Bible Study Source Magazine, Issue 12

SOURCE BIBLE STUDY

The Ridiculous Idea of

JESUS HAS A THING FOR Being Unoffendable PASSING THE

Bat of Tru

Losers inside this issue : DON'T DO IT ALONE

for God's Timing

SAVE $10 off $50 with code BIBLESTUDY12

valid through 9/30/2023

JESUS HAS A THING FOR

losers

by Lisa Harper

a LETTER to our READERS

Dear Women’s Ministry Leader,

We’re so happy to bring you this issue of Bible Study Source magazine! Our team spends our days thinking about you and your ministry, and working with our amazing teachers to craft Bible studies that will help people read, understand, and apply God’s Word.

Packed into this issue are eight of our newest small group Bible studies, along with some perennial favorites, and a sneak peek of next fall’s lineup. If you’d like to check out these studies in more detail, head over to our YouTube channel (YouTube.com/ HarperChristianResources). You can watch the first sessions of all of our Bible studies for free and subscribe to our channel to never miss a video!

We hope the stories and mini teachings in this issue encourage you. We recognize the effort and sacrifice you put in on behalf of the women in your community, as you seek to help them grow closer to Jesus. Our team is praying for you and cheering you on!

In Him,

Beth Murphy, Director, HarperChristian Resources Sara Riemersma, Editor, HarperChristianWomen

P.S. We need your help! Do you ever wish Bible study publishers knew more about your group Bible study dynamics and how you actually use study guides and videos? Do you have a few minutes each month to share your ideas with us, react to cover designs, and give us your opinions on study features like personal homework and group discussion questions? Join our research panel of Bible study leaders, who get monthly surveys and earn points toward Bible study purchases!

Hey, y'all, my name’s Lisa Harper. I’m a middle-aged chick—which basically means that my hair’s chemically dependent and my favorite pants are stretchy! More importantly, Jesus is my first love, my Savior, my living hope, and my main squeeze.

Second only to my love for Jesus is my love for my daughter, Missy, who God blessed me with through the miracle of adoption. In addition to being a passionate Christ-follower and passionately biased mom, I’m a mediocre author, Bible teacher, recovering Pharisee, Tex-Mex food lover, a doctoral candidate at Denver Seminary, and a bona-fide, born and bred storyteller.

My mom, Patti Angel (yes, that’s her real last name), will tell you that I started telling stories as soon as I could string a few words together and only got windier as I grew up! I’ve always loved stories—telling stories, listening to stories, reading stories, and writing stories because I think human narrative is the heartbeat of real life. More significantly, as a Christian I believe that at its core, the Bible is a love story. Which leads me to a good-natured warning: this new Bible study on Luke is going to contain lots of stories and the Hero of every single one will be Jesus!

Speaking of stories, a few years ago I went to church with a young friend named Laurie who I met while volunteering at a faith-based addiction recovery program. Laurie had turned her life over to Jesus after experiencing horrific abuse, which led to drug addiction and ultimately being arrested for possession with intent to sell. And like most of my friends in recovery she is refreshingly honest. Even in church!

After listening to the pastor preach for a few minutes about what a motley crew the disciples were—how they were largely uneducated, coarse, and mistake-prone men—Laurie elbowed me in the ribs and whispered loud enough for most of the congregation to hear, “Hey Miss Lisa, Jesus has a thing for losers, doesn’t he?”

Although it’s admittedly informal, “Jesus has a thing for losers” could be an apropos subtitle for the Gospel according to Luke because his narrative reads more like Jerry Springer than Shakespeare! It’s replete with stories about Jesus engaging with outliers and outcasts like Samaritans, tax collectors, and the poor—people that ancient culture would surely have labeled as losers—yet the King of all kings lavished them with unconditional love and what some regarded as scandalous grace.

A great example of our Redeemer’s counter cultural compassion is found in Luke 18, which Luke frames in verse 9:

Anyway, here’s the story our Savior told those supercilious stinkers:

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:9-14, NIV).

(continued on next page)

In other words, the audience Jesus told the following parable to was a haughty group of yahoos who had the double whammy of being self-righteous and judgmental, which is like going to the movies only to find out the audio isn’t working and the popcorn’s stale!

"Then He told this story to some who boasted of their virtue and scorned everyone else."

Jesus has a thing for losers.

Lisa Harper

It wasn’t uncommon in the First Century to lump tax collectors with sinners because ancient tax collectors—also called “publicans” as they collected public revenue on behalf of the government—were about as well loved as dinner-time telemarketers! And to add insult to injury, they were infamous for charging whatever the market would bear and then skimming off the top before turning the coffers over to Rome. Which meant Jewish tax collectors built their bank accounts on the backs of their fellow countrymen, making them the worse kind of traitors because their Beemers and fancy Mediterranean homes came at the expense of their friends, family, and neighbors.

Yet Luke makes one of those ancient Jewish IRS agents the unlikely star of this story! The takeaway is:

Human nature presumes that we have to earn favor with God. That we have to justify ourselves by checking off all the boxes on some sort of spiritual “to do” list. But the tenor and tone of our Redeemer’s earthly life and ministry prove otherwise. Luke paints a compelling portrait of Jesus opening the restorative refuge of His arms wide to include mistake-prone misfits and that is the really, really good news of his gospel account!

I’m so excited we’re going to be diving deep into Luke together—this is going to be an awesome adventure, y’all!

Lisa

HARPER SHOP NOW

Being reconciled into a right relationship with God isn’t based on our deservedness, it’s based on His divine grace!

Moved by deep, visceral compassion, Jesus will always close the gap between us and him.

The Beautiful Word Bible Study Series helps you connect God’s Word to your daily life through vibrant video teaching, group discussion, and deep personal study to receive your own beautiful word from God.

In each study, a central theme—a beautiful word—threads throughout the book, helping you connect and apply each book of the Bible to your daily life.

AND JOURNALS also available! SHOP NOW

THE RIDICULOUS IDEA OF BEING

UNOFFENDABLE

by Brant Hansen

Iactually heard a guy say, “You can choose to be ‘unoffendable,’” at a business meeting. I looked up the definition of offended, and all the dictionaries say something about anger and resentment. When I’m writing about the word here, then, that’s what I mean.

There’s another definition, about having your senses affronted, or offended, but that’s not the definition we’re dealing with here. We just made some homemade barbecue sauce the other day, and we unanimously and immediately agreed, right then and there, that it was highly offensive. That happens.

It’s the taking of offense, and the very presumption that I’m somehow entitled to be angry with someone, that I’m talking about. Surely there’s got to be a place for “righteous anger” against someone, right? Surely there are times we are justified in our anger…

But what that guy said at the business meeting did get me thinking, because he was so obviously wrong. And besides, since I call myself a Christian person, wasn’t I supposed to be angry at people for certain things? Isn’t being offended part of being a Christian?

So I did what any rational, fair-minded, spiritually mature person would do: I scoured the Bible for verses I could pull out to destroy his argument, logically pummel him into submission, and—you know—win.

Problem: I now think he’s right.

NOT ONLY CAN WE CHOOSE TO BE UNOFFENDABLE; WE SHOULD CHOOSE THAT.

We should forfeit our right to be offended. That means forfeiting our right to hold on to anger.

When we do this, we’ll be making a sacrifice that’s very pleasing to God. It strikes at our very pride. It forces us not only to think about humility, but to actually be humble.

“A person’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.”

—Proverbs 19:11 HCSB

I used to think it was incumbent upon a Christian to take offense. I now think we should be the most refreshingly unoffendable people on a planet that seems to spin on an axis of offense.

Forfeiting our right to anger makes us deny ourselves, and makes us others-centered.

WHEN WE START LIVING THIS WAY, IT CHANGES EVERYTHING.

Actually, it’s not even “forfeiting” a right, because the right doesn’t exist. We’re told to forgive, and that means anger has to go, whether we’ve decided our own anger is “righteous” or not.

We won’t often admit this, but we like being angry. We don’t like what caused the anger, to be sure; we just like thinking we’ve “got” something on someone. So-and-so did something wrong, sometimes horribly wrong, and anger offers us a sense of moral superiority.

That’s why we call it “righteous anger,” after all. It’s moral and good, we want to think.

But inconveniently, there’s this proverb that says, “You may believe you are doing right, but the Lord will judge your reasons” (Prov. 16:2 NCV).

So it’s not just me. We all, apparently, find ourselves pretty darn convincing. Of course my anger is righteous. It’s righteous because, clearly, I’m right and they’re wrong. My ways seem pure to me. Always.

In the moment, everyone’s anger always seems righteous. Anger is a feeling, after all, and it sweeps over us and tells us we’re being denied something we should have. It provides its own justification. But an emotion is just an emotion. It’s not critical thinking. Anger doesn’t pause. We have to stop, and we have to question it.

We humans are experts at casting ourselves as victims and rewriting narratives that put us in the center of injustices. And we can repaint our anger or hatred of someone—say, anyone who threatens us—into a righteous-looking work of art. And yet, remarkably, in Jesus’ teaching, there is no allowance for “Okay, well, if someone really is a jerk, then yeah—you need to be offended.” We’re flat-out told to forgive, even— especially!—the very stuff that’s understandably maddening and legitimately offensive.

That’s the whole point: The thing that you think makes your anger “righteous” is the very thing you are called to forgive. Grace isn’t for the deserving. Forgiving means surrendering your claim to resentment and letting go of anger.

The apostle James said point-blank that anger does not produce the kind of righteousness God wants in us: “The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20 ESV).

In Colossians 3:8 Paul writes, “But now also put these things out of your life: anger, bad temper, doing or saying things to hurt others, and using evil words when you talk” (NCV).

(continued on next page)

We don’t like the “anger” part. We think that when he said to put anger “out of your life,” he really meant “except when it’s constructive.” I’ve yet to hear us apply that logic to the rest of his teaching in that verse: “Get rid of your evil words—except when it makes sense,” or “Rid yourself of evil words—except when they really had it coming.”

Let’s admit it: we like anger—our own anger, that is—at some level. We’re just so . . . justified. Seek justice; love mercy. You don’t have to be angry to do that. People say we have to get angry to fight injustice, but I’ve noticed that the best police officers don’t do their jobs in anger. The best soldiers don’t function out of anger.

ANGER DOES NOT ENHANCE JUDGMENT.

Yes, God is quite capable of being both just and angry, but if I’m on trial in front of a human judge, I’m sure hoping his reasoning is anger-free.

Some people think I’m nuts when I talk about this, when I say we’re not entitled to our anger. And maybe I am. At first, I hated this idea too. The thing is, now I’m hoping I’m right, because life has become so much better this way, and I think I can understand Jesus more.

Brant HANSEN

BRANT HANSEN is a nationally syndicated radio host and podcaster of The Brant and Sherri Oddcast. He works with CURE International, a worldwide network of hospitals that brings life-changing medical care and the good news of God’s love to children with treatable conditions. Brant lives in South Florida with his wife, Carolyn.

Pa ing e Bat of Tru

by Anne Graham Lotz

Almost every weekend during the spring months, my husband, Danny, would take our three young children to watch the track-and-field events at the University of North Carolina, his alma mater. One of their favorite events was the 4x100m relay race, in which four runners compete as a team, each running a lap around the track before passing a baton to his teammate, who continues running at full speed ahead of him.

Winning a relay race depends not only on the speed of the runners but also on each team member’s ability to transfer the baton. If the baton is dropped or even bobbled, precious seconds are wasted, and the race may be lost.

You and I are in a race called life. The Baton is Truth that leads to faith in Jesus Christ. Each generation receives the Baton from the previous generation, runs the race to the best of its ability, then is responsible for passing it to the next generation.

Passing the Baton of Truth traces all the way back to the first generation of humanity. Following Adam and Eve’s disobedience, when sin entered the human race, each person faced the decision of whether to seek a right relationship with God or pursue his or her own selfish desires. In Genesis 5, we find a genealogy that lists ten generations and reveals the passing of the Baton from one to the next. Amid the wickedness of Cain’s civilization, these ten men stood out like giants surrounded by spiritual dwarfs. Like a ten-man relay team, each received the Baton of Truth from the one who had preceded him, then grasped it for himself, running his own race with diligence and perseverance, regardless of his wicked surroundings.

BibleStudySource.com/Inscribed

successfully

As parents, grandparents, and mentors, we must strive to be giants among spiritual dwarfs relaying to the next generation the Baton of Truth that leads to personal faith in Jesus Christ. In order to be successful, it’s imperative that we be genuine Jesus Followers ourselves. Our hope is to encourage you to be intentional as you, too, seek to be a Jesus Follower who successfully passes the Baton to the next generation.

What are the names of people in the next generation to whom you would like to intentionally pass the Baton of Truth?

JESUS FOLLOWERS

Watch the first session of Jesus Followers, taught by Anne & her daughter, Rachel-Ruth

New Bible Study Workbooks

EVERY WOMAN A THEOLOGIAN

by Phylicia Masonheimer

Uncomplicate the Complicated Ways We Talk about Faith

Many people think of theology—the study of the nature of God and His truth—as a subject for scholars and people with seminary degrees. But theology has everything to do with us. It's essential to how we wrestle with our inner doubts and how we talk to others about what we believe.

This study brings the fundamentals of Christian theology down to earth in a straightforward, relatable way so that you can:

• Identify your existing beliefs about God, salvation, and the Christian life

• Understand the vocabulary of theology without feeling overwhelmed

• Develop a stronger faith and a better sense of what it means and why it matters

• Feel more confident about sharing your faith with others

Ann SPANGLER

ANN SPANGLER is an award-winning writer and the author of many bestselling books. Ann’s fascination with and love of Scripture has resulted in books that have opened the Bible to a wide range of readers.

SHOP NOW

Workbooks for You and Your Group

Phylicia MASONHEIMER

PHYLICIA MASONHEIMER is a blogger, author, speaker and podcast host teaching Christians how to know what they believe and live it boldly.

PRAYING THE NAMES OF GOD FOR 52 WEEKS

by Ann Spangler

Encounter a Deeper Experience of God’s Goodness and Love

Names in the ancient world did more than simply distinguish one person from another. They often conveyed the essential nature and character of a person. This is especially true when it comes to the names and titles of God.

This unique Bible study helps you explore the most important of God’s names and titles as they are revealed in the Bible. It also teaches you how to pray with specific focus on each of the names of God. As you explore his names, you will come face-to-face with the God of Scripture—a God who is both the greatest of all Kings and the most loving of all Fathers. A God enthroned on high who bends low so that we can come to know him.

Waiting FOR GOD'S TIMING

by Rabbi Jason Sobel

God’s timing in our lives is one of those things that often trips us up. We sometimes wonder what he is doing and question if he is even listening. We ask God for something, and seemingly nothing happens. We want Aunt Martha healed, but she remains sick or even dies. We want that promotion, but someone else gets it. Instead of getting the answer we want, we often get silence.

We struggle like Job. “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me” (Job 30:20 NIV). But in the end, faith recognizes that God is wiser than we are and that he is outside of time. He sees the whole picture and is doing something bigger than we can imagine. As we acknowledge him, trust him, and lean not on our own understanding, he lights the path for us to follow (Proverbs 3:5–6).

Abram recognized this and trusted God’s faithfulness. As hard as it is at times, so should we. Another writer put it this way:

"Let us learn this lesson—God never forgets, he cannot forget! He sees the end from the beginning; he is in the eternal now. He is from everlasting to everlasting. He is not in the flux of time; he is outside it. He does not see things as we do. He seems to forget but he does not."¹

GOD'S PROMISES ARE NEVER IN DOUBT.

Like many people, my life has had its ups and downs. Looking back, I can now appreciate those lingering seasons of wrestling and waiting, but I’m not going to try to sound all super spiritual and say it’s easy. Wrestling and waiting are tough! And years of wrestling and waiting will wear a person down. Deep down in the core of my being, I had an intuitive sense of destiny for ministry. I knew God had a plan for me and that he always provided, yet my endurance was wearing thin. I was weary, and nothing seemed to be happening. At times the silence was indeed loud.

THE GOD OF THE HOW AND WHEN

by Kathie Lee Gifford with Rabbi Jason Sobel

Preview The God of the How and When video study:

How much longer, Lord? How long?

Struggling to find out what I was to do for the Lord, I even contemplated giving up my dreams of ministry and returning to law school, since every good Jewish boy (and his mother) knows that he should be either a doctor or a lawyer. While those certainly are noble occupations, for me it would not be God’s best.

Somewhere, beneath the chaos and the silence, I could hear his still, small voice wooing me, telling me not to pursue other things—that he had a calling on my life and I should stay focused and wait.

God asked Abram to wait. In Genesis 13:14–18, he expanded on his promise to Abram. He promised not only land but also to “make [his] seed like the dust of the earth so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then [his] seed could also be counted” (Genesis 13:16).

Years later the idea of one heir, let alone children “like the dust of the earth,” seemed impossible to Abram and Sarai. Every time they saw their aged faces reflected in still waters or polished bronze, the couple was reminded that they were well beyond childbearing years.

Fully aware of Abram and Sarai’s fatigue from wrestling and waiting, God decided to give Abram a new vision. He took him out of his tent—out of his circumstances—and showed him something different. “Look up now, at the sky, and count the stars—if you are able to count them,” God said to Abram. “So shall your seed be” (Genesis 15:5).

This new perspective from God renewed Abram’s faith (v. 6), and he believed the promise. This one verse is so critical to all of Scripture that, many years later, the apostle Paul, whom I like to call Rabbi Paul, established his definition of salvation on it (Romans 4; Galatians 5). Salvation does not come by the law or works; it comes through faith and God’s mercy. God renewed Abram’s faith. Abram realized God was in control and there was nothing he could do outside of believing God’s promises.

God’s promises are never in doubt. When we endanger God’s promises, there will be consequences, but that doesn’t stop God from moving forward with his purposes. We can still trust him when our field of vision is narrow. Often our field of vision is limited to “my, me, and mine,” but we need to expand it until we can see God using our lives in his design. Sometimes when things seem impossible, we need to walk “out of our tent” and let God cast a new vision for us.

In this six-session video Bible study, bestselling authors Kathie Lee Gifford and Messianic Jewish Rabbi Jason Sobel tell the stories of five people in Scripture—Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Joshua, and Mary, the mother of Jesus—who also wondered how and when God would come through for them. Each of them had to step out in faith and obey God without knowing the details of what would happen in their story. As you study their examples, you will discover what it likewise means for you to trust that God’s ways are higher than your own—and what it takes to step out in faith.

1 Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Magnify the Lord: Luke 1:46–55 (1998; repr., Fearn, Ross-shire UK: Christian Focus with Bryntirion Press, 2011), 74–75.

FEARLESS WOMEN

of e Bible

by Lynn Cowell

I consider myself a pretty cool mom, but when my daughter, Madi, said she wanted to jump out of a plane together, I thought “no way.” She was thirteen years old when she started this concerning conversation: “Mom, for my eighteenth birthday, we’re going skydiving.” Yeah, right! I thought. I’m all about the experience and I love the outdoors. But there is a difference between exciting and absurd.

Not wanting to diminish her confidence, I joked with her for many years, trying to keep it light. To think that my girl wanted to do something so adventurous with her mom, of all people, was heartwarming. But deep down, I hoped she’d forget it and move on. The mere idea of floating in the open Carolina blue sky made me…well, let’s not go there.

There is something you should know about me before we go any further. Sometimes, I can be all talk. Like the time I went on and on describing to my husband all we would see when we went snorkeling on a trip that he had won from his company. A girl from small-town Iowa, I grew up in the middle of seas of corn, not schools of fish. I knew nothing about the ocean. And it was obvious when I refused to leave the shore. The little mask sealing off the only airflow I had (or so it seemed) felt like a death trap. Who in the world can possibly breathe this way?

Heartbroken, I stood baking on the beach, as Greg called for me to come and see all God had created below the ocean’s surface. I just couldn’t. While my heart was floating next to him, immersing in cobalt blue, tangerine orange, and sunshine yellow sea life, my leaded feet

were captive in the quicksand of the shore. I never found the courage to move.

You can understand, then, why I started freaking out as Madi’s eighteenth birthday approached and she began reminding me of my promise. My girl really wanted to do this. All my bravado had gotten me in a whole lot of trouble!

So, I created a plan to get me out of this mess! I asked her brother to jump with his sister in my place. When he agreed, my heart settled down. I could keep my promise. Well sort of. Now, I could look forward to the big weekend and to living vicariously through my kids. But when the day finally arrived, her brother couldn’t come through!

Now what? The jump had been paid for. Two nonrefundable reservations confirmed. The hammering of my heart and moisture gathering on my palms reminded me that I couldn’t let my daughter jump out of a plane alone. Someone had to jump.

Did that someone have to be me?

My guess is that you’ve never found yourself in a situation where you were pressured to free fall through the air. But maybe there has been a time when your life has felt like it was spiraling, and your confidence was falling with it.

The hot summer day when I drove with my family to the airfield was not the only time I’ve felt like I needed a grit I didn’t have. Raising children whom I didn’t always

understand, overcoming rejections I couldn’t avoid, and trusting God when my calling didn’t make sense have all given me plenty of opportunities to lean into Jesus. I’ve needed to find a confidence that holds my head up when my heart is hanging low. The sort of confidence that doesn’t slip away with each new obstacle and won’t disintegrate when I need it most.

If you’re anything like me, you’re looking for the courage you need to make your move in spite of the fact that you sometimes feel fearful or possibly like a failure.

That sweltering June day, I needed to jump out of a plane. Someone had to go with my girl and that someone needed to be me.

Sometimes, I think finding confidence means making a move even when, and most often when, you think you can’t. I have found there are many people, including women in the Bible, who have needed confidence to act when they had none. Making their move was part of the process to finding God’s confidence.

The sense of soaring while skydiving was both terrifying and thrilling, and it was one of the most exhilarating experiences in my life. I am so glad I jumped!

That leap would never have been possible had my body not been attached to the body of another that day. My jumper, the expert who had skydived thousands

Lynn COWELL

LYNN COWELL is a part of the Proverbs 31 Ministries speaking team, speaking to pre-teens, teens, multigenerational and women’s conferences and retreats on a regular basis. Girls often come up to her saying, "How did you know that's what I was going through?" Hearing direction and guidance on critical issues they face, Lynn encourages them to reach their fullest potential by finding the relationship in Christ they were created for.

of times, knew exactly what he was doing. During the entire experience, he spoke directly in my ear, telling me exactly what to do next. His instructions made the jump safe and successful. As long as I was connected to my jumper, listening and obeying, the dive was amazing. But before I could dive, I had to willingly and intentionally secure myself to him.

Jesus is our jumper. Our first move in this journey of obtaining unshakable confidence is to secure ourselves to Jesus through his Word, worship, and listening and talking to him every day. This study will help you do just that!

Knowing I was dependent on the parachute above my head and the jumper attached to my back was unnerving yet comforting at the same time. I knew I was not alone and had all I needed for this amazing adventure.

I think that’s what God wants us to experience with him. The thrill of leaping into the great unknown, reaching our full potential in him, fully equipped yet completely dependent. And that is done one small, brave jump at a time.

So, friends, let’s do just that! God’s Word will be our equipment and the Holy Spirit our expert jumper. Together, let's dive into God’s Word and discover the women (and a few men as well) who found the power, confidence, and courage needed in God to do the work God called them to.

FEARLESS WOMEN OF THE BIBLE

Find Unshakable

Confidence Despite Your Fears and Failures

Jesus Women

by Shelley Leith

&

There is so much we can learn about Jesus by studying his interactions with women in the Bible! In the first century, women were generally marginalized. They were viewed as inferior to men, excluded from public life, prevented from getting an education, and often seen as the property of their father or husband. Yet, in every encounter Jesus had with a woman, he broke through social norms and religious restrictions and treated them with respect and dignity.

We see Jesus with women in the Bible:

• Teaching and having spiritual conversations with women

• Healing a woman on the Sabbath

• Welcoming a woman’s interruption of his teaching in the tabernacle

• Receiving and rewarding the touch of an unclean woman

• Making a woman the first witness to his resurrection

Jesus’ treatment of women was revolutionary for that time and culture, and it’s still a model for us today.

Let’s see what we can learn from Jesus’ interactions with women through Biblical studies of women who personally encountered Jesus.

"Jesus did more to elevate women than anyone else in human history."

– Dave Willis, Raising Boys Who Respect Girls

"At a time when Jewish men — and especially rabbis — had nothing to do with women in public, even their own wives, Jesus esteemed women, touched women, spoke to women, taught women... And to top it all off, women ministered with Him."

Christine Caine, Unexpected

THE SHAMED CRIPPLE: Jesus and the Bent Woman

Bible Study Teacher: Lisa Harper

Even though this woman interrupted Jesus’ mid-sermon, he stopped and beckoned her closer. He didn’t consider her a bother, didn’t speak to her as a disabled person. He touched her, freed her from her bondage, and turned her shame into honor by calling her a daughter of Abraham.

Life Lesson:

We are always a delight to Jesus; we’ve got his complete attention.

At Study Gateway you’ll find Bible studies on women characters found throughout the Bible. Two of our favorite studies are Twelve Women of the Bible and Twelve More Women of the Bible, taught by leading Bible study teachers. These different women give insights and draw lessons from the lives of women in the Old and New Testament.

THE SUFFERING OUTCAST: Jesus and the Woman with the Issue of Blood

Bible Study Teacher: Chrystal Evans Hurst

This woman broke social norms and religious taboos by touching Jesus, even though that would make him unclean. What seemed like a lifetime of bleeding, loneliness, and social isolation was finally over! Jesus did not scold her, but declared, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

THE BUSY DOER: Jesus and Martha

Bible Study Teacher: Amena Brown

Jesus wanted Martha to understand that while her desire to serve was valuable and important, knowing God and being in his presence needed to take priority in her life.

Life Lesson:

Our identity in Christ is a gift of God’s grace, not a standing that we can earn by hard work and good intentions.

Life Lesson:

Jesus is with us and never leaves us, even through long seasons of pain and struggle.

THE MARGINALIZED MESS: Jesus and the Woman at the Well

Bible Study Teacher: Lysa TerKeurst

It’s extraordinary. Jewish rabbis in the first century did not trust women, invite them into religious discourse, or even speak to women in public. Yet Jesus looks past her gender, her ethnicity, and her scandalous reputation, to connect her heart with the heart of God.

Life Lesson: Jesus wants to deal with your messes and give you a message.

THE WHOLEHEARTED STUDENT: Jesus and Mary of Bethany

Bible Study Teacher: Elisa Morgan

To watch the videos of these Bible studies, start your free 7-day trial on Study Gateway

In a world where women were often marginalized and kept from receiving religious training, Mary was a student, hungry to learn and receive the words of Jesus. Mary never took Jesus for granted.

Life Lesson:

Make it a top priority to listen to Jesus and be in his presence.

DISCOVER GOD’S love st ies LOVE THROUGH

unc diti al OF THE BIBLE

The most foundational truth in Scripture is God’s unconditional, unending, unfailing love for His people. Throughout its pages, we find the breadth of love expressed in the forms of friendship, family, romance, marriage, and more. From the first love between Adam and Eve, to the bonding love of Joseph and Mary, to the deep, meaningful friendships like that of David and Jonathan, the Bible takes us on a journey of discovering how God’s unconditional love is expressed.

This workbook, based on New York Times bestselling author Shannon Bream’s book, The Love Stories of the Bible Speak, walks you through thirteen biblical lessons on romance, friendship, and faith in various stories across the Bible where you’ll get a front-row seat into the many challenges these men and women faced. As you explore these stories of love, you’ll be encouraged to renew your love for others and for God.

You will discover how God’s love is often very different from ours, turning our assumptions about life, relationships, and each other upside down. Each relationship focused on in this workbook displays similar obstacles to the ones we face today. Many encountered difficult conflicts and unspeakable challenges. Yet together they remind us that we are designed to both love and to be loved.

Each lesson includes:

REFLECT invites you to read key moments of each relationship in the Bible and see how the stories of characters in Scripture resemble your own experiences.

CONNECT asks you to consider how our Heavenly Father works throughout the Old and New Testaments to show us how he responds to our relational needs and design.

REVEAL provides an opportunity to identify specific ways in which we receive and offer love to others as well as receive and demonstrate love from God.

PRAY asks you to prayerfully consider how the love stories throughout Scripture tie into how God is challenging and growing your relationships today.

SHANNON BREAM is the author of the number one New York Times bestsellers The Women of the Bible Speak and The Mothers and Daughters of the Bible Speak, the anchor of Fox News Sunday, and the Fox News Channel’s chief legal correspondent. She has covered landmark cases at the Supreme Court and heated political campaigns and policy battles from the White House to Capitol Hill.

Shannon BREAM

COMING SOON

from HarperChristian Women

STAY TUNED FOR BIBLE STUDIES IN 2023 FROM:

Madi Prewett Troutt

Bianca Olthoff

Lysa TerKeurst

Allison Allen

Margaret Feinberg

ALONE DON'T DO IT

by Sarah Jakes Roberts

Everywoman we encounter has had a journey that has threatened to change her identity. Vulnerability is hard for us to experience just within ourselves; experiencing it with other women is even more challenging. It's even more challenging when we're doing it within a group of sisters, or we're doing it as women walking together.

But I want you to know that vulnerability amongst women is a gateway for divine confirmation. And it's divine confirmation that some of us miss out on, because we haven't had the opportunity to be vulnerable with one another.

When I think about my own life, I think about the many moments I missed an opportunity to receive divine confirmation. When Mary and Elizabeth get together in Scripture, it is so powerful because both of them are carrying a secret, but when they get together, they are able to confirm that it's not just a secret, that God is doing something in each of their lives as well. That is just as remarkable. That is just as powerful. That has left me marveling in the same way.

That is exactly God wants to do for each of us. When we come together, God loves when we share what God is doing in our life, because it

confirms for another woman that heartbreak doesn't have to be the end. That depression doesn't have to have the final say. That anxiety does not have to be your ruler. But we will never know this unless we are willing to come together in a place of vulnerability. I didn't always get this.

As a matter of fact, I found myself often comparing myself to other women. And from that place of comparison, I saw all of the things I did wrong and all of the things that they did well. She didn't go through a divorce like I did. She wasn't a teen mom like I was. She probably made it all the way through college. And I dropped out.

I saw the list of things that I did wrong. And that means that another woman's success was my threat. I didn't want to live that way, but nothing changed until I came to a place where I was able to accept that my story is my story. When I was able to get vulnerable and naked before God, and to undo the deep conditioning that made me feel like I was less valuable or not worthy, then, and only then, was I able to look at another woman and say, “Yes, girl, you are doing your thing.”

When we begin to recognize that we are spiritually connected to every woman on the earth, it changes how we show up in the world.

I want you to know that anytime you feel alone, you can draw on the great cloud of witnesses and you can run your race. There are women in Scripture and in the world who have become evidence of what's possible.

I'm grateful for sisterhood. I'm grateful that God did not create us to live as islands alone, but that God in his infinite wisdom knew that companionship would be a blessing to us on our journey. It's why it was so important that Mary and Elizabeth were able to connect. It's why Martha and Mary needed one another. It's why Ruth and Naomi needed one another.

It is not uncommon for God to bring women together so that they can walk through the valleys together, and experience the mountaintops as well. But maybe you're not ready to open up to the woman who God has placed in your life. I want you to know that you can receive the companionship of Jesus, that you can learn to open up your heart, one-on-one in your relationship with the Lord. And you can begin to say, “I need a friend. I need comfort. I need your presence. I need wisdom. I need leadership because transformation is not a one-woman job.”

You can't do this by yourself. God won't allow it. God also sends those other women who can help us as we evolve and grow.

There is greater work for us to do. There are other women for us to wrap our arms around, other teen moms, other divorcees, other women experiencing depression and attempting suicide. Other women who have had addictions. There

are more women who need to hear about this

are more women who need to hear about this resurrection power that we have experienced.

So I only have two words for you. Two words that I want you to carry in your heart as you move throughout the earth, looking for those other women. Sometimes it’ll be a whisper. Sometimes you will hear it as a yell. But each and every time I want you to hear it as a command:

Because as long as you're still here, there is still work to do. So let's do it together.

Sarah JAKES ROBERTS

SARAH JAKES ROBERTS is a businesswoman, bestselling author, and media personality who expertly balances career, ministry, and family. Sarah is the daughter of Bishop T.D. Jakes and Mrs. Serita Jakes and pastors a dynamic community of artists and professionals in Hollywood alongside her husband, Touré Roberts.

“Woman, evolve."

WOMAN EVOLVE Break Up With Your Fears & Revolutionize Your Life

SHOP NOW

Bianca Olthoff

Chrystal Evans Hurst

Kasey Van Norman

Ann Voskamp

Jada Edwards

Dr. Anita Phillips

Ruth Chou Simons

Christine Caine

Wendy Speake

Shannon Bream

Lisa Whittle

Wendy Blight

Lynn Cowell

Sadie Robertson Huff

Rebekah Lyons

Hosanna Wong

Lisa Harper

Jennie Allen

Karen Ehman

Lysa TerKeurst

Megan Marshman

Margaret Feinberg

Anne Graham Lotz

Madi Prewett Troutt

Micah Maddox

Allison Allen

Sarah Jakes Roberts

SAVE $10 on orders $50+! Use promo code

$10 off $50 offer valid until September 30, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET or while supplies last. Offer valid online and by phone only. Take an additional $10 off your purchase of $50 or more, after promotions and discounts and before shipping and handling costs are applied. Shipping, gift cards, or customization of products does not qualify towards minimum purchase requirements. Receive 35% off the retail price of any HarperChristian Resources study guide when you buy 10 or more copies of the same guide. Receive free standard ground shipping on non-rush orders of $35 or more, valid within the 48 continental United States or to an FPO/APO address; offer does not apply to Alaska, Hawaii, the U.S. Territories, rush orders, or expedited shipping methods. Offer only available to customers in the United States age 18 and older. To redeem offer, enter promo code during online checkout or provide the code to a representative during phone orders. Cannot be redeemed for cash or combined with any other discount offer. ChurchSource reserves the right to de-activate the promo code in the event of fraud or technical issues and limit quantities of individual items eligible for purchase with this discount. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. Not valid for resale.