Pastoral Helps
Showing 501–550 of 4114 results
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Preaching Hope In Darkness
$23.99Add to cartHow can a preacher best address suicide from the pulpit?
Pastors face many challenges. Suicide in a congregation is amongst the most heart-rending and intimidating. However, the preacher has a unique capacity to engender gospel hope for preparing the congregation and comforting the bereaved. To do so, preachers need help understanding the challenges and opportunities presented by addressing suicide from the pulpit.
In Preaching Hope in Darkness, two practitioners in fields that do not typically interact–homiletics (Scott M. Gibson) and psychology (Karen Mason)–work together to support the preacher in this difficult task. Gibson and Mason offer wise advice on a range of topics such as suicide prevention, post-crisis care, and funeral sermon preparation. With an appendix of sample sermons and a sample funeral liturgy, Preaching Hope in Darkness is an essential go-to guide for this difficult topic.
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Insider Church : Ekklesia And The Insider Paradigm
$19.99Add to cartInsider Movements = Church-planting Movements?
?In the last few decades, the Church has witnessed a growing harvest of Muslim-background believers coming to Christ. However, a divide remains over whether the “insider” paradigm contributes to the flourishing and multiplication of healthy, biblical churches among Muslims.
S. T. Antonio advances this conversation beyond the old arguments through a fresh analysis of the insider paradigm by asking the question, What is church? Starting with the identity-shaping narrative of the people of God, Antonio digs deep into the nature of biblical ekklesia from multiple angles-local and universal, visible and invisible, the classical “marks” of the church, and missional identity. Combining a robust, biblical vision with a nuanced contextualization framework, and informed by firsthand ministry among Muslims, Antonio uncovers the roots and contours of the ecclesial vision of the insider paradigm. Insider Church provides an innovative diagnosis of a paradigm that has been surrounded by controversy, challenging it with constructive analysis for multiplying biblical churches among Muslims.
This integrative study draws together biblical, theological, and missiological scholarship in service of Christ’s mission. Insider Church helps guide mission practitioners, leaders, and students toward a wise assessment of insider movements and a vision for church multiplication that is both fruitful and faithful to the Lord of the harvest.
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TruthFilled Bible Study Book (Student/Study Guide)
$23.75Add to cartDespite what our culture might have you believe, truth is not relative. Every day we are called to discern what to believe, whom to listen to, and what information to trust. Even the thoughts that form in our own minds about ourselves, our circumstances, and our God must be tested. How do we know what is true? How do we believe what’s right?
Join Ruth Chou Simons in this 7-session study as she guides you through the Book of Colossians and a pattern of being filled up with the truth of God’s Word. Learn what it means, how to preach truth to your own heart, and how doing so can help shape your thought patterns, identity, and actions. There’s no shortage of self help, easy fixes, and worldly advice, but only the truth of God’s Word was meant to fill you up and satisfy you fully.
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Bigger Table Expanded Edition With Study Guide (Expanded)
$22.00Add to cartThis new edition includes a small-group study guide complete with ideas for exploring A Bigger Table in a congregation-wide sermon series and program along with a new foreword by Jacqui Lewis and new afterword by the author to explore the challenges of living out the bigger table when voices of hate and exclusion seem stronger and louder than ever.
A Bigger Table invites readers to envision a church that is big enough for everyone, by holding up a mirror to the modern church and speaking clearly on issues at the heart of the Christian community: LGBT inclusion, gender equality, racial tensions, global concerns, and theological shifts. John Pavlovitz shares moving personal stories, his careful observations as a pastor, and his understanding of the ancient stories of Jesus to set the table for a new, positive, more loving conversation on these and other important matters of faith. Though there are many who would remove chairs and whittle down the guest list, we can build the bigger table Jesus imagined, practicing radical hospitality, total authenticity, messy diversity, and agenda-free community.
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Uncommon Church : Community Transformation For The Common Good
$20.99Add to cartHow can the people of God develop churches in ways that help and don’t hurt poor neighborhoods? In urban ministry, Christians too often treat the poor as goodwill projects instead of people. Because of this mindset, many remain unchurched. Healthy, local, urban churches are needed because they combine personal empowerment and community transformation. Every poor neighborhood needs uncommon churches that will seek the common good of their communities. Alvin Sanders engages hard truths about these neighborhoods and provides a model for how to do ministry in difficult conditions. The local, urban church is the key to community transformation, as it plays three crucial roles of empowering, partnering, and reaching. Pastors and church planters interested in Christian community development will find here practical insights into the power of the local church, which is often underrated. Churches can serve their communities and improve the quality of life of every facet of the neighborhood.
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Honor Shame And The Gospel
$17.99Add to cartAn Honorific Gospel: Biblically Faithful & Culturally Relevant
Christians engaged in communicating the gospel navigate a challenging tension: faithfulness to God’s ancient, revealed Word-and relevance to the local, current social context. What if there was a lens or paradigm offering both? Understanding the Bible-particularly the gospel-through the ancient cultural “language” of honor-shame offers believers this double blessing.
In Honor, Shame, and the Gospel, over a dozen practitioners and scholars from diverse contexts and fields add to the ongoing conversation around the theological and missiological implications of an honorific gospel. Eight illuminating case studies explore ways to make disciples in a diversity of social contexts-for example, East Asian rural, Middle Eastern refugee, African tribal, and Western secular urban.
Honor, Shame, and the Gospel provides valuable resources to impact the ministry efforts of the church, locally and globally. Linked with its ancient honor-shame cultural roots, the gospel, paradoxically, is ever new-offering fresh wisdom to Christian leaders and optimism to the church for our quest to expand Christ’s kingdom and serve the worldwide mission of God.
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Making Room : The Purpose And Practice Of Youth Ministry
$19.99Add to cartIn Making Room, Michael A. Kipp contends that the primary purpose of youth ministry is to integrate young people into the body and mission of Christ. A lifelong youth ministry practitioner and researcher, Kipp shares the narrative of his and others’ experiences in order to help the church embrace and understand youth ministry more fully in practice, not just in theory.
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Hopeful Neighborhood : What Happens When Christians Pursue The Common Good
$18.99Add to cartWhen Christians join together to pursue the common good of our neighborhoods, we bring hope to the world, credibility to the church, and glory to God. Filled with original research from the Barna Group and Lutheran Hour Ministries, this book from Don Everts offers constructive, practical ways that Christians and churches can bless our local communities.
Are you tired of hearing people dismiss the church as an irrelevant relic? (Do you secretly wonder if they are right?) Don Everts explores an exciting reality that is revealed in Scripture, shown throughout history, and confirmed in the latest research: when Christians pursue the common good of the neighborhood, the world stands up and notices. It turns out this is exactly what we’re called to do. When Christians make good things, we bring blessings and hope to our local community. With original research from the Barna Group and Lutheran Hour Ministries on how Christians relate to our neighborhoods, this book is filled with constructive, practical ways that Christians and churches bless those around us. As Christians join together for the common good, we bring hope to the world, credibility to the church, and glory to God.
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Womens Lectionary : Preaching The Women Of The Bible Throughout The Year
$47.00Add to cartIn A Weary World, Escobar provides twenty-eight daily reflections paired with Scripture and prayer to tackle this difficult season. Weekly resources make this Advent devotional suitable for group study as well.
During the holidays, so many of us can suffer for all kinds of reasons. The magnitude of our weary world weighs on our hearts and minds. We wrestle with chronic pain, broken relationships, shattered dreams, fragile faith, and unexpected losses. Our grief and sorrow feel particularly acute when compared to the festivity and joy everyone else seems to be feeling. More and more churches are acknowledging this fact with “Blue Christmas” services (also called “Longest Night” services) and offering resources to give particular support and comfort to those struggling during the “most wonderful time of the year.”
Kathy Escobar has been leading Blue Christmas experiences at her church for nearly a decade and just experienced her bluest season of all following the sudden death of her son. In A Weary World, Escobar provides twenty-eight daily reflections paired with prayers and practices to honor our struggles during the holidays. Weekly resources make this Advent devotional suitable for group study as well.
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Connection Year B Volume 1 Advent Through Epiphany
$55.00Add to cartDesigned to empower preachers as they lead their congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary.
Designed to empower preachers as they lead their congregations to connect their lives to Scripture, Connections features a broad set of interpretive tools that provide commentary and worship aids on the Revised Common Lectionary. This nine-volume series offers creative commentary on each reading through the lens of its connections to the rest of Scripture and then seeing the reading through the lenses of culture, film, fiction, ethics, and other aspects of contemporary life. Commentaries on the Psalms make connections to other readings and to the congregation’s experience of worship.
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You Are Never Alone Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$13.99Add to cartIn this six-session video Bible study (DVD/digital downloads sold separately), bestselling author Max Lucado looks at the miracles of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John. As John states, he recorded many of these signs for an express purpose: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). John chose the stories and events from Jesus’ life that he believed would give his readers strength, empower them, lift them up, and speak life into their situations.
By the time John penned the words of his Gospel, he was an old man . . . his hair silver and skin wrinkled. He was pastoring a collection of Christ followers in the distant city of Ephesus. But he still loved to tell the story-some six decades earlier and a thousand miles removed-of when Jesus first called him to lay down his net . . . and he obeyed. The others are gone now. Peter, Andrew, James. They’ve long since followed their calls and fulfilled their missions. Only John remains, and he knows that his days are coming to an end. It is with this purpose that he takes up his pen . . . to help his readers believe and have life.
John’s record of Jesus’ miracles reassure us that we are never stuck or without hope. We are never forgotten. All the forces of heaven have been marshalled to come to our aid. A rescue mission is underway! The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. A multitude of angels and the power of Scripture. The strength of prayer and the wisdom of saints. All this, and more, are continually working together to get us out and see us through. This is the message of the miracles . . . that with God you are never alone.
Designed for use the You Are Never Alone Video Study (sold separately).
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Renewed Womens Bible Study Participant Workbook With Leader Helps (Teacher’s Gui
$17.99Add to cartLessons from Naomi in the Book of Ruth.
Few things make us feel as helpless as living with a story we don’t like. Maybe one that involves the loss of a loved one, an unwanted transition, a difficult diagnosis, or a dream that fell through. At one time or another, we all deal with disappointments and feelings that life is unfair or that we are being punished.
In Renewed, a four-week study of the Book of Ruth, women glean wisdom from Naomi’s perspective, a woman who lived a story she didn’t choose or like. Forced to chart a new path as she mourned the loss of her husband and two sons, Naomi learned that the journey from bitterness to renewed hope and joy was rooted in God’s promise of redemption.
With insight from her own journey of living with a story that is not easy, Heather teaches women to flourish even as they live hard stories through a willingness to trust that God can transform them and trade their heartache for hope. They will learn to rely on God’s movement in the details of their story, even when it can’t be seen, gain confidence to act in the part of their stories that they can change, and watch expectantly for God to redeem the parts they can’t.
Components for this four-week Bible study, available separately, include a Participant Workbook with Leader Helps and a DVD with four 20 to 25-minute segments (with closed captioning).
*A four-week study of the Book of Ruth from Naomi’s perspective.
*This shorter study is ideal for in-between or busy times.
*Helps women find the courage to live with a story they don’t like and trust in God.
*Participant Workbook with Leader Helps includes group sessions guides, discussion questions, prayers, video viewer guides, and more.
*DVD features dynamic, engaging teaching in four 20 to 25-minute segments. -
1 Participant Book
$15.99Add to cartIn The One, by pastors Jim and Jen Cowart, readers will learn to respond to God’s great love for us by reaching out to the ones in our lives who are lost, not literally but spiritually-those who have not yet discovered the rich love God has for them. God sent his Son to earth on a rescue mission, “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10)-or as the parables in Luke 15 show us, to save “the one.” And Jesus has entrusted us, his disciples, to carry on this mission until his return.
The book and the corresponding study explore Luke 15 where Jesus tells stories about rejoicing when lost things are found-specifically, a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost child. This passage teaches us that we’re dearly loved and sought after by God, and that we are called to join in Jesus’ mission to seek and to save “the one” with intentionality, perseverance, and joy.
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Gospel Centered Family Counseling
$30.00Add to cartPastors and counselors regularly minister to people whose marriages or families are in crisis. Tempers run high and feelings are brought low when a marriage is hurting or a family is in disarray. Pastors and counselors need practical, biblical help in order to connect their theological training to the reality of modern messy relationships. These how-to training manuals provide relevant, user-friendly equipping for pastors, counselors, lay leaders, educators, and students, enabling them to competently and compassionately relate God’s Word to marriage and family life.
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16 Bible Studies For Your Small Group
$17.99Add to cartIf you’re like most small-group leaders, you often feel overwhelmed by the task of finding study material each and every week. Former small-group pastor Ryan Lokkesmoe is here to help.
This book has all you need for 16 small-group meetings exploring the concept of biblical community. Each study includes icebreaker questions, key Scripture passages, discussion questions about the text, and a guide for leading your prayer time.
This is the perfect tool for brand-new small-group leaders or seasoned veterans looking for a turnkey approach! Let these studies draw you and your group nearer to God and each other as they enhance your understanding of his Word.
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Incarnation Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$14.99Add to cartLearn the meaning behind the names of Christ and the difference He makes in our lives this Christmas.
His parents gave him the name Jesus. But the prophets, the shepherds, the wise men, and angels addressed him by other names. They called him Lord, Messiah, Savior, Emmanuel, Light of the World, and Word Made Flesh.
In Incarnation, best-selling author Adam Hamilton explores the meaning of these titles and what they tell us about the child whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. Join him and reflect upon the significance of the Christ-child for our lives and world today!
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Life Questions Every Student Asks
$22.99Add to cartEvery student asks questions about life beyond the classroom:
*What does it mean to be in community?
*How can I discern my vocation?
*How should I understand marriage and sex?
*How should I relate to money and power?
*What happens if I doubt my faith?
*How should I approach interfaith dialogue?To help students navigate these questions about some of life’s most pressing and difficult issues, Gary M. Burge and David Lauber, coeditors of Theology Questions Everyone Asks, have gathered insights from Christian faculty who draw on their own experiences in conversation with students during office hours and over coffee. Sometimes, the deepest learning takes place outside the classroom.
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Incarnation Youth Study Book (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartLearn the meaning behind the names of Christ and the difference He makes in our lives this Christmas.
His parents gave him the name Jesus. But the prophets, the shepherds, the wise men, and angels addressed him by other names. They called him Lord, Messiah, Savior, Emmanuel, Light of the World, and Word Made Flesh.
In Incarnation, best-selling author Adam Hamilton explores the meaning of these titles and what they tell us about the child whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. Join him and reflect upon the significance of the Christ-child for our lives and world today!
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Making Room Leader Guide
$15.99Add to cartLearn how to make room in your heart for God and neighbor this Christmas.
Often our Advent preparations have an inward focus as we prepare for the significance of God breaking into our world through the birth of the Christ child. But in a closer examination of the Advent story, we quickly learn that the focus of the coming of the newborn king is outward.
In this book and Advent study, Dr. Ed Robb explores the warmth of welcome at Christmas following interactions with Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the magi. Just as Jesus made room in God’s kingdom for a host of people that society wanted to leave on the margins, beginning with the appearance of the shepherds, we too should be asking ourselves who we can make room for this Christmas.
Perhaps it is to the people in your community, or the newly immigrated family in town that doesn’t speak your language. Or maybe it’s the next-door neighbor who just settled in from yet another corporate move? The story of Christ’s birth encourages us to widen our borders and increase our sense of community-and make room for others.
The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the four-week study including session plans, activities, and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.
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Managing Conflict Creatively 30th Anniversary Edition (Anniversary)
$16.99Add to cartWhat does the Bible say about conflict resolution?
??Nobody likes conflict, especially when both parties are “part of the same team.” Unresolved conflict can lead to missionary attrition, but healthy conflict-resolution can be a wonderful growth opportunity, leading to problem-solving and team-building.
In Managing Conflict Creatively, Dr. Palmer first introduces the dynamics of conflict and the common styles of conflict management. After providing a Biblical background, he then identifies types of conflict and how to develop conflict management skills, specifically in cross-cultural situations. Lose your fear of conflict as you walk through case studies, engage in discussion questions, and learn to:
– Identify the stages of conflict and steps of healthy problem solving
– Encourage healthy conflict resolution in its early stages
– Identify your personal conflict style and the characteristics of an effective moderator
– Overreact less amid conflict
– Consciously choose a conflict-resolution style tailored to each situation
– Disagree well and resolve conflicts and misunderstandings without harming your witness
– Manage conflict in positive ways that foster growth and collaborationThis manual is intended to serve as a teaching tool and a study guide for cross-cultural
conflict management courses in Bible colleges, mission organizations, and churches. Thirty years after its original publication, this practical, Bible-centered approach to the dynamics of conflict and conflict management in cross-cultural situations remains relevant, both abroad and in today’s hybrid cities. -
Names Of God Womens Bible Study Participant Workbook (Student/Study Guide)
$17.99Add to cartKnow God better through a study of His names.
Today’s culture and others’ views, even those of other Christians, can present a distorted view of God. Some suggest God exudes qualities He does not possess such as being unloving or apathetic toward His creation. In a world where we find people creating God in their own image, studying God’s names can remind us that we are created in His. In fact, one of the best ways to know God’s true character and grow closer to Him is to study His names.
In The Names of God, Melissa Spoelstra leads women on an exploration of the many names of our triune God-from El and Elohim to Yahweh and its many combinations to names such as Abba, Jesus, and Holy Spirit…and many others.
As women study the names of God, their ideas about God will become more grounded in what His names tell them, and thus more personal, allowing a greater trust in Him to share the details of their lives. Whether having walked with God for many years or just starting out in a relationship with Him, by the end of this study women will not only know more about God but will know Him better-because through the discovery of God’s names, they will discover Him!
Components for this six-week Bible study, each available separately, include a Participant Workbook, a Leader Guide, DVD with six 25-minute segments (with closed captioning), and a boxed Leader Kit containing one of each component.
*A six-week study of the names of God.
*Inspires women to have a more personal and trusting relationship with God.
*DVD features dynamic, engaging teaching in six 25-minute segments.
*Strong, solid Bible study from popular Bible teacher and speaker Melissa Spoelstra. -
Volunteers : How To Get Them, How To Keep Them
$6.99Add to cartI have written this book out of my experience working in small to medium sized churches. I address the great challenges of finding, training, and keeping volunteers. There are some simple techniques that I learned to have happy and engaged volunteers who do not get burned out.
I also spend time describing how you can run a successful children’s ministry with a minimum of people and yet not overburdening any of them. I talk about ways to combine functions so that you still cover all the age levels but in an efficient and effective manner.
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John 1-12 For You
$17.99Add to cartJosh Moody helps those new to John to dip their toes in its waters, while also showing new depths to those more familiar with this Gospel. Jesus came to bring life to the full–and in showing us his seven signs, John pictures the fulfillment that comes from living life as a follower of the Word become flesh.
This Expository Guide takes you verse by verse through the text in an accessible and applied way. It is less academic than a traditional commentary and can be read cover-to-cover, used in personal devotions, used to lead small group studies, or used for sermon preparation. There is an accompanying Good Book Guide for small group Bible studies.
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Post Quarantine Church
$12.99Add to cartA trustworthy and respected guide for pastors and church leadership in the post-quarantine world, providing hope and vision for the future of your congregation.
From thousands of surveys of church leaders and in-person consultations, Thom Rainer and his Church Answers team have gathered the essential wisdom you will need to face the challenges and opportunities that the quarantine crisis creates for the local church, including:
New and better ways to lead the gathered churchA wide-open door for growing the digital churchA moment to rethink the facilitiesNew strategies for church growth . . . and much more!
This book is, in effect, your personal church consultant, helping you plan and prepare for the future. In the midst of heartbreak, tragedy, and struggle due to Covid-19, here’s hope, wisdom, encouragement and vision.
This book is valuable for those looking for local church and pastor resources to enhance church leadership, grow your church, and serve digital and online church communities in the post-quarantine world.
As a former pastor and founder of Church Answers, Thom S. Rainer is intimately familiar with the ever-present demands that pastors face. He has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of the local church.
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I Am Bible Study
$11.99Add to cartIn the Gospel of John, Jesus uses “I Am” statements that tell his listeners exactly who he is: the Bread of Life; the Light of the World; the Gate; the Good Shepherd; the Resurrection and the Life; the Way, the Truth, and the Life; and the True Vine. These claims infuriated the religious leaders and eventually led to Jesus’ crucifixion. This six-session study examines Jesus’ extraordinary claims and shows how Jesus provides, protects, guides, saves, and gives everything we need to grow in spiritual maturity.
*6-session flexible Bible study
*Optional reading plan for people with more time who want to go deeper
*Leader’s guide is contained within each study guide, so no extra book purchase is required
*Discussion questions for each session and lots of space for writingMost Bible studies on Jesus don’t include visuals. Imagine having one that does! Perfect for group and individual use, young adult study, homeschool, church library, to give to a friend, and more!
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Leading Small Groups That Thrive
$22.99Add to cartNearly every church is trying to help their congregants build relationships with others, grow as disciples, and/or engage in meaningful service through small groups. Many have argued that these small groups are the preferred vehicle for relationship building, disciple making, and membership assimilation in the local church, especially in large, multisite churches.
Leading Small Groups That Thrive shows small group leaders, step by step, how to plan for, launch, build, sustain, and multiply highly effective, transformational, healthy small group experiences where people grow spiritually together. Based on a large-scale research study of small group pastors, leaders, and members, Leading Small Groups That Thrive gives church leaders both what they want–practical, straightforward, actual small group member voices and experiences, and compelling guidance on how to build transformational groups complemented with real-life examples and data of successful small groups–and what they need–substantial, challenging insights and a data-driven model grounded in the latest research on church small groups.
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Take Back Your Life Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$13.99Add to cartIn this five-session video Bible study (DVD/digital downloads sold separately), pastor and author Levi Lusko reveals how every moment of every day, we must make the choice as to whether we will rely on ourselves to determine the reality of our situation or whether we will trust in God. In the Old Testament, we read how Gehazi, the servant of the prophet Elisha, faced this very dilemma. A bounty had been put on Elisha’s head, and an army was now surrounding them. Gehazi was frantic. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried. “What shall we do?” (2 Kings 6:15).
“Don’t be afraid,” Elisha calmly answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (verse 16). Gehazi must have wondered if his master had lost his mind. They had maybe five minutes before the soldiers reached them . . . yet here was Elisha practically singing the lyrics to “It’s a Small World” and pretending everything was going to be all right. But then the prophet prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see” (verse 17). And with this, Gehazi suddenly saw what his master was seeing: a glorious, greater, and far more powerful army of the Lord surrounding the enemy invaders.
When it comes to the trials and crises in our lives, we need to see the reality of our situation with the same “spiritual eyes” as Elisha possessed. What we perceive is not all that is there . . . there are unseen things, spiritual things, eternal things. As the apostle Paul put it, “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18 nlt). As we learn to perceive our world through the lens of faith, we gain the strength to do the impossible.
Take Back Your Life is a forty-day journey that will challenge you to see your situation with spiritual eyes, identify the roadblocks that get in the way of your faith in Christ, and ultimately take the first steps to become the difference-maker in the world that God created you to be!
Designed for use with the Take Back Your Life Video Study (sold separately).
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Emerging Gender Identities
$23.99Add to cartThis book offers a measured Christian response to the diverse gender identities that are being embraced by an increasing number of adolescents. Mark Yarhouse and Julia Sadusky offer an honest, scientifically informed, compassionate, and nuanced treatment for all readers who care about or work with gender-diverse youth: pastors, church leaders, parents, family members, youth workers, and counselors.
Yarhouse and Sadusky help readers distinguish between current mental health concerns, such as gender dysphoria, and the emerging gender identities that some young people turn to for a sense of identity and community. Based on the authors’ significant clinical and ministry experience, this book casts a vision for practically engaging and ministering to teens navigating diverse gender-identity concerns. It also equips readers to critically engage gender theory based on a Christian view of sex and gender.
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Beauty Of Preaching
$31.99Add to cartWhat does beauty have to do with healing the fragmentation within our churches? According to Michael Pasquarello, everything. Amid the cacophony of ugly political invective that dominates nearly every space today-including church-only God has the power to unify and heal through his truth and goodness, revealed in his beauty. And every Sunday, those in the pulpit have the opportunity and responsibility to share this beauty with their parishioners.
The Beauty of Preaching is about nothing less than the essence of what preaching is. Pasquarello’s project is to turn the tide against the conventional wisdom that sermons are first and foremost meant to be pragmatic. Tapping into a long tradition that can be traced back to Augustine, Pasquarello explores a theological definition of beauty that has tremendous revelatory power in a post-Christendom world. A church manifesting this beauty is not merely a gathering of people, but a place where God’s new creation appears in the midst of the old creation, ushered in by a pastor willing to make God the primary actor within the doxological craft of preaching.
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Lose Control Womens Bible Study Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$15.99Add to cartHave you ever thought you had life under control-until you didn’t? Perhaps thinking “God is in control” but living as if you are. It’s like walking around with a hot cup of coffee, afraid that with one wrong move it will spill and be a burning hot mess. Then you realize what little control you have and how dependent on God you truly are.
In Lose Control, Mary Shannon Hoffpauir takes you on a six-week journey through the Book of First Samuel, which is an epic story about a fight for control. Despite God’s warnings through the prophet Samuel, the nation of Israel was determined to take control by having their own king. As you dig into the saga of King Saul and David, who would become the next anointed king of Israel, you will discover that no plan or purpose of God can be thwarted by human beings. Even the worst of circumstances can be used by God to accomplish His purposes in your life.
In her no-nonsense, authentic teaching style that endears her to women of all ages, Mary Shannon encourages you to lose control so that you can find your soul through a trusting relationship with your faithful God.
Components for this six-week Bible study, each available separately, include a Participant Workbook, a Leader Guide, and a DVD with six 25-minute segments (with closed captioning).
*An in-depth six-week exploration of the entire Book of 1 Samuel.
*Study includes five days of homework for each week.
*Encourages women to exchange their desire for control for God’s gift of faith.
*Helps women gain a deeper love and grace for others.
*DVD features dynamic, engaging teaching in six 25-minute segments. -
28 Day Prayer Journey Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$15.99Add to cartWe know from Scripture that prayer is essential to an intimate and thriving relationship with God, but often we simply don’t know how or what to pray. Many of us feel inhibited with group prayer or praying out loud. Chrystal Evans Hurst knows both the freedom and literal blessing of establishing and growing your prayer life, and how difficult it can be when prayer itself feels a bit foreign.
In this video-based Bible study (DVD/downloads sold separately), Chrystal teaches us the basic tenets of prayer practice and establishes a realistic and doable pattern of prayer to be applied to our daily life for 28 days with lasting effect. She then dives deep into four postures of prayers that increase our communication and relationship with God. After you have prayed in one posture for an entire week, Chrystal will break down that posture and walk through the biblical references supporting it to draw the connections between your growing relationship with God and the practice of prayer.
This study includes daily prayer practices, space to journal about your prayers and what you are hearing from God, as well as challenges each week to keep yourself from distraction and give prayer the time it deserves.
Sessions include:
*Introduction to Types of Prayer and Practice
*Prayers of Thanksgiving
*Prayers of Repentance
*Prayers of Request
*Prayers of YieldingDesigned for use with the 28-Day Prayer Journey Video Study (sold separately).
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Proverbs For You
$19.99Add to cartDivine wisdom for your everyday life from the book of Proverbs.
In the Proverbs, God offers us wisdom for real life and he shows us Jesus, who was wisdom personified and exemplified.
This accessible, absorbing expository guide to Proverbs by Kathleen Nielson brings these ancient sayings to life, helping ordinary Christians to see what it can look like to enjoy living in line with God’s wisdom in the great multitude of everyday situations and decisions we face.
This book gives an expository rather than topical treatment to the book of Proverbs, so it can be read as originally intended. It also has more application than a typical commentary, making it a great resource for personal devotions, as well as useful for leading small-group studies or sermon preparation.
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Proverbs For You
$17.99Add to cartIn the Proverbs, God offers us wisdom for real life and he shows us Jesus, who was wisdom personified and exemplified.
This accessible, absorbing expository guide to Proverbs by Kathleen Nielson brings these ancient sayings to life, helping ordinary Christians to see what it can look like to enjoy living in line with God’s wisdom in the great multitude of everyday situations and decisions we face.
This book gives an expository rather than topical treatment to the book of Proverbs, so it can be read as originally intended. It also has more application than a typical commentary, making it a great resource for personal devotions, as well as useful for leading small-group studies or sermon preparation.
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Precepts For Living Regular Print 2021-2022
$19.95Add to cartPastors and educators alike praise Precepts For Living(R), UMI’s best-selling annual Bible commentary. This indispensable resource is based on the texts outlined in the International Uniform Lesson Series and provides 52 weeks of in-depth Bible studies for personal or classroom use. Unlike other Bible study lesson plans, Precepts For Living(R) highlights the cultural relevance and contributions of Africans in Bible history – a bonus for African American churches. Each easy-to-use weekly lesson explores the life-changing power of God’s Word and takes a creative approach to teaching and applying those truths today. The interactive and encouraging students are practical and clear – perfect for students and leaders. Scripture text in parallel King James Version – New Living Translation, In-depth Bible Commentary to promote insight and understanding, Teaching Tools such as illustrations, maps, charts, tips, and daily Bible readings, Instructive Bible Commentary, Proven, effective Teaching Tools, Historical, Biographical, and Geographic Insights, with Greek and Hebrew translations and pronunciation guides, “Perspective” Quarterly Essays by leading theologians and Christian educators, Heritage Profiles of notable African Americans to introduce Bible themes, offering the unique African American perspective readers anticipate from UMI. Precepts For Living(R) is an invaluable study guide for all who desire to further their knowledge, understanding, and application of biblical truths.
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Proverbs Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$14.99Add to cartThe book of Proverbs is a practical book written for people like us–parents, children, friends, and coworkers. It’s a collection of biblical sayings and wisdom that will make our modern lives run a bit more smoothly. Inside you encounter the wise and the foolish, all on a journey to find the wisdom that comes from God alone.
Proverbs: Pathways to Wisdom explores the context, language, and interpretation of this wisdom literature genre. Each chapter covers the historical context and interpretations of well-known verses and prevalent themes throughout the book. From the figure of wisdom to the Woman of Valor in Proverbs 31, Hernandez explores these verses and reveals literary and historical details that bring more meaning to familiar passages.
The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the four-week study including session plans, activities, and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.
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Friendship : The Heart Of Being Human
$25.00Add to cartIn this vibrant theological reflection on the meaning of friendship, experienced pastor and leading Christian ethicist Victor Lee Austin argues that friendship is the medium through which God shares grace with his creatures. Mixing personal reflection and theological commentary, Austin provides a fresh reading of classical writers and biblical texts; shows how a robust theology of friendship addresses contemporary controversies in the areas of marriage, celibacy, and homosexuality; and draws on cultural examples of the desire for real friendship. Ultimately, Austin helps readers understand the strange yet real possibility of friendship with God.
About the Series
Pastors are called to help people navigate the profound mysteries of being human, from birth to death and everything in between. This series, edited by leading pastoral theologian Jason Byassee, provides pastors and pastors-in-training with rich theological reflection on the various seasons that make up a human life, helping them minister with greater wisdom and joy. -
Formational Power Of Worship
$13.99Add to cartWhy do we do what we do in worship? Why do we sing, read Scripture, and preach sermons?
The Formational Power of Worship contends that these questions and others like them are the very ones pastors, musicians, and other ministry leaders should be asking. For these leaders, meaningful worship can also be intentional worship, engaging both the heart and the mind so that people can be shaped into disciples of Christ. This book invites you to begin this journey of why by examining different elements of worship and exploring how they can better become formational moments in the life of the church.
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Were On The Move Now Cycle B
$13.95Add to cart“Acknowledge your gift. Use your gift for the benefit of others and to the glory of God who has ‘gifted’ you. People may not long remember your name. They may never know your name. But your gift to them will last forever.”
Throughout his collection of Advent centered sermons, Ronald Love reminds us to consider all of the gifts that God has given us and to use that which makes us unique to spread the word of God. Although it might be an intimidating task to preach about Jesus to those who may believe differently, Love calls to mind the talents that God has granted us in order to do just that. He reveals that the idea of preaching to others is not an invitation from the Lord but is instead a commandment from God: “What we have is a mandate to preach the gospel to all individuals.”
Even if you do not believe that you are qualified enough to spread the word, God knows that he chose the right person for the job when he created you and me. Instead of doubting ourselves, love encourages us to be like Paul in his letters to the Corinthians: “Paul’s attitude was that nothing will stop him from proclaiming the good news! Paul’s attitude was that no obstacle would stop him from offering the message of salvation! Paul’s attitude was that he would remain steadfast in his call to be an apostle–an ambassador–for the Lord!”
Sermon titles include:
*Be Near, Ye Faithful (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24)
*The Abounding Grace of God (Ephesians 1:3-14)
*A Child of God (1 Corinthians 8:1-13)This Advent season, remember your talents, and share what you have been given with others in order to spread God’s word, just as Love uses his gifts to help us grow closer to Jesus at the time of his birth.
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Ambassadors For Christ Cycle B
$15.95Add to cartWhat does it mean to be an ambassador for Christ? This is the question that John Jamison asks throughout this Lenten season. During this time where we remember Jesus’ final weeks and actions before his death and resurrection, we must ask ourselves how we can live more like Jesus did, and how we are showing God’s presence to the world? Jamison uses a unique mix of historical fact and modern examples throughout his sermons to show his congregation the many ways that the disciples had lived in Jesus’ example, and how we can do the same. Although we all have those days where we may not act in a way that is befitting of Jesus, Jamison reminds us that there are no requirements for who can be saved by God’s love, for he sent his son to die for all people. So, do what you can today, and do your best to help others using the gifts that God has given you. Remember that nobody is without God’s grace, and that you should love others as you are loved by your Father in heaven.
“The pastor lay awake with the feeling that tonight, he had seen the church as it was meant to be. He had seen those people doing what he believed Jesus would have done. He had been a pastor for many years, but what he saw tonight amazed him. As he walked into his office and joined that nine o’ clock meeting, he was exhausted, but he felt like the church, and he, had been reborn.”
Sermon titles include:
Seventeen sermons based on the Second lessons from the Revised Common Lectionary (Cycle B) for the seasons of Lent and Easter are included in this single volume. The reader will find these messages inspiring, thought-provoking and comforting. The content of this book will be useful for sermon preparation, study groups and for personal devotions.
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Real Time Ministry Cycle B
$14.95Add to cart“John’s gospel challenges us to explore what calling we have, one which we are willing to give our lives for, that also points us beyond this life. This is a Pentecost question for both the church as a group and us as individual Christians” (59). Our callings will vary from person to person, and even throughout our lives, you may not find your true calling until later. This was certainly true for David Coffin, who did not follow his calling into ministry until the age of 29. Unlike many of his coworkers, Coffin was working for an envelope manufacturing company before he applied for seminary and began his walk closer to God. Although his classes were challenging and his life lead him through various twists and turns, he could always turn to God in times of struggle and be reinvigorated.
During Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus’ disciples, many Christians are looking for a similar sign from above, telling them what they should do with their life. Coffin encourages his readers to instead take this time to search out their true callings, regardless of where they are in their life journey. No matter what trials you may encounter along the way, Coffin uses his own experiences to prove that God will be there for you, and that every hardship happens for a reason, though it may not be immediately clear. Although this season of Pentecost may not be as flashy or miraculous as we want, it will still change our lives for the better if we focus on God and his messages for us.
Sermon titles include:
*”New Life Goes On” (Mark 5:21-43)
*”Bread and Call” (John 6:35, 41-51)
*”Belonging at the Table” (John 6:51-58)Fifteen sermons based on the Gospel lessons from the Revised Common Lectionary (Cycle B) for the first half of the season after Pentecost are included in this single volume. The reader will find these messages inspiring, thought-provoking and comforting. The content of this book will be useful for sermon preparation, study groups and for personal devotions.
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Awakened Life For High School Students Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$15.99Add to cartThe Awakened Life for High School Students is an 8-week small-group guide that empowers teens to awaken to a more abundant life through practices that build resiliency, teach psychosocial skills, and foster emotional and spiritual well-being. It is designed to be led by those who provide spiritual and emotional care to students but who are not professional counselors or therapists.
The curriculum walks participants through 8 weeks of practices and reflections. Each weekly session lasts for about an hour and includes a mindfulness or spiritual practice to explore as a group. Many of these practices involve prayer and meditation techniques, coupled with discussion and journaling.
Through participation in The Awakened Life, high school students can wake up to abundant life; become aware of their worth and belonging; come alive to their senses, thoughts, and emotions; abide in the love and grace of God; and arise to live a life as connected, whole people.
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Awakened Life For High School Students Student Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$11.99Add to cartThe Awakened Life for High School Students is an 8-week small-group guide that empowers teens to awaken to a more abundant life through practices that build resiliency, teach psychosocial skills, and foster emotional and spiritual well-being. It is designed to be led by those who provide spiritual and emotional care to students but who are not professional counselors or therapists.
The curriculum walks participants through 8 weeks of practices and reflections. Each weekly session lasts for about an hour and includes a mindfulness or spiritual practice to explore as a group. Many of these practices involve prayer and meditation techniques, coupled with discussion and journaling.
Through participation in The Awakened Life, high school students can wake up to abundant life; become aware of their worth and belonging; come alive to their senses, thoughts, and emotions; abide in the love and grace of God; and arise to live a life as connected, whole people.
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Lectionary Reflections Cycle B
$24.95Add to cart“Imagine if before we fired off that comment, posted that pithy, clever post, or took out our frustration on whoever happened to be in front of us, we asked ourselves: Does this build up or tear down? Is this kind? Am I speaking the truth in love? How does this act or word imitate God and show the love of Jesus Christ?” (171) How can we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, best imitate his life on Earth? Jill Duffield uses Lectionary Reflections: Year B to explain, through a variety of different situations, no matter what time of year. Whether we are feeling untethered to Jesus during Thanksgiving, or unsure how to perceive his death on Good Friday, Duffield is prepared to help us live the example of Christ each and every day.
Lectionary Reflections, Cycle B is part of a three-part series, of which this is the second installment. After each biblical commentary, Duffield includes a set of questions, centered around readers thinking like disciples of Christ. However insignificant they may seem at first glance, take the time to thoroughly read each question while reflecting on her commentary, and discover her dedication to bring others closer to God, in mind and spirit. This book is intended for preachers and laypeople alike, or even new converts who may have questions as they explore the Bible. If a passage or story is seemingly unclear, Duffield has a detailed response on how to understand His word.
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2000 Year Old Preacher Cycle B
$15.95Add to cart“I am old and ready to die. To be truthful, I have been ready to die for years, but right now, I feel ready as I have never been before.”
This quote was taken from one of David Leininger’s sermons titled “Simeon: A Monologue,” in which he takes at one of the most well-known stories in the Bible, Jesus’ Visit to the Temple, and looks at it from a new perspective. Throughout The 2000 Year Old Preacher, he invites his audience to do the same, observing this holiday season from a new angle.
Consider the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her status as the favored one of God. In his sermon, “Mary’s Complaint,” Leininger references how the favored mother of Jesus does not complain during her complications as she carries the Son of God, but continues to praise His name and remain grateful for the privilege that she had been given.
Leininger uses a variety of topics to ask his congregation to view their lives from a new perspective, using sermons such as:
*Advent 3: Hark the Herald…What? (John 1:6-8, 19-28)
*Nativity of Our Lord: God Bless Santa! (Luke 2:1-20)
*Epiphany 5: Heroines of the Faith (Mark 1:29-39)So take a step back from viewing the forest and look at the trees, have a seat at the feet of God, and experience new worlds that Leininger paints with his words of wisdom throughout The 2000 Year Old Preacher.
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Gratitude On The Prairie Cycle B
$14.95Add to cart“But faith in Christ calls us out of solitary pursuits. Faith in Christ calls us to proclaim Christ where the hurt is the worst, where despair is the deepest, where hope has never been born. We can’t sit under our telescope or at our desk and respond fully to Christ. We have to feel the brokenness around us. We have to be touched, even wounded by it” (page 15). Thomas Willadsen challenges his readers to look at Christ’s sacrifice for us in a new way, to feel the brokenness and challenges that Jesus suffered for us. The challenge of being a Christian is that it is not always easy to spread the good news of God’s love for us.
However, Willadsen points out that this call to spread Christianity has its rewards, even if we do not realize them at first. “You may discover that you have interests and abilities you didn’t realize. You will make new friends and deepen existing friendships. You will learn–I insist on that! –and you will be given opportunities to respond to Christ’s call, to Christ’s sacrifice” (21). No matter the place you are in your life or your destination, Willadsen encourages us as Christians to love others, and to be as Christ for everyone we interact with. Though this might not be easy, Jesus’ ministry wasn’t simple either. Become like Christ through your actions. Love like Christ through your words. Suffer like Christ when people reject you. But overall, remember that you are loved by Christ.
Sermon titles include:
*”It’s Lonely at the Top” (Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22, Psalm 124, Mark 9:38-50, Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29)
*”Seeing with the Eyes of Faith” (Psalm 34: 1-8, 19-22, Jeremiah 31:7-9, Psalm 126, Mark 10:46-52)
*”Steadfast Change” (1 Samuel 1:4-20, 2:1-10, Hebrews 10:11-25, Mark 13:1-8)
Fourteen sermons based on the Gospel lessons from the Revised Common Lectionary (Cycle B) for the second half of the season after Pentecost are included in this single volume. The reader will find these messages inspiring, thought-provoking and comforting. The content of this book will be useful for sermon preparation, study groups and for personal devotions.
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Funeral Sermons That Proclaim And Celebrate
$12.95Add to cart“So today we gather to share our love and our stories with one another. We come to hear the voice of the Good Shepard reflected in the voice of family and friends. We cry together and we laugh together and we know that in both we are embraced in the arms of our loving God.”
Taken from one of George Reed’s many funeral sermons that make up Funeral Seermons that Proclaim and Celebrate, Reed teaches that the passing of a loved one should not be seen as the end of a life, but rather the beginning of a new chapter in which the deceased has been reborn with God in heaven. Throughout his book, he encourages his audience to remember their late relatives and friends through their memories, of all the good times spent together. He reminds us of how the deceased’s actions display God’s presence in the world. Their life, though beautiful like a rainbow, similarly cannot last forever, but the memories of that rainbow lives on in our memories long after its passing. “We will miss the physical presence of NAME but we know that the joy of this rainbow will continue in the presence of God for all eternity and that someday we will again enjoy the fullness of that blessing.”
No matter who your loved one is, or how you want them to be remembered, Reed has offered the guidelines on how to honor them perfectly, using sermons such as:
– “Comfort My People” (Isiah 40:1-8)
– “Many Rooms” (John 14:1-4, 18-19, 25-27)
– “God’s Fullness Within Us” (Ephesians 3:14-21)Throughout this time of grief and mourning, Reed encourages us to remember peaceful memories of our loved ones with whom we will be reunited in heaven.
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Pages From A Preachers Notebook
$24.99Add to cartInside the disciplined mind of John Stott
Like many preachers, the great British evangelical leader John Stott was always looking for illustrations to include in his sermons and writings. Beginning in the 1940s and continuing until the early 2000s, when he came across something he thought he could use, he captured it on a note card, labeled it according to topic, and filed it away in his study.
Editor Mark Meynell, who worked at All Souls Langham Place with Stott, has selected the best of these illustrations to be included in Pages from a Preacher’s Notebook. Here we see Stott’s fruitful and disciplined mind on display in hundreds of preaching notes and prayers on various subjects, all arranged topically. Whether you are a preacher or writer looking for a good idea, or an admirer of Stott who enjoys reading anything he writes, Pages from a Preacher’s Notebook illuminates his careful working methods for the benefit of readers today.
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Dream Big Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$13.99Add to cartAt some point, we resign ourselves to living by the scripts and rhythms established by other people. Perhaps it’s a parent. Maybe it’s a pastor or a boss or a teacher. Maybe it’s a mortgage or wedding date or that next pay raise. Wherever the source, today there is an ocean full of people living on the life rafts of what they were expected to do. If we look at the mirror, we might see ourselves on that life raft as well.
In this five-session video study (DVD/digital downloads sold separately), bestselling author Bob Goff dares to ask the questions: What would you do if opinion, reason, or probability were no objects? What do you deeply desire to do even if it scares you to the marrow of your bones? What were you meant to do even if no other person thinks you should? He shares stories from the Bible that show how God called certain individuals to follow him-regardless of their lack of “qualifications”-and how those people changed the world when they dared to follow God’s dreams for their lives. In the same way, God is calling us to step into the version of our lives that he intended for us before others told us it was impossible and once again dream big.
If anyone knows how to live life to the fullest, it is Bob Goff. He has already dazzled readers and audiences with his crazy, audacious, live-out-loud approach and stories told in Love Does and Everybody, Always. Yet as unique as Bob might seem, he had to make his own choice to dream big. In this study, he will take participants on this journey he has already traveled and help them to rediscover the dreams God has for them and turn them into reality. Dream Big will help group members understand that God has a plan for their lives and provide a step-by-step road map to breaking through the barriers that are holding them back.
Designed for use with the Dream Big Video Study (sold separately).
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Victory Over The Darkness Study Guide (Revised)
$16.99Add to cart“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32 niv).
It’s Jesus’s promise to you–the promise that you will live triumphantly. But what keeps you from really walking in the joy of the Lord? The powers of darkness attack us daily. But, as Dr. Neil Anderson shows in Victory Over the Darkness, you can have the power to conquer them by knowing who you are in Christ. In this book, you will learn how to:
* realize the power of your identity in Christ
* find freedom from the burdens of your past
* stand against the spiritual forces of this world
* win the battle for your mind
* become the victorious person you want to be
* discover the truth about God’s view of youVictory Over the Darkness spells out practical ways to experience Christian growth based on Christ’s promise. Learn to apply the truths of Scripture as a base from which to renew your mind and become the person Christ empowers you to be.
