Spiritual Growth
Toolbox and Resources
Let’s Get Growing!
The Toolbox and Resources page is designed to make spiritual growth practical and accessible. Here you’ll find a wide variety of materials—Scripture, readings, activities, and recommended tools - curated to support your personal growth and help you stay focused on what God is developing in you. Whether you’re looking for guidance, inspiration, or next steps, these resources are here to help you engage with intention and grow with purpose.
The goal isn’t to work through everything, but to engage thoughtfully with the value God is drawing you toward. The resources within each value are there to support steady, intentional growth—making it easier to move forward with clarity and purpose.
8 Discipleship Values
Explore the multiple resources included with each value and get started on growing in your chosen value. Under each value, you’ll find Scripture, recommended readings, practical tasks, and helpful resources designed to help you take meaningful action. These tools are intentionally organized to give you a strong starting point while still allowing flexibility based on your personal Spiritual Growth Plan
Prioritize Scripture
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A mature disciple has a worldview that is saturated in the truth of Scripture. They have a good knowledge of the Bible and can apply its truth to their situations, as well as use it to encourage and admonish others in love. They spend time daily sitting before Jesus with their Bibles open and reading it transformationally, not just informationally. They understand that the Bible is one large story of God’s rescue mission that climaxes in the arrival of Jesus.
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Listen to a sermon on Prioritizing Scripture: God’s Plan, Colossians 1:21-22, 28-19
Learn how the Bible came together by watching - What is the Bible?
Read: The Wisdom Pyramid
Listen to a podcast like: "Introduction to the Canon" or "The Bible had Editors?"
Learn techniques to memorize scripture
I want to identify some go-to resources for when I have questions like: The Gospel Coalition or BibleProject
Learn the books of the Bible: Old Testament. New Testament.
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I want to be hungry for God’s Word.
I want to be knowledgeable of my Bible.
I want to be confident in my ability to teach the Bible to others.
I want to be consistent.
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I will try Verse Mapping:
Watch a Bible Project Video once a week.
Download the Bible Project App.
Memorize one verse each week this year using one of these apps:
I will meet with someone to discuss the Bible regularly.
I will start taking notes during the sermon.
Download the YouVersion App for digital note taking.
Download DWELL app
Memorize scripture using music found on one of these places:
Read the Bible in a year using The Bible Recap.
Read the Bible over two years using this resource from The Gospel Coalition.
Use the first letter of each word in a short passage for a password.
Example Verse: Ecclesiastes 5:10 - "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money..." SAMPLE PASSWORD: HwlmwnbswmE510
I will memorize scripture by choosing one of these PLANS.
Follow the New Testament Reading Plan.
I will use COMA when I read my Bible once a week.
Contribute Your Gifts
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A mature disciple has a clear understanding of the unique gifts God has given them. They regularly use them in ways that build up and serve others. They have learned how to develop and refine their God-given gifts, not in pursuit of their own glory, but of God’s.
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Listen to a sermon on Contribute Your Gifts: All Hands on Deck - 1 Peter 4:10-11
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I want to be a selfless servant.
I want to be fulfilled in my serving.
I want to be a leader.
I want to be more humble.
I want to be more engaged and contribute to the mission.
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Complete the Discover Your Design course if you need help determining your interest area.
Complete and submit the Serve Interest form.
Complete the Serve Application and References when it is sent to you.
A team member will work with you through the rest of the process.
Other Serving Opportunities:
Cultivate Community
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A mature disciple has shed anonymity. They have incorporated authentic, life-giving relationships with other believers into their lives. They regularly invest in these spiritual relationships in ways that fit their own unique personality. They are also catalysts for community, helping and encouraging others to connect into such community.
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I will learn how to resolve conflict biblically by reading Crucial Conversations.
Listen to a sermon on Cultivating Community: Take A Walk, Psalm 1.
Read a book on community.
Interview people who “do community” well.
Learn Eastpoint’s philosophy on community.
Read Tim Keller’s article, Church Size Dynamics.
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I want to be hospitable.
I want to grow in transparency and authenticity.
I will be a welcoming person.
I want to be a good friend to others.
I want to be an emotionally safe person.
I choose to pursue relationships, even when it's uncomfortable.
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I will join a GROUP at Eastpoint.
I will lead or host a community group. Email office@fortheshore.com to share your interest.
I will purposely linger in the lobby on Sundays.
I will introduce myself to one new person every month.
I will practice sharing my story with friends who don’t know it.
I will have a family over for dinner once a month this year.
Give Generously
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A mature disciple worships God with their finances by giving regularly to initiatives and endeavors that advance God’s mission. They are invested emotionally in "God’s thing” not just “our things”. Their minds, hearts, and prayers are invested about the advancement of the gospel, the salvation of people, the growth of disciples, the care for the needy, and the expansion of the mission. They give regularly, cheerfully and generously.
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Listen to a sermon on Give Generously: The Collection of the Saints, 2 Corinthians 8:1-9
Read:
Explore what the Bible says about giving.
I need to learn the needs of my community.
I will ask an elder about the needs in our congregation.
I will listen to the podcast The Ramsey Show.
I will check out these Financial Resources.
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I want to be sensitive and alert to the needs around me.
I want to be radically generous.
I want to trust that God has my needs.
I want to be less anxious about money.
I want to be a giver, not a taker
I want to give to the Lord and not for the recognition of others
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Attend Financial Peace University.
I’m going to start GIVING regularly.
I’m going to join the Meal Train Team.
Engage The Mission
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A mature disciple lives in their community with the intentionality of a missionary. They genuinely love people and pray regularly for the Lord to save those who are not yet followers of Jesus. They have learned how to share their story and the gospel with gentleness and respect. They have earned a good reputation by living a life of good works that adorn the gospel.
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Read: Before you Share your Faith.
Listen to a sermon about sharing my faith: Flashback to the Future (Mark 6:14-29).
Learn how to share the gospel using the Three Circles app.
Learn how to share the gospel using a “15 second testimony”.
Study scripture about God’s rescue mission.
Learn how to share the gospel using “The Story” app.
Grow in understanding the Gospel and how to evangelize using the “Personal Evangelism Tackle Box” resource.
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I want to love people like God loves them.
I want to be bold.
I want to have a reputation for loving others.
I want to be prepared to share.
I want to be aware of opportunities God gives me.
I want to embrace my identity as a “sent one”.
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I’m going to learn how to tell my story using THIS tool for Gospel Storytelling.
I’m going to learn more about intentional relationship-building.
I’m going to read The Gospel Precisely article.
I’m going to practice telling my testimony at community group.
I’m going to share my story with a friend who doesn’t follow Jesus.
I’m going to complete an influence map.
I’m going to invite a friend to church or community group.
I will attend Baptism Class as a cohort table leader. Choose Cohort Table Leader in the selection types.
I will join Discipleship 101 (D101 as a cohort table leader. Choose Cohort Table Leader in the selection types.
I’m going to go on a mission trip.
I’m going to spend intentional time with a new follower of Jesus.
I am going to pray weekly for someone who doesn't know Jesus.
Pass On The Faith
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A mature disciple understands that the community of faith must pass on the faith to the next generation. They read the Bible with their children and talk about the gospel regularly at the dinner table. They approach the children and students of our community with an “Our Kids” mentality and finds ways, big and small, to invest in their spiritual growth. They spend time with younger disciples, teaching them how to follow Jesus’ ways.
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Listen to a sermon on Passing on the Faith: Don’t Hate, Cultivate, Acts 2:42-47.
Listen to Tiny Theologians Podcast.
Read:
Learn what Eastpoint’s strategy is for reaching the next generation.
Sit down with a school administrator and learn about students’ current needs.
Learn how to do Family Devotions.
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I want to have an “Our Kids” mentality.
I want to be a disciple maker.
I want to be a Paul to someone’s Timothy.
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Start Family Devotions once a week using one of these plans:
Serve in Kids Ministry at Eastpoint.
Disciple students in Student Ministry. Email the team.
I will disciple someone younger than me. Email the team.
I will pray regularly for the next generation and their leaders.
I will scholarship students for camp.
I will host a kids or student ministry event. Email the team.
Depend On God In Prayer
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A mature disciple knows that apart from God, we can do nothing. They daily spend time with God pouring out their hearts in prayer. They intercede regularly on behalf of other believers and their leaders, having learned to organize their prayer life with a high degree of intentionality. They also practice God’s presence regularly, knowing He is with them.
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What do I pray for?
How do I pray?
What are the needs around me?
Memorize scripture about prayer:
Reflect and identify my go-to dependencies besides God.
Read:
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I want to pray instinctively as a response to my needs.
I want to be a person who prays about it more than I talk about it.
I want to think of others often before the Lord.
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Create a prayer list or journal.
I’m going to spend 15 minutes daily in prayer.
Implement Prayer Rhythm.
I’m going to create a gratitude journal to cultivate thanksgiving.
I’m going to find a prayer partner.
I’m going to pray with my spouse daily.
I’m going to pray before I leave my house daily.
I’m going to pray in response to my daily scripture reading.
I’m going to schedule a reminder on my phone to pray daily.
Read:
Implement Morning & Evening Prayer Guide.
Download PrayerMate App to help develop a discipline of prayer.
Pursue Spirit-Empowered Holiness
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A mature disciple longs to reflect the character of Christ in every area of life. They rely on the Holy Spirit to resist sin, grow in obedience, and bear spiritual fruit. Their pursuit of holiness is not legalistic striving, but Spirit-empowered transformation.
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Read:
Hole in our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung
Cultivating Practical Godliness (article)
Read pages 55-73 on Fasting from Spiritual Classics
Chapter 9 from Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Read and memorize verses about holiness.
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I want to be a disciple wo:
obeys Jesus in every part of my life.
walks in integrity and doesn’t compromise.
is being transformed into the image of Jesus.
whose walk matches my talk.
looks more like the family of God than my family of origin,
walks in purity of body, mind and speech.
lives under the influence of the Spirit not substances.
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Form an accountability relationship.
I will learn about fasting by reading the Fasting Tips Sheet.
Read Five Reasons We Fast
Journal areas the Lord is convicting me of.
Create specific questions and invite someone to ask you those questions and answer honestly.
I will set up internet safeguards such as:
Website Blockers:
List of ResourcesAccountability Reporting:
Covenant Eyes
Downloadable Resources
A Day of Reflection
By slowing down and pausing to examine ourselves spiritually, we’re inviting the Lord to show us where He wants us to grow and inviting Him to transform us.
COMA Journaling
COMA journaling (Context, Observation, Meaning, and Application) is Eastpoint’s method of reading the Bible. Reading and journaling this way forces us to slow down and see things we may have missed before.
Bible Reading Plans
Unsure of where to start your Bible reading and journaling? Download a Bible Reading Plan here or pick up a Bible Reading Plan Bookmark from the Connect Counter. The book of Luke is a great place to start.
New Testament Reading Plan
If you read an average of three chapters a day, you can easily finish it within 90 days, even if you miss a few days! If you miss a day, don’t get discouraged and certainly don’t quit. Just keep going the next day, picking up where you left off.