You Are Free Session One: To Be Free
We compete, and we compare, and we strive, and we put terrible pressure on ourselves to “keep up.” But the good news is that we were not made to keep up. We were made to be free… to be who we already...
View ArticleSome Things Are Worth The Fight
If you were to write a list of things worth fighting for, what would that list include? We fight for our job. The fight may be to keep our job, or to advance to the next level. We fight for our wife...
View ArticleBoasting in Weakness
Editor’s note: Today’s reading comes from the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, a powerful tool for helping you understand the context in which Scripture takes place. When you understand the time and...
View ArticleGuardrails: Direct and Protect
We’re all aware of the destructive consequences associated with poor decisions or lapses in judgment. We don’t plan to mess up. But it can easily happen if we try to navigate life without guardrails....
View ArticleHow Happiness Happens: Accept One Another
It’s hard to know the best way to respond to people who represent your “opposite you.” Do you ignore them? Leave the room when they enter so you don’t say something you later will regret? Share a meal...
View ArticleAre You A Christian Atheist?
Watch the Trailer for The Christian Atheist “If you were to be put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Many believers have been challenged by this question....
View ArticleWhat Is Surrender Anyway?
I don’t know what you are facing today, but I know what it’s like to face circumstances that are out of your control. Life can be swirling around us, it can be overwhelming and hard. We long for peace...
View ArticleTruth Plus Joy
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. — Galatians 5:22-23 Though you have not...
View ArticleRefined by the Fire
Refined by the Fire by Kay Warren, from Praying through Cancer The doctor was very matter-of-fact. When he told me I had breast cancer, his inflection didn’t change, his manner didn’t warm up, and he...
View ArticleYou Are the Girl for the Job: Let’s Quit
GROUP STUDY WELCOME NOTE FROM JESS (2 MINUTES) Leader, read Note from Jess aloud to the group. Friends! I am so excited to be with you, to grow with you, over the next six weeks. There’s no getting...
View ArticleWhat Is Bible Journaling And How Do I Start?
When you listen to a sermon or read the Bible, how many of the important things that God is saying to you do you actually remember? We are bombarded by so many demands each day. It’s often hard to...
View ArticleThe Books of the New Testament
Anyone who picks up the New Testament will find, if they give it a chance, that it is one of the most explosive books ever written. ~ N. T. Wright INTRODUCTION There is a massive difference between...
View ArticleWhen to Walk Away: Follow Jesus’ Example
Jesus walked away from toxic people and let them walk away from Him. We can learn to follow His example. INTRODUCTION For the first fifteen years of their marriage they served the church in two...
View ArticleOne Thousand Gifts: Attitude of Gratitude
Bible Study of the Week: Ann Voskamp’s a farm girl. That book she scratched out, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where YouAre, is about what you really want. Joy is possible. Right where...
View ArticleA Deeper Kind of Comeback Story
What we’re celebrating here is the God of all the comeback stories. ~ Louie Giglio Orientation Have you ever watched parents try to get their children to apologize to each other when it is clear...
View ArticleNothing Wasted: God Doesn’t Waste Your Life
This is a great week to read chapters 1–3 in the book! Introduction (5 MINUTES) Leader, please read aloud to group: Predestined = {a course of events determined in advance by divine will} — Merriam...
View ArticleBecause of Bethlehem: God Has a Face
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. — John 1:14 MSG The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and...
View ArticleWho Needs Christmas?: The Story Behind the Story
The story of Christmas doesn’t begin the way you probably think it does. It doesn’t begin with angels announcing the birth of a savior. It doesn’t begin with a young couple on an out-of-town trip...
View ArticleThe Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi: Bethlehem
Where It All Began So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register...
View ArticleI’m Scared to Pray Boldly
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. — James 5:16 Sometimes I’m scared to pray boldly. It’s not at all that I don’t believe God can do anything. I absolutely do. I’m a...
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