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New Zondervan Small Group Site

Small Group Source is the place where all Zondervan Small Group Bible Studies will be featured.  This site features a daily blog, trailers, full video sessions, and information as well as downloadable resources for church campaigns.

And right now, you can watch the full first session from the One Thousand Gifts Small Group study by Ann Voskamp, filmed at her home in Ontario, Canada!

Here are some of the what the site has to offer:

  • Regular content from Zondervan regarding group life and group resources
  • Original and excerpted content from a wide range of Zondervan small group authors and product
  • Timely and useful information on small groups, authors, and trends
  • Campaign tools available for selected resources that can be used as church campaigns
  • Exclusive offers and giveaways for blog readers on product
  • Sneak peeks at future releases

 

Visit today! www.smallgroupsource.com

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5 Steps to Overcoming Disappointment

(This wisdom for overcoming disappointment is excerpted from Christine Caine’s Undaunted: Daring to do what God Calls You to Do.)

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God knows when we need nurture and healing, refreshment and sustenance, and he gives us that. In fact, for our journey, he gives us five important tools to sustain us and to help us provide sustenance to others.

1. Seek comfort in the church

When you’re hurting, going home is the best thing to do, and church is the believer’s spiritual home.

The first Sunday after Nick and I lost our baby, taking that pain and disappointment to church seemed so counter-intuitive. I knew that we would be surrounded by well-intentioned church friends asking, “How’s the pregnancy going? How is the baby?” I dreaded having to answer those questions. But we knew that we needed to go to the House of God.

What I remember most about that Sunday is not how awful it was to answer people’s questions about the baby and have to tell the news one more time, and again, and again, but rather how incredibly loving and warm our church family was to us. I had no idea how much I needed a loving community to share my burden. But God did. And as our church gathered ’round Nick and me in our grief, we were able to lift our eyes off our circumstances and see God’s loving kindness.

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The Most Awkward Dinner Party of All Time (And Jesus Was a Guest)

If you made a list of History’s Top 10 Best Party Guests, would Jesus make your list? You may reconsider after reading this biblical story from Who Is This Man. Author John Ortberg invites us to a dinner that’s surely the most awkward party these guests would ever attend. In the encounter we glimpse the depth of Jesus’ compassion, and discover how his “crankiness and compassion” arise from the same source. Read, enjoy, embrace the awkwardness. -Adam Forrest

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Jesus could be a very irritating person to be around. We are going to look at a dinner where he deliberately picked arguments four times running.

I say this because compassion is a quality Jesus might be most famous for. When a leper asked for healing, Jesus was “filled with compassion.” When a widow cried out to him, “his heart went out to her, and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’ ” Adulterers and tax collectors and prodigals and Samaritans all evoked his compassion. A compassion makeover was coming to the world.

There is a general perception that Jesus was one of those extremely tender feelers who just couldn’t stand pain. Elaine Aron has written a book called Highly Sensitive People about folks who startle easily, who are easily affected by others’ mood or pain, who care deeply about others’ opinions. There is nothing wrong with being a Highly Sensitive Person. I am one myself. What’s it to you?

But other parts of Jesus’ story do not make him look like an HSP. In a story told in all four Gospels, he saw people exploiting the poor in the temple; he took out a whip and drove them away, scattering their money and overturning their tables and saying, “How dare you.”

Most of us Highly Sensitive People do not throw furniture… Jesus was as militant as he was compassionate. How can this man be that man?

There was a day when he exhibited both qualities together.

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Watch Over 100 Full Bible Study Sessions for Free

Watch the entire first lesson for many of Zondervan’s DVD based Bible studies. No more guessing on the content, instead you get the full video experience by being able to see and evaluate the complete first lesson of each multi-lesson Bible study.

Each video is easy to share with your friends, small group or Bible study. Just hit the ‘share’ button under the video and send it via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

Watch Bible study sessions from bestselling authors like Timothy Keller, Andy Stanley, Anne Graham Lotz , Bill Hybels, Craig Groeschel, Jim Cymbala, John Ortberg, Lysa TerKeurst , and many more.

Zondervan video-based group Bible studies are available on DVD, and many are available for download. These video Bible studies feature a variety of topics from many authors, and are available wherever small group resources and curriculum are sold including Christianbook.com, Amazon.com and many others.

Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube playlist, because more sessions are coming.

www.Zondervan.com/BibleStudy

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Is the Gospel News, or a New Way of Life?

Is “the gospel” just shorthand for the daily life of a Christian? If not, how does the gospel shape our daily Christian life? Tim Keller offers biblical insights in this excerpt from his new book Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. If you like what you read here, get the book 38% off: Buy Center Church (Special offer good through Sept. 18, 2012). -Adam Forrest

Faith vs. Works?

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The gospel is not about something we do but about what has been done for us, and yet the gospel results in a whole new way of life…

One of Martin Luther’s dicta was that we are saved by faith alone but not by a faith that remains alone. His point is that true gospel belief will always and necessarily lead to good works, but salvation in no way comes through or because of good works. Faith and works must never be confused for one another, nor may they be separated (Eph 2:8–10; Jas 2:14, 17–18, 20, 22, 24, 26).

I am convinced that belief in the gospel leads us to care for the poor and participate actively in our culture, as surely as Luther said true faith leads to good works…

What is the gospel and what does it do?

I have often heard people preach this way: “The good news is that God is healing and will heal the world of all its hurts; therefore, the work of the gospel is to work for justice and peace in the world.”

The danger in this line of thought is not that the particulars are untrue (they are not) but that it mistakes effects for causes. It confuses what the gospel is with what the gospel does.

When Paul speaks of the renewed material creation, he states that the new heavens and new earth are guaranteed to us because on the cross Jesus restored our relationship with God as his true sons and daughters. Romans 8:1–25 teaches, remarkably, that the redemption of our bodies and of the entire physical world occurs when we receive “our adoption.” As his children, we are guaranteed our future inheritance (Eph 1:13–14, 18; Col 1:12; 3:24; Heb 9:15; 1 Pet 1:4), and because of that inheritance, the world is renewed. The future is ours because of Christ’s work finished in the past.

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Unity: The Christian’s Calling Card [Excerpt]

Potent stuff today from author/pastor Mark Buchanan: Why “oneness” is superior to “equality;” the benefits of pursuing church unity; and what’s at stake if we don’t. Excerpt from Mark Buchanan’s book Your Church Is Too Safe: Why Following Christ Turns the World Upside-Down.

A brief open letter to Mark: “Dear Pastor Buchanan, your writing on unity convicts my introverted soul. For your next book, please write “Your Life Is Too Safe: The Introvert’s Field Guide to Joining Community.”  -Adam Forrest, Zondervan

Equality vs. oneness

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The Bible is little interested in equality. It aims much higher than that. From Genesis to Revelation, it calls us to this deeper, greater, tougher, sweeter thing: oneness. Oneness in our relationship with God. Oneness in our relationship with our spouse. Oneness with our relationships with other Christ-followers. Oneness in the church.

Oneness beats equality every time, because equality demands sameness. To be equal to you, I have to be as smart and strong and kind and generous as you. But oneness presumes difference. To be one with you, I have to accept your gift of otherness. I can be weak where you’re strong, and vice versa. Oneness requires my life to complement yours. It calls us to complete one another.

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How Can We Share God’s Peace? [Excerpt]

What is the church’s role in extending God’s peace to the world? Mark Buchanan gives perspective in this excerpt from Your Church Is Too Safe: Why Following Christ Turns the World Upside-Down.

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The primary gift God gives to those who trust in him is reconciliation with him. But the primary gift the people of God give to those who are reconciled to God is a community of reconciled people. We give them the gift of our own wholeness and oneness. We give the gift of community. We invite them to be part of a people where everyone makes “every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” [Ephesians 4:3].

God calls us out of darkness and into marvelous light [1 Peter 2:9]. But his intent is that “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” [1 John 1:7]. So God prepares us to be a people who draw and who welcome every tribe and tongue and nation into the light by first making us light. And he does that, in part, by bringing those who are far away near. He does that by making the community of the converted also the community of the reconciled…

One sign that God has returned to dwell in the center of our lives and of our churches is that we become a living testimony of what we promise. We promise that in Christ all become new creations, no longer seeing others according to the flesh. We promise that in Christ we have the peace of God and the God of peace. We promise that we through Christ receive God’s love and forgiveness, and then extend it — with authority — to the whole world. We promise all this, but then claim exemption for ourselves in some petty matter or another.

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Gender Stereotypes in Church: Margaret Feinberg on Gender’s Role in the Pew & in Pursuit of God

 

The church may depend on gender stereotypes more than God does.

Yesterday the Her.meneutics blog (Christianity Today's blog for women) posted about Margaret Feinberg's experience of pursuing God. This is a topic which Margaret has discussed with great insight in Zondervan Bible studies such as Pursuing God's Beauty and Pursuing God's Love, and in her recent book Hungry for God.

 

Margaretwide

 

The Her.meneutics blog asked Margaret if her view of pursuing God is related to her view of gender. Margaret replied, "My personality informs [my spirituality and experience of God] far more than gender ever could."

Then Margaret added something that has Twitter abuzz: 

Gender often remains an acceptable way to stereotype people in the church. I think we're all made in God's image—God's beautiful, breathtaking, complex image and it is good.

Margaret goes on to discuss how male leaders and local churches can encourage women to use their gifts in ministry. If you're interested, I recommend you read the post on the Her.meneutics blog.

 

What Do You Think?

Do you feel like your church views you as a gender stereotype? Share your thoughts in a comment on this post.

As a youngish man, I don't feel like my local church has stereotyped me too badly. For every Wild Game Dinner, they also host a film discussion (which is more my speed). I realize this isn't everyone's experience and I'd like to hear yours.

- Adam Forrest, Zondervan

 

Also of Interest

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Margaret Feinberg on Women in Politics (Zondervan Blog post).
Margaret (@mafeinberg) blogs at margaretfeinberg.com.

Learn more about her book Hungry for God.

 

 

(This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's opinions are their own, and are shared for information purposes only. To receive new blogposts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

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Prisons and Other Places the Kingdom Takes Root [Excerpt by Philip Yancey]

 

Excerpt from Grace Notes: Daily Readings with Philip Yancey (eBook).

 

Taking God’s assignment seriously means that I must learn to look at the world upside down, as Jesus did. Instead of seeking out people who stroke my ego, I find those whose egos need stroking; instead of important people with resources who can do me favors, I find people with few resources; instead of the strong, I look for the weak; instead of the healthy, the sick. Is not this how God reconciles the world to himself? Did Jesus not insist that he came for the sinners and not the righteous, for the sick and not the healthy?

 

People often look upon [Jean] as mad…

The founder of the L’Arche homes for the mentally disabled, Jean Vanier, says that people often look upon him as mad. The brilliantly educated son of a governor general of Canada, he recruits skilled workers (Henri Nouwen was one) to serve and live among damaged people.

Vanier shrugs off those who second-guess his choices by saying he would rather be crazy by following the foolishness of the gospel than the nonsense of the values of our world. Furthermore, Vanier insists that those who serve the deformed and damaged benefit as much as the ones whom they are helping. Even the most disabled individuals respond instinctively to love, and in so doing they awaken what is most important in a human being: compassion, generosity, humility, love. Paradoxically, they replenish life in the very helpers who serve them.

 

In India I have worshiped among leprosy patients. Most of the medical advances in the treatment of leprosy came about as a result of missionary doctors, who alone were willing to live among patients and risk exposure to study the dreaded disease. As a result, Christian churches thrive in most major leprosy centers.

 

In Myanmar, I have visited homes for AIDS orphans, where Christian volunteers try to replace parental affection the disease has stolen away. In Jean Vanier’s center in Toronto, I have watched a scholarly priest lavish daily care on a middle-aged man so mentally handicapped that he could not speak a word. The most rousing church services I have attended took place in Chile and Peru, in the bowels of a federal prison. Among the lowly, the wretched, the downtrodden, the rejects, God’s kingdom takes root.

 

God's kingdom is taking root

“The most rousing church services I have attended took place in Chile & Peru, in the bowels of a federal prison. Among the lowly … God’s kingdom takes root.”

 

 

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-Philip Yancey

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Visit Philip Yancey’s blog

 


(Image & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of Grace Notes. Image attribution: By MicheleLovesArt (Van Gogh Museum – Tree-roots, 1890) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer’s personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

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Small Group Videos Galore: Watch Over 50 Full Bible Study Sessions for Free

 

Have you ever watched a trailer for a movie, then watched the movie, only to realize the trailer collected all the best parts, or it told you nothing about the movie's real plot? While curriculum trailers aren't exactly like that, sometimes watching a two-minute trailer just won't tell you if you want to spend 4-12 weeks with the topic, or study, or author.

Watching the complete first session of the curriculum is a great indicator of what the rest of the sessions will be like. That's why we're making the first sessions of our video-based curriculum available for free on YouTube.

View the curriculum videos playlist

 

Today we have 50-plus full video sessions loaded on the playlist (zndr.vn/curriculumvideos). We will continue to add more until there's video available from every group study that Zondervan publishes.

Now you can watch full curriculum sessions from bestselling authors like…

 

 

If you like what you see, you can visit Amazon, CBD.com, BN.com or your local retailer and get the DVD and Participant's Guides for yourself and your small group.

 

Tips for Small Group Members

  1. Share the videos with your small group via Facebook to discuss what you might want to study.
  2. Subscribe to the YouTube playlist (http://zndr.vn/curriculumvideos) because more videos are coming soon.
  3. Most of all, enjoy!

 

- Chris Fann, Zondervan Curriculum Marketing

 

(This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's opinions are their own, and are shared for information purposes only. To receive new blogposts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

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