Bible Studies for Community Groups, Small Groups, and Sunday Schools
Several things have transpired that have led us to start promoting our bible study books to the teen crowd, and not just adult community groups.
The adult SS class that I teach has had several teens (& pre-teens!) participating for 6 years now. These kids learn boo-koos, and honestly, very little of the material is over their heads.
So, you might want to consider our popular bible study books for the teens in your church–or the ones sitting on your couch right now!
Already in process is book #4 — “Telling Others The Story of Jesus”. It’s looking really good and I’m excited about it! Here’s the lesson titles:
It should come out in June.
Long term, we are planning for a total of 15 more (yes, you read that right, 15 more!) bible study books over the next 5 years.
Most already have titles and super strong outlines. On the docket are:
But for now, keep an eye open this summer for book #4, “Telling Others The Story of Jesus”. You’ll love it, I promise!
Always Bat Clean-Up!
When you throw out a question never give your answer first.
Let at least one or two people go first. Then, when you feel the time is right, give your view, example, opinion, or answer in a wrapping up sort of way.
There are many reasons why this works best. Just trust me on this one and bat clean-up, not lead-off hitter!
Our third (and perhaps best) Bible Study booklet was just released on Amazon on September 3rd. It is burnt orange and called “Happiness vs. Purpose”.
Lesson titles are:
Our guinea pig groups said the last two lessons were life changing.
Get a copy of “Happiness vs. Purpose” and use it with your small group at church! Groups easily work through the 10-15 questions in just 45 minutes. And people invariably learn things from the scriptures that they’ve never quite seen before.
Our own Chinese friends loved our first two books so much last year a couple of them offered to translate our books into Mandarin.
The projects are done and the books have arrived!
They look just as good as our English books available on Amazon, maybe even better!
I gave some books away to two different Chinese ladies on Tuesday. (They were piano student moms). When one of these Chinese ladies (who has extremely low English skills), saw the books, her eyes got really big and she insisted I give her both books, not just one. She then proceeded to read “Jesus’ Most Popular Parables” in her native Mandarin during her son’s whole piano lesson.
Honestly, giving someone good Bible materials is one of the most effective ways to proclaim Christ. (At least that is what I believe and teach.)
All our books tend to have at least one or two calls to faith–when a lesson easily lends itself to that. So a non-Christian can read our booklets and will not only be blessed by God’s word, but be challenged to accept Christ.
If you have a Mandarin-mostly friend, and want to give them a fabulous Mandarin bible study booklet, contact me at kennybeck99@gmail.com. With a little effort and a few dollars, we can make it happen.
Perhaps your Mandarin friend will get saved.
The Chinese culture does value books a lot, and it is our guess that really and truly, there aren’t a whole lot of good Bible study materials available in Mandarin.
Four more books are coming very, very soon.
“Happiness vs. Purpose” is coming out in July. According to our guinea pig groups, it promises to be our most powerful bible study book yet!
Our first two Chinese books (Jesus’ Most Popular Parables and The Most Glorious Psalms Ever) will also become available in July. We are super excited to see how the Lord might use these books amongst the jillions of Mandarin speaking folks on the planet. Our probable outlets for these two Chinese books are likely Alibaba, other Chinese websites, No-Prep Bible Studies website, and perhaps also on Amazon.
Lastly, we are almost done with a regular book. Yes, you heard that right, a regular book! It is an autobiography by Rudy & Joanne Sheptock who adopted and raised some 50 children, many of them with severe disabilities. Joanne’s incredible salvation story and the Lord’s miraculous provision for this really big family form the core of this 9,400 word micro-book.
We’ve always felt like the Spanish speaking community is a little underserved in good bible study materials. Our good friend, and missionary to Central America, Dan Clark liked Jesus’ Most Popular Parables so much, he volunteered to translate it into Spanish. So, after much work, “Las Parabolas Mas Populares de Jesus” was finally released on Amazon last week. We encourage you to seriously consider buying ($7.65) and giving this booklet to your Spanish friends, even if they are unsaved. Maybe especially if they are unsaved! Two of the five lessons have calls to faith. The reading is easy and the topic of Jesus’ parables is definitely non-frightening to unsaved folks.
Muchas gracias to Dan Clark!
More Spanish booklets are in the works.
And Mandarin is next!
Always promote the next study coming up!
This is super simple. Just say something enthusiastically like: “The next study looks very interesting. It does Psalm 23 backwards!” Or, “The Psalm 103 study next week has a stunning modern healing story. You don’t want to miss it!”
Just a little teaser to give people another reason to come back the following week.
If you don’t promote next week, who will?
Don’t let one person dominate the group.
This is easier said than done. Almost every small group has one person who seems to take up way more than their fair share of the discussion.
As the leader, for sheer balance, you need to control that dominant person by using all the diplomacy and creativity you can summon. It’s not easy.
But our Bible Studies work to your advantage by clearly showing an outline of what has to be covered in 45 minutes. Folks can see that each lesson has some finite parameters, and yes, a goal line! They sense that there isn’t time for open ended rabbit trails. Dominant folks tend to become team players under these circumstances.
Group leaders constantly tell us that our little books really do somehow magically help control that particular person who would prefer that the lesson revolve totally around himself or herself.
When a new person visits your group, learn their FIRST NAME immediately.
Here’s how. When you meet the person, say their FIRST NAME out loud once, and in your head 5 times quickly. Then during the meeting, use their name EVERY CHANCE you get. Like, “That’s an important observation, Megan”, or “What do you think, Megan?” or, “Hey everybody, this is Megan from New Jersey”.
When you use a person’s name, you will naturally remember it. And they will really appreciate the care you’ve shown to learn their name.
It’s a little thing. But it’s a big thing. And your small group will follow your lead and integrate Megan faster.