Posts tagged ‘Bible study’

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10 May, 2012

Will Downloads Kill the DVD Star?

by cubfann

…I don’t think so, but you can now download any individual session from any of 20 small group Bible studies now on ChristianBook.com.  Download an entire study, or cherry pick different sessions from different studies and create your own study.  Pick from best-selling small group studies like The Reason for God, When God’s People Pray, Surprised by Hope, The Christian Atheist, The Story, and others!

Each video download is available for purchase for only $2.99 and you get both mp4 and .mov formats (depending if you would like to play it on your mobile device or need high-definition, respectively).  If you would like the corresponding participant’s guide session in PDF, that is bundled with many for $4.99 a session.

So head on over ChristianBook.com and see what’s available.  Let us know which sessions you pick out and what you think of the experience!

Also be sure also to visit and subscribe to the Small Group Bible Study playlist on YouTube.  There are nearly 100 full-length sessions available for free to view from authors and pastors like Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, and Timothy Keller.

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11 April, 2012

God Still Speaks…Are You Listening?

by cubfann

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in church and I had a prompting.  I felt led to invite a specific guy and his family to dinner at our house.  I hadn’t ever talked with him, never met his wife, and only knew that he had a son around my sons age.  I either very rarely receive promptings from God, or (more likely) very rarely am listening and recognize them.  Well, I had recently watched Bill Hybels teach on promptings from God in his small group study, The Power of a Whisper.  I decided that whether or not it was from God, it was a good idea, so I invited him to dinner.  There was nothing earth-shattering about our dinner, or what I did.  He and his wife have 2 boys around the same ages as our two sons.  They had recently moved to Michigan from New York and didn’t know many people.  We connected and plan to get together more often.

But this experience definitely has moved me to be more attune to God’s “whispers”.  I have wanted to not discard any feeling that I had, and I’ve wanted to be more intentional in my prayer to listen, not just talk.

In The Power of a Whisper, Bill Hybels shares his history with whispers from God as well as his filter for deciphering whether or not the whisper is actually “heaven-sent”.  His five filters are:

  1. Is it from God? (consistent with God’s character)
  2. Is it Scriptural? (is there a specific passage that refers to your whisper)
  3. Is it wise?
  4. Is it in tune with how God made you?
  5. What do trusted friends advise?

Hybels talks about whispers that he received from God: leaving his family business to plant a church; starting the church in a movie theater; launching a training organization for leaders.  To watch the first session of The Power of a Whisper, go to YouTube here.  There are also over 80 other sessions from other small group studies on YouTube here.

What whispers or promptings have you received and responded to from God?

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4 April, 2012

“Undaunted” by Christine Caine, New Bible Study for Small Groups

by Andrew Rogers

Australian author and speaker Christine Caine is releasing a new DVD-based Bible study this fall called Undaunted: Daring to Do What God Calls You to Do. Here’s a teaser video about what “Undaunted” is all about:

What are the family situations like for the other people in your small group Bible study? If your group is anything like mine, then the situations are quite diverse. Some come from broken homes, some do not. Some have been neglected, others have been loved deeply. Undaunted could be a great way for your group to grow in understand about how God loves and claims all of us.

Here’s some of the marketing copy for further explanation:

Using her own dramatic life story, Caine shows how God rescued her from a life where she was unnamed, unwanted, and unqualified. She tells how she overcame abuse, abandonment, fears, and other challenges to go on a mission of adventure, fueled by faith and filled with love and courage.

As Christine tells of how she realized the significance of her own life and choices, she will inspire you and your small group to grasp lives that bring hope and create change for Christ.

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28 March, 2012

Better Without Jesus

by cubfann

About six months ago my 4-year-old son “asked Jesus into his heart”.  I did the same around that age, and I know that many people do the same.  But should we use that language?  As Dr Mohler stated a number of years ago, it is not heresy, but it is not helpful.  Recently, I watched the first session from Jim Cymbala’s six-session group Bible study, When God’s Spirit Moves.  Cymbala teaches on the power and presence of the Spirit and how Jesus taught that it was better for him to go so that the Spirit could come.  Cymbala said this is true because no outward teaching can replace the inward power of the Spirit.

I wasn’t raised with much of a theology of the Holy Spirit, and most people I know would say the same.  The Spirit was something that some people took too far, so it was best to not get wrapped up in emotion and swing to the other side and treated as the black sheep of the Trinity.  But as Cymbala says, Christians are distinct from all other religions and cults because of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

I am challenged and excited to see what God will do when I open my life to the Holy Spirit.  I also am challenged to instill in my boys a better knowledge and understanding of the Holy Spirit than what I knew.  Maybe the language we should consider is asking the Spirit into your life, rather than Jesus into your heart.  I would encourage you to watch the first session from Jim Cymbala’s When God’s Spirit Moves on YouTube for free below, and check out his new book on the same topic, Spirit Rising.  In the video below, you will hear Cymbala’s inspiring teaching on the person of the Holy Spirit, and an amazing story of transformation from a former gangster named Roma:

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15 February, 2012

Small Group Bible Study Sessions on Marriage

by cubfann

We have some great small group Bible studies on the topic of love and marriage from some of the best communicators – Gary Thomas, Andy Stanley, Les and Leslie Parrot, and John and Stasi Eldredge.  We’ve put many of our small group Bible study sessions up on YouTube.  Now, we’ve separated out the ones on love and marriage on their own playlist – group bible studies on marriage.  Watch the first session of Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts, Staying in Love, Sacred Marriage, Your Time-Starved Marriage, and more.

My wife and I have gone through each of these together at some point in our 9 years together and really appreciated each one.  Most recently, we went through Sacred Marriage together.  In this small group Bible study, Gary Thomas helps you discover a deeper intimacy with God through your marriage.  He asks the question, “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?”  Here is session 1:

How do you react to the idea that God may have designed marriage to make us holy even more than to make us happy?

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15 February, 2012

The Winner of the Valentine’s Giveaway is…

by cubfann

Thanks to all who posted comments!  These are all very important things to remember.  These are things that are key whether you have been married 5 minutes or 50 years.  I plan on putting this list inside my Bible and every day pray that I am able to live these to my wife and model them to my two boys.

Most all the comments fell into 10 things to remember so you stay in love (in order of number of comments):

  1. Sacrificial love
  2. Put Jesus first
  3. Maintain a friendship
  4. Communicate
  5. Develop a forgiving spirit
  6. Make a lasting commitment
  7. Regard one another with mutual respect
  8. Be open and honest with one another
  9. Maintain a sense of individuality
  10. Get naked
The random winner is Allen Jerkins!
Grace. I wish I had something more lengthy to say, but that is it- the ability to remember how much Christ has forgiven you, then to extend that over and over to your spouse.

 

Thank you all for reading.  Here is the first full session of Staying in Love by Andy Stanley:

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13 February, 2012

Valentine’s Giveaway: Staying in Love and $100 AMEX Gift Card

by cubfann

Last night, my wife and I went out to a valentine’s dinner with our small group to a local place called Mangiamo.  We were serenaded by an accordionist named Mike to some Italian and French tunes, had wonderful food, and great conversation.  Kate and I have been married 10 years this coming June and have weathered our fair share of storms, but through it all we have stayed friends and stayed in love.

In honor of the holiday who’s mascot is the chubby cherub, we are going to do a giveaway for curriculum pack (1 DVD and 2 Participant’s Guides) of Staying in Love by Andy Stanley, and a $100 American Express gift card.  This way you and your spouse can come together and learn from pastor Andy Stanley how to stay in love once you fall in love, and go out together for a lovely date night (babysitting not provided, sorry).

My wife and I went through the Staying in Love curriculum about 18 months ago and found it quite helpful.  Here is a short clip from session two about treating one another with respect and as the most valuable person in the world followed by a quote from the participant’s guide:

While falling in love only requires a pulse, staying in love requires a plan.  Do you have one?  Most of us don’t, so we can be grateful the Bible offers a set of helpful guidelines for exactly such a plan.  It’s the kind of strategy that requires something from us every day, something that touches on all our decisions and attitudes and actions.  It may also require some radical new ways of thinking about yourself and about your spouse.

Okay, to win the Staying in Love curriculum pack with $100 American Express gift card, just answer this question in the comments below.  On Tuesday we will pick a random comment as the winner.

Think about the marriages of people you know best.  What elements contributed to lasting, long-term marriages?

UPDATE: winner will be chosen at 8 AM EST February 15.  Come back to see if you won!

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8 February, 2012

Storming the Gates of Hell

by cubfann

This is a guest post from Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church, and author of The Circle Maker.

One of my prayers for The Circle Maker is that people would NOT read it by themselves!  It’s best read in community as prayer partners, small groups or book clubs.  The ultimate goal is for readers to form prayer circles and one of the best ways to do that is to leverage the DVD and participant’s guide for small groups. Both are included in The Curriculum Kit.

Check out session 1 of the curriculum here.

We’ll launch 30+ Circle Maker groups this week at National Community Church.  And that comes on the heels of The Circle Maker sermon series and 21-Day Prayer Challenge.  We’re going all out and all in.

Jesus talked about the power of spiritual synergy when he said: “If two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.” Obviously, it needs to meet the two-fold litmus test for any and every prayer. It has to be in the will of God and for the glory of God. But if it meets that two-fold test, then all it takes is two!  When two people agree in prayer, they have formed a prayer circle.

What would happen if two or twenty or two hundred people formed prayer circles?  I’ll tell you what would happen: we’d storm the gates of hell and they would not prevail against us!  I’m amazed at the miracles God has done at National Community Church in the last few years.  His blessings have blown us away!  But I feel like God has done that despite our lack of corporate prayer.  I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we genuinely, humbly, fervently started praying like it depends on God?  I intend to find out.

It’s the beginning of a prayer movement at NCC.  The Circle Maker has given people acommon vocabulary and a common challenge to take their prayer lives to the next level. It’s a new day. It’s a new normal.

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1 February, 2012

Baseball, Tinker Bell, and Absolute Truth

by cubfann

My four year-old son has a TAG reader.  This is a pen that helps him learn how to read through interactive games, stories, and spelling.  Whenever you press the pen on the page, it tells you a word, reads the story, or such.  One book that TAG promotes is a Tinker Bell story.  The promotional copy says, “Tinker Bell learns that if she is true to herself, she can accomplish her dreams.”

What is ethics?  Is it following your own integrity?  Making decisions based on your personal values?  Or is there a fixed moral standard?

We who believe Scripture know that there is such a thing as objective moral truth.  However, many times we live like we are moral relativists.  We are very black and white in terms of our personal ethic, but when someone else fails (especially those in high positions), we love to call them out on it.

As a Cubs fan I loved that Mark McGuire was found out to have taken HGH, but explained away Sammy Sosa’s gargantuan growth.  We love seeing home runs and players breaking records, but when they are found out as cheaters, we shred them apart (even though it was plain to see that they were growing into giants).

Doing the Right Thing is a six session small group Bible study that explores ethics.  Ethics for business, for institutions, for churches, for lenders, for governments, and most importantly, for individuals.  This study features Chuck Colson, Robbie George, Glenn Sunshine, Brit Hume, Ben Stein, and many others talking about the ethical mess our society is in, and how we can work to change that.  Dr. George says, “It has to begin in homes, churches, and schools.  At every level, we have to be working together to build a consensus around a sound and coherent ethic.”  Watch the entire first session from this study below.

What is your personal reaction to the idea that there is an absolute standard of right and wrong that, as Donovan Campbell says in the video, is true “outside of any context and which is translatable across cultures, times; it’s applicable everywhere”?

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24 January, 2012

Keep the Bible in Your Bible Study

by cubfann

I read a great article on reformation21 (HT:Challies) about Effective Group Bible Study.  My main focus at Zondervan is to tell the world about our fabulous small group curriculum, so naturally I was interested in how to help people have an effective small group.  Pastor William Boekestein, who wrote the article, has some great points about effective group study, but one that really rose to the surface for me was to keep the Bible first.  Now this sounds like a given, but  too often in our groups, we rely on the study material and use the Bible as extra credit work.

Scripture studies are almost always aided by a well-written guide. Some of the best guides are commentaries, especially those that began as a sermon series. Homiletical commentaries combine the best of careful exegesis and pastoral application.(1)

One of the dangers, though, of using a study guide is that the Bible can become eclipsed by a lesser book. It is easy to subconsciously begin to treat the Bible as the “raw materials” and the study guide as the “finished product,” favoring the latter.
To avoid misusing supplemental materials, make them the last part of your preparation for the group study. First, work through the scripture passage in focus. Ask questions about the text. Note observations and applications. Use the study questions to stimulate thought before turning to the “answers” in the commentary. In this way the commentary becomes a sounding board for your ideas and conclusions rather than a source book. The Bereans took such an approach. They “…received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).
A related principle is that group discussions should be guided by Scripture not by personal opinion. This does not mean that a question or comment is inappropriate just because it is an opinion. It does mean that conclusions that are reached and counsel that is given should be biblically based.

Much of the curriculum we produce has been used as sermon material that was preached in the pastors church:

What I appreciate about our video curriculum is that each teacher grounds what s/he has to say in the Bible.  Our participant’s guides have Scripture discussion, and point people to the Bible.  But in our groups, we cannot view that as bonus or “if we have time”.  No matter how good a communicator the teacher is, or how well written the participant’s guide is, they are all just commentary on the Bible.  The Bible must remain the central focus in all our small groups and Bible studies.
In addition to what Pastor Boekestein mentions in his article, here are some other thoughts:
  • make sure everyone in your group brings a Bible to small group
  • read all the recommended passages in the participant’s guides
  • consider standing as you read Scripture as a reminder of the weight of it’s words
  • before you share an opinion, know how you would back it up with Scripture

*Above I have linked the full first sessions for those curriculum.  To see more full first sessions on YouTube, go to the curriculum playlist here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL592D0CEC3F56A982

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