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Monday, September 21, 2015

Bible Study and Book Club Updates

Believing God Online Bible Study | Week 6

Posted: 20 Sep 2015 09:00 PM PDT

believing God online bible study

This 6th week of Believing God by Beth Moore was exciting to complete! At the end of the week you were equipped with a prayer method to last a lifetime. I’d love to see how you organize your prayers and Scripture memory verses, so please upload a photo to our private Facebook group and inspire others with your methods.

We also learned about the power of the tongue and are reminded that words bear fruit or poison (see Proverbs 18:21). Our words have power and they impact the people and environment around us. Beth Moore reminds us on page 117 that ineffective use of words result in gossip, lying, profanity, rudeness/unkindness, inappropriate humor and misuse of God’s name. While we may not wake up in the morning with the intention of profanity or gossip, we are surrounded by it through television and community. Temptation is inherent in living life as a Christian, and therefore we must constantly pray for a pure heart

If you’ve read any of Gary Chapman’s “The 5 Love Languages” books then you’ll remember for some people, words are life-giving! It’s a love language that fuels relationship with family and friends.

There is so much wisdom in week six of Believing God and I don’t have the space to share all of it here on this article. Instead, I wrote some discussion questions to get you talking in small groups this week. My prayer is for you to realize that we ALL learn from you. Share your life-giving words in the discussions, encourage your leaders and grow in your spiritual journey together.

God is good, all the time!

Assignment For the Week

Calendar your study time and small group time. Use a reminder alarm on your cell phone.
Pray before you begin reading. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart to wisdom.
Select a small group day and time that fits your schedule. Arrive to the private Facebook group for the one hour meeting.
Read Week Seven: Believing God Has Been There All Along in your workbook
Create a prayer card and Scripture memorization system and IMPLEMENT it (if you have not already done so during week five).
If you are listening to the audio cd's or watching the videos, watch Session Seven, available through Lifeway (not required for participation in the study)

Discussion Questions- Answer in your small group or post a comment below

Psalm 145:18 (ESV) says: The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Think about these words: NEAR, CALL, TRUTH. What does this look like for you personally?
On page 117 Beth Moore lists six misuses of the tongue: gossip, lying, profanity, rudeness/unkindness, inappropriate humor, misuse of God’s name. Can you think of any other misuses of our tongues that could hinder their becoming vessels of supernatural power? Keep in mind that when Beth originally asked this question, social media and online tongues did not exist. What are the new challenges today?
On day four we had an inside look into Beth Moore’s prayer method (see pages 131-136). Do you have a system for prayer cards, a prayer journal, or another method to organize prayers? Share your methods and inspire us!
Beth Moore talks about a “Shift in seasons” and the Scripture verses she has memorized with her prayer card method. Please share with us ONE Bible verse that you’ve hidden in your heart and mind. What verse do you depend on most often? (Please copy and paste your entire verse from a site such as BibleGateway, so we can use these for our personal prayer cards! Example: There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. Deut. 1:31 NIV)

With Love,

christine abraham

The Holy Spirit Unleashed in You Online Bible Study | Week 6

Posted: 20 Sep 2015 07:56 PM PDT

holy spirit unleashed in you online bible study Welcome back to our online Inductive Bible Study on the book of Acts, “The Holy Spirit Unleashed in You” at the Women's Bible Cafe™. We just completed Week Six, “Baptized with the Spirit? Who…When…How?” This week we observed Acts Chapters 10, 11, and 12, and oh what truths we gleaned from our study this week! God sure did drop the bomb shell, didn’t He? Were the Jews prepared for what was to come? The Gospel is not just for the Jews, but the Gentiles as well?

How difficult this must have been for Peter, because his attitudes and beliefs were passed down to him over many generations. However, God showed him in a vision that it was wrong to call any man unholy or unclean (Acts 10:28). What God asked Peter to do went against everything Peter’s family and culture believed, because Jews just didn’t associate with Gentiles, ever! God, however, does not show partiality or prejudices.

“Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” Acts 10:34-35 NASB

God has made salvation possible through His Son, Jesus Christ, for everyone in the world, Jews and Gentiles, no matter what color or nationality. This reminds me of an old childhood song I used to sing and even sang to my own children when they were small:

“Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red, brown, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

So what about you? Have you inherited attitudes, habits and beliefs that were passed down to you that need to change? Perhaps you have carried these around with you for years simply because that is what your parents did, and their parents, and their parents before them, etc. etc. It’s time to break the cycle. We all need to stop and take a good look at our own hearts to see what prejudices that may be deeply rooted there. This is a good time to weed our gardens. God’s Word will show us new ways to think and feel, and the Holy Spirit within us will guide us, but we have to unleash the Holy Spirit and let Him take reign in our lives.

Kay Arthur writes in the Thought for the Week:

“If you are a child of God, you have the Spirit of God; now don’t quench the Spirit. Be filled continuously, and watch what happens, Beloved, as you walk by the Spirit.”

ASSIGNMENT FOR THE WEEK:

Join a small group and fellowship with your fellow Bible students.
Complete your study of Week Seven, “Don’t Know What to Do? Try Prayer and Fasting.
Pray before you begin your study. Ask your resident Teacher, the Holy Spirit, to open your heart to wisdom and understanding to learn His truths.
Store in your heart Acts 10:15, “Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR THIS WEEK (answer in small groups or post a comment here)

Are there any people on the face of this earth so unclean that they are not welcome in the body of Jesus Christ–the Church?
How can we help our church avoid showing favoritism in its efforts to witness for Christ and bring new members into His church?
We are all works in progress. How has Jesus changed your perspective since you met Him? What is God changing in you now?
The Gospel makes salvation in Jesus available to anyone who believes in Him. Is there anyone in your life who you believe to be too far from God? How can you reach out to that person this week.

Blessings,