guide! Share them on social media using

#hopeofthegospelrva and tagging @hopecentralrva 

Contents

Libby HIll Park

WEEK 1 | YOU ARE A HUMANBEING, SPECIAL TO GOD

Forest Hill Park

WEEK 2 |  YOUR LIFE HASMEANING

Maymont Park

WEEK 3 |   YOU ARE PERSONALLY KNOWN AND LOVED

Pocahontas State Park

WEEK 4 | YOU ARE IMMENSELYVALUABLE

Buttermilk Trail

WEEK 5 |  YOU HAVE MORALDIGNITY

Deep Run Park

WEEK 6 | YOU HAVE A NEWIDENTITY AND A NEW START

Pony Pasture

WEEK 7 | YOU ARE NEVER ALONE

Great Shiplock Park

WEEK 8 | YOUR PAIN IS PURPOSEFULAND GOD USES IT FOR GOOD

Belle Isle

WEEK 9 | YOU HAVE A ROOT SYSTEMTO HOLD YOUR LIFE TOGETHER

Crump Park

WEEK 10 | YOU ARE GIVEN GRACEAND PEACE 

Northbank Park (Texas Beach)

WEEK 1 | YOU ARE A MEMBER OF AGLOBAL AND ETERNAL COMMUNITY

Robious Landing Park

WEEK 12 | YOUR LIFE IS ETERNAL

You are ahuman being,special to God

This week, you'll explore Church Hill's Libby Hill Park. Grab abench, gaze over the Richmond City skyline, and reflect on this

week's gospel focus -- the truth that you are a human being,special to God.

WEEK 1

VISIT:

LISTEN:

READ:Then God said, “Let us make human beings inour image, to be like us. They will reign over thefish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock,all the wild animals on the earth, and the smallanimals that scurry along the ground.” So Godcreated human beings in his own image. In theimage of God he created them; male and femalehe created them.-Genesis 1:26-27

If anyone takes a human life, that person’s lifewill also be taken by human hands. For Godmade human beings in his own image.-Genesis 9:6

PRAY:Oh, Eternal One, it would be easier for me topray if I were clear and of a single mind and apure heart; if I could be done hiding from myselfand from you, even in my prayers. But, I am whoI am, mixture of motives and excuses, blur ofmemories, quiver of hopes, knot of fear, tangleof confusion, and restless with love, for love. I wander somewhere between gratitude andgrievance, wonder and routine, high resolve andundone dreams, generous impulses and unpaidbills. 

Come, find me, Lord.

Be with me exactly as I am. Help me find me,Lord. Help me accept what I am, so I can beginto be yours. 

Make of me something small enough to snuggle,young enough to question, simple enough togiggle, old enough to forget, foolish enough toact for peace, skeptical enough to doubt thesufficiency of anything but you, and attentiveenough to listen as you call me out of the tombof my timidity into the chancy glory of mypossibilities and the power of your presence. 

Amen.

Libby Hill Park

"Three" by Sleeping At Last

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Your Life HasMeaning

This week, visit Forest Hill Park on the Southside. Sprawl out ona picnic blanket, take in the sights and sounds of nature, andreflect on this week's gospel truth -- your life has meaning.

WEEK 2

VISIT:

LISTEN:

READ:“I knew you before I formed you in yourmother’s womb. Before you were born I setyou apart and appointed you as my prophetto the nations.”-Jeremiah 1:5

For God wanted them to know that theriches and glory of Christ are for youGentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christlives in you. This gives you assurance ofsharing his glory.-Colossians 1:27

PRAY:Deliver me from just going through themotions and wasting everything I have,which is today, a chance, a choice, mycreativity, your call.Let how much it all matters. pry me off dead center so if I am movedinside to tears or signs or screams or smiles or dreams, they will be real and I will be in touch withwho I am and who you are and who my sisters and brothers are.Forest Hill Park

“You Say” by Lauren Daigle

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You ArePersonallyKnown And

LovedThis week, check out Maymont, one of Richmond's most amazingparks. Sit in the shade of a tree, walk along a well-worn path, sit

in the quiet of the Japanese Gardens, or take in the incredibleflowers in the Italian Garden. Reflect on this week's incredible

gospel truth -- you are personally known and loved by God.

WEEK 3

VISIT:

LISTEN:

READ:You made all the delicate, inner parts of mybody   and knit me together in my mother’swomb.-Psalm 139:13

You watched me as I was being formed inutter seclusion,  as I was woven together inthe dark of the womb. You saw me before Iwas born. Every day of my life was recorded inyour book. Every moment was laid out beforea single day had passed.-Psalm 139:15-16

PRAY:Holy One,untamedby the names I give you,in the silencename me,that I may knowwho I am,hear the truthyou have put into me,trust the loveyou have for me,which you call me to live outwith my sisters and brothersin your human family.

Maymont Park

“Pieces” by Amanda Cook

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You AreImmenselyValuable

This week, explore the trails at Pocahontas State Park. Find aquiet space away from people and close your eyes, taking in justthe sounds of creation. Reflect on this week's gospel truth -- you

are immensely valuable.

WEEK 4

VISIT:

LISTEN:

READ:“What is the price of five sparrows—twocopper coins? Yet God does not forget asingle one of them. And the very hairs onyour head are all numbered. So don’t beafraid; you are more valuable to God than awhole flock of sparrows.-Luke 12:6-7

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved usso much, that even though we were deadbecause of our sins, he gave us life when heraised Christ from the dead. (It is only byGod’s grace that you have been saved!)-Ephesians 2:4-5

PRAY:Empower me to be a bold participant,rather than a timid saint in waiting,in the difficult ordinariness of now;to exercise the authority of honesty;rather than defer to power,or deceive to get it;to influence someone for justice,rather than impress anyone for gain;and, by grace, to find treasuresof joy, of friendship, of peacehidden in the fields of the dailyyou give me to plow.

Pocahontas State Park

“Water and Dust” by Cory Asbury

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You HaveMoral Dignity

This week, walk along downtown's Buttermilk Trail. Pause alongthe rocky path and take in Richmond's skyline. As you pray andread scripture, reflect on the gospel truth for this week -- you

have moral dignity.

WEEK 5

READ:What are mere mortals that you should thinkabout them, human beings that you should carefor them? Yet you made them only a little lowerthan God and crowned them with glory andhonor.-Psalm 8:4-5

Do not let any part of your body become aninstrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, giveyourselves completely to God, for you were dead,but now you have new life. So use your wholebody as an instrument to do what is right for theglory of God.  Sin is no longer your master, foryou no longer live under the requirements of thelaw. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’sgrace.-Romans 6:13-14

PRAY:How shall I pray?Are tears prayers, Lord?Are screams prayers,or groans or sighs or curses?Can trembling hands be lifted to you,or clenched fistsor the cold sweat that trickles down my backor the cramps that knot my stomach?Will you accept my prayers, Lord,my real prayers, rooted in the muck and the mudand the rock of my life,and not just my pretty, cut-flower, gracefullyarrangedbouquet of words?

Will you accept me, Lord, as I really am,messed up mixture of glory and grime?Lord, help me! Help me to trust that you doaccept me as I am, that I may be done with self-condemnation and self-pity and accept myself.

VISIT:

LISTEN:

Buttermilk Trail

“Wonderfully Made” by Ellie Holcomb

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You Have ANew IdentityAnd A New

StartThis week, visit Deep Run Park in the West End. Wind your way

through the trails, sit on a bench by the water, listen to thelaughter of nearby children. As you take in God's work of

creation, reflect on the gospel truth for this week -- you have anew identity and a new start in Christ.

WEEK 6

READ:But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful andjust to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from allwickedness.-1 John 1:9

See how very much our Father loves us, for he callsus his children, and that is what we are! But thepeople who belong to this world don’t recognizethat we are God’s children because they don’t knowhim.-1 John 3:1

PRAY:O God, help me to believe in new beginningsand in my beginning again,no matter how often I've failed before.Help me to make beginningsto begin going out of my weary mindinto fresh dreams,daring to make my own bold tracksin the land of now;to begin forgivingthat I may experience mercy;to begin questioning the unquestionablethat I may know truthto begin discipliningthat I may create beauty;to begin sacrificingthat I may make peace;to begin lovingthat I may know joy.

VISIT:

LISTEN:

Deep Run Park

“Into Faith I Go” by Pat Barrett

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You Are NeverAlone

This week, check out Pony Pasture. Bask in the sun by the waterand relish the quiet. As you take in the beauty of what God has

created, reflect on this week's gospel truth - you are never alone.

WEEK 7

READ:So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid anddo not panic before them. For the Lord your Godwill personally go ahead of you. He will neither failyou nor abandon you.-Deuteronomy 31:6

Teach these new disciples to obey all thecommands I have given you. And be sure of this: Iam with you always, even to the end of the age.”-Matthew 28:20

PRAY:O Father in Heaven,perhaps you've already heard what I wanted to tellyou,What I wanted to ask is,forgive me,heal me,increase my courage, please.Renew in me a little of love and faith,and a sense of confidence,and a vision of what it might mean to live as thoughyou were real,and I mattered,and everyone was sister and brother.What I wanted to ask is for peace enough, to wantand work for more,for joy enough to shareand for awareness that is keen enough to senseyour presencehere,now,there,then,always.Amen

VISIT:

LISTEN:

Pony Pasture

"Another In The Fire" by Hillsong UNITED

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Your Pain isPurposeful,

And God UsesIt For Good

WEEK 8

READ:You keep track of all my sorrows. You havecollected all my tears in your bottle. You haverecorded each one in your book.-Psalm 56:8

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, eventhough you must endure many trials for a littlewhile.-1 Peter 1:6

He was despised and rejected—  a man of sorrows,acquainted with deepest grief. We turned ourbacks on him and looked the other way. He wasdespised, and we did not care.-Isaiah 53:3

PRAY:Sometimes, Lord, it just seems to be too much: toomuch violence, too much fear; too much ofdemands and problems; too much of brokendreams and broken lives; too much of war andslums and dying; too much of greed and squishyfatness and the sounds of people devouring eachother and the earth; too much of stale routines andquarrels, unpaid bills and dead ends; too much ofwords lobbed in to explode and leaving shreddedhearts and lacerated souls; too much of turnedaway backs and yellow silence, red rage and thebitter taste of ashes in my mouth. Sometimes thevery air seems scorched by threats and rejectionand decay until there is nothing but to inhale painand exhale confusion. 

O God, make of me some nourishment for thesestarved times, some food for my brothers andsisters who are hungry for gladness and hope, that,being bread for them, I may also be fed and be full.

VISIT:

LISTEN:

Great Shiplock Park

"The Sower's Song" by Andrew Peterson

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You Have ARoot System ToHold Your Life

TogetherThis week, explore Belle Isle. As you take in the mingling of urbanand natural, soak up this week's gospel truth -- you have a root

system to hold your life together.

WEEK 9

READ:The grass withers and the flowers fade, but theword of our God stands forever.-Isaiah 40:8

So God has given both his promise and his oath.These two things are unchangeable because it isimpossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who havefled to him for refuge can have great confidence aswe hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope isa strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. Itleads us through the curtain into God’s innersanctuary.-Hebrews 6:18-19

PRAY:O Lord,in the turbulence and the loneliness of my living from day to day and night to night,keep me in touch with my roots, so I will remember where I came from and with whom;keep me in touch with my feelings, so I will be more aware of who I really am and what it costs;keep me in touch with my mind so I will know who I am not and what that means;and keep me in touch with my dreams, so I will grow toward where I want to go and for whom.

VISIT:

LISTEN:

Belle Isle

“Psalm 136 (Your Mercy Endures) by GregLaFollette

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You Are GivenGrace & Peace

This week, check out Crump Park in Glen Allen. Walk across oneof the big grassy fields or wander onto a wooded path, Breathe in

the open space and reflect on the gospel truth for this week --you are given grace and peace.

WEEK 10

READ:“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind andheart. And the peace I give is a gift the worldcannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid."-John 14:27

May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holypeople.-Revelation 22:21

I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved byGod and are called to be his own holy people. MayGod our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give yougrace and peace.-Romans 1:7

PRAY:O Holy One, I hear and say so many words, yet yours is the word I need. Speak now, and help me listen; and if what I hear is silence, let it quiet me, let it disturb me, let it touch my need, let if break my pride, let it shrink my certainties, let it enlarge my wonder.VISIT:

LISTEN:

Crump Park

“P E A C E” by Hillsong Young and Free

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You Are AMember of A

Global &Eternal

CommunityThis week, visit North Bank Park (Texas Beach). Look out overthe water and take in a moment of peace. Reflect on the gospeltruth for this week -- you are a member of a global & eternal

community.

WEEK 11

READ:I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you whohave been called by God to be his own holy people.He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just ashe did for all people everywhere who call on thename of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.-1 Corinthians 1:2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a hugecrowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us stripoff every weight that slows us down, especially thesin that so easily trips us up. And let us run withendurance the race God has set before us.-Hebrews 12:1

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count,from every nation and tribe and people andlanguage, standing in front of the throne andbefore the Lamb. They were clothed in white robesand held palm branches in their hands.-Revelation 7:9

PRAY:Lord, plunge me deep into a sense of sadness at thepain of my sisters and brothers inflicted by war,prejudice, injustice, indifference, that I may learn againto cry as a child until my tears baptize me into a personwho touches with care those I now touch in prayer:victims of violence of greed, of addictions; prisoners inghettos, in old age, in sexism; people with brokenbodies, with broken hearts, with broken lives, whom Iremember now in silence before you because I havetoo often forgotten them in the shuffle of my fretfulbusy-ness.

VISIT:

LISTEN:

North Bank Park (Texas Beach)

“The Center of all History” by SteffanyGretzinger

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Your Life IsEternal

In this final week, explore Robious Landing Park. Spend a littleextra time gazing out over the water or wandering through a

trail. Soak in scripture and prayer and focus on the final gospeltruth in this series -- your life is eternal.

WEEK 12

READ:For this is how God loved the world: He gave hisone and only Son, so that everyone who believes inhim will not perish but have eternal life.-John 3:16

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord JesusChrist. It is by his great mercy that we have beenborn again, because God raised Jesus Christ fromthe dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 andwe have a priceless inheritance—an inheritancethat is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled,beyond the reach of change and decay.-1 Peter 1:3-4

PRAY:So this day, all is praise and thanks for all my days. I breathe and it is your breath that fills me. I lookand it is your light by which I see.I move and it isyour energy moving in me. I listen and even thestones speak of you.I touch and you are betweenfinger and skin. I think and the thoughts are butsparks from the fire of your truth. I weep and yourSpirit broods over me. I long and it is the tug ofyour kingdom.

Oh Glorious One, for this curious day, for theimpulses that have designated it, for the gifts thatgrace it, for the gladness that accompanies it, formy life, for those through whom I came to be, forfriends through whom I hear and see greaterworlds than I otherwise would.for all the doors ofwords and music and worship through which I passto larger worlds, and for the One who brought akingdom to meI pause to praise and thank you withthis one more trip of words which leaves too muchuncarried, but not unfelt, unlived, unloved.THANK YOU!

VISIT:

LISTEN:

Robious Landing Park

“So Will I (100 Billion X) by Hillsong UNITED

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For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven

and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may

strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that

Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being

rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s

holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of

Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be

filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,

according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the

church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!

Amen.

WE HOPE THESE WEEKS OF REFLECTING ON TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL HAS BEEN ENCOURAGING TO YOU.

RECEIVE THESE WORDS AS A BENEDICTION:

Created September 2020 for Hope Church

Design by Paige Daniels

Photography by Paige Daniels, Rachel Dawson, and Jake Roth

All prayers from Guerrillas Of Grace: Prayers For The Battle by Ted Loder

hopecentral.com/resources