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Church Leadership

Finding Unity in Diversity

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I took over North Phoenix Baptist church just about five years ago. And when I arrived here, the church was over 90% caucasion. Now, that’s not a bad thing obviously. But I knew the church didn’t reflect the city. So, I began to pray and ask God: “What do we need to do?” I know this is God’s heart—that church is supposed to be a church for the city. It’s supposed to reflect the city that it’s in, and we weren’t doing that very well. 

As I began to pray, I recognized something needed to take place if we were going to truly be a church for all people. 

Now, here’s a phrase I’m going to give you, and it might scare you. But, we found it to be true. I knew that we were going to have to be a “culturally relevant” church without being “biblically irrelevant.” That’s a tough balance. Sometimes, if we are not careful, we can say, “We’re going to be so culturally relevant, and we’re going to water down the gospel.” That’s not what we want. And then other times, we’re going to say, “We’re just going to preach the Word and let the Word reach the people.” Now that’s true, and the Word is powerful; however, I think God also wants us to understand the context in which He’s placed our church. 

I had to take this church-culture-box that we had; it was really filled with a bunch of traditions that may have worked ten, fifteen, or even twenty years ago. I took this church-culture-box, and I recognized that every single weekend, we expected people to leave their culture outside the church doors and conform to our culture on a Sunday morning. Well guess what? That didn’t work very well. 

So, we exploded the box. We exploded the box because we wanted to reach people for Jesus. 

Now again, we got a little more “culturally relevant.” We understood the context. We understood the style of worship needed to change a little bit. We understood that things needed to change if people were going to walk in these doors to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me tell you what didn’t change: Bible teaching. We preached the gospel. We preached the Word of God. And we stayed very faithful to who God was calling us to be. 

We never lowered the standard of holiness, but we opened the window of grace. 

This wasn’t easy because this meant that we had to cut some of our typical traditions. Some of those had to die because here is the truth: sometimes we keep traditions, and these traditions when they’re not biblical, we let them trump truth. But we took out these traditions that were not biblical. And we began to really form and create a church where anybody can walk in and hear the gospel. 

Let me share with you what took place. The church exploded. It exploded not only in growth, but for me, most importantly, it exploded in diversity. It completely looks differently than it did five years ago. Last time we checked, we had 82 different languages represented in our congregation. The church went from over 90% caucasion to probably 60/40; we’re so mixed. Politically, we’re split down the middle; we went from being a red church to a purple church. When you walk on the campus now, we have everything from a traditional service to a contemporary service to a spanish service to a swahili service. Then, when you come into the main service, it’s diverse. 

Here’s what I’ve seen. That even in the midst of so much diversity, unity is possible. 

Although we are all so different on a Sunday morning, what brings us together is much stronger and much more powerful than what separates us. And what brings us together is the blood of Jesus Christ. That can unify anything and anyone. I want to encourage you. Look at your city. 

Does your church reflect the city that God has placed you in? If it doesn’t, what is God calling you to do? 

It may be hard, but you are the shepherd of this church. God has called you to lead the sheep to places they wouldn’t otherwise go on their own. See, I believe there are a lot of shepherds out there that are being led by the sheep. I want to encourage you with boldness—lean into your calling. Lean into your covering. Know that God has called you for this time and this city to be a place, to be a church, for the people in your city. 

I hope this encourages you. Through the power of Jesus, you can do it. 

—

To hear more encouraging and practical videos from Noe Garcia (as well as learn about his upcoming Bible study and book releases), visit: lifeway.com/noegarcia. 

Church Leadership

Hope for Leaders Struggling with Depression and Anxiety

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A message from Pastor Noe Garcia. To see the video version of this message, please visit lifeway.com/noegarcia.

Several years ago, I found myself in a deep, dark place. It’s probably what you would call the “dark night of the soul.” 

I didn’t know what was going on. I felt incredibly lonely. I felt that my prayers weren’t going past the ceiling. It was my first time pastoring a church, and to be honest, it felt like I couldn’t do anything right. I felt like my sermons weren’t up to par. People were leaving the church who weren’t happy with me. I questioned my calling. I questioned if I heard God correctly. 

This deep, dark night of the soul took me to a place where I just honestly didn’t care whether I lived or died. I got to the place where I recognized I needed help.

I was afraid to say anything; I didn’t want to tell anybody for several reasons. I didn’t want to be placed in a box, a category, or to be coddled. I didn’t want people to think I couldn’t do this job, and I didn’t want to lose my job. So for a very long time, I didn’t say a thing to anybody but my wife, and I kept pressing through. I prayed, fasted, and asked myself: Is there any sin in my life? Is it physical? Is it spiritual? What is it?

 The truth is, I don’t know the answer to that. All I knew is that I was left with my reality of depression, and I kept trying to pastor in the midst of this depression.

Then, this past year, I was hit with something that came out of nowhere. There was so much pressure from the pandemic. There was so much pressure because of the racial tension and about masks or no masks. I will never forget, one night I woke up right around midnight, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe and that my chest was about to explode. Sure enough, I was experiencing something I’d never experienced. I was having a panic attack. I thought, Oh, great! Now on top of depression, I’m dealing with anxiety? 

Let me just tell you, it’s been a weird, weird season. I mean, I have literally lost church members that I’ve done weddings for. My character has been assassinated. People left our church by the droves.

But here’s what I know. I know that regardless of how I’m feeling, regardless of when my emotions are high and low (and they’re so inconsistent), I have to lean into the Word of God and its consistency. 

Even when my emotions are saying, “He is not here” and “This room is so dark,” the truth is Psalm 27 tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. I cannot let my emotions dictate the truth, but I have to let the truth dictate my emotions. 

Pastors, I know this has been tough. I know that many of you are probably walking through depression and anxiety, and you just feel like throwing in the towel and giving up. But let me remind you of something. Before God called you, in fact before you were in your mother’s womb, God knew what you would walk through. I would give you the same encouragement that Joshua was given: be strong and courageous.

Be strong and courageous. Don’t lean to the left, and don’t lean to the right. Your role during this time, just as God told Joshua, is to stand on the Word of God and to stand boldly. To stand firmly. And to not let culture sway you. Just like God told Joshua, that’s where you’ll find your success.

Depression is real. Anxiety is real. But it doesn’t have the last say in your life. Stand firm. Be encouraged. God has not left you, nor will He.

—

To hear more encouraging and practical videos from Noe Garcia (as well as learn about his upcoming Bible study and book releases), visit: lifeway.com/noegarcia. 

 

Group Leadership

How Seeing Differently Can Impact Your Group

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Levi Lusko recently released Through the Eyes of a Lion, a six-session Bible study considering how God can use impossible pain to become a place of incredible power.

But what’s so special about the eyes of a lion? Lusko shares:

“The eyes of a lion were built to see.

They function essentially like night vision. 

First of all, there’s that white stripe that’s under each lion’s eye that functions in the exact opposite way as eye black that an athlete would wear. Eye black minimizes light coming into the eye to keep glare to a minimum while playing in the bright sun.

The white under the eye causes all available light to flood towards the black pupil of the lion’s eye—which is bigger than our pupil and can be opened wider than a pupil of a human. Lions have so many more photoreceptors, called rods, in the back of their eyes. Cones help you see color, and rods help you see shape. Lions don’t have as many cones as they do rods because they don’t need to know color; they don’t pick out their outfits based on what shade they’re going to wear. But, they do need to see shapes and silhouettes.

So, everything about the lion’s eye was built to see. 

All cats are like this. In fact, every cat, on the back of their eye, has a shiny surface that bounces light that comes in back out. Whenever you take a photograph of a cat, their eyes shine because this light is shining back out where it came in. It allows the lion, or the cat, to use any light they get twice; they use it on the way in, and they use it on the way out. So, it appears to be brighter than it actually is.

I believe that this is exactly what the Holy Spirit is capable of doing to you. 

In fact, Paul prayed for it explicitly in Ephesians 1 when he said: I pray that God would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that your eyes may be enlightened.

He was praying what I hope will become true of you. That you could see light through the eyes of a lion.” 

— 

What if we strove for our groups to experience this type of sight that is granted through the wisdom of Scripture as revealed through the Holy Spirit? 

Seeing through this wisdom allows us to make wiser choices and to display the fruit of the Spirit.

As you prepare to lead your group or as you seek to be a faithful and engaged group member, you can take steps towards pursuing such wise sight. Pray Scripture for those in your group as Paul did. Turn to Ephesians 1:15-23 and pray that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened. Pray that they will know the hope to which they are called. Ask that you all will understand the immeasurable greatness of Christ’s power towards believers.

As you pray for this wise sight, your group can experience change. The way that you look at situations can be viewed through the glorious reality of the finished work of Christ. The conversations you have can be pointed heaven-toward. And the way you view your own pain and the pain of those around you can be colored with the compassion of Christ and the equipping comfort of the Holy Spirit.

To find out more about seeing with the eyes of a lion and how your pain can be transformed into power, check out Pastor Lusko’s latest Bible study here. 

Making Space, Online Bible Study

Help Your Group Make Space for What Matters – New OBS!

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We all could use more wisdom—wisdom for ourselves, for our families, for our group members.

What better place to turn than the book of Proverbs? And what better option than to be guided by someone who has spent time studying Proverbs deeply?

Jeff Vanderstelt has done just that and has practical wisdom to share that helps us center our lives on God’s priorities. Aided by succinct and pointed questions along with reflective and practical application charts and exercises, we’ll learn to apply godly wisdom into our busy lives in many areas including work, money, friendship, family, and more (8 sessions).

Join us for our next online Bible study!

When does it start? 

The Online Bible study for Making Space by Jeff Vanderstelt kicks off on Tuesday, May 4.

What is the Bible study about?

Making Space is an eight-week video-based Bible study that helps you ask: what’s most important in life? Am I too busy to make time for those things?

This study gleans wisdom from the Book of Proverbs and from the example of Jesus to show you how to center your life on God’s priorities. You will examine the things that matter most to God and to you as a follower of Christ. Then you will learn to apply godly wisdom that will help you incorporate these activities into your busy life. In some cases, you will find that you are doing the wrong things. Or you might find that you are doing the right things for the wrong reason or in the wrong way, so they are not life-giving or fulfilling.

Wisdom is learning how to do the right things at the right time in the right way. Allow God to show you what is most important in life and when and how to engage in those activities.

How does an online Bible study work?

It’s simple to join this free experience. 

  1. Sign up for the Online Bible study simply through using your LifeWay Account or by creating one. Click here to visit the Making Space homepage. Once there, click the green “register” button 
  2. Purchase a copy of the Making Space Bible Study or eBook. Please note that while a Bible Study Book is not required, we do recommend one to enhance your experience of this Online Bible study. 
  3. Join the conversation! Every week, a new teaching session will be posted. Along with the video, you’ll find discussion questions and a comment section. Pick one or more of the questions to respond to each week and also engage with others from across the nation and globe!
  4. Once you sign up for the study, you will receive an email each week with a link to the session so you can participate! If you have notifications on for this group, you will also receive a notification when we post each new session. 

We’re excited to journey through this rich and practical biblical teaching this Spring. We hope you will join!

 

Group Leadership

Tony Evans’ Message to the Men in Your Group

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A man is ______ .

What words come to mind when you first read that sentence? What would first come to mind for members of your small group?

A man is:

  • Leading
  • Working
  • Interceding
  • Caring
  • Providing

Yet sometimes, men can be missing. Absent. Disengaged. Disinterested.  

On the whole, our culture is confused about what it means to be a man. Notions of masculinity have, in many corners, become toxic. Perhaps now, more than ever, we need the answer to this question. Tony Evans steps into this need to help your group wrestle with masculinity in his new Bible study Kingdom Men Rising. This study speaks truth into a poorly defined and disoriented culture about the purpose and future of masculinity from a biblical perspective. 

Through this Bible study, men in your group can grapple honestly with the unique questions and circumstances they face today. It invites men deep into their own stories to reveal the true expression of masculinity—God’s intent.

Why not see for yourself?

Below is an excerpt from a “personal study” section that follows one of the study’s weekly teaching sessions. 

Three Principles of a Purpose Driven Life

Never measure God’s movement without first taking a look at your own. Far too often, God is waiting on us as men to do something before He will make His move. Whether it is Moses holding out the rod before He parts the sea, or Peter keeping his eyes on Jesus before He rescues him from the storm—God frequently waits to see how we respond in faith before He fully reveals His hand in our lives.

In the story we are studying this week found in Joshua 3:7-17, the priests had to literally “walk by faith” before they would see God move. They had to put their feet in the water prior to God parting it for all to cross. Their example reveals three important principles we should all live by as kingdom men: Listen, Obey, and Stand.

  1. Listen

The priests had been asked to dedicate themselves for the specific task at hand—stepping into the flooding Jordan River. In order to do this, they needed to focus on what God said by consecrating themselves before Him. They wouldn’t be able to hearHim if they had distractions in their lives at that time. Kingdom men need to set aside distractions in our lives as well so we can better hear God in order to understand His instructions clearly.

Ask yourself: What are you hearing from God recently? 

  1. Obey

I don’t know about you, but stepping into the water of a river in order to get that same water to go away doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Yet that is what God asked the priests to do. Obeying God as a kingdom man doesn’t always involve understanding His methods. Faith doesn’t always make sense. But it can make miracles. Be willing to obey God when He makes your part in His plan clear to you.

Ask yourself: How are you obeying based on the time you spend listening to God?

  1. Stand

In verse 17 we read that the priests had to stand their ground in order for the Israelites to pass safely. It says,

And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood

firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed

on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan

Kingdom men must never waiver when called upon to serve God. Standing in the middle of what was previously a raging river isn’t the safest place to be, from a human perspective, but God doesn’t call us to live safely, He calls us to live by faith. Sometimes that means standing strong where you are and in what you believe in so that those you love can get to where they need to go as well.

Ask yourself: Why is it better to trust in God’s power than in human limitations?

This content was excerpted and partially adapted from from Tony Evans men’s Bible study: Kingdom Men Rising.

Group Leadership, Online Bible Study

The Best Life for Discouraged Groups and Leaders

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Where can we find the best life?

This is a question most of us (including those in our groups) are asking. As we head towards a full 365 days of life under the pandemic, many of us have had additional time to evaluate our lives. As we’ve recognized what’s missing externally, many of us have also recognized what’s missing within ourselves. Our frustration compounds. I know I should spend my time differently, but I just can’t seem to make a sustainable change. I know that if I want a “better life,” I need to live more from who I am in Christ. But how?

Our need for the best life may have never been more apparent than now.

What if we told you that the best life can only be found in the love of the Father? Matt Carter suggests exactly this as he walks us through the parable of The Prodigal Son. Whether you feel like you can relate to the prodigal son or not, Carter has much to unpack for everyone within this powerful parable about the love of the Father and our place as His children.

If this study sounds like what you’ve been looking for, we’ve got great news.  We are launching an Online Bible Study through The Prodigal Son in less than two weeks. Our Online Bible studies (OBS) are free experiences giving you free access to the teaching videos (typically requires purchase) and opportunity to  join in discussion with people from all over the nation and world. To find more information, check out this post. To sign up for the study, go to the OBS page here.

In the meantime, consider the excerpt below from this powerful Bible study:

The Solution

Many people are asking serious questions about what it means to follow Jesus. People all around us are asking, “If I follow Christ, what will it cost me? If I fully commit to Jesus, am I missing out on life’s best?” What is the answer to these questions?

The answer is a resounding “no.” In fact, the shocking answer is that the only life worth having is found in knowing God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ. This is the central claim of Christianity. However, we need to realize that these questions are not new. People have been asking them since the first century. Jesus encouraged His disciples to ask. Today we’re going to looking into one such account in the Gospel of John.

A Bold Claim 

Read John 6:53-58.

Jesus did not literally mean that people should eat His flesh or drink His blood. What did He mean?

Why did the crowd find this statement offensive?

At this point in Jesus’ ministry, huge crowds of people followed Him wherever He went because He was working miracles, feeding the hungry, and healing the sick. Jesus paused, looked at the crowd, and exclaimed unless the crowd ate His flesh and drank His blood they could not follow Him (v. 53). Jesus did not mean this literally.

By “flesh and blood” Jesus was referring to His whole being. In other words, Jesus was saying that unless they devoted themselves entirely to Him they could not find life.

Why is the claim that Jesus made still shocking?

How does this claim still offend people today?

The claim that Jesus made—that true and abundant life can only be found in Him alone, is the most shocking and inflammatory claim in all the world. And Jesus made this claim repeatedly. It offended people in the first century and it offends people today.

The swelling crowd following Jesus–drawn in by His teaching and miracles– didn’t understand what He meant, so they turned and walked away. His disciples were standing with their mouths wide open, stunned that the popularity of their leader had just plunged—but Jesus was unmoved by it.

A Bold Response

Peter realized life is found in only one place—Jesus.

Read John 6:66-69.

What does Peter’s confession in verse 68 affirm to us about Jesus?

What have you experienced while walking with Jesus that let’s you know that Peter’s confession is true?

How have you found full and abundant life in Jesus?

All people are hardwired to pursue a life filled with purpose and meaning because we were all created to relate to God. Two-thousand years ago, Jesus made a bold claim when He said that the fullness of life can only be found in following Him, and following Him completely. The problem is that if we are not finding life in Jesus, we are looking for life in places we could never hope to find it.

Peter asked Jesus a straight forward question: “Lord, to whom shall we go?” Think for a moment about your friends who don’t know God. Where do they turn to find life?

As you’ve watched these friends search for life in other places, what were the results?

We live in a culture where people are desperate for a different way to live. No amount of friends, success, accomplishments, money, promotions, or social media followers can give us the life we all so desperately desire. These things may make us feel good for a moment, but they can’t ultimately satisfy us.

Those of us who know Jesus, have a responsibility to show other people the way to experience abundant life (John 10:10). How will the people around us see or know a better way if those of use who know Jesus aren’t willing to show them? How are we going to turn the tide of death and despair riddling our culture if Christians live no differently?

How does the way you live show people what it means to follow Jesus?

This world desperately needs to be shown a new way. The world needs ordinary people, who decide to go all-in when it comes to following Christ. Our culture is desperate for a generation of believers that don’t just make Jesus a part of their lives, but passionately put Him first and show this world with their everyday lives, that yes, there is a better path—a path of peace, love, and happiness.

What might you need to let go of to follow Jesus more closely? Is there anything you need to give up?

Think again about your friends, neighbors, family members, or maybe even other Christians, who are trying to find life by chasing the things of this world. What might it look like to have a conversation with them and point them towards Jesus?

End your time praying that God will help you to find life in Jesus alone. Use Psalm 16:11 as a guide for your prayer.

You will make known to me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Psalm 16:11

 

Group Leadership

Learning from the 70s Spiritual Awakening

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Greg Laurie’s been there.

Laurie, pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California, experienced the spiritual awakening—the Jesus Revolution—of the early 1970s, and he has a message to share with churches and small groups today. In his just-released Bible Study, Jesus Revolution, Laurie explores powerful truths about revival.

Discover a Reason to Believe that God is Not Finished with Today’s Generation

We live in a time of spiritual apathy and sometimes outright hostility toward the gospel. Jesus Revolution draws important parallels between the early 1970s and today, offering insight and hope for a new generation of believers—and for the next great American revival. This Bible study is an inspiring reminder of the times and people that shaped the lives and faith of those who lived through the revival of the 1970s. Participants will discover a forgotten part of recent American history and, along with it, a reason to believe that God is not finished with today’s generation. (6 sessions)

Laurie highlights the role prayer plays in personal, local, and global revival. Read his thoughts, excerpted from the Jesus Revolution personal study section below:

On Earth as It Is in Heaven

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

(Matthew 6:10)

The second phrase of Jesus’ model prayer for His disciples summed up His earthly ministry. What better description is there of the Christian life? God’s kingdom is God’s rule in this world and the world to come. Jesus’ life inaugurated the kingdom of God on earth. Jesus’ miracles, teachings, and personal example were previews of God’s will being done on earth.

How did Matthew summarize the message Jesus “began to preach”?

What does repentance have to do with the kingdom and will of God?

Now, look at Jesus’ personal example near the end of His ministry, praying before His arrest and crucifixion.

What did Jesus repeatedly pray in Matthew 26:36–46?

Notice that Jesus expressed His natural human desire to our heavenly Father. Just because He wanted to do what honored God didn’t mean it was easy. Jesus knew He was heading to the cross to take on the sins of the world—including ours. Beyond the physical and emotional suffering that He was about to endure through betrayal, injustice, humiliation, torture, and death, Jesus was about to experience the reality of God’s righteous judgment on sin. But He trusted, obeyed, and desired God’s will above His own.

What is most consuming your thoughts and prayers lately?

Write a simple prayer, expressing your desire but also expressing your trust in God’s will, whatever that means.

What does it look like for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done? Most simply, it means that you desire for God’s holiness to be honored in this world and for Him to be loved, trusted, and obeyed by all people as their Father. This starts in your own life.

You have to believe that God and His will are truly more desirable than your own plans, wants, comforts, etc. A Jesus Revolution takes place when you want whatever God wants because He is that good. When you believe that God’s will is not only “right” but is truly “best,” your heart begins to look more like Jesus’.

Many people are skeptical of Christians. Yet many of those same people would say that they respect and admire Jesus. For these folks to see Jesus we need Christians with a revolutionary understanding of the Christian life. We need Christians committed to God’s agenda and His kingdom rather than their own. This is what Jesus lived, died, rose again, and is coming back for: God’s kingdom, not ours. This is what a watching world needs to see in our day-to-day lives.

To end, read and reflect on Matthew 26:36–46. Ask God to help you stay alert in prayer and to desire God’s kingdom and will above your own.

To see two full sessions of this Bible study along with their accompanying teaching videos for free, check our LifeWay’s New Bible Studies page. To find out more about Jesus Revolution specifically, click here.

Uncategorized

Join our Next Online Bible Study!

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We know the power of small groups. And we’re increasingly finding innovative ways to maximize our connection digitally across our cities, the nation, and even the globe.

Online Bible studies is one way we are stepping into this opportunity. U-Turns and Battle Plan for Prayer launched this past January, and we’ve seen such encouraging results! Thousands of people have joined from across the nation and world to watch the teaching videos, follow along in their Bible study books, and engage in discussion.

You really don’t want to miss this. We have another opportunity for you to join a study!

When does the next Online Bible study start?

On Wednesday, March 3rd, The Prodigal Son by Matt Carter will begin as the first teaching video from session 1 of the Bible study will go live.

What is The Prodigal Son Online Bible study about?

The Prodigal Son is an 8-session Bible study that walks through the parable of the prodigal son verse by verse to show us what it means to follow God and walk with Him in a relationship of love and commitment.

At some point we have all asked, “Is following Jesus really worth it?” But what makes us ask in the first place? Why are we so tempted by the allure of a life outside God’s design? Jesus addressed this question through the well-known parable of the Prodigal Son from the gospel of Luke. In this story, we meet a young man who demands his inheritance and then squanders it in a far-off country away from the watchful eye of his father. When he finds that the world and its pleasures do not deliver on their promises, he arises and returns home.

This Bible study ultimately illustrates that the best life is found in the love of our Father.

Who is the author, Dr. Matt Carter?

Matt Carter serves as the lead pastor of Sagemont Church in Houston, TX. Previously, he and his wife Jennie planted The Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, TX which grew to six campuses and 7,500 attendees every Sunday morning. Co-author of multiple books, Carter holds an M.Div. from Southwestern Seminary and a Doctorate in Expositional Preaching from Southeastern Seminary. He and his wife Jennifer have been married for over twenty years, and they have three children: John Daniel, Annie, and Samuel.

How does an online Bible study work?

It’s simple to join this free experience.

  1. Sign up for the online Bible study simply through using your LifeWay Account or by creating one. Click here to register.
    Purchase a copy of The Prodigal Son Bible Study or eBook. Please note that while a Bible Study Book is not required, we do highly recommend one to enhance your experience going through this Online Bible study.
  2. Join the conversation! Every week, a new teaching session will be posted. Along with the video, you’ll find four discussion questions and a comment section. Pick one or more of the questions to respond to each week and also engage with others from across the nation!
  3. Once you sign up for the study, you will receive an email each week with a link to the session so you can participate. They’ll be available every Wednesday.

We’re so excited to keep offering this unique group for studying the Bible through such rich and practical teaching. Can’t wait for you to join!

Uncategorized

Practical Help for Your Bible Reading Resolution

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February is just around the corner, and we’re rounding the corner to re-evaluate our New Year’s Resolutions.

This often happens. We start with grand aspirations for positive change as we shed one year and start another. But life’s cares quickly crowd out our good intentions. Especially coming after a year like 2020, we may have (really) come white-knuckling into 2021 in hopes that it would feel (really) different.

Well, whether you’ve kept all your resolutions or you’re resolving to never make such goals again, we want to help.

Many of us–whether small group leaders, church staff or volunteers, or church members–made one goal the most important: to deepen our spiritual growth. And as a practical step: to read the Bible more.

What if there was as simple solution that can make this goal much easier? What if you didn’t have to try and craft your own Bible-reading plan or start on a plan but feel lost in understanding the content?

Meet two Bible study series that might be just what you need.

These trusted resources come as individual studies which take you through the course of an entire year. They guide you through scripture and provide helpful insight to more greatly understand the text.

You don’t want to miss it.

Gospel Foundations

A One-Year Journey Through the Storyline of Scripture
From cover to cover, the Bible is the story of God’s plan to redeem sinners through Jesus—the gospel. Gospel Foundations tells that story. From the creators of The Gospel Project, this six-volume resource is comprehensive in scope yet concise enough to be completed in just one year. Each seven-session volume is video-enhanced to help your group engage in discussion with a clear understanding of how each text fits into the storyline of Scripture.

(Try our free sessions of the study here!)

Characters

A Year-Long Exploration of the Bible through the Lives of It’s People
This new seven-volume series progresses through the Bible by focusing on key characters in Scripture. By studying these individuals, we can learn from their examples and see God loves His people and works through us for His glory in the world. Each volume contains six-sessions.

(And find free resources on samples of the Bible studies here!)

 

Group Leadership

Derwin Gray on Making Peace

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Peace.

Throughout history, the world has been devoid of lasting peace. In this midst of this reality, followers of Jesus seek the deepest peace that only Christ can give.

How do we understand biblical peace? How can we start to let it rule our hearts and minds? How can we strive to bring peace into our groups? How can these conversations even begin?

In his latest Bible study on the Beatitudes, Derwin Gray shares about peacemaking. We can learn from his wisdom excerpted below. 

The Call to Make Peace

As Jesus continued His prescription for happiness, He said,

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called sons of God

Matthew 5:9

Reread Matthew 5:7-8. How are these three Beatitudes related?

Pursuing peace (Matt. 5:9) is intertwined with hungering and thirsting for righteousness and being merciful (Matt. 5:7-8). Becoming a peacemaker requires that God has first brought us into peace with Him through the forgiveness that comes by grace through faith in Jesus. Then out of the overflow of the Holy Spirit’s power God enables us to live righteously and mercifully in response to the gospel.

Read Romans 5:1.

What did God do to pursue peace with us?

Notice that Jesus said happy are the peacemakers not happy are the peaceful. What’s the difference between those two things?

God’s righteousness has always been about embodying God’s love, and God’s love is always merciful. The good life—a life of happiness—is loving God, ourselves, and all of humanity. In the kingdom of God, there‘s “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). Peace isn’t passive. Being peaceful is a fleeting state of mind. Peacemaking is an active, God-given pursuit. It’s the intentional act of God in Christ reconciling us to Himself through the cross and enabling us to extend peace to others. Making peace is hard, happy gospel-work.

Does it surprise you to hear that peacemaking is “work”? Why must peace be actively sought instead of passively assumed?

First-Century Expectations

The world Jesus lived in was chaotic, violent, and tumultuous. Jewish men were awaiting the Messiah to usher in peace by eradicating the Romans from their homeland, and the Romans believed Caesar would usher in peace. Rome’s method of ensuring peace was through force and brutality.

How was Jesus’ peace different from the peace the world expected?

Jesus saw and experienced Roman oppression, hardships of being poor, and living on the margins. Jesus’ peace extended beyond the borders of circumstance. Others’ expectations couldn’t contain it. People could only experience the peace Jesus taught about through communion with God. When we say the happiness He taught about was more than the good feeling you get when something nice happens to you, we know Jesus meant it. He experienced it constantly.

Making Peace When It’s Hard

Read Romans 12:19-21.

Why must we make peace despite difficulty?

What keeps you from experiencing peace and making peace with others?

Is there anyone against whom you’re holding a grudge and withholding peace? How might letting that go lead to a greater sense of happiness?

When Jesus correlated our happiness with being peacemakers in a world of violence, injustice, and hardship, people would have seen that as radical. Jesus’ method of eradicating the Romans from the Promised Land wasn’t to cast them out with the sword but to usher them into the peace of God, so they could become peaceful people. For Jesus, seeking vengeance is a tool of the ungodly. The Prince of Peace entered a world devoid of peace to create peacemakers.

Prayer

Holy Spirit, help us to be people of peace in a world that needs the peace You secured with Your blood on the cross.

This post has been excerpted from The Good Life Bible Study. To try the first two complete Bible study sessions and their corresponding teaching videos, visit Lifeway.com/NewBibleStudies. 

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