Book Description
This is one of Women of Faith's six week interactive Bible studies on experiencing God, designed to link women together in bonds of friendship, joy, faith, and prayer. 6 SESSIONS.0310226651


From the Publisher
This series of six-week interactive Bible studies offers a fresh format that enables women to not only study the Bible, but laugh, cry, share their lives, and learn how to walk closer to God together.


From the Author
Evelyn Bence is editor of Prison Fellowship’s Jubilee Magazine and author of several books, including Mary’s Journal, winner of the Christianity Today critic’s award. Phyllis Bennett is the director of women’s ministries at Mountain Park Church in Lake Oswego, Oregon, a speaker, and the author of two Bible studies in the Knowing God series. Judith Couchman is the author of numerous books, including Shaping a Woman’s Soul and Designing a Woman’s Life. Janet Kobobel Grant has collaborated on The Joyful Journey and Tea with Patsy Clairmont. She is the author of But Can She Type? and Where Is God When I Need Him Most? Traci Mullins is president of Eclipse Editorial Services and is the author of Breakfast with the Angels and coauthor of Vitamins for Your Soul. Beverly Wilson, formerly program director for young children at Christ Community Church in Tucson, Arizona, currently writes curriculum guides for children’s videos


From the Back Cover
The Women of Faith Bible Study Series helps you turn the laughter and lessons of Women of Faith conferences into a journey of growth shared by special friends. Whether of not you've attended a conference, you will appreciate the bonds that form as you join with other women linked together in friendship, prayer, joy, and faith. Each study will also lead you to a deeper love of the Bible and a greater appreciation of the power of God's Word. Each session includes six sections: - A Moment for Quiet Reflection - Just for Fun - Knowing God's Heart - Praying Together - Friendship Boosters - Making It Real in Your Own Life - The leader's guide that's included makes it easy to facilitate weekly Bible studies that will nurture your knowledge of Scripture and your sense of God's presence in your life.


About the Author
Evelyn Bence is author of several books, including Mary's Journal, winner of the Christianity Today critic's award.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
How to Use This Guide
Women of Faith Bible studies are designed to take you on a journey toward a more intimate relationship with Christ by bringing you together with your sisters in the faith. We all want to continue to grow in our Christian lives, to please God, to be a vital part of our families, churches, and communities. But too many of us have tried to grow alone. We havent found enough places where we feel safe to share our heartaches and joys and hopes. We havent known how to support and be supported by other women in ways that really make a difference. Perhaps we havent had the tools.
The guide you are about to use will give you the tools you need to explore a fundamental aspect of your walk with God with other women who want to grow, too. Youll not only delve into Scripture and consider its relevance to your everyday life, but youll also get to know other womens questions, struggles, and victories many similar, some quite different from your own. This guide will give you permission to be yourself, to share honestly, to care for one anothers wounds, and laugh together when you take yourselves too seriously.
Each of the six lessons in this guide is divided into six sections. Most youll discuss as a group; others youll cover on your own during the week between meetings.
A Moment for Quiet Reflection. The questions in this section are meant to be answered in a few minutes of privacy sometime before you join your group each week. You may already carve out a regular time of personal reflection in your days, so youve experienced the refreshment and insight these times bring to your soul. However, if words like quiet, reflection, and refreshment have become unfamiliar to you, let this guide get you started with the invaluable practice of setting aside personal time to think, to rest, to pray. Sometimes the answers you write down to the questions in this section will be discussed as a group when you come together; other times theyll just give you something to ponder deep within. Dont neglect this important reflection time each week, and include enough time to read the introduction to the lesson so youll be familiar with its focus.
Knowing Gods Heart. The questions in this section will take you into the Bible, where you and the women in your group can discover Gods heart and mind on the subject at hand. Youll do the Bible study together, reading the Scriptures aloud and sharing your understanding of the passage so all of you can learn together what God has to say about your own heart and life, right now. While you dont need to complete the study questions prior to each group session, it will be helpful for you to read through this part of the lesson beforehand so you can begin thinking about your answers. There is a lot to cover in each lesson, so being somewhat familiar with the content before your meetings will save your group time when you actually do your study together.
Friendship Boosters. A big part of why youve come together is to deepen your friendships with other women and to support each other in meaningful ways. The questions and activities in this section are designed to link you together in bonds of friendship, faith, and joy. Whether you are meeting the other women in your group for the first time or are old friends, this section will boost the quality and pleasure in your relationships as well as give you opportunities to support each other in practical ways.
Just for Fun. Gods plan for our lives certainly isnt all work and no play! Central to being a woman of faith is cultivating a joyful spirit, a balanced perspective, and an ability to enjoy life because of Gods faithfulness and sovereignty. Every week youll be given an idea or activity that will encourage you to enjoy your journey, laugh, and lighten your load as you travel the path toward wholehearted devotion together.
Praying Together. Nothing is more important than asking God to help you and your friends as you learn how to live out his truths in your lives. Each time you get together youll want to spend some time talking to him about your individual and mutual concerns.
Making It Real in Your Own Life. Youll respond to these questions or activities on your own after group meetings, but dont consider them just an afterthought. This section is critical because it will help you discover more ways to apply what youve learned and discussed to your own life in the days and weeks ahead. This section will be a key to making Gods liberating truths more real to you personally.
In each section, space is provided after each question for you to record your answers, as well as thoughts stimulated by others answers during group discussion. While you can gain wisdom from completing parts of this guide on your own, youll miss out on a lot of the power and the fun! of making it a group experience.
One woman should be designated as the group facilitator, but she neednt have any training in leading a Bible study or discussion group. The facilitator will just make sure the discussion stays on track, and there are specific notes to help her in the Leaders Guide section at the back of this book. Keeping your group size to between four and eight participants is ideal because then it will be possible for everyone to share each week. The length of time youll need to complete the lessons together will depend largely on how much the participants talk, so the group facilitator will need to monitor the time to keep it under ninety minutes. The facilitator can also speed up or slow down the group time by choosing to skip some discussion questions or concentrate longer on others. If you decide to do this study in a larger group or Sunday school class, split up into smaller groups for discussion. Especially make sure no one gets left out of the process of building friendships and having fun!
Now that youve studied the map, your journey should go smoothly. Celebrate being women of faith as you travel together. Enjoy!

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Women of Faith Bible Study Series helps you turn the laughter and lessons of Women of Faith conferences into a journey of growth shared by special friends. Whether of not you've attended a conference, you will appreciate the bonds that form as you join with other women linked together in friendship, prayer, joy, and faith. Each study will also lead you to a deeper love of the Bible and a greater appreciation of the power of God's Word. Each session includes six sections: - A Moment for Quiet Reflection - Just for Fun - Knowing God's Heart - Praying Together - Friendship Boosters - Making It Real in Your Own Life - The leader's guide that's included makes it easy to facilitate weekly Bible studies that will nurture your knowledge of Scripture and your sense of God's presence in your life.