The leader guide provides two kinds of information: (1) suggestions for weekly group sessions; (2) information to enhance leadership skills, to support group building and maintenance, and to make effective use of the CHRISTIAN BELIEVER components. A one-page session plan for each of the thirty weeks follows a set procedure with an amount of time indicated for each step. Each session plan provides guidance for group activities that make use of the daily preparation members have made, and questions for discussion. Group activities are designed to focus on content and help persons connect Scripture, doctrine, believing, and living. The leader guide assumes that: The leader makes the same preparation for the weekly group session as the other members of the group. Study and discussion in the weekly session is done mainly in small groups. The leader both guides the process and participates with other group members in the small-group study and discussion. The leader is not an information-giver or lecturer. The leader and the group members have access to the same content for study and discussion—the assigned Scripture, selections from the book of Readings, the study manual, and the video presentations. A study of CHRISTIAN BELIEVER can renew lives and congregations.

Covenant Bible Study guides small groups through a comprehensive, in-depth study of the whole Bible over twenty-four sessions broken into three eight-session modules. Unlike the learning participants may have experienced in other groups, this study emphasizes the biblical concept of covenant as a unifying theme through both the Old and New Testaments. It underscores the unique relationship that God chooses to have with us as God’s people. This relationship is grounded in the faithfulness of God’s love and on our ongoing commitment to stay in relationship with God while sharing signs of God's love with others. The Leader Guide contains comprehensive and detailed direction for the group leader to use in each 90- minute group experience. Direction is provided for each component of the group meeting with options that allow leaders to adapt to the group's unique characteristics. Components of the group meeting experience include: Gathering Together - Opening questions designed to prompt conversation that connects to the main theme of the episode. Reflecting Together - Sharing what participants learned from the week’s scripture readings with questions that tie their discoveries into a central theme. Video Segment - Playing of the video for the current episode. Discovering Together - Building on the insights of the biblical scholar, analyzing a single passage from the week’s readings, going deeper into the way they explore the Bible’s meaning. Centering Together - Engaging in meditation, which is a devotional way to read the Bible. Serving Together - Reading together the “Signs of Faithful Love' provided.

Do you feel like you're just waiting to find your purpose? Do you want to live like you were made for more? Many of us feel restless, and that might not be a bad thing. . . When our restlessness awakens our longing to be woven into God's story, it can launch us into living the life of purpose God designed for us. In this video-based small group Bible study (DVD/video streaming sold separately), Bible study teacher and author of Get Out of Your Head Jennie Allen helps you discover a practical plan to identify the loose threads of your life and how to weave them together for God's glory and purposes. Jennie uses the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis to explain how his suffering, gifts, story, and relationships fit into the greater tapestry of God’s narrative—and how our story can do the same. In this study you will: Explore practical ways to identify the threads of your life. Learn how to intentionally weave those threads together. Discover how your gifts, passions, places, and relationships aren’t random; they’re deliberate and meaningful. Speak the truth about your suffering: it’s possible it has produced the very thing you want to give back to the world. The Restless Leader's Guide serves as a tool to prepare you in leading this study and to encourage you along the way. It helps you as the leader to effectively point your group to the overarching theme of each lesson. This guide includes: The vision for Restless. Session-by-session helps to guide your group through the study, addressing the needs of the various types of learners in your group. Walk-through for using each piece of the study: Study Guide, Videos, and the Conversation Cards. Tips for leading a group, and much more. Designed for use with the following items, each sold separately: Restless Study Guide (9780849922367) Restless Video Study (9780879922374) Restless Conversation Card Deck (9780879922824)

The guide includes easy-to-follow models of group sessions aimed at helping adult believers better understand their faith, proclaim their faith and live their faith.

"Has nine sessions and a retreat experience to help young people enter fully into the expectation and the joy of the Ordinary Time season. In addition to its fully developed sessions, this guide has strategies for encouraging real participation in liturgical and community life of the parish as it ritualizes and celebrates Ordinary Time"--Back cover.

From the time the Wise Men came to bring gifts, Christmas has been a time of giving gifts to our loved ones, to the less fortunate, to the church, to favorite charities, to family, to friends, and even to our pets. In the best spirit of Christmas we give and receive Christmas gifts, remembering the greatest Christmas gift of all…God's gift of the Christ Child, God's gift to us of a Savior. As we give and receive Christmas gifts, it is incredibly important to remember that the best Christmas gifts are wrapped in heaven. Unfortunately, sometimes we concentrate so much on the gifts we want to give to and receive from each other that we miss the special gifts Christmas has for us. Christmas has some amazing gifts for us, but the truth is that we need the miracle of God's grace to see them, feel them, hear them, wrap our arms around them, and celebrate them. This study asks a very personal question: "What are the gifts you would really like to receive from Christmas this year?" And that is what this book is all about: our thoughts and ruminations about the amazing, life-changing gifts Christmas has for us! This Advent study has five sessions--one for each Sunday of Advent and one for Christmas. The Leader Guide is designed to be used alongside the DVD. It enables a small group leader to facilitate a weekly discussion about All I Want for Christmas using the five DVD sessions as its starting point. Questions and activities guide group participants to discuss and understand each chapter in greater depth. The DVD and Leader Guide are not a substitute for the book, but a guide for discussing the book in small groups.

Whether you have a small group or a larger one, whether you want to structure the program in 2 sessions or 5, whether the children in your group are all the same age or not, you'll have all the tools you need to customize a Communion instruction program that's just right for your parish with these rich, adaptable resources.This Leader's Guide is a comprehensive resource for clergy and lay people offering: Background information on theology, leader reflection, goals, overview and materials lists Ways to invite children to participate more fully in the eucharistic service Explanations of what we do and say at Eucharist Prayers, activities and scripture stories Reproducible handouts to send home This Bread and This Cup is a program for children and their families. The intended age is 6-9 but younger works too in the program. The Child's Book assumes the child can read, or it is used with a parent who does the reading. This invaluable new resource brings greater understanding and meaning to a key aspect of Christian formation: Holy Communion. With solid information, including a brief history of children at the Eucharist, current theological perspectives and practices and flexible, user-friendly sessions, leaders will find that this program fits a wide variety of parish needs.