Pastoral Helps
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All Ages Becoming
$25.99Add to cartWe are in this together?all ages practicing, all ages becoming God’s people.
Often, intergenerational initiatives are seen as the next new church trend, or another programming tool for church growth and revitalization. Ultimately, though, intergenerational practice is at the core of what it means for us to be the body of Christ. God intends for all ages to participate in faith formation together; we are formed in our practice of intergenerationallity as we participate in the formation of becoming God’s people.
All Ages Becoming brings theologians, practitioners, and ministry leaders, representing diverse denominations, generations, cultures, and geographical locations, together to help us explore this adventure of intergenerational Christian practice. As you consider intergenerational practice in your own faith community, each chapter provides “Theology in Practice” sections with questions designed to help your community reflect, discuss, discover, experiment, reinvent, redesign, and continue in your community of practice.
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Grace To Grow
$19.99Add to cartMost pastors pray for a healthy and vibrant church, a prosperous organization and transformative change among those they disciple, but many find themselves frustrated because they lack direction and feel as though they are spinning their wheels. They struggle to correct unhealthy patterns or do not have fresh vision for their ministry.
John K. Jenkins can relate. The first church he attended is best described as a shack with a bell and a steeple. The restroom facilities? An outhouse. When he accepted his first senior pastoral role, he ministered to 35 people on a good Sunday.
Today, Pastor Jenkins welcomes more than 11,000 worshipers to Sunday services, and thousands more participate virtually. And he has learned what it takes to help an organization function wisely and efficiently, no matter its size.
Grace to Grow reveals the lessons Jenkins has learned along the way. It is a guide to help pastors move their ministries from merely surviving to fully thriving, despite the challenging road ahead. He gives insight into his own journey as a young pastor and identifies biblical principles, strategies, and techniques that made the difference in the life of his church and his personal discipleship for almost four decades.
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Church Music : For The Care Of Souls
$19.99Add to cartThe Lord’s song sings faith into people’s hearts.
Music is central to the life of the church. In Church Music: For the Care of Souls, Phillip Magness helps the church to recover the primary instrument in worship: congregational voices. With voices raised, we sing praises to our God and King for his Son Jesus Christ. Singing calls for a special kind of leadership–not only on the part of musicians, but also among pastors and lay leaders. Together, leaders can help congregations find their voice and reclaim the power of music for the care of souls.
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You Found Me
$20.99Add to cartOutreach Magazine Resource of the Year
Many bemoan the decline of the church. We hear a steady stream of reports about how droves of people, especially younger generations, are abandoning Christianity. But new research shows that unchurched Americans are surprisingly more receptive and open to the Christian faith than is commonly assumed.
Researcher and practitioner Rick Richardson unveils the findings of the Billy Graham Center Institute’s groundbreaking studies on the unchurched. A study of 2000 unchurched people across the country reveals that the unchurched are still remarkably open to faith conversations and the church. Even unchurched “nones” and millennials are quite receptive if they are approached in particular ways.
In this book you will also find best practices from further research into the top ten percent of churches that most effectively reach the unchurched. People who were previously unchurched share what actually moved them to faith and Christian commitment. And the research shows that churches and organizations can be transformed to become places where conversion growth becomes the new normal.
If people tell you “the sky is falling,” don’t believe them. In today’s troubled world, unchurched and unbelieving people are newly receptive to hearing good news. You can lead the change that will help your church reach people-who then reach others.
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Lights A Lovely Mile
$27.00Add to cartEugene H. Peterson’s never-before-published wisdom for each season of the Christian year
The glorious, never-dull reality of the gospel is this: Christ sets us free. All of us can be doers of the word, using the stuff of the everyday to make something to the glory of God.
Long before his iconic paraphrased Bible translation, The Message, Eugene H. Peterson (1932-2018) faithfully preached for decades to the small congregation of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland. As the seasons passed, along with the accompanying fasts and feasts, Peterson faithfully revealed ways to cultivate a robust, authentic life of faith, intimacy, obedience, and joy.
Now you can gain new insights into Peterson’s preaching and pastoral life through this collection of his most compelling yet never-before-published sermons. Following the calendar of the church year, from the darkness of Advent to the light of Epiphany, the wilderness of Lent to the celebration of Easter, and the fire of Pentecost to the everyday glory of ordinary time, these remarkable sermons point to the eternity beyond our experience of time.
With his trademark wit and wisdom, Peterson shows how to pursue a “long obedience in the same direction” through all the seasons, colors, and rhythms of our lives.
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Church In An Age Of Secular Mysticisms
$28.99Add to cartPost-Christian life and society do not eliminate a desire for the transcendent; rather, they create an environment for new and divergent spiritual communities and practices to flourish. We are flooded with spiritualities that appeal to human desires for nonreligious personal transformation. But many fail to deliver because they fall into the trap of the self.
In the last book of the Ministry in a Secular Age series, leading practical theologian Andrew Root shows the differences between these spiritualities and authentic Christian transformation. He explores the dangers of following or adapting these reigning mysticisms and explains why the self has become so important yet so burdened with guilt–and how we should think about both. To help us understand our confusing cultural landscape, he maps spiritualities using twenty of the best memoirs from 2015 to 2020 in which “secular mystics” promote their mystical and transformational pathways. Root concludes with a more excellent way–even a mysticism–centered on the theology of the cross that pastors and leaders can use to form their own imaginations and practices.
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Serve : Loving Your Church With Your Heart, Time And Gifts
$16.99Add to cartThis book looks at the gospel of Jesus and the example of Jesus to motivate us to serve our church family sacrificially with our energy, time and gifts.
This is a great book for Christians who have grown weary over time, those who need help in identifying their gifts and gaining the confidence to offer them, and church members who are lacking the motivation to get started.
As we look to the example of Jesus, who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), we will be excited and equipped to use what God has given us to serve others with a renewed sense of purpose and joy. We will also see that we do not need to have any particularly impressive gifts or emulate anyone else in order to answer Jesus’ call to love one another.
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God Who Sees Bible Study Guide Plus Streaming Video (Student/Study Guide)
$21.99Add to cart“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me, ‘ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me'” (Genesis 16:13).
There are times in our lives when we wonder if God truly sees us. When we are going through trials that seem to have no end . . . we wonder if God sees us. When we are faced with problems that seem to resurface again and again . . . we wonder if God sees us. When an illness we thought was defeated returns to impact our lives once more . . . we wonder if God sees us. And if God does see us in these situations . . . we wonder if he cares.
In this six-session video Bible study, bestselling author Kathie Lee Gifford explores the stories of several important figures in the Bible who also wondered at times if God saw them in their plight. Through the stories of Hagar, Ruth, David, Mary of Magdala, and others, participants will discover that even when things seem to be at their worst, there is a God whose eyes are always on us, who has promised to never leave us or forsake us, and who gives us the power to do all that he has called us to do.
This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including:
*The study guide itself–with discussion and reflection questions, video notes, and a leader’s guide.
*An individual access code to stream all video sessions online. (You don’t need to buy a DVD!)
Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2028. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.
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Experiencing Christmas Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$15.99Add to cartDiscover how everything changed when God was born.
Everything seems different at the end of the year. We put lights on our houses to dispel the growing darkness, Christmas music floods local radio stations, apple cider and cranberry sauce are again on the menu, and wrapping paper and tape are always ready. Things just look, smell, and taste differently during the Advent and Christmas season, and these differences are a sign to us that God is about to do something radical and different. Christmas is when God surrounded the divine with senses of his own. That first noel was when God had eyes to see suffering, ears to hear our cries, and hands to hold those in need, and all of these senses were bundled in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. “This will be a sign to you,” the angel told the shepherds, and they traveled to Bethlehem and found a child. What signs do you see during the Advent and Christmas season that point you to the divine?
The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the four-week study, including session plans, activities, discussion questions, and multiple format options.
Additional components for the four-week small group study include the book and DVD/Video Sessions featuring Matt Rawle. -
Experiencing Christmas : Christ In The Sights And Sounds Of Advent (Student/Stud
$17.99Add to cartDiscover how everything changed when God was born.
Everything seems different at the end of the year. We put lights on our houses to dispel the growing darkness, Christmas music floods local radio stations, apple cider and cranberry sauce are again on the menu, and wrapping paper and tape are always ready. Things just look, smell, and taste differently during the Advent and Christmas season, and these differences are a sign to us that God is about to do something radical and different. Christmas is when God surrounded the divine with senses of his own. That first noel was when God had eyes to see suffering, ears to hear our cries, and hands to hold those in need, and all of these senses were bundled in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. “This will be a sign to you,” the angel told the shepherds, and they traveled to Bethlehem and found a child. What signs do you see during the Advent and Christmas season that point you to the divine?
Additional components to use the book as a four-week small group study include a leader guide and DVD/Video Sessions featuring Matt Rawle.
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Connections Worship Companion Year B Volume 1
$32.00Add to cartThis volume of the Connections Worship Companion series offers complete liturgies-from the call to worship to the closing charge, with prayers and litanies for every need in between-for all worshiping occasions between Advent and Pentecost of Year B. Part of the Connections commentary series, these worship resources help congregations illuminate the connections between Scripture and liturgical rhythms and between the Sundays of each liturgical season. A “Making Connections” essay precedes each season’s resources, providing context for worship within the themes and purpose of the season, while liturgies for repeated use throughout each season enhance connections from Sunday to Sunday.
Contributors to this volume include Claudia L. Aguilar Rubalcava, Mamie Broadhurst, Marci Auld Glass, Marcus A. Hong, Kimberly Bracken Long, Emily McGinley, Kendra L. Buckwalter Smith, Samuel Son, Slats Toole, and Byron A. Wade.
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Heaven And Earth (Student/Study Guide)
$17.99Add to cartWatch out. God is on the way.
It’s not within our own power to make a fresh start. If we’re to have a future different from the past, it must come as a gift, something not of our devising. What we need is a God who refuses to be trapped in eternity, a God who not only cares about us but is willing to show up among us and do something with us, here, now.
In Heaven and Earth: Advent and the Incarnation, Will Willimon introduces you to the God who does just that, bringing heaven to earth and changing everything. In Advent we celebrate and anticipate the earth-shaking, life-transforming good news that God is coming to us. Watch out. Get ready. God is on the way.
Additional components to use the book as a four-week small group study include a leader guide and DVD/Video Sessions featuring Will Willimon.
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Unlikely Advent : Extraordinary People Of The Christmas Story (Student/Study Gui
$17.99Add to cartExpect the unexpected this Christmas.
This four-week Advent study focuses on the experiences of four sets of often overlooked characters in the Nativity story. During this Advent season, Rachel Billups guides readers through the themes of hope, love, joy, and peace by sharing the stories of Elizabeth and Zechariah, Herod, the Magi, and the shepherds. Each set of unexpected characters has something to teach about living faithfully on the journey to Christmas.
Additional components to use the book as a four-week small group study include a leader guide and DVD/Video Sessions featuring Rachel Billups.
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Restoring Hope : A Integrative Approach To Marital Therapy
$34.99Add to cartServing more than ten thousand couples over a span of more than twenty years, Hope Restored is the comprehensive model for Christian marriage counselors, therapists, and others seeking to help marriages in distress.
The clinical team at the Focus Marriage Institute who developed the remarkably successful program Hope Restored: A Marriage Intensive Experience has created this guide, which provides a replicable model for working with couples in marital crisis. This professional resource contains numerous intervention and therapeutic strategies that you can apply to your personal therapy style, the unique individuals you serve, and the specific relational circumstances.
*Section 1 examines the key concepts, principles, and skills presented, along with their potential application.
*Section 2 dives deeper into the process of therapy and application, considering goals and objectives, the therapeutic relationship, the role of psychoeducation, sequencing, marriage dynamics, and more.
*Section 3 considers theological and psychological assumptions as well as foundations of the model and marital therapy research context.
Designed for the Christian marriage counselor or therapist; others, including pastors and lay leaders with a heart for marriage restoration, will find this proven model to be a valuable resource that stands the test of time.
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Money In The Light Of Eternity
$16.99Add to cartYou Are Created for More.
Our hearts are filled with all types of longings-yearnings for contentment, satisfaction, and happiness. We all want to be part of something greater than ourselves. Yet our biggest temptation is to try to satisfy those longings by seeking after more money and more stuff. That is junk food for our souls, full of quickly fading pleasure that leaves us unhealthier than we were before.
We deeply desire God and the good gifts that come from him alone. It’s the way we’re wired.
Does your heart long to be a part of something greater than yourself?
God’s most ambitious mission is ready for you to join. When was the last time you used money in a way that brought about deep, refreshing happiness and satisfaction for yourself and for others?
Money in Light of Eternity helps you see money the way God views it. When you follow God’s design for your life, you will find what no large bank account, big house, or fast car could ever provide. You will find your true heart.
You were created for so much more.
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Pivot : The Priorities, Practices, And Powers That Can Transform Your Churc
$22.99Add to cartA practical guide to help you build a culture in your church or organization that resists abuse and cultivates goodness.
After the release of their groundbreaking book, A Church Called Tov, which recorded the stories of abuse and toxic church cultures at some of the most prominent churches in the United States, New Testament scholar and blogger for Christianity Today Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer heard from a flood of people who had experienced similar instances of abuse. After all they’ve seen and heard, they still believe it’s possible for church cultures to be transformed from toxic to tov-from oppressive to good.
In Pivot, Scot and Laura help churches to implement practices,establish priorities, and cultivate the Kingdom Gospel-centered qualities that form goodness cultures. Readers will find answers to the four most common questions people have about culture transformation:
How can I transform the culture in my church or organization to make it tov?
I believe my workplace has unhealthy values. How do I initiate change?
How do I unleash a culture of goodness in my ministry?
I’m not in a position of church leadership. What are some red flags that indicate a toxic culture, and what can I do if I see them?
Pivot also includes the following practical features:
*The “Tov tool,” a survey to help you discern your organization’s culture and to promote spiritual conversations
*A “getting to work” section at the end of each chapter with questions and next steps for application
Transformation is never easy. But for the sake of the next generation, we must do it.
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Signs And Secrets Of The Messiah Bible Study Guide Plus Streaming Video (Student
$21.99Add to cartAre you or someone you love desperate for a miracle–a sign that God knows about your situation and is willing, ready, and available to do something about it? As witnessed through Scripture, the God who was and is and is to come has been performing miracles from the beginning of time. So, you can trust that Jesus wants to do something miraculous in your life today!
In Signs and Secrets of the Messiah, bestselling author and teacher Rabbi Jason Sobel dives deep into Scripture, biblical culture, and ancient texts to help you better understand the truths and the power behind God’s miracles and to increase your faith that Jesus can perform miracles in your life. By taking a deeper look at Jesus’ miracles, he reveals promises for all Christ followers based on miracles throughout Scripture:
*Jesus takes the ordinary and turns it into something extraordinary, because He wants you to live out of His overflow (He turned water into wine).
*Jesus wants to renew you so that He can do something new in you (He revealed to Nicodemus the miracle of rebirth).
*You can stop wandering aimlessly or feeling stuck in your current situation, but instead experience abundant life and healing (He healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda).
*God wants to bless you abundantly so you, in turn, can bless others and sow into His kingdom (Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish).
As you go on this journey with Rabbi Jason, a Messianic Jew, he is praying that God will lead you to new insights and breakthroughs in your life. And as God reveals Himself to you in a fresh and powerful way, you will be filled with a sense of His presence and shalom.
This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including:
*The study guide itself–with discussion and reflection questions, video notes, and a leader’s guide.
*An individual access code to stream all video sessions online. (You don’t need to buy a DVD!)
Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2028. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.
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God Never Gives Up On You Bible Study Guide Plus Streaming Video (Student/Study
$21.99Add to cartHave you ever wondered if you’ve had one too many stumbles for God to use someone like you? Have you ever worried that you’ve made the wrong decisions in life and there is no way back for you? Have you ever questioned if God can really use you in spite of your mistakes? If so, the tale of God’s unending, unbending, unswerving grace and devotion in the story of Jacob is just what you need.
God Never Gives Up on You is a five-session study tailor-made for the members of the “Lost Halo Society.” It’s for the strugglers among us and the fumblers within us. It’s for those who are part saint . . . and part scoundrel. It’s for those who mean well but don’t always do well. And it’s for those who could use a refresher course on how God enacts his perfect plan in this world by working through imperfect people.
In this study, bestselling author Max Lucado will reveal how God used Jacob–the misbehaving patriarch who was strong on savvy but low on conscience–simply because God chose to use Jacob. Period. The word for such devotion? Grace. Grace came after Jacob. Grace found him in the desert. Grace protected him in exile. Grace wrestled him to the ground and blessed him. Grace led him home to Canaan.
Jacob’s story invites us to likewise believe in a God who sticks with the unworthy and underachievers until we are safely at home.
Sessions and video run times:
1. Taking Shortcuts (15:30)
2. Reaping What You Sow (16:00)
3. Living with a Louse (17:00)
4. Wrestling with God (18:00)
5. Returning Home (16:00)This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including:
*The study guide itself–with discussion and reflection questions, video notes, and a leader’s guide.
*An individual access code to stream all video sessions online. (You don’t need to buy a DVD!)
Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2028. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.
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Gifts They Bring
$25.00Add to cartChildren are often touted as the “future” of the church, but their role in the church today is less frequently considered. In The Gifts They Bring, New Testament scholar, pastor, and mother Amy Lindeman Allen challenges readers to reconsider the way we view children in the church, focusing on our present life together as a diverse, inclusive community of faith. To do this, Lindeman Allen looks to the past, rereading familiar Gospel accounts with an eye to the experience of childhood in Jesus’ world, highlighting both the gifts that children brought to Jesus’ ministry as well as those they received from him. Through this lens, she invites readers to reconsider the age and relationship of well-known and lesser-known Bible characters, including the Bethlehem shepherds; James and John, the two disciples who followed Jesus alongside their mother; and the young boy whose lunch Jesus used to feed the five thousand. In the process, Lindeman Allen reconsiders ministry with children today, moving away from a transactional model of imparting wisdom to children to a dialogical model of learning and serving together with children. Each chapter reads a different Gospel story in conversation with experiences of real children in the church today, bringing into focus the varied gifts that children bring in a practice of inclusive ministry. These gifts include participation, proclamation, advocacy, listening, sharing, and partnership. Readers will grow more attuned to recognize the gifts that we each bring-children and adults-as essential members working together as one community in the body of Christ and so to share in the gift of Christ together.
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Gospel Of Mark Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$15.99Add to cartDiscover the Good News in the Bible’s earliest Gospel
Walk through the Bible’s earliest source for the life of Jesus with scholar Amy-Jill Levine as she introduces such themes as the Son of Man, discipleship, miracles, and Mark’s use of the Old Testament. The Good News of the gospel message comes alive in this book as readers see Jesus as divine and human, powerful and weak, approachable yet mysterious. The book features an in-depth study of select passages and illuminates the Gospel in its historical context and as a source for the other gospels.
This comprehensive Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the study. Additional components include the book, The Gospel of Mark: A Beginner’s Guide to the Good News, and DVD/Video sessions featuring Amy-Jill Levine.
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Thrive Womens Bible Study Participant Workbook (Student/Study Guide)
$17.99Add to cartIn Thrive, author and teacher Jen Cowart helps women develop the habits and attitudes necessary to thrive whatever their circumstances. Leading readers through the book of James, a letter written about enduring hardships, she lifts up six characteristics of mature Christians. From endurance and humility to the controlling the words we speak, Jen helps participants find the divine and the practical in living faithfully.
This six-week Bible study covers the topics of:
*Endurance: Embracing obstacles as a mean to maturity.
*Wisdom – Using heavenly perspective on earthly issues.
*Action – Living a life where actions match faith.
*Control – Taming the tongue.
*Humility- Developing the attitude of Christ.
*Prayer – Exercising the power tool of the faith.Each participant will need their own workbook. An additional leader guide and DVD are also available to make this study complete.
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Advent Bible Study Book (Student/Study Guide)
$16.99Add to cartExperience the Christmas season anew this year with this 5-session study on Advent, why we celebrate it, and how it fuels our worship of Jesus. Understand the anticipation and waiting the Old Testament world endured. And experience the joy of new life signaled by the coming of Christ, and the way Advent points to the glory of God still to come. First released in 2019, this study is expanded with tools for Scripture memory to help you savor this Advent season.
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On Purpose : Finding Gods Voice In Your Passion
$17.99Add to cartWe are hungry for a sense of purpose, direction, and calling in our lives. That’s as basic an ingredient to the human experience as they come. We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We want to participate in something that has eternal merit and lasting impact. We do not want to live a shallow, hollow existence. We yearn for deeper meaning, for deeper purpose within our lives. We want to be more than we are.
On Purpose: Finding God’s Voice in Your Passion helps us see God’s purpose for our lives, how to open ourselves to God’s voice, and how to take the first or next step to follow God’s call. Reading this book and exploring life choices alongside others, readers learn how to channel their passions, hear God’s voice, and live the life they were meant to live.
To support reading in a group, resources including a full leader’s guide and DVD with four teaching sessions are also available.
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Thrive Womens Bible Study Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$15.99Add to cartThe Thrive Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the six-week Bible study for women, including session plans, activities, discussion questions, and multiple format options. To lead this study, you’ll need the additional DVD with six video sessions, 20 to 25-minutes in length each.
In Thrive, author and teacher Jen Cowart helps women develop the habits and attitudes necessary to thrive whatever their circumstances. Leading readers through the book of James, a letter written about enduring hardships, she lifts up six characteristics of mature Christians. From endurance and humility to the controlling the words we speak, Jen helps participants find the divine and the practical in living faithfully.
Women will find inspiration and tools around six traits:
*Endurance: Embracing obstacles as a mean to maturity.
*Wisdom – Using heavenly perspective on earthly issues.
*Action – Living a life where actions match faith.
*Control – Taming the tongue.
*Humility- Developing the attitude of Christ.
*Prayer – Exercising the power tool of the faith. -
Interpretation For Preaching And Teaching
$27.00Add to cartRenowned biblical scholar Stanley Porter offers an accessible introduction to hermeneutics to help students and pastors better interpret and understand God’s Word.
Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching focuses on various levels of interpretation and proclamation, which are arranged in a necessary hierarchy: language and linguistics, the biblical text, biblical theology, systematic theology, and homiletics. Stanley Porter grounds the discussion within a conversation of biblical authority and offers a fresh examination of the key issues. The result is a workable method that introduces each of the major topics of interpretation and addresses some of the complexities of their use.
This book provides the basics for a Bible interpreter to move from fundamental questions about the task of biblical interpretation to understanding a text and its theology to creating and delivering a sermon. It offers valuable guidance for professors and students of hermeneutics and equips pastors and Bible teachers to deliver a relevant message to those who rely on them to be faithful interpreters.
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5 Congregational Personality Types
$18.99Add to cartCan churches in the 21st century stop, reverse, or prevent decline – and even become healthy, thriving congregations?
Missional innovator, pastor, and church renovator, Michael Beck, says they can.
But the old cookie cutter ways of doing church won’t cut it in today’s world. If churches are going to stop the shocking rates of pastoral burnout and exodus from the pews, they must understand that every church has a distinct personality type, which can keep it stuck or propel it into maturity, depending on how it’s used.
Now, for the first time in history, you can understand and leverage your congregation’s culture and personality using the groundbreaking 5 Congregational Personality Types(TM) model. Based on proven methods from psychology and ministry archetypes in Scripture, The Five Congregational Personality Types will help you unearth:
*Which of the five congregational personality types your church is
*Your congregation’s unique culture and how to nurture your church’s strengths
*The “shadow side,” or weak point, of your congregation’s personality type – and how you can transform this into a strength
*Your #1 strategy for growth and clear next steps to take
Get The Five Congregational Personality Types and discover exactly what to do next to grow your church in the 21st century.
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On Purpose Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$15.99Add to cartThe On Purpose Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the six-week study, including session plans, activities, discussion questions, and multiple format options. Additional components for the six-week small group study include the book and DVD/Video Sessions featuring the authors.
We are hungry for a sense of purpose, direction, and calling in our lives. That’s as basic an ingredient to the human experience as they come. In On Purpose: Finding God’s Voice in Your Passion, authors Magrey deVega, Sam McGlothlin, Jevon Caldwell-Gross, and Susan Robb help us see God’s purpose for our lives, how to open ourselves to God’s voice, and how to take the first or next step to follow God’s call. As participants read the book and explore life alongside others, everyone will learn how to channel their passions, hear God’s voice, and live the life we each were meant to live.
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Gospel Of Mark
$18.99Add to cartDiscover the Good News in the Bible’s earliest Gospel
Walk through the Bible’s earliest source for the life of Jesus with scholar Amy-Jill Levine as she introduces such themes as the Son of Man, discipleship, miracles, and Mark’s use of the Old Testament. The Good News of the gospel message comes alive in this book as readers see Jesus as divine and human, powerful and weak, approachable yet mysterious. The book features an in-depth study of select passages and illuminates the Gospel in its historical context and as a source for the other gospels.
Additional components include a comprehensive Leader Guide and DVD/Video sessions featuring Amy-Jill Levine.
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Emotionally Healthy Relationships Expanded Edition Workbook Plus Streaming (Expa
$22.99Add to cartAs Part 2 of the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship Course, Pete and Geri Scazzero developed Emotionally Healthy (EH) Relationships over a 27-year period to directly address core biblical principles to guide you and others into an experience of discipleship that will deeply change your life. In EH Relationships Expanded Edition, everyone will learn 8 practical relationship skills to develop mature, loving relationships with others such as:
*Stop Mind Reading and Clarify Expectations
*Incarnational Listening
*Climb the Ladder of Integrity
*Clean FightingAnd since loving others and loving God cannot be separated, each person will also grow in their personal, first-hand relationship with Jesus by incorporating stillness, silence, and Scripture as daily life rhythms. Part 2 of the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship Course also includes the newly filmed Emotionally Healthy Relationships video and the Emotionally Healthy Relationships Day by Day devotional.
This workbook includes:
*Individual access to eight streaming video sessions
*Session introductions, group discussion questions, and personal action steps
*Between-sessions personal study
*Leader’s Guide and valuable appendicesJoin us for a powerful journey that will walk you through a door that will change forever the way you love God, others, and yourself.
*Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2028. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.
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Dont Look Back Bible Study Guide Plus Streaming Video (Student/Study Guide)
$24.99Add to cartBirthed out of her observations over the past several pandemic years, Chris is back with an exciting and powerful message that will inspire, encourage, and motivate the reader to get unstuck, and move on with their lives.
The book addresses the overarching question: When I get stuck, how do I get unstuck and move on?
Using the story of Lot’s wife, who turned into a pillar of salt after she looked back on the life that was behind her, Chris Caine charges the reader to not look back, because our world will never be the same, but instead to press on and move forward–even when our hearts longs for what was.
This five session video Bible study will draw on the many ways God defines his character to us through our deep need for him, especially in seasons of great change and disruption. Christine will expose the common idols we look to before we look to God and how we can move through incredible circumstances with God as our only focus. You will hear Jesus clearly when he says, “Remember Lot’s wife” in Luke 17:32 and fixing your eyes on him, you will not look back!
This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including:
*The study guide itself–with discussion and reflection questions, video notes, and a leader’s guide.
*An individual access code to stream all video sessions online. (You don’t need to buy a DVD!)
Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2028. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.
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Interpretation For Preaching And Teaching
$49.99Add to cartRenowned biblical scholar Stanley Porter offers an accessible introduction to hermeneutics to help students and pastors better interpret and understand God’s Word.
Interpretation for Preaching and Teaching focuses on various levels of interpretation and proclamation, which are arranged in a necessary hierarchy: language and linguistics, the biblical text, biblical theology, systematic theology, and homiletics. Stanley Porter grounds the discussion within a conversation of biblical authority and offers a fresh examination of the key issues. The result is a workable method that introduces each of the major topics of interpretation and addresses some of the complexities of their use.
This book provides the basics for a Bible interpreter to move from fundamental questions about the task of biblical interpretation to understanding a text and its theology to creating and delivering a sermon. It offers valuable guidance for professors and students of hermeneutics and equips pastors and Bible teachers to deliver a relevant message to those who rely on them to be faithful interpreters.
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Everyday Connections Year B
$40.00Add to cartThis volume provides a full fifty-two weeks of devotional material based on the Revised Common Lectionary for Year B. Drawing from the insightful Bible commentaries in the Connections series, each week also includes scriptural and literary readings, lectio divina, spiritual practices, questions for journaling, and prayers. This resource has been crafted with mainline lectionary preachers in mind, both to supplement their planning for the week and to feed their souls in the midst of the work of ministry. Individuals and small groups will find their faith deepened through regular contemplation and devotional insight.
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Calm : How To End Destructive Conflict In Your Church
$18.99Add to cartGuide your church to proactively make decisions and deal with conflict. Calm: How to End Destructive Conflict in Your Church is a guidebook written for United Methodist churches and church leaders to help them proactively make decisions and deal with conflict. This book equips pastors and other leaders with the skills and tools necessary to engage in critical conversations that lead to healthy communities–churches that remain God-focused in times of conflict and tension. In addition to the four Modules, Calm includes the practical resources pastors, judicatory leaders, and others will need to lead congregations through the Modules. The Modules contain step-by-step instructions for planning and facilitating the Module sessions. They include detailed instructions and helpful tips for leading people through the Calm process of group activities, discussion, reflection, and times of worship. The book is a complete guide for leading this process, including instructions for the pastor and facilitator, helping to ensure success. The authors also provide clear adaptations for groups gathering virtually – an inescapable reality in the life of today’s church. These adaptations both underscore and equip groups to take special care while engaging in the sensitive nature of conflict work in a virtual space.
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Share The Dream Bible Study Guide Plus Streaming Video (Student/Study Guide)
$21.99Add to cartShare the Dream is a six-session video study series based on the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Throughout this series, co-hosted by Chris Broussard and Matt Daniels, you will look at six biblical principles that shaped Dr. King’s life and motivated him to speak out on behalf of African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement: love, conscience, freedom, justice, perseverance, and hope.
The best way to Share the Dream is to follow in Dr. King’s footsteps and embrace the vision–both individually and collectively with the people of God–for which he died. You can help a new generation better understand . . . live . . . experience. . . and ultimately form a community around the unifying principles at the heart of the dream to which Dr. King dedicated his life.
This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including:
*The study guide itself–with discussion and reflection questions, video notes, and a leader’s guide.
*An individual access code to stream all video sessions online. (You don’t need to buy a DVD!)
Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2028. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.
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Christmas Promise Sunday School Lessons
$14.99Add to cartThis three-session Sunday School curriculum is based on the best-selling storybook The Christmas Promise and shows children what God promised centuries before the first Christmas: a unique forever rescuing King (King Jesus) and joy for all who live under his loving rule.
Featuring age-differentiated lesson plans for 3-5s, 5-8s, and 8-12s, this flexible resource will work for any size of kids’ group and is easy to use for any leader. Also perfect for Homeschool Co-ops.
Includes activity, craft, and game ideas, along with an exclusive link and password for free downloadable resources.
There is also an outline plan for a family service that can be used during Advent or at Christmas.
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Hymns We Love Leaders Kit (Teacher’s Guide)
$34.99Add to cartOlder adults are the fastest-growing age demographic across the Western world, and yet there are few materials to support churches who want to help this older generation hear about God’s love.
Hymns We Love aims to fill that gap. It is a gentle which uses well-loved hymns to share the good news of Jesus and key truths about God’s character in an accessible way. Many in this generation have grown up singing these hymns at school, church or Sunday school, and they have therefore proved to be a non-threatening and accessible way to connect with seniors and help them to engage with the gospel.
The series comprises five video sessions. Each one tells the story of the hymn writer, how the hymn came to be, and the Christian message behind it. Across the five sessions, Hymns We Love will help bring the core truths of the Christian story alive in a way that is gentle, warm and clear.
The video sessions also feature beautiful renditions of the hymns, filmed in a historic English village church, along with testimonies and prayers.
There are also three introductory sessions: for Christmas and for Easter and a third which can be used at any time of the year.
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Hymns We Love Songbook
$4.99Add to cartOlder adults are the fastest-growing age demographic across the Western world, and yet there are few materials to support churches who want to help this older generation hear about God’s love.
Hymns We Love aims to fill that gap. It is a gentle which uses well-loved hymns to share the good news of Jesus and key truths about God’s character in an accessible way. Many in this generation have grown up singing these hymns at school, church or Sunday school, and they have therefore proved to be a non-threatening and accessible way to connect with seniors and help them to engage with the gospel.
The series comprises five video sessions. Each one tells the story of the hymn writer, how the hymn came to be, and the Christian message behind it. Across the five sessions, Hymns We Love will help bring the core truths of the Christian story alive in a way that is gentle, warm and clear.
The video sessions also feature beautiful renditions of the hymns, filmed in a historic English village church, along with testimonies and prayers.
There are also three introductory sessions: for Christmas and for Easter and a third which can be used at any time of the year.
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Sinners : Experiencing Jesus’?? Compassion In The Middle Of Your Sin, Strug
$16.99Add to cartDiscover the storyline of Scripture as you follow people, places, or things in the Bible. Maybe you are practiced in dissecting a passage and pulling things out of the text to apply to your life. But now you may feel as though your faith is fragmented. The Storyline Bible Studies help you put the pieces back together. You’ll discover cohesive, thematic storylines with literary elements and appreciate the Bible as the literary masterpiece that it is.
In Sinners, we will discover God’s tender compassion on anyone regardless of their social status, troubled past, or the labels placed upon them. And we are going to notice the counterintuitive ways “sinful” people respond to Jesus in righteous acts of faith. You’ll start to see a theme unfold: The people considered sinful often act with greater faith than the most religious people of Jesus’ day. In the Sinners Bible study, we will explore:
*Luke 7: the sinful woman who anointed Jesus with the perfume from her alabaster jar and whose faith saved her;
*Luke 7: the Roman centurion who advocated for his sick servant and whose faith saved the servant’s life;
*Matthew 9: the former tax collector and disciple named Matthew who had left his tollbooth to follow Jesus and whose faith confused the religious;
*Matthew 15: the Canaanite mom who begged Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter and whose faith led to her daughter’s healing; and
*John 4: the Samaritan woman at the well who was approached by Jesus and whose faith started revival in her town.
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Mastering Ministry : Key Principles For Every Pastor
$12.99Add to cartIt seems nothing completely prepares you to be a pastor. Education and training certainly help, but some things you simply must learn through the trial and error of personal experience. Or do you?
Gleaned from real-world experiences, Mastering Ministry was written with today’s pastorates in mind. Within its pages you will:
*Discover seven ministry-defining values to move from floundering to flourishing;
*Learn practical time management strategies to flatten the frenzied pace; and
*Explore over 30 ministry-related topics to face difficult issues with finesse.While most traditional pastoral resources assume a one-pastor- one-church model, Mastering Ministry recognizes pastors today are often responsible for multiple congregations and includes pointers from the author’s book The Multi-Church Pastor: A Manual for Training Leadership in a Multi- Church Setting.
Whether you are a new or seasoned pastor of a single congregation or several, you will find Mastering Ministry to be a valuable resource as you impact your community for Christ.
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Zondervan 2024 Pastors Annual
$24.99Add to cartCountless preachers have turned to the Zondervan Pastor’s Annual to save them time in sermon and service preparation. This tried-and-true resource makes your demanding job as a pastor a lot easier. Use its contents as is, or tailor it to fit your unique approach.
The Zondervan 2024 Pastor’s Annual supplies you with:
*Morning and evening services for every Sunday of the year
*Sermon topics and texts fully indexed
*Definitive and usable sermon outlines
*Devotionals and Bible studies for midweek services
*Fresh and applicable illustrations
*Appropriate hymn selections
*Special-day services for church and civil calendars
*Meditations on Lord’s Supper observance
*Wedding ceremonies and themes
*Funeral messages and Scriptures
*Basic pastoral ministry helps
*Messages for children and young people
*Offertory prayers -
As For Me Bible Study Book With Video Access (Student/Study Guide)
$20.99Add to cart“As for me, I will tell about him forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.”
Psalm 75:9From songs of praise to cries of lament and everything in-between, the book of Psalms captures the wide range of emotions in life. The psalmists paint a picture of a relationship with God that is filled with delays, disappointments, surprises, and triumphs. Through it all, their words model an incredible resolve to keep their eyes on God. Instead of being swallowed up by the darkness of their emotions and circumstances, they persevered in grabbing hold of God’s unfailing love and faithfulness.
In this 7-session Bible study, author and singer Adrienne Camp invites you to join her on a journey through the book of Psalms. Gain a deeper understanding of who God is and be encouraged to hold on to Him no matter what is happening around you. Let the psalms become the prayers you carry with you into every moment of every day, so that you, too, can say with confidence, “As for me, I will worship and serve the Lord no matter what.”
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Raised To Stay
$17.99Add to cartAn honest exploration of disappointment with the Church, Raised to Stay is for anyone weary of God’s people but longing to keep their faith in God.
God might seem silent right now. God’s people might seem not worth the wounds. But hold on as Natalie Runion embarks on a journey for all who are wandering, wondering, and wrestling. Together, we will move toward trusting God again, knowing that even though Christian community may fail us, the love of God never fails.
When we say yes to God, we don’t say yes to church politics, ladder climbing, or burnout. We say yes to Jesus. We say yes to hope. We say yes to much that we can still embrace. Through honest words and deeply personal story, Runion challenges us to be part of a generation known for the passionate pursuit of Christ. To be remembered for loving one another, forgiving one another, and persevering with one another in our hunger for God.
We aren’t quitters. We are the stayers.
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Dont Burn Out Burn Bright
$17.99Add to cartBuild toward Long-Term Energy, Health, and Success as a Leader
Pastors and ministry leaders are some of the hardest-working people in the world–and they have the high rate of burnout to prove it. As a leader, if you aren’t operating at peak efficiency and taking care of yourself, it is bound to catch up with you in a big way. So few in ministry feel they have the time to take a sabbatical or tend to their own physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. But healthy rhythms of work and rest are the key to a thriving, long-term ministry.
Putting their years of experience as both leaders and consultants to work, Jason Young and Jonathan Malm show you how to fine-tune your leadership and organize your life in such a way that you can become a high-capacity leader without the exhaustion and discouragement so many feel. They teach you how to set healthy boundaries, release control, operate from your values, and much more in order to burn bright and make a lasting impact without sacrificing your health, happiness, and relationships.
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Exploring Psychology And Christian Faith Second Edition
$27.99Add to cartDrawn from more than sixty years of classroom experience, this introductory guide provides students with a coherent framework for considering psychology from a Christian perspective. Paul Moes and Donald Tellinghuisen explore biblical themes of human nature in relation to all major areas of psychology, showing how a Christian understanding of humans can inform the study of psychology.
The first edition has proven to be a successful textbook, with over 11,000 copies sold. The second edition has been updated and revised throughout based on student and instructor feedback.
Brief, accessible chapters correspond to standard introductory psychology textbooks, making this an excellent supplemental text. The book includes end-of-chapter questions. An updated test bank for professors is available through Textbook eSources.
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Offensive Church : Breaking The Cycle Of Ethnic Disunity
$22.99Add to cartCrises around race have put the church in a defensive posture, always reacting to racial conflicts in society. But Jesus wants more. He wants Christians to play offense by discipling people into a new humanity, where we push beyond mere diversity and into a biblical vision for ethnic unity.
Bryan Loritts calls Christians to proactively and intentionally live out the embodied reality of a people at one with one another. We play offense by practicing a robust gospel, preparing reliable leadership, and providing relational environments so that the church becomes the aroma of Christ to our culture and gains ground against the demonic foothold of racism in all its forms.
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1 And 2 Thessalonians For You
$17.99Add to cartWe’ve been saved by Jesus… so what’s next? How do we discern good teaching from bad, what does it look like to grow in holiness, and what should our expectations be for the future? Find answers to those questions in the warm, instructive letters Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church.
Pastor and professor Ligon Duncan unpacks these two letters verse by verse, teaching us about Christ’s future return and showing us what it means to live in the light of that, whether we’re new Christians, seasoned ministers of the gospel, or somewhere in between. Along the way we see why Scripture is so important; learn to find reasons for thankfulness; clarify our beliefs about death, judgment, and eternity; and witness Paul’s deeply pastoral attitude toward his readers.
This accessible, absorbing expository guide is less academic and more applied than a traditional commentary. This makes it a great resource for personal devotion, as well as useful for leading small-group studies or for sermon preparation.
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Centering Discipleship : A Pathway For Multiplying Spectators Into Mature D
$20.99Add to cartDiscipleship without mission is discipleship without Christ.
The church often lacks maturity and missional impact because discipleship is at its periphery. In order to get discipleship to the center, leaders need a locally rooted, culturally contextual discipleship pathway to tether disciples who are disciplemakers to the neighborhood or network around them.
Pastor and discipler E. K. Strawser shows that when discipleship becomes central to your leadership and community, then discipleship becomes central to congregational mission and cultural renewal. Centering Discipleship is a gutsy practice-based guidebook for leaders who are doing the hard work of re-imagining and re-structuring their churches and communities to turn spectators into missional, mature followers of Jesus.
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Seeing God As A Perfect Father Study Guide Plus Streaming Video (Student/Study G
$21.99Add to cartThe renowned pastor and author A.W. Tozer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing to us . . . the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his heart conceives God to be like.” Our image of God shapes everything about us. It informs everything about who we are and who we are becoming.
In Seeing God as a Perfect Father, bestselling author and pastor Louie Giglio challenges each of us to consider our perceptions and thoughts about God. When we think about him, do we imagine a ruler who demands absolute loyalty from us? Or a coach who expects us to perform up to his high expectations? Or even a virtual assistant who is always there to help us when every other option is exhausted?
Louie invites us to consider God in a different way: as a perfect Father who wants us to live under the waterfall of his blessing. He points us to a God who is not absent or ambivalent, but available and affectionate, ready to shower us with his approval and love. He challenges us to consider:
*How the way that we are seeing God is influencing what we feel about his character
*How our perceptions of God’s perfection is creating misperceptions of his care for us
*How our relationship with our earthly father is creating distance in our relationship with him
*How our lives would be different if we truly were able to see God as a perfect fatherWhen we take hold of the truth that our God has spanned heaven and earth to reach us, we will no longer be defined by our past but by the love of a perfect Father. Learn how God wants us to experience his unique, unconditional love and to live in the freedom, abundance, and blessing He freely gives.
Sessions and video run times:
1. The Universal Craving (18:00)
2. It’s About What You Think (15:30)
3. Unclouding Your View (14:30)
4. A Better Name (17:30)
5. Finding Freedom (19:00)
6. We Have Seen His Glory (19:30)This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including:
*The study guide itself–with discussion and reflection questions, video notes, and a leader’s guide.
*An individual access code to stream all video sessions online. (You don’t need to buy a DVD!)
Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2028. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Int
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Encountering God Bible Study Book With Video Access (Student/Study Guide)
$22.99Add to cartSpiritual disciplines are essential to a more vibrant spiritual life and knowing God more intimately.
Join Kelly Minter in this 7-session Bible study as she unpacks the biblical foundation for these sacred habits along with approachable ways to practice disciplines like prayer, study, worship, rest, simplicity, generosity, celebration, and many more. Instead of being just one more thing on your to-do list, you’ll find that these habits of faith can actually create more margin in your life-providing peace and rest as you walk closer with Jesus.
