Daily Bible Study is a great companion to the quarterly Adult Bible Studies or as a stand-alone study. It is presented in quarterly segments. Bible-based, and Christ-focused, it coordinates with the lesson themes of Adult Bible Studies. Each daily reading includes a one-page Bible study for each day of the quarter, along with introductory reflection questions and commentary on the daily Scripture passage, life application, and a concluding prayer. Daily Bible Study Spring 2022 Theme: Follow The lessons this quarter are confined to two units so that we can observe the season of Lent. Authentic discipleship involves imitating Jesus, and we must begin with an understanding of Jesus as Messiah and the kingdom to which he invites us to belong. We soon discover as we follow Jesus that his kingdom turns our expectations totally upside down. As we walk with Jesus, we must admit that we sometimes totally miss the mark. Yet Christ forgives us, restores us, and equips us to live into our identities as Christ-followers. As his followers, we have responsibilities and opportunities to help grow the kingdom. One way is through stewardship, a concept that is much broader than we may think. Our role involves using not only our physical resources but indeed our very lives as grace-filled cohabitants in God’s marvelous creation. Unit 1: The Mark You Make Discipleship in Mark’s Gospel is often described as the way of the cross because of the repeated emphasis upon following Jesus on the way to Jerusalem and the command to take up one’s cross and follow Jesus (Mark 8:34). In this season when we commemorate Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, we give our attention to various aspects of discipleship we find in Mark’s Gospel. Scriptures: Mark 8:27-38; Mark 9:38-50; Mark 10:35-45; Mark 11:12-14, 20-25; Mark 13:5-8, 28-37; Mark 14: 27-42; Mark 16:1-8 Spiritual Practice: Reflection and self-examination Unit 2: The Steps You Take Creation care has become a prominent topic of discussion in Christian congregations and seminaries during the last couple of decades. While disagreement exists about human responsibility for climate change and to what extent we should limit human activity for the purpose of preservation of endangered species and habitats, Scripture makes clear that God takes pleasure in creation and that our role as stewards requires that we appreciate creation and take our responsibility as stewards seriously. Scriptures: Psalm 104; Leviticus 25:1-13; Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Job 38:4-11; Joel 2:18-26; Romans 8:19-22; 2 Corinthians 9 Spiritual Practice: Nurture and care of all creation

Adult Bible Studies Spring 2022 Theme: Follow The lessons this quarter are confined to two units so that we can observe the season of Lent. Authentic discipleship involves imitating Jesus, and we must begin with an understanding of Jesus as Messiah and the kingdom to which he invites us to belong. We soon discover as we follow Jesus that his kingdom turns our expectations totally upside down. As we walk with Jesus, we must admit that we sometimes totally miss the mark. Yet Christ forgives us, restores us, and equips us to live into our identities as Christ-followers. As his followers, we have responsibilities and opportunities to help grow the kingdom. One way is through stewardship, a concept that is much broader than we may think. Our role involves using not only our physical resources but indeed our very lives as grace-filled cohabitants in God’s marvelous creation. Unit 1: The Mark You Make Discipleship in Mark’s Gospel is often described as the way of the cross because of the repeated emphasis upon following Jesus on the way to Jerusalem and the command to take up one’s cross and follow Jesus (Mark 8:34). In this season when we commemorate Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, we give our attention to various aspects of discipleship we find in Mark’s Gospel. Scriptures: Mark 8:27-38; Mark 9:38-50; Mark 10:35-45; Mark 11:12-14, 20-25; Mark 13:5-8, 28-37; Mark 14: 27-42; Mark 16:1-8 Spiritual Practice: Reflection and self-examination Unit 2: The Steps You Take Creation care has become a prominent topic of discussion in Christian congregations and seminaries during the last couple of decades. While disagreement exists about human responsibility for climate change and to what extent we should limit human activity for the purpose of preservation of endangered species and habitats, Scripture makes clear that God takes pleasure in creation and that our role as stewards requires that we appreciate creation and take our responsibility as stewards seriously. Scriptures: Psalm 104; Leviticus 25:1-13; Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Job 38:4-11; Joel 2:18-26; Romans 8:19-22; 2 Corinthians 9 Spiritual Practice: Nurture and care of all creation Adult Bible Studies components include: Student Book Published quarterly, each week's Student Book lesson lists background Scripture, features key verses, provides reliable and relevant biblical explanation and application, and more, in a readable font size that is accessible to everyone. Teacher Book/Commentary Kit Each quarterly Teacher/Commentary Kit includes a Teacher Book with additional biblical background and exposition and suggestions for guiding group discussion and a copy of the new quarterly Adult Bible Studies Concise Commentary, designed for readers who seek additional background on the biblical text for each session of Adult Bible Studies. Video-DVD Does your group enjoy watching videos to generate conversation around Bible studies? Video sessions directly correspond to the Adult Bible Studies quarter’s theme and content and features a segment for each Bible lesson. Hundreds of thousands of people each week have transformative encounters with God through Adult Bible Studies—Bible-based, Christ-focused Sunday school lessons and midweek Bible studies endorsed by the Curriculum Resources Committee of the The United Methodist Church. Lessons follow the church seasons, including Advent and Lent, and include suggestions for developing spiritual practices to help nurture your faith. 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!

Daily Bible Study is a great companion to the quarterly Adult Bible Studies or as a stand-alone study. It is presented in quarterly segments. Bible-based, and Christ-focused, it coordinates with the lesson themes of Adult Bible Studies. Each daily reading includes a one-page Bible study for each day of the quarter, along with introductory reflection questions and commentary on the daily Scripture passage, life application, and a concluding prayer. Daily Bible Study Winter 2021-2022 Theme: Engage Perhaps at no other time during the year is the call of our faith more at odds with culture than during Advent. The Christian season that calls us to wait is met with a culture that encourages us to decorate, entertain, buy, spend, and entertain, with calendars booked from season’s beginning to its end. Such ceaseless activity can blind us to the awe and wonder of God’s presence all around us, leaving us spiritually parched, empty, and unable to join in the life and work to which God calls us. These Bible lessons call us to wait and to respond with wonder to the God who came to us in Jesus Christ, thus equipping ourselves to bear witness to our faith. Unit 1: Wait for It Advent is a time of anticipation and waiting. This unit invites us to explore waiting as an important element in three episodes in Luke’s telling of the Christmas story. It ends with a reminder that as much as we are called to wait for the Lord, Jesus Christ waits patiently for us. Scriptures: Luke 1:5-25, 57-58; Luke 1:26-38, 57-58; Luke 2:25-38; Revelation 3:20-4:11 Spiritual Practice: Praying without ceasing Unit 2: Wonder We are a busy people rushing from place to place and task to task as the hands of the clock chase each other around the dial. We get caught up in the mundane reality of ordinary life and if we do not stop, we can so easily miss the extraordinary and sublime experience of entering into God’s presence. The lessons in this unit explore various ways human beings have experienced God’s glory. Scriptures: Psalm 19; Isaiah 6:1-13; Mark 9:2-8; Exodus 34:29-35; Revelation 19:1-10 Spiritual Practice: Singing/meditating on hymns of praise Unit 3: Show and Tell The lessons in this unit explore the various ways we can participate with God through our actions. When we read through both the Old and the New Testaments, we see that by engaging in life-giving activities, we join in the work to which God set our hands in the Garden of Eden. God calls us both to show and to tell others of our faith. Scriptures: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Matthew 22:34-40; Matthew 5:14-16; James 1:19-27; Matthew 28:16-20 Spiritual Practice: Testimony in word and deed 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!

Adult Bible Studies Spring 2022 Theme: Follow The lessons this quarter are confined to two units so that we can observe the season of Lent. Authentic discipleship involves imitating Jesus, and we must begin with an understanding of Jesus as Messiah and the kingdom to which he invites us to belong. We soon discover as we follow Jesus that his kingdom turns our expectations totally upside down. As we walk with Jesus, we must admit that we sometimes totally miss the mark. Yet Christ forgives us, restores us, and equips us to live into our identities as Christ-followers. As his followers, we have responsibilities and opportunities to help grow the kingdom. One way is through stewardship, a concept that is much broader than we may think. Our role involves using not only our physical resources but indeed our very lives as grace-filled cohabitants in God’s marvelous creation. Unit 1: The Mark You Make Discipleship in Mark’s Gospel is often described as the way of the cross because of the repeated emphasis upon following Jesus on the way to Jerusalem and the command to take up one’s cross and follow Jesus (Mark 8:34). In this season when we commemorate Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, we give our attention to various aspects of discipleship we find in Mark’s Gospel. Scriptures: Mark 8:27-38; Mark 9:38-50; Mark 10:35-45; Mark 11:12-14, 20-25; Mark 13:5-8, 28-37; Mark 14: 27-42; Mark 16:1-8 Spiritual Practice: Reflection and self-examination Unit 2: The Steps You Take Creation care has become a prominent topic of discussion in Christian congregations and seminaries during the last couple of decades. While disagreement exists about human responsibility for climate change and to what extent we should limit human activity for the purpose of preservation of endangered species and habitats, Scripture makes clear that God takes pleasure in creation and that our role as stewards requires that we appreciate creation and take our responsibility as stewards seriously. Scriptures: Psalm 104; Leviticus 25:1-13; Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Job 38:4-11; Joel 2:18-26; Romans 8:19-22; 2 Corinthians 9 Spiritual Practice: Nurture and care of all creation Adult Bible Studies components include: Student Book Published quarterly, each week's Student Book lesson lists background Scripture, features key verses, provides reliable and relevant biblical explanation and application, and more, in a readable font size that is accessible to everyone. Teacher Book/Commentary Kit Each quarterly Teacher/Commentary Kit includes a Teacher Book with additional biblical background and exposition and suggestions for guiding group discussion and a copy of the new quarterly Adult Bible Studies Concise Commentary, designed for readers who seek additional background on the biblical text for each session of Adult Bible Studies. Video-DVD Does your group enjoy watching videos to generate conversation around Bible studies? Video sessions directly correspond to the Adult Bible Studies quarter’s theme and content and features a segment for each Bible lesson. Hundreds of thousands of people each week have transformative encounters with God through Adult Bible Studies—Bible-based, Christ-focused Sunday school lessons and midweek Bible studies endorsed by the Curriculum Resources Committee of the The United Methodist Church. Lessons follow the church seasons, including Advent and Lent, and include suggestions for developing spiritual practices to help nurture your faith.

Study the Bible daily for a closer relationship with God. Daily Bible Study is a great companion to the quarterly Adult Bible Studies or as a stand-alone study for those wanting to study the Bible daily. It is presented in quarterly segments. Bible-based and Christ-focused, it coordinates with the lesson themes of Adult Bible Studies. Each daily reading includes a one-page Bible study for each of the quarter, along with introductory reflection questions and commentary on the daily Scripture passage, life application and an concluding prayer. Additional information about Adult Bible Studies, Spring 2023 This spring, Daily Bible Study presents a series of readings supporting the theme “The Life of Faith.” These readings enable us to walk alongside Jesus and his disciples on Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem. They challenge us to explore the nature of faith that calls us to follow Jesus despite our uncertainty and doubts. They also help us unpack the concept of “sabbath,” the foreshadowing of the rest that God promises at the end of our journey. Readings come from Old and New Testament texts. These daily readings, which prepare us for the lessons in Adult Bible Studies, are written by Susan Groseclose, Taylor Mills, and Greg Weeks. Unit 1 Journey to the Cross This Lenten season, we follow Jesus’ journey to the cross in Matthew’s account. Matthew’s Gospel stresses in many places that through his crucifixion, Jesus makes clear his perfect obedience to God’s will and the true nature of kingship under God’s reign. Scriptures: Matthew 16:21-28 | Matthew 20:20-28 | Matthew 21:23-27 | Matthew 22:15-22 | Matthew 22:41-46 Spiritual Practice: Simplicity | Accountability Unit 2 From Doubt to Trust We often treat doubt and wisdom as belonging in opposite categories but often, questioning our wisdom, knowledge, and certitude is a sign of wisdom. As humans, we should struggle to understand. To act with complete confidence in our power of discernment is to claim God’s power as our own. The path forward from doubt is one of trust in God. We are invited to imitate Jesus and let go of our doubt and our competition with God and to trust in God’s love and intentions. Scriptures: Matthew 26:36-46 | Matthew 28:1-15 | John 20:11-29 | 1 Corinthians 15:12-28 | 1 Peter 1:3-16 Spiritual Practice: Meditation Unit 3 Intentional Sabbath In the secular West, the concepts of holy days and sabbath have been replaced by days off work or school and vacations. We rest so that we can work harder and earn more money so that we can take vacations away from our communities. In the Bible, rest from work had a different purpose. One worked to prepare for the sabbath. On the sabbath, one participated together with the entire community, the livestock, and the land in a shared rest that signified the wellbeing and abundance that God intended for creation. No one was required to work to make another’s leisure possible. Sabbath rest is a foretaste of the rest that awaits us, and that God will provide in the fullness of time. Scriptures: Exodus 20:8-11 | Psalm 23 | Matthew 12:1-14 | Luke 4:16-21 Spiritual Practice: Self-Care

Study the Bible daily for a closer relationship with God. Daily Bible Study is a great companion to the quarterly Adult Bible Studies or as a stand-alone study for those wanting to study the Bible daily. It is presented in quarterly segments. Bible-based and Christ-focused, it coordinates with the lesson themes of Adult Bible Studies. Each daily reading includes a one-page Bible study for each of the quarter, along with introductory reflection questions and commentary on the daily Scripture passage, life application and an concluding prayer. Daily Bible Study, Fall 2022 Theme: Freedom This fall, our Bible lessons follow the theme “Freedom.” The lessons explore the concept of salvation and God’s gracious acts in redeeming us. They challenge we who have experienced God’s gracious salvation to work for freedom and justice on behalf of others. They acknowledge that as we do, we will encounter those whose beliefs and values are different from our own, so they encourage us in ways to remain faithful to our beliefs while we act as neighbors to others. The writers for the fall quarter are Barbara Dick, Randy Cross, and Taylor Mills. Unit 1 Rescue The concept of salvation is broad and inclusive of many divine actions by which we are rescued from the human predicament. This lessons in this unit focus on the freedom to which we are liberated. In the Roman world, the freer you were, the more power you exercised over others. Today, we think of freedom as the ability to do whatever we want without restrictions. In the Bible, freedom is about being able to choose without restriction to whom or what we devote ourselves. Paul described that choice as servitude to sin or becoming a slave to Christ. Scriptures: Exodus 1:1-2:10; Exodus 15:1-18; Exodus 17:1-16; Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Spiritual Practice: Living With Intentionality Unit 2 Justice In the commandments that God gave in the covenant at Sinai, God repeatedly called the Israelites to extend justice and share their blessings with widows, orphans, and strangers in their midst. This triad represented the most vulnerable people within ancient society. Widows, orphans, and strangers appear frequently throughout the Old and New Testament narratives in ways that illustrate this divine mandate. The measure of justice or righteousness found throughout Scripture is whether one cares for the “widow, the orphan, and the stranger.” The lessons in this unit invite us to ask ourselves, who are the most vulnerable in our society? Who in our community are excluded from the common good? Who has trouble providing for themselves or gaining access to the courts and public services? Scriptures: James 2:14-17, Exodus 22:21-27; 1 Kings 17:8-24, Luke 21:1-4; John 9:1-7, 35-38; Luke 18:1-8; Ezekiel 47:21-23 Spiritual Practice: Awareness Unit 3 Faithful Conversations We increasingly find ourselves living in communities and working with people from diverse backgrounds. While we may not agree with the beliefs of others, we seek peaceable and neighborly relationships. This lessons in this unit explore the models for neighborly conversations with people of various faith traditions. Scriptures: Acts 17:16-31; 2 Kings 5:1-19; Exodus 18:1, 13-27; Romans 14:13-19 Spiritual Practice: Listening

Study the Bible daily for a closer relationship with God. Daily Bible Study is a great companion to the quarterly Adult Bible Studies or as a stand-alone study for those wanting to study the bible daily. It is presented in quarterly segments. Bible-based and Christ-focused, it coordinates with the lesson themes of Adult Bible Studies. Each daily reading includes a one-page Bible study for each day of the quarter, along with introductory reflection questions and commentary on the daily Scripture passage, life application, and a concluding prayer. Additional information about Daily Bible Study, Winter 2022-2023 Theme: Power and Love This winter, Daily Bible Study presents a series of readings supporting the theme “Power and Love.” Readings come from the Old and New Testament texts. These daily readings, which prepare us for the 13 lessons in Adult Bible Studies, are written by Michelle Morris, Tim Merrill, and Clara Welch. Unit 1 Power and Vulnerability God’s incarnation was into a poor family, from a village of no consequence, vulnerable to the whims and machinations of the mighty Roman Empire. While some readers can relate to this poverty and obscurity, most are citizens of a great world power. Some people know from experience that power can be abused, even against a government’s own citizens, but others have known only the protection and benefits of that power. These readings invite us to hear the Nativity accounts from the vantage point of the victims of empire. Scriptures: Judges 9:1-15; Matthew 1:1-25; Matthew 2:1-12; Matthew 2:13-15 Spiritual Practice: Acts of Mercy Unit 2 Power and Belonging The readings in this unit follow the trajectory of biblical imagery for faith development from adoption through baptism and infancy in faith, into youthful excitement and exuberance, and then to a mature faith that struggles, challenges, and questions. They move us to examine our faith and encourage us to plant ourselves firmly on the path toward maturity. Scriptures: Galatians 3:23—4:7; Luke 15:11-32; John 17:1-24 and Ephesians 4:14; Colossians 3:12-17; Matthew 22:1-14 Spiritual Practice: Rule of Life Unit 3 The Power of Love One of the distinct traits of biblical theology is the emphasis on God’s hesed (lovingkindness) and Jesus’ selfless love. While the Bible uses different words for different kinds of love—agápe, philía, and éros—the lines are actually blurred between agápe and philia. The greater emphasis is on relationships. While we should enact our love without thoughts of personal gain, the ultimate goal of loving our enemies is becoming their friend. These readings encourage us toward that end. Scriptures: 1 John 4:7-21 and Ruth 4; 1 Kings 3:16-28; 1 Samuel 18:1-4, 19:1-7, 20; Matthew 16:21-28 Spiritual Practice: Spiritual Friendship