Curriculum Archives - Group Ministry

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris and Brian talk with Karen Daniel about student groups.

Karen Daniel is a publishing team leader in LifeWay Students.

Suggested resource: Within Reach by Ben Trueblood

Questions:

What is unique about student groups?
What kind of questions are you asking as you develop a Bible study for teens?
Why do you think some churches struggle to have consistent student groups?
What are a couple of studies that have worked really well with students, and what made them different?

Quotes:

Any student minister has four to six years to reach a group of students.
Students are very eager to learn, and they are at a point in their lives where they are asking themselves, “What does God want me to do?”
We want to meet students where they are, and we want to resource student ministers so they’ve got everything that they need to develop their strategy.
The conversation around identity is going to be different for girls than it is for guys.
From Within Reach: Of the students who say no adults from their church invested in their lives while they were in high school, 88% dropped out of church after high school. Of those who say one or two adults invested in them, 72% dropped out after high school. Of those who say three or more adults invested in them, 58% dropped out after high school.

This Episode’s Sponsor: You’ve probably heard about the movie OVERCOMER. But you may not know there are a few books and Bible studies inspired by the film. One is called Defined by Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick, which is a book and Bible study based on insights from the Book of Ephesians. You can find these books and Bible studies at LifeWay.com/Overcomer.

The Group Answers Podcast is a weekly show designed to resource, train, and encourage small group leaders. Each episode considers current trends and resources as well as timeless truths and methods of discipleship. It is hosted by Brian Daniel, a Bible study and discipleship expert in LifeWay’s Groups Ministry, and Chris Surratt, the small group and discipleship specialist at LifeWay and author of Leading Small Groups.

August 27, 2019

How Can Smallgroup.com Help Us Kick-Off Our Fall Groups?

by Tyler Quillet

As summer winds down and more groups begin to pick back up, it often leaves pastors and group leaders wondering what topic to study or what resources to use for their group time. I’d like to share with you a little bit about Smallgroup.com, both what it is and how you can use it, and also some specific series that we think will be a great kick-off to your fall!

First, what is Smallgroup.com? Smallgroup.com is an online Bible study resource. It contains an ever-growing customizable library of over 2,300 text and video-enhanced studies from all 66 books of the Bible.

With a membership to smallgroup.com, you can:

Search a topic or passage to find the study you are looking for.
You can create a whole class or series based on any topic or text you’d like and make it your own.
Right there within smallgroup.com, you can further customize any existing study with your specific teaching points, language, illustrations, church information and logo.
You can align the content to your pastor’s sermon series in minutes.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can “request a study” as part of your subscription. The Custom Bible Study team at LifeWay will write it for you and upload it to the site.

Of particular interest to many group leaders is the ever-growing selection of popular video-enhanced studies from teachers like Priscilla Shirer, J.D. Greear, Beth Moore, David Platt, Matt Chandler, Lisa Harper, and many more. Through a membership to smallgroup.com, you can log in and stream these videos through any web-enabled device or through your Roku®, Amazon Fire®, or Apple TV® apps.

Smallgroup.com offers three subscription plans to suit every need:

Basic is $199/year and includes unlimited access to the entire Bible study library, the “Write your own” Bible study feature, downloadable study guides to share with group members, and streaming videos. This is perfect for a single group or a pastor!
Plus is $399/year and includes all the features of Basic plus the ability to email study guides and videos to an unlimited number of people, a groups management feature, smallgroup.com access for an unlimited number of group leaders, and 20% off all contracts with CustomBibleStudy.com. Every group in your church has access to just the right study for them!
Premium is $3,999/year. This subscription includes all of the above features, plus a fully custom experience year-round with your very own dedicated small group specialist. That means you’d have the services of someone on the Custom Bible Study team at LifeWay to whom you would send sermon outlines or study requests. Your dedicated specialist would then build or write your requested studies for you in your smallgroup.com account within five business days. Your specialist would also be available to manage your groups, leaders, and members and create discipleship pathways. This subscription plan offers 30% off all contracts with CustomBibleStudy.com.

If you are interested in checking out Smallgroup.com, but aren’t sure if you are ready to commit, go ahead and try our 30-day free trial. Just click the button on the front page and begin to explore all that Smallgroup.com has to offer you, your group leaders, and your entire church!

Let’s look at 4 newer series on Smallgroup.com to help us kick-off the fall:

Imago Dei

This 6-session (Video-Enhanced) series examines the image of God biblically within the grand narrative of Scripture, relationally as it applies to ourselves and others, and missionally in our service to others and in our obedience to the Great Commission.

As You Go

This series covers six passages in the book of Acts to explore what it means to live in a missional fashion.

Devoted

This 6-session series sees that healthy churches and healthy Christians are marked by their focus on God, each other, and witnessing to the lost. We are all called to this same focus.

Love as Our Witness

This 6-session series through 1 John explores our love for God and others in response to His great love for us.

With over 2,300 small group study guides and hundreds of series and video-enhanced studies, we are confident that you will find what you are looking for as you seek to point your groups to Jesus! We are praying for you as you enter into your fall groups!

Tyler Quillet is the Discipleship Strategist for the Custom Bible Study team at LifeWay Christian Resources. He lives in the Nashville, TN, area with his incredible wife, Cathie, and two boys, Cylas and Bowen. Tyler also speaks, writes, and coaches alongside Cathie as they pour into and love on the infertile community through Cathie’s “The Missing Peace Project”. Tyler previously spent 15 years as a pastor and is passionate about serving churches and pouring into church leaders in a variety of ways.

July 11, 2019

Help Your Group See Jesus in the Entire Bible

What’s more important than the Gospel? Nothing.

As Christians, we recognize the importance of finding God’s redemptive plan throughout the Word of God. We desire to live with this plan in mind, being ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:11-21). We seek to take up our crosses daily to follow Christ while remembering His finished work on the cross even as God is still working in believers’ lives today (Matthew 16:24).

But how do we maintain a focus on Christ even in difficult passages of the Bible? Can we see Christ connections throughout all of scripture? Can we see Old Testament connections even in the New Testament?

Thankfully, we can.

And we can help you lead your groups to dig into these discoveries as well.

Gospel Foundations is a seven volume, year-long journey through the storyline of scripture, seeing how Christ is hero from beginning to end. Each of the individual volumes has seven sessions and can be done individually.

But there’s more.

We’ve chosen many of the graphs that detail how we can see Jesus in various portions of the Bible and put them in a “Gospel Guide” for easy reference. Along with sample content from the studies, wallpaper, sermon outlines, video previews, and more, you can access this all for free here.

Because Jesus is that important.

Group Answers Podcast

July 10, 2019

Group Answers Episode 108: Reid Patton on Asking Good Questions

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On this episode of Group Answers, Chris and Brian talk to Reid Patton about how to ask good questions when facilitating a Bible study.

Reid Patton is a Content Editor for the Short-Term Discipleship Team at LifeWay Christian Resources. He is the thankful husband of Kristen and proud father of Ceile and serves with the Life Group leadership team at the Church at Station Hill in Spring Hill, Tennessee. In his free time, Reid likes reading, watching NBA Basketball and Auburn Football, and going to record stores. You can find him on Twitter @jreidpatton.

Questions:

If I’m using a pre-written curriculum, how can I make the most out of those questions?
What types of questions invite conversation?
How should I structure the questions in my group?
How would you sum up the big questions small groups should answer?

Quotes:

As someone who writes Bible studies, I don’t know your group better than you do.

I would rather give someone more than they need than less than they need.

The open question is far superior to the closed question.

There are going to be three types of questions in every Bible study: observational, interpretive, and application-based. A good Bible study will balance between those three types of questions.

The three big questions are what? so what? and now what? What does the Bible say? So what do we do with that, why does that matter? Now what do we do with it?

A holistic approach to the text will give you a holistic disciple.

This Episode’s Sponsor: The Overcomer movie has inspired the creation of several resources. For small groups, there is the Overcomer Bible study. For individuals, there is a book called Defined. Both are based upon powerful insights from the Book of Ephesians. Learn more about all the resources at LifeWay.com/Overcomer

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July 5, 2019

Friday Feature: Not Forsaken

You Are Known

Meet Brandon. He’s a well-liked art major at a state university, where he works hard, makes good grades, and is active in his campus ministry. If you saw him, you’d think he’s got it all together and possesses all the blessings a student could ever want. But there’s a hidden problem. Brandon comes from a broken home. He never knew his parents as a couple, and he was raised by his grandparents. His childhood years were spent splitting weekends between his mom and his dad. And although no major conflict ever occurred, the relationship between Brandon and his dad has always been distant. He doesn’t see his dad more than once a year, and phone calls are sparsely shared. Now a young man entering adulthood, Brandon calls his dad, longing for a deeper relationship. But the conversations never go beyond sports, politics, and the weather. Brandon can’t understand why a father wouldn’t want to know his son. Introspective and defeated, he muses, I’m doing so many great things in my life. If only he would get to know me.

Brandon has grown from being a boy to a man, but he still has a deep longing to be known by his dad, not on the surface level but at the heart level.

Among your family and friends, who knows you best—the real you?

Just as human beings yearn for approval and worth, we also long to be known—and to be deeply known. And when we don’t feel that we’re known by our parents, we’re left feeling isolated or abandoned. Those feelings can then lead to a whole host of responses. We might erect relational walls, refusing to let others in. Or we can go to the other extreme by sharing to a fault without a filter. We were created to know and be known by others, especially our parents.

What’s one detail you wish your dad knew about you?

What stands out most about the way your dad pursued you?

Maybe you’re reading these questions, but you don’t have an earthly dad. Perhaps you never knew him, or maybe he’s no longer living. That’s not an easy station in life for anyone. I don’t want to be callous or to ignore real hurt or absence. But I want to help you process your thoughts too. So here’s a question for you:

What have you most longed for from a dad?

Some of these questions might be difficult, but don’t let the difficulty push you away. Instead, allow them to expose the need in your heart so that you’re prepared to receive the answer to that need. We’re going to learn today that your longing to be known can be satisfied by God. Whether you have a blessed or an estranged relationship with your dad, you’re perfectly known by your Heavenly Father. And it’s a deeper knowledge than even the best dad on earth could ever give.

God Knows Everything

Psalm 139 is one of the most personal passages of Scripture in all the Bible. In it we see the depth of God’s knowledge of, presence in, and design for our lives. Each way God is involved in our lives is illustrated through a display of who He is.

READ PSALM 139:1-6. Record the significant details God knows about you.

God is omniscient. Simply put, that means God knows everything—including everything about you! He knows your actions, your ways, your comings and goings, and even all of your words—before they’re audibly spoken. Your Heavenly Father knows your deepest thoughts, highest aspirations, and wildest dreams. He’s intimately acquainted with all of your victories, struggles, fears, and doubts. The psalmist David was overwhelmed in response to God’s deep, personal knowledge of his life.

Why is it good that God knows us personally, truly, and deeply?

God Is Present Everywhere

God isn’t defined by space and time. He’s literally present everywhere. That means God is omnipresent. He not only knows everything about you, but He’s also with you wherever you go.

READ PSALM 139:7-12.

Many of us know what it means for our dad to have missed an important event or to have been at work when we needed him most. Some people experience these absences as isolated events in the midst of an otherwise blessed existence. Others know these as the norm. The psalmist David proclaimed the good news that your Heavenly Father never misses an important date. He never fails to show up. And He will never leave you or forsake you (see Heb. 13:5).

According to Psalm 139:7-12, why should it comfort you to know that God is always with you?

God Is All-Powerful

In addition to being all-knowing and ever-present, God is all-powerful. He’s omnipotent. You can see His power on full display in the next section of Psalm 139, illustrated in the intricate ways He created you.

READ PSALM 139:13-16. Reflect on the way God intricately and personally designed your body and your life. Record any words or phrases from these verses that you find especially meaningful.

You may have inherited your grandfather’s nose or your mother’s laugh, but your Heavenly Father ultimately designed, created, and gave the gift of life to you. This means no one knows you like your Creator. No matter the joys or sorrows you’ve experienced with your earthly father, your Heavenly Father knows you, accompanies you, and fashions you as no other father can.

Precious Promise

Next David reflected on the continual, vast thoughts of God toward His children.

READ PSALM 139:17-18.

Here’s the liberating truth to grasp and hold on to as you go through life: your Heavenly Father knows you. He’s with you always. And He will never abandon you or let you down. Just as you’re known by God, He also wants to be known. Jesus said knowing God is the ultimate meaning of life:

This is eternal life: that they know

you, the only true God, and Jesus

Christ, whom you have sent.

JOHN 17:3

Simply going to heaven when we die isn’t the goal of the Christian life. Jesus tells us that the ultimate end to which all of existence points is for us to know God. All of your life—from the time you give your life to Jesus and continuing throughout eternity—should be characterized by a deepening knowledge of and love for your Heavenly Father.

Prayer

Father, You’re all-knowing, all-powerful,

and present everywhere. I marvel at Your

works, and I’m humbled by the vast sum

of Your precious thoughts toward me.

Give me grace to be satisfied by Your

presence in my life now and forever.

This content is excerpted from Louie Giglio’s Not Forsaken Bible study. To find out more about this resource, please visit lifeway.com/notforsaken.

June 20, 2019

Help Your Group See Jesus in All of Scripture

Have you ever sat down with a particularly difficult text and wondered “How do I see the Gospel story here?”

Many of us have, and as group leaders, we are often faced with answering hard questions from our group members as we journey through scripture.

How can we train ourselves to notice God’s plan (from Genesis to Revelation) to rescue and redeem His creation through His Son, Jesus Christ?

Good news.

Meet Gospel Foundations, a Bible study series designed to take you on a one-year journey through the storyline of scripture to see Jesus as Hero from beginning to end.

How does this study practically show you Christ and the Gospel? Through context, content, and visuals. See an excerpt below from Volume 4: The Coming Rescue (2 Kings – Malachi).

Setting the Context

The first order of business for the restoration of Jerusalem was the rebuilding of the temple. This was how it should have been, given the central place of worship in the lives of the people of God. Though there were delays, the new temple was completed in 515 BC. Sacrifices and festivals were resumed, and the people committed themselves to obeying the law. Things were going well. It seemed they had learned their lesson.

What difficulties are prone to arise when things are going well in one’s spiritual life? Why?

Sadly, within a few decades, the prophet Malachi had to deliver his message because the worship of the people had grown stale. He focused on the failure of the priests to fear God and to serve the people conscientiously during difficult times, but the priests mirrored the people—they all lacked the sincere worship God commanded. The Book of Malachi is the last prophetic message from God before the close of the Old Testament. Then came four hundred years of silence from God. Malachi, like many prophets before him, gave the people a severe warning, but he also spoke of the hope to come. As “Seeing Jesus in the Return from Exile” (p. 83) shows, the Messiah was coming, and He was coming to deal with the true problem of humanity—the sin in our hearts. But would the people be ready for Him?

Why is the gospel of Jesus the only solution for our true problem of the sin in our hearts?

CHRIST Connection

After Malachi, the prophetic word of God went silent for four hundred years. But Malachi prophesied about a messenger who would prepare the way for the Messiah to bring God’s kingdom. Centuries later, John the Baptist arrived as the messenger who prepared the way for Jesus. The last word of the Old Testament is “curse,” a reminder of the consequence of our sin. But in the New Testament, one of the first words we hear from Jesus is “blessing.” The One who bears our curse is the One who brings us blessing.

And this is just the beginning. To see a full preview of the Gospel Foundations products (including sermon outlines, sample content from volumes 1 and volumes 2, a preview guide, downloadable mobile wallpaper, and more), visit the Gospel Foundations site here.

Deborah Spooner is a Minnesota-born analytical creative serving as a Marketing Strategist for LifeWay’s Groups Ministry. As a pastor’s daughter with a background in Digital Communications and Media and Biblical & Theological Studies, you can find her at her local church, in deep conversation, or with a book or pen in hand as she seeks to know Christ more and make Him known.

June 14, 2019

How to Talk to Your Group about Making a Difference

The leading cause of death in the United States is heart disease. In 2015, 633,842 American lives ended as a result of heart disease, almost a quarter of total deaths that year (1). Steven Houser, the president of the American Heart Association, believes “the future of cardiovascular research is to stop the disease before it starts” (2).

Perhaps this goal explains the increasingly common labeling of various foods as heart-healthy. Salmon, almonds, blueberries, dark chocolate—all of these are applauded as heart-healthy foods and are recommended to include in our diets.

As serious as these heart-health issues are in our society, you and I come into the world with a heart problem that can’t be prevented. Ever since the first human beings, Adam and Eve, sinned, we’ve all entered this world with hard hearts. Instead of loving God and loving our neighbors, we love ourselves most of all. Instead of worshiping God and honoring Him as Lord, we try to kick Him off the throne and take it for ourselves. And because of this heart problem, we come into this world as God’s enemies. It’s not His fault; we’re the ones who sin. And we make ourselves His enemies because of our sin. What does the condition of our hearts have to do with being difference makers? You see, before you and I can be difference makers, a difference must be made in us. We need our unhealthy hearts to be replaced with healthy hearts.

An Old Testament Answer (Isaiah 1:1 – 15)

The Old Testament Book of Isaiah was written between the years 740 and 700 BC. The book has one major theme: trust God. In the Old Testament, Isaiah was a difference maker in the highest degree.

Isaiah was writing to people with hard hearts. They had a heart problem. They trusted in anything and everything before they trusted in God. They trusted in their kings and their military. Then when that strategy failed, they tried to make alliances with other nations so that they could trust in those kings and armies. They trusted in their external religion to keep God off their backs. But meanwhile Isaiah was speaking to their hearts, trying to help them understand that their greatest need was to trust in God.

Isaiah painted a bleak picture of rebellion against God. Through Isaiah, God said His children had “rebelled against [Him]” (v. 2). He called them a “sinful nation” and a people “weighed down with iniquity” (v. 4). As a result, God had made their land “desolate” (v. 7). He rejected their offerings and hated their festivals (see vv. 11-14); He stopped listening to their prayers (see v. 15). The Bible tells us that before we can make a difference in the world, a difference has to be made in us. But how? What can be done? The words of Isaiah give a clear outline.

Stop Doing Evil (Isaiah 1:16 – 18)

First Isaiah told the Israelites to stop sinning. Stop doing evil. Coming through loud and clear, Isaiah! Verse 16 says, “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from my sight. Stop doing evil.” When it comes down to it, sin is always the problem. And God is serious about sin. Why? Because He’s holy.

To be holy means to be distinct and set apart. There’s no one like God. He’s completely, uniquely holy, and all of His characteristics flow from His perfect holiness. In God’s total otherness and His complete purity and perfection, He exercises all of His other characteristics. God is concerned about human sin because it’s an affront to His holiness. Choosing evil is rejecting God, and rejecting God is never good for us. However, God doesn’t just ask us to stop doing something bad. He always points us toward something better. All of God’s commands are meant to lead us to life.

Start Doing Good (Isaiah 1:17)

In verse 17 Isaiah told the Israelites not only to stop doing evil but also to start doing good. When we hear the command to do good, we immediately think, I’ve got to go to church more. I’ve got to work really hard to be religious. I’ve got to make sacrifices for God so that I can please Him and get Him off my back. But the Lord knew that response was coming.

We pursue religious activity because it seems easy and achievable. Isaiah’s point was that God isn’t interested in our attempts to earn His favor. They can never be enough. We don’t worship to get God off our backs; we worship because we love God. If we really love God, our devotion to Him will be evident in the way we love our neighbors.

Rest in the Finished Work of Christ (Isaiah 1:18)

Seven hundred years before Jesus walked on earth, God promised His people that He would remove their sins from them, and they would become pure. How does this happen? Only by an exchange. Jesus came to trade places with us. He came and lived the life we failed to live and died the death we deserved to die so that we could be cleansed of our sin and enter a right relationship with God.

We can’t stop doing evil and start doing good on our own. First our heart problem has to be fixed. Once that happens, God also enables us to do good. When God gives us new hearts, he gives us new affections. On the cross Jesus took on Himself the punishment for our sin, and He gave us His righteousness so that we’re no longer enemies of God but sons and daughters of God. This is the difference God has to make in us before we can be difference makers in the world.

Make a difference today by admitting you need a Savior.

This content is excerpted from Pastor Gregg Matte’s Difference Makers Bible Study. Find out more about living a difference making life here.

June 11, 2019

4 Bible Studies about Jesus

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said” (Matthew 28:6).

Jesus. From WWJD used in casual conversation to images of the cross venerated in sanctuaries, Jesus Christ is a rightful focal point for Christians. We’re even called Jesus followers.

But how many of us really know many things about Jesus? Have we taken the time to study Him as well as get to know Him personally? It can be easy to say we love and follow Him, but it’s dangerous to not know the One we follow.

These four Bible study resources tackle just that: Jesus. Try one of them to deepen your faith in the Savior.

Forgotten Jesus (Robby Gallaty)

Most Christians would say they know Jesus, but do we really know Him? Through the years our understanding of Jesus has been shaped by different cultural influences. Many Christians have forgotten that Jesus was a Jewish man living in a Jewish land, observing Jewish customs, and investing His life in Jewish men and women.

This disciple-making Bible study takes us on a journey back to biblical times to rediscover who Jesus really was by seeing Him in the cultural and religious context in which He ministered. Exploring the implications of Jesus’ teachings and actions as a first-century rabbi will give you new reasons to fall in love with Him all over again.

Jesus, Continued (J. D. Greear and Trevin Wax)

Why do so many of us think of Christianity as a lifestyle to which we conform, rather than a God with whom we commune? Jesus gave His disciples the audacious promise that it was to their advantage that He go back to heaven because the Holy Spirit could then come to live inside of them. How many of us consider our connection to the Holy Spirit so strong and so real that we would call his presence in us better than Jesus beside us?

Throughout his Christian life, J.D. Greear felt disconnected to God and unsure about how to interact with Him. Although he had learned a lot of truths about God, these truths didn’t seem to bring him any closer to Him. He tried to have such a relationship, but all of God’s work seemed stockpiled in the past: He created the world, died on a cross, and left a Bible. God seemed like a busy teacher who had given an assignment and then stepped out of the room, leaving students to get the work done on their own.

But Greear discovered it doesn’t have to be like that. And this Bible study has been created to help you relate to the Holy Spirit in new ways. Over the course of this study, you’ll see how you can have a satisfying, powerful relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus > Religion (Jefferson Bethke)

Jesus>Religion will help readers abandon dead, dry, rule-keeping and embrace the promise of being truly known and deeply loved. The study unpacks and highlights the difference between teeth gritting and grace, law and love, performance and peace, despair and hope. Bethke is quick to acknowledge that he’s not a pastor or theologian, but simply a regular, twenty-something who cried out for a life greater than the one for which he had settled. Along his journey, Bethke discovered the real Jesus, who beckoned him beyond the props of false religion.

Bible Studies for Life: Like No Other – The Life of Christ (Tony Evans)

Jesus Christ is central to the Christian faith. That statement may seem obvious, but even Christians need a constant reminder that everything in our faith is built upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. Every aspect of Jesus’ life—from His birth to His current exalted state—is unique from any other person. His uniqueness means His life and character merit our fullest attention, and because He is uniquely God, His life and character greatly impact our lives.

June 10, 2019

What Your Priorities Really Reveal

“Who are you really?” It’s a fundamental question we all have to answer. Our first instinct may be to respond with a name. After that we tend to share a résumé of what we do or whom we’re related to. Should we define ourselves by the members of our family or even by what other people say about us? Maybe who we are is something deeper.

Identity is what people believe to be most true about themselves. It’s their source of value and worth. Tim Keller has written, “Our need for worth is so powerful that whatever we base our identity and value on we essentially ‘deify.’ We will look to it with all the passion and intensity of worship and devotion, even if we think ourselves as highly irreligious.” (1)

If people deify or idolize whatever they base their identity on, what happens when that source of meaning fails us or is taken away? It doesn’t just alter a worldview. It crushes the soul.

Enter Overcomer. Regardless of the intention with which you approach this study, the goal is a definitive answer to the basic question “Who are you?”

This Bible study, featuring group discussions, film clips, and personal studies, is designed to help you firmly establish your value and worth in Christ. You’ll encounter a variety of Old and New Testament giants who either demonstrated an identity firmly rooted in God’s truth or warn you of the danger of choosing alternative identities. Along the way you’ll have opportunities to determine whether your identity may be ill-defined and to be drawn back to the only source of meaning in life, ever closer to Christ.

1. Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (New York: Penguin, 2018), 164.

Who You Are Starts with Where You Come From

Create a list of people and priorities in your life that are important to you. Be as specific as you like, but in some cases a category will suffice. For example, you can record “My family” instead of listing each individual member.

Take inventory to make sure your list is complete, including items of even nominal importance.

Now the exercise becomes more challenging. Start marking entries off your list in order, from least to greatest importance. Which ones can you live without? Narrow your list to only two or three of your top priorities. Those indicate not only what’s of great worth to you but also what’s absolutely vital in making you who you are.

The old expression “You are what you eat” reminds you to make wise choices about healthful eating, but it holds little weight in creating an identity. A truer phrase is “You are what’s important to you.”

You define yourself by your values. The problem with that truth is the word your, which implies your own sovereignty despite your vast limitations as a mortal. Who are you to determine who you are? Even if you have that authority, where was it derived from? Scripture has the answer.

God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.

They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock,

the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”

GENESIS 1:26

What description of humanity’s inherent nature and position did God offer in this verse?

God didn’t wait to confer with the man to determine what his nature should or shouldn’t include and what his calling or direction in life should be. God also created you to bear His image. Right from the beginning, before any of us were formed, God had a plan. For the couple in the garden, that included a definitive purpose.

Read Ephesians 2:10 and rewrite it in your own words.

These words by Paul follow a powerful description of salvation (see vv. 8-9). God has miraculously and graciously saved us to accomplish the purpose He intended.

How does knowing and being reminded of where you come from and why you were created shape your identity?

Revisit your lists for the week, both the one you created in the group session and the one you recorded at the beginning of this personal study. Which descriptions of you and values you hold are consistent with the image of God in you and the good work God planned for you?

Which ones might you need to reevaluate? End today’s study by asking God to show you the priorities and pursuits you need to eliminate and the ones you need to embrace in order to define yourself by His purpose for you.

All content above is excerpted from the Overcomer Bible Study. Find out more about the Bible study here.

May 24, 2019

Letters to the Church