The New You

The City Blessing Church theme for 2026 is TRANSFORMATION. There is a profound difference between becoming a better version of yourself and becoming someone entirely new. The gospel does not offer self-improvement—it offers new creation. Scripture declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that anyone in Christ is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

This means that your past no longer defines you, your failures no longer name you, and your identity is no longer rooted in what you have done, but in what Christ has accomplished. The question is not whether God has made you new, but whether you are living as the new you.

The month of June will focus on “The New You”. As we journey through this month, may we discover what it truly means to walk in our new identity, embrace God's transforming work, and live as the people He has called us to be.

‍

Week 1: The Old Is Gone—Why Are You Still Living There?

Read

  • 2 Corinthians 5:17-19
  • Philippians 3:1-16

Key Points

  • Understand the importance of understanding new creation realities for living a victorious life.
  • The significance of Paul's statement about considering all gainful assets as loss for the sake of Christ.
  • Paul's transformation from a Pharisee to a missionary and his focus on the fellowship of Christ's sufferings.
  • Pray for everyone to experience the nearness of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, live a life fully devoted to Christ, and be obedient to the call to let go and let God — advancing the kingdom of God and bringing healing presence to others.

PRAYER POINTS

  • Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to move this truth from our minds into our hearts—that we are not merely forgiven sinners, but new creations in Christ, called to live from a new nature and a new identity.
  • Pray to break every attachment to old mindsets, wounds, regrets, failures, fears, and sinful patterns that hinder us from fully embracing the new life He has given us.
  • Pray and ask the Lord to reveal anything we are still holding onto and give us the courage to let go of our own plans, preferences, and control so that His purposes may be fulfilled in us.
  • May the same power that raised Christ from the dead bring transformation to every area of our lives, producing victory over sin, renewed passion for God, and steadfast faith.
  • Just as Paul was radically transformed from a persecutor of Christ to a passionate follower and missionary, pray that God would continually transform our hearts, renewing our desires, priorities, and purpose according to His will.
  • Pray that everyone would experience the presence of Christ within them, live fully devoted to Him, surrender to His will, and be used by God to advance His Kingdom and bring healing to others.

‍

Week 2: Alive Again

Read

  • John 5:1-9
  • Deuteronomy 2:14
  • Numbers 32:11-13

Key Points

  • Believe that when Jesus speaks, your limitations will fall off.
  • There’s a multitude of sick: they are infirmed [without strength], blind [without vision], lame [without movement and without motivation], and withered [lost their nerve].
  • Two years in they were supposed to go into the Promised Land, but they kept rebelling and complaining, and God added 38 years to their journey.
  • Keep hoping, intending, and choosing to be empowered, anointed, and to trust in Jesus, who is the man you need and who is in you.

PRAYER POINTS

  • Pray and speak into every area of weakness, blindness, paralysis, and discouragement in our lives. Give us faith to rise when He calls, strength to move forward, and courage to walk in the freedom God has provided. Let every limitation fall away as we trust in His power and obey His voice.
  • Pray that we would trust and obey God without complaining or rebelling, so that we do not delay His purposes for our lives. May we walk in faith, learn from Israel's example, and enter fully into all that God has promised us.
  • Pray that we would continue to hope, trust, and depend on Jesus, drawing strength from His presence within us and walking in the power and anointing of His Spirit.
  • Fill us with His strength, renew our hope, and help us depend on His Spirit each day. Lead us into all that He has promised and use our lives for His glory.
    ‍

Week 3: The New Heart and New Spirit

Read

  • John 20:24-29
  • Ezekiel 36:26
  • Colossians 2:1-10
  • Ephesians 4:8-10
  • 1 Peter 3:18-22

Key Points

  • Thomas believes Jesus is going to die, but he doesn't know what to do with it, because he doesn't have this concept that resurrection is possible.
  • Thomas has a whole lot of baggage about identity. Who am I? Where am I come from? Where am I going? Who's going with me?
  • Reflect on times when you have doubted or struggled to believe, and how Jesus has been patient and understanding with you.
  • Until you can change the way you see yourself [in Christ], you can't see the world in a different way.
  • God changes your nature, not just your actions.

PRAYER POINTS

  • Thanking Him for the victory of Jesus through His death and resurrection. Help us to trust Him even when we do not understand what He is doing.
  • Pray to replace our doubts with faith, give us a new heart that follows Him, and fill us with the hope and power of Christ's resurrection. May we live fully rooted in Jesus and walk in the fullness of all that He has provided for us.
  • Pray to help us to know who we are in Jesus, to trust His direction, and to walk confidently in His love and truth. Pray to strengthen our faith and surround us with Godly people who help us follow Him.
  • Pray for the Lord to renew our minds so we can see ourselves the way He sees us. Change our hearts and nature, not just our actions, and help us live fully as new creations in Christ.

‍

Week 4: I Was Blind and Now I see

Read

  • John 1:1-41

Key Points

  • Jesus sees a man blind from birth, contrasting the Pharisees' spiritual blindness with the man's physical blindness.
  • And Jesus stoops down and spits on the ground. He takes his own saliva. He takes his own DNA.
  • What Jesus is doing is reenacting creation and revealing this is new creation.
  • John wants us to understand this is new creation requires a radical alteration of consciousness, which can only happen by a radical opening of vision.
  • By the Spirit of Christ Himself in resurrection life, He changes our way of being — because He changes our way of seeing.

PRAYER POINTS

  • Pray against spiritual blindness, especially the kind that comes from pride, religion without relationship, or hardened hearts.
  • Pray to remove every form of spiritual blindness and give us humble hearts that follow Him in truth. Let us walk in Your light and point others to Him.
  • Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see Him as the One who makes all things new. Transform the way we think, see, and bring us into the reality of His new creation life.
  • Pray for a radical opening of spiritual vision, that we would no longer see life through natural limitations but through God’s truth.
  • Pray that the Spirit of Christ would transform our way of being by renewing our way of seeing, so we may live in the power of resurrection life.