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The Gospel of John Leader Guide: A Beginner’s Guide to the Way, the Truth, and the Life
by Amy-Jill LevineUnlock the hidden depths of John’s Gospel.The leader guide contains discussion questions and session plans for a six-week study of The Gospel of John, by Amy-Jill Levine. It includes opening and closing prayers, optional activities, and session goals for each week and is designed to be used with the book and DVD.John’s Gospel offers readers a new language—of being born anew, of living water, of wind and spirit, of the “I am”—that enhances how we understand the divine, how we experience the world, and how we participate in the mystery of faith.With her characteristic wit and charm, Amy-Jill Levine introduces readers to the world of the Gospel of John by unpacking the stories in their original context, along with examining how the text is read today. This book considers the Gospel of John in its entirety, moving through the Gospel and exploring the prologue, the wedding at Cana, the Samaritan woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery, the healing of the man at the pool and the man born blind, foot washing, Mary Magdalene and Doubting Thomas, and the Lamb of God.
More Messy People Women's Bible Study Leader Guide: Life Lessons from Imperfect Biblical Heroes
by Jennifer CowartGod can use imperfect people to do incredible things.The More Messy People Leader Guide outlines six small group sessions, complete with prayers, summaries, and discussion questions. It is designed to be used with the Participant Workbook and DVD and will support group leaders of all experience levels in creating strong learning communities.Jen Cowart continues her study of the very messy lives of biblical heroes—people who, like us, made mistakes but found God was able to use them in powerful ways. They all play a significant role in the biblical narrative, but their stories are far from perfect.Through the lives of rival sisters like Leah and Rachel, or sisters with very different personalities like Martha and Mary, we see God chooses to use people who don’t have it all together. Through the lives of great, but imperfect, biblical heroes like Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Paul, we see God meets us in our troubles and chooses us even if we seem unqualified.
The Right Questions for Church Leaders
by Lovett H. Weems JR.Creativity and innovation in your ministry begin with asking the right questions.Unlock the power of wise questioning with this essential guide for church leaders. Esteemed advisor Lovett H. Weems, Jr., compiled lists of leadership questions over many years, testing and analyzing them in local churches and other ministry settings. This book is the culmination of that careful work. It provides clusters of questions to help readers address their most perplexing ministry challenges.The questions are organized into 14 categories including Personnel, Expanding Reach and Impact, Management Skills, and Decision Making. Each set of questions is accompanied by guidance on when and how to use them effectively. The questions and other content are easy to grasp quickly, so you and your teams will see immediate benefit. And the questions apply in any denominational setting. Whether your congregation is large or small, these questions will steer you through critical issues with precision and insight. Elevate your leadership skills, spark creativity in your ministry, and find the answers you need to succeed. Begin by asking the right questions.
The Christ of the Indian Road
by E. Stanley JonesFor those searching for truth and a map to help lead them down the path of The Way.With over 1 million copies sold, this favorite from E. Stanley Jones has been translated into 30 languages!In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the book being in print, Rev. Jones’s granddaughter, Dr. Anne Mathews-Younes, along with Dr. Mathew Thattamanil Thomas, worked with contributors on this new expanded edition!For more than one hundred years, E. Stanley Jones has led the way in evangelism by contextualizing Christ in the existing culture, wherever that may be. In The Christ of the Indian Road, he recounts his experiences in India, where he arrived as a young and presumptuous missionary who later matured into a veteran who attempted to contextualize Jesus Christ within the Indian culture. Jones names the mistakes many Christians make in trying to impose their culture on the existing culture. Instead, he makes the case that we learn from other cultures, respect the truth found there, and let Christ and the existing culture do the rest.In his book Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Mission, Stephen Graham, a biographer of Jones, wrote:"The Christ of the Indian Road was a frontal assault on the cultural prejudices of most European and American Christian missionaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jones was one of the first Western Christians to realize that the Christian gospel was often betrayed in Asia, Africa, and Latin America by being enmeshed with Western nations’ economic and political self-aggrandizement. In so doing, Jones declared his moral and intellectual independence from Western political and religious imperialism."Introduced with a foreword by Leonard Sweet, this expanded edition includes essays by church leaders reflecting on the impact of Jones’s revolutionary approach to discovering the Jesus already present in each culture and what those learnings mean for the church today. Contributors include: Most Rev. Dr. Theodosius Mar Thoma Metropolitan, Dr. Sathianathan Clarke, Rev. Dr. John Thatamanil, Very Rev. Abraham O. Kadavil Corepiscopos, Rev. Dr. Shivraj Mahendra.
The Methodist Book of Daily Prayer
by Matt MiofskyDaily prayer the Wesleyan wayPrayer is a spiritual practice, and daily prayer uses the repetition of forms and words to cultivate a deep, meaningful ritual, drawing the individual into an ever-closer relationship with God. This book is organized by liturgical season, but is undated, so the individual is free to begin using it at any point during the year. The book is concise and easy to use and includes the words of scripture and other necessary text. It is a simple, frictionless tool for spiritual health. The Methodist Book of Daily Prayer provides complete texts for Morning Prayers and Evening Prayers, with a new set of texts for each week of the year. Each week is anchored in its liturgical season: Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Eastertide, Pentecost, Sow & Rest (Ordinary Time), and Harvest & Create (Ordinary Time).Each set of prayers centers on a scripture passage, with an emphasis on the Psalms. The prayers draw from familiar historic, classic, and ancient Christian texts, and from Methodism’s rich hymnody. They also feature fresh, original words from new writers. This book facilitates deep daily connection with God--a method for spiritual sustenance.
Pursued - Women's Bible Study Participant Workbook: Gods Relentless Love for YOU (Pursued)
by Jennifer CowartDiscover how God is pursuing you.We all want to be loved. We long to be desired, pursued—whether by a special someone, our friends, or others in our lives. This longing for love and acceptance is the underlying story of many of our lives, and it's the overarching story we see throughout the Scriptures. Although the Bible tells many stories, the main theme is God’s relentless love for us.In Pursued, a six-week Bible study by Jennifer Cowart, we will explore God’s great love for us from Genesis to Revelation. We will see that God passionately pursues people who do not deserve His love, and we are those people! Like Cain, Abraham, Sarah, Rebekah, David, the woman caught in adultery, Peter, and so many others, we are the ones who have broken relationship with God. But He runs after us anyway to bring us home. In this study, we will explore God’s love as evidenced in the stories of creation, the patriarchs, the judges and prophets, Jesus, and the early church. Together we will dive into a great love story and discover that it is our story!Through this study women will:- See the big picture of God’s love for them throughout the Scriptures- Discover that God wants a personal relationship with them- Experience God’s relentless love for them individually- Realize that God never stops pursuing themComponents for this six-week Bible study, each available separately, include a Participant Workbook, a Leader Guide, and video sessions with six 25-minute segments (with closed captioning).
Abingdon Worship Annual 2026
by Mary Scifres B.J. BeuThe go-to worship planning resource for all who plan weekly worship.The Abingdon Worship Annual 2026 is a practical, lectionary-based resource for leaders responsible for planning worship. This thoughtful sourcebook offers a weekly theme with meaningful prayers and fresh litanies following a traditional order of Christian worship: Invitation and Gathering Proclamation and Response Thanksgiving and Communion Sending Forth Liturgies and prayers are also included for special days, including New Year’s Day, Ascension Day, All Saints Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Eve.The Annual includes helpful reminders for Christian-year planning—including liturgical colors—and a scripture index. The authors also provide in-depth guidance and practical ideas for this new age of worship, helping readers understand and weigh their options for worshiping in digital spaces and unconventional places.The Abingdon Worship Annual 2026 is a must-have sourcebook offering countless opportunities for planning meaningful and insightful worship.
Restoring Sanity: Practices to Awaken Generosity, Creativity, and Kindness in Ourselves and Our Organizations
by Margaret J. WheatleyWhat Would It Be Like to Restore Sanity? What would it be like to work together again in creative and generous ways? What would it be like to be curious about who you're with rather than judging or fearing them? What would it be like to engage together in exploring possibilities rather than withdrawing in conflict or disagreement? What would it be like to be working well together?From 50 years working with leaders globally, I state with full confidence that leadership has never been more difficult. And it's not our fault. We've been good and caring leaders, we've led people in empowering, engaging ways to create meaningful, productive work. But now we face external conditions far beyond our control to change, dynamics intensifying at shocking speed.The perfect storm is here, created by the coalescence of climate and human-created catastrophes. As leaders dedicated to serving the causes and people we treasure, confronted by this unrelenting tsunami, what are we to do? I state my answer to this also with full confidence:We need to restore sanity by awakening the human spirit. We can achieve this only if we undertake the most challenging and meaningful work of our leader lives: Creating Islands of Sanity.An Island of Sanity is a gift of possibility and refuge created by people's commitment to form healthy community to do meaningful work. It requires sane leaders with unshakable faith in people's innate generosity, creativity, and kindness. It sets itself apart as an island to protect itself from the life-destroying dynamics, policies, and behaviors that oppress and deny the human spirit. No matter what is happening around us, we can discover practices that enliven our human spirits and produce meaningful contributions for this time.
Battling Healthcare Burnout: Learning to Love the Job You Have, While Creating the Job You Love
by Thom Mayer, MDWhen physicians and nurses suffer from burnout, patients suffer as well. This book pinpoints the how and why and shows what healthcare providers and their organizations can do.Burnout is among the most critical topics in healthcare as it deprives us of our most important resource—the talents and passion of those who perform the difficult work of caring for patients and their families. The purpose of this book is to provide not only a taxonomy of burnout within the landscape of healthcare but also to provide pathways for healthcare professionals to guide themselves and their organizations toward changing the culture and systems of their organization. The work of battling burnout begins from within. Thom Mayer views every healthcare team member as both a leader and performance athlete, engaged in a cycle of performance, training, and recovery. In these roles, they must both lead and protect themselves and their teams.Battling Healthcare Burnout looks at individuals' role in promoting change within themselves and their organization and addresses solutions to change the culture and systems of work. Both are presented with a pragmatic focusand a liberal use of examples and case studies, including those from several nationally recognized healthcare systems.
In Defense of Public Service: How 22 Million Government Workers Will Save our Republic
by Cedric L. Alexander"Dr. Alexander . . . brings to this book an acute understanding of both why our cherished form of government—and those who serve us in the civil service—appears to be under such unrelenting attack and how we, as citizens, should and must respond."—from the foreword by Congressman Elijah E. CummingsWhen those we elect descend into partisan tribalism, criminal malfeasance, and emulation of foreign autocracies and oligarchies, Cedric Alexander says it is the unelected apolitical "fourth branch" of government—our nation's public servants, civil servants, and first responders—who must save the nation. Alexander, a former deputy mayor, police chief, and CNN commentator, argues that these people do not constitute a nefarious "deep state" pursuing a hidden agenda. They are the analysts, scientists, lawyers, accountants, educators, consultants, enforcers of regulations, and first responders of every kind who keep the country running and its people safe. Alexander recounts the evolution of the professional civil service as an antidote to widespread cronyism, offers examples of how it has served as a bulwark against powerful corrupting influences, and describes the role it can play in bringing our badly divided society together. To the general public, many of these 22 million people remain invisible and their contributions hidden. But now is the time to make the invisible visible.
The Thin Book of Trust, Third Edition: An Essential Primer for Building Trust at Work (The\thin Book Ser. #2)
by Charles Feltman“I have used his definitions of trust and distrust in every book I’ve written, because they are practical and actionable and, at the same time, deep and meaningful. It was important to me to dig into these definitions and explore how they play out at work, in relationships, and in our everyday lives.” —Brené Brown, bestselling author of Dare to LeadBest-selling author Charles Feltman updates his business classic, The Thin Book of Trust, with new resources and tools to build trust in the post-pandemic world.Feltman's phenomenal bestseller with almost 100,000 copies sold across two editions outlines in a very simple and quick way the art of building trust between people in organizations as a core essential workplace competency.The updated Thin Book of Trust offers a framework that supports trust building as a workplace competency. It is based on the idea that building trust is a competency, a set of skills that can be learned, improved, and practiced. It will help you continuously improve your ability to build and maintain trust with others. It can also help you create and contribute to a high-trust culture at work.The third edition includes a new study guide and a new resource download page.Charles Feltman says: "Whether you lead others, contribute individually, or serve as a coach, consultant, facilitator, HR or OD professional, your ability to generate and sustain strong trust is critical to the success and well-being of your enterprise. It is my hope this new edition serves you well in becoming an exceptional trust-builder."
The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work
by Ludmila N. Praslova, PhDExclusion robs people of opportunities, and it robs organizations of talent. In the long run, exclusionary systems are lose-lose.How do we build win-win organizational systems?From a member of the Thinkers50 2024 Radar cohort of global management thinkers most likely to impact workplaces and the first person to have written for Harvard Business Review from an autistic perspective comes The Canary Code—a guide to win-win workplaces.Healthy systems that support talent most impacted by organizational ills—canaries in the coal mine—support everyone. Currently, despite their skills and work ethics, members of ADHD, autism, Tourette Syndrome, learning differences, and related communities face drastic barriers to hiring and advancement. In the U.S., 30-40% of neurodivergent people and 85% of autistic college graduates struggle with unemployment. Like canaries in the mine, they are impacted by issues that ultimately harm everyone. Lack of flexibility, transparency, and psychological safety excludes neurodivergent, disabled, and multiply marginalized talent—and leaves most employees stressed and disengaged. This unique book is a guide to change-making for CEOs, managers, HR leaders, and everyone who wants to contribute to building a more inclusive world. The authors' over 25 years of experience spanning global diversity to neurodiversity leadership and extensive research on innovative practices of uniquely inclusive organizations around the world inform this books':Explicitly intersectional approach to (neuro)inclusionHolistic understanding of humans and their social, cognitive, emotional, and physical differences. Holistic approach to organizational talent practices, from creating job descriptions and recruiting to onboarding, performance management, and leadership development.A globally inclusive approach that centers, celebrates and invites multiple voices from the neurodivergent community.A lead from where you are approach to change-making.This groundbreaking book combines the lived experience with academic rigor, innovative thought leadership, and lively, accessible writing. To support different types of readers, academic, applied, and lived experience content is clearly identified, helping readers choose their own adventure.
The Driver in the Driverless Car: How Your Technology Choices Create the Future
by Vivek Wadhwa Alex SalkeverTech experts Vivek Wadhwa and Alex Salkever describe dozens of astonishing technological advances in this fascinating and thought-provoking book, which asks what kind of future lies ahead—Star Trek or Mad Max? Breakthroughs such as personalized genomics, drones, self-driving vehicles, and artificial intelligence could make our lives healthier, safer, and easier. On the other hand, the same technologies raise the specter of a frightening future—eugenics, a jobless economy, a complete loss of privacy, and ever-worsening economic inequality. Wadhwa says that we need to ask three questions about every emerging technology: Does it have the potential to benefit everyone equally? What are the risks and the rewards? And does it promote autonomy or dependence? This edition is updated throughout and includes a new chapter on quantum computing, which promises vastly increased processing times—and vastly increased security risks. In the end, our future is up to us; our hands may not be on the wheel, but we will decide the driverless car's destination.
Diversity Beyond Lip Service: A Coaching Guide for Challenging Bias
by La'Wana Harris"La'Wana Harris has opened this coach's eyes to the power of coaching practices to create new paths for diversity and inclusion work—whether or not you are formally trained as a coach. Please read this book and help create workplaces with honest engagement and access for all." —Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers 50 #1 Executive Coach and two-time #1 Leadership Thinker in the worldThe ugly truth about diversity is that some people worry they must give up their power for others to have a chance. La'Wana Harris's Inclusion Coaching method helps people realize that sharing power isn't the same as losing it. The elephant in the room with diversity work is that people with privilege must use it to allow others equal access to power. This is often why diversity efforts falter—people believe in diversity until they feel that they have to give something up. How do we talk them through this shift?La'Wana Harris introduces Inclusion Coaching, a new tool based on cutting-edge research that identifies the stages of preparation, implementation, and "self-work" necessary to help individuals, teams, and organizations build a sustainable culture of inclusion. Harris's six-stage COMMIT model—Commit to courageous action, Open your eyes and ears, Move beyond lip service, Make room for controversy and conflict, Invite new perspectives, and Tell the truth even when it hurts—provides a proven process for making people aware of their own conscious and unconscious biases and concrete steps to make inclusion an embedded reality. Harris offers managers and diversity coaches new models to empower everyone from employees to CEOs to "do" inclusion and address deep-rooted biases that are often invisible. She addresses the growing need to challenge bias and build authentic cultures where everyone can feel a sense of belonging.
Ideaship: How to Get Ideas Flowing in Your Workplace
by Jack FosterInnovative, original ideas are a company's most powerful competitive advantage. Nathan Mhyrvold, former chief technology officer at Microsoft, has said that a great employee is worth 1,000 times more than an average one simply because of his or her ideas. In Ideaship, the sequel to his bestselling book, How to Get Ideas, Jack Foster shifts from how individuals spark their new ideas to how to unleash the creative genius of an entire organization. To create an idea-prone workforce, Foster proposes a totally new concept of leadership: "ideaship." Leaders shouldn't be spending their time obsessing over profits or sales or quality or service. Instead, they should devote most of their energies to making the office a place where creative ideas flow, where the workforce truly believes in its ability to brilliantly solve any problem put before it. Above all, where it's fun to work. With energy and humor, Foster draws on over thirty-five years as creative director of major advertising agencies-organizations whose only purpose is to constantly generate ideas-to offer dozens of fun, fast, often surprising nuggets of practical advice on how to create an environment where innovation and fresh thinking thrive. He reveals why you should only hire people you like, insist employees take vacations whether they want to or not, why efficiency is sometimes inefficient, and how sometimes you can accomplish more by playing the fool instead of the capital L "Leader." Ideaship spells out proven ways to encourage creativity, simply and clearly and cogently, without a lot of charts and graphs and formulas and acronyms and statistics and fillers. It flips traditional leadership on its head and shows how simple acts of compassion, trust, and generosity of spirit, as well as some seemingly zany actions, can unleash unexpected, vital bursts of creativity.
98 Opportunities to Improve Management in Government
by Stewart Liff98 Opportunities to Be a 100 Percent Better Government ManagerGovernment managers face myriad challenges every day. Whether dealing with an ever-shrinking pool of resources or the threat of sequestration and shutdowns, the government manager must work to maximize staff performance to meet mission objectives. Now, supervisors, managers, and leaders have some help. In this new book, veteran government leader, trainer, and author Stewart Liff offers practical and proven guidance aimed at helping people at every level of the organization. First-line managers as well as top agency leaders will find Liff's actionable suggestions invaluable in dealing with a broad spectrum of issues, including:+ People management+ Performance management+ Resource management+ Systems design+ Organizational politicsEach of the 98 opportunities—and the included strategies, tools, techniques, and tips to help you take advantage of them—is valuable in and of itself. Together they provide a complete guide to managing effectively in the federal workplace.Do your part to change government—one opportunity at a time!
The Dojo Coach's Pocket Guide: Maximizing Immersive Learning for Agile Teams
by Jess BrockThis go-to guidebook helps agile practitioners overcome upskilling challenges in their organizations through effective Dojo coaching.Agile has changed the way we work in our organizations. But by demanding constant innovation and product delivery, individuals and teams struggle to find time to improve their skills. That's where the Dojo comes in. Dojo-style coaching encourages this kind of learn-by-doing form of skill development, one where guided breakthroughs and upskilling happen while delivering on current work. In this useful pocket guide, experienced Dojo coach Jess Brock delivers practical advice based on her extensive experience in real-world Dojos. Combining proven tactics and a comprehensive tool kit, along with actionable tips needed to drive engagement in both physical and virtual Dojo spaces, this pocket guide will equip you to maximize the impact of your Dojo.Whether you are a seasoned pro or you are just starting to develop your Dojo coaching skills, this no-nonsense book will help Dojo coaches at any stage of their journey.
The Jazz of Preaching, 20th Anniversary Edition: How to Preach with Great Freedom and Joy
by Kirk Byron JonesLearn to preach from your soul!What if preachers were as contagiously joyful in their preaching as Louis Armstrong was in his playing and singing? As rich in their sermonic renderings as Sarah Vaughn was in her virtuosic vocals? As honest about heartache as Billie Holiday every time she sang the blues? As alluringly clear as the voice of Ella Fitzgerald? As tenaciously uninhibited in the action of creating as Duke Ellington?This may be too much ask, even of persons who are "called by God." However, as Kirk Byron Jones demonstrates, preaching can be enhanced by an understanding of the inner dynamics of jazz. The forms, rules, and styles of jazz can inform one's practice of preaching, and its simultaneous structure and spontaneity can help preachers better understand their own art.In his classic text for students and practitioners, Jones explains how preaching is dramatically improved with the application of key elements of jazz, including innovation, improvisation, rhythm, call and response, honesty about heartache, and delight. This 20th Anniversary Edition includes a new element—preaching from your genuine soul. Chapters include instruction and exercises for applying the jazz elements to preaching preparation and performance. This edition also includes an Introduction, in which the author sets the context for the new material and articulates his conviction that this approach to preaching is needed now more than ever.The Jazz of Preaching 20th Anniversary Edition introduces the rich and rewarding possibilities that arise when preachers tap into their own creativity—and their own soul--when constructing and delivering the sermon.
Gardens in the Desert: How the Adaptive Church Can Lead a Whole New Life
by Kenneth H. Carter Jr. Michael Adam BeckYour church can thrive in this strange new world!Many church people and leaders feel like exiles in their own land. We are facing tremendous challenges. And, just as for those who came before us, the challenges are also opportunities. If we adapt to our new environment, as people and as the body of Christ. Gardens in the Desert offers local and denominational church leaders a practical, inspired, scripture-rooted vision for how we can do this—how we can become God’s church now for God’s intended future. Michael Adam Beck and Ken Carter draw from Jeremiah 29 to provide wise guidance for leaders and churches seeking to adapt and thrive. Jeremiah’s imperatives resonate deeply today, compelling us to experiment, cultivate new relationships, prioritize faith-sharing with people of all ages, interact with others in humility, to “seek the wellbeing of the other,” and to move forward with confidence. The chapters are brief and packed with practical ideas and instruction. The authors include ideas from leaders inside and outside the Church, offering multiple ways for leaders to see and understand what it means to be an adaptive leader and how to shape an adaptive church. The book is rich with lists, diagrams, illustrations, clarifying questions, and frameworks, making the material easy to grasp. It is an excellent resource to share with leadership teams at every level of the local church and in denominational settings. Gardens in the Desert is for laity, leaders, and clergy who have been feeling lost, immobilized, powerless—as exiles—and who are ready to do something new.
An Unlikely Advent Leader Guide: Extraordinary People of the Christmas Story
by Rachel BillupsExpect 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.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 Rachel Billups.
Pursued - Women's Bible Study Leader Guide: Gods Relentless Love for YOU (Pursued)
by Jennifer CowartDiscover how God is pursuing you as you explore.We all want to be loved. We long to be desired, pursued—whether by a special someone, our friends, or others in our lives. This longing for love and acceptance is the underlying story of many of our lives, and it's the overarching story we see throughout the Scriptures. Although the Bible tells many stories, the main theme is God’s relentless love for us.In Pursued, a six-week Bible study by Jennifer Cowart, we will explore God’s great love for us from Genesis to Revelation. We will see that God passionately pursues people who do not deserve His love, and we are those people! Like Cain, Abraham, Sarah, Rebekah, David, the woman caught in adultery, Peter, and so many others, we are the ones who have broken relationship with God. But He runs after us anyway to bring us home. In this study, we will explore God’s love as evidenced in the stories of creation, the patriarchs, the judges and prophets, Jesus, and the early church. Together we will dive into a great love story and discover that it is our story!Through this study women will:- See the big picture of God’s love for them throughout the Scriptures- Discover that God wants a personal relationship with them- Experience God’s relentless love for them individually- Realize that God never stops pursuing themComponents for this six-week Bible study, each available separately, include a Participant Workbook, a Leader Guide, and video sessions with six 25-minute segments (with closed captioning).
Parables Leader Guide: Putting Jesus's Stories in Their Place
by Josh ScottRead the stories of Jesus in a new light.The Leader Guide contains discussion questions and session plans for a six-week study of Parables: Putting Jesus’s Stories in Their Place, by Josh Scott. It includes opening and closing prayers, optional activities, and session goals for each week and is designed to be used with the book and DVD.When Jesus taught in parables, he was doing more than telling simple morality tales. His stories were grounded in the world in which he lived and his vision of the Kingdom of God. This study explores six parables that give us a window into Jesus’s message and movement, and, once they are heard in their own context, ask what they might mean for us today. Parables include: the New Wine and Wineskins, the Mustard Seed, the Leaven, the Wedding Party, the Workers in the Vineyard, and the Wicked Tenants.
Adult Bible Studies Summer 2025 Teacher/Commentary Kit
by Clara K. WelchGrow your faith. Transform your life.The Kit includes a teacher’s book and a commentary that supplement and complement the Adult Bible Studies student book.The teacher’s book provides biblical background, exposition, and suggestions for leading weekly group discussions and nurturing spiritual practices among class members. Small group leaders, teachers, and facilitators—both seasoned and just starting out—love the easy-to-use format and the wealth of information provided to prepare for each week’s discussion.Based on the trusted Abingdon Basic Bible Commentary, the Concise Commentary provides expert biblical commentary for the focal Bible passages used in Adult Bible Studies. The commentary includes each Sunday’s focal Bible passages, unit introductions, and expert commentary on each passage. Plus, you can pronounce everything correctly with the included pronunciation guide for Bible names and places.Don’t miss out on the opportunity to enhance your preparation and teaching with the help of the Adult Bible Studies Teacher Book and Concise Commentary!Cultivate a deeper relationship with God through Adult Bible Studies. Each weekly lesson offers background and focal Scriptures, key verses, and doctrinally sound and relevant biblical interpretation and application in a readable font size. Annual plans provide comprehensive coverage of the Bible, special lessons during the church seasons of Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter, and suggestions for developing spiritual practices such as prayer, worship, community, and service, among many others. Adult Bible Studies is a reliable companion and guide for learning and growing in the Christian faith.Spring 2025 Theme: Living FaithThis spring, our Bible lessons follow the theme “Living Faith.” They offer a series of lessons in two units during Lent and the weeks following that encourage us to consider what we need to let go of and what we need to take on as followers of Jesus.With the help of the Adult Bibles Studies Teacher/Commentary Kit, and DVD, your group will embrace the fact that it’s not just about learning - it’s about living out biblical teachings.Visit AdultBibleStudies.com and sign up for the weekly newsletter to automatically receive the FREE Current Events Supplement and other information about these resources and more!This resource, endorsed by the Curriculum Resources Committee of The United Methodist Church, offers a year-round, weekly Bible study plan for Sunday school classes and other small groups.
More Messy People Women's Bible Study Participant Workbook: Life Lessons from Imperfect Biblical Heroes
by Jennifer CowartGod can use imperfect people to do incredible things.Jen Cowart continues her study of the very messy lives of biblical heroes—people who, like us, made mistakes but found God was able to use them in powerful ways. They all play a significant role in the biblical narrative, but their stories are far from perfect.Through the lives of rival sisters like Leah and Rachel, or sisters with very different personalities like Martha and Mary, we see God chooses to use people who don’t have it all together. Through the lives of great, but imperfect, biblical heroes like Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Paul, we see God meets us in our troubles and chooses us even if we seem unqualified.The Participant Workbook includes five daily readings for each week, combining study of Scripture with personal reflection, application, and prayer and is designed to use with the Leader Guide and DVD.
On the Way to Bethlehem Leader Guide: An Advent Study
by Rob FuquayThe journey to Christmas begins in Rome.The leader guide includes four small group sessions complete with prayers, summaries, and discussion questions to inspire active group engagement. It will support group leaders of all experience levels in creating strong learning communities.On the Way to Bethlehem follows the long journey to Christmas. The story begins in Rome with a decree issued from the seat of worldly power for a census, setting into motion events leading to the birth of the Savior of the world in a town that represents the very opposite of worldly power, Bethlehem.Author Rob Fuquay provides insight into the geographical and historical significance of Rome, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem, along with the important characters through whom the Christmas drama unfolds. You will be drawn into those places in a way that helps you experience the spiritual truths each location holds. The reflection we give in these places prepares the heart and soul to experience wonder, awe, mystery, and joy.Chapters include:Rome – A Place of LongingJerusalem – A Place of WaitingNazareth – A Place of SimplicityBethlehem – A Place of HumilityComponents available to use this book in a small group study include the book and video available on DVD.