Bible Study Source Issue 14 - Spring 2024

God’s Strength Is Perfected in Our Weakness

What Have You Been Running After?

Now and Not Yet Deeper BIBLE STUDY TOOLS

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a LETTER to our READERS

Dear Women’s Ministry Leader,

Our team had fun putting this issue together. We hope you have fun reading it! You’ll find a guide to studies on books of the New Testament, devotionals from Bible teachers, prayers and encouragements you can cut out and tuck into your Bible, and a Fall Bible Study Planner you can use to keep track of studies you’re interested in for the fall and map out which studies you’ve decided to do with your group.

And don’t miss the behind-the-scenes sneak peek at a new set of Bible studies from real-life besties Lisa Harper and Christine Caine!

You might also notice that most of the Bible studies featured in this issue have streaming video access included with the study guide. That means as a leader, when you get a study guide, you’re getting the video, too. And so are your ladies! If someone in your group misses a week, or wants to watch a session again, they can catch up by accessing the videos on StudyGateway.com using the code in their study guide.

Throughout these pages, we hope you’ll find helpful tools to equip you in your ministry, and discover new Bible studies from your favorite Bible teachers…and new teachers we know you’ll love. We come to work every day thinking about you and the women you serve and lead. We’re grateful for you and we’re cheering you on!

Your partners in ministry,

Beth and Sara

Godʼs Strength Is Perfected in Our Weakness

BY ALLISON ALLEN

Gideon hid when the terror came. When the fear digested him from the inside out, he ran and hid. He hated being occupied in an occupied land, where his people could do nothing against the Midianite oppressors, but it had been that way as long as he had memory, and there was absolutely nothing to be done about it. He felt nauseous hearing the war cry and the thousands of warriors rushing in like the ocean’s unrelenting crest; the way their oppressors spared nothing—only leaving dust and ash in their wake. No rally ever rose in His peoples’ hearts, nor war-cry in their mouths.

Wives. Children. None of them could be protected—so they hid. In caves. Under cliffs. Wherever they could, wondering if the God Gideon’s ancestors talked about had grown deaf, or worse, was cut-off from their cries. For seven years, countless days upon days, Gideon hid. So imagine his astonishment when an Angel of the Lord appeared and said to him, “The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior.”

Beth Murphy, Director, HarperChristian Resources

Sara Riemersma, Editor, HarperChristian Women

P.S. Hello to our friends at Kerygma Summit! We’re huge fans of what Lisa Harper is doing to provide “substantive Bible teaching, theological training, worship, encouragement, and collaboration” to women who teach God’s Word. We’ve so enjoyed being part of this incredible event for the last three years, and meeting many of you in person.

Like a frightened child finally discovered in a spiritual game of hide and seek, Gideon could hide no longer. (Judges 6)

Maybe you’ve heard a bit of Gideon’s story; I first learned of him one hot summer day in a neighborhood VBS, around age 11. Strange stories of Gideon’s request for miraculous fleeces to

confirm the voice of God, and out sized military victories through unusual means—whittled down armies, blaring trumpets, rattling pots—captured my prepubescent imagination. God’s defeat of the Midianites through Gideon is a story of odd miracles, and by the story’s end, Gideon is a man protected and hidden in God’s shadow, alive and daring. But Gideon’s story doesn’t begin that way. When we first meet our protagonist, he is hiding.

Being hidden and hiding are not the same thing.

Being “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3, NIV) is a beautiful spiritual reality and glorious invitation. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we are tucked into God himself, like a yolk inside an egg. But hiding? Hiding is a human bent, a reaction to myriad things—pain, fear, insecurity, vulnerability, anxiety.

TAKE IN GOD’S TURNING

There is little in Gideon’s story that slays me more than the phrase, “The Lord turned to him.” The God of all glory turns his very self to the terrified, hiding man! It’s no different for us. In our stuckness, the Lord turns to us. When we’re frozen in fear, the Lord turns to us. When we can’t possibly try again, the Lord turns to us. Jesus always makes the first move. Leaning into that realization enables us to take the next step.

ASK GOD TO GRACE YOUR GO

After turning to him, the Lord himself says, “Go in the strength you have.”

Maybe you’re in your own Gideon moment right now. You’ve spent too long living in fear of using your voice, of running into the unknown adventure with Jesus. Before we go look more deeply into Gideon’s story, I want to share with you something that has assisted my oh-so-Gideon-prone heart.

You can trust an unknown future to a known God.

That means, whatever you step into—a new job, a move, a hard conversation, that fill-in-the-blank leap of faith—Jesus goes first. God gets there first. There is no room you enter in which God isn’t already standing. You serve a God Who sees around the corners you can’t. When we remind our hiding hearts of these truths, we can raise the spiritual sail again and prepare to hear the holy words. Just like Gideon.

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

Go. This short little word embodies the powerful sense of movement from one place to another. Can you hear Jesus’ words? Go, your faith has healed you. Go, and learn what this means. Go into all the earth. Sometimes, as simple as it may seem, we’ve Got. To. Go. Our hiding hearts are transformed not by standing still, but by moving.

Recently, I went through rehab for an injury. My natural bent was to protect the injury, to coddle and immobilize it, for fear of further damage. Yet, my slightly pushy physical therapist knew better: She forced me to move the stiff sinews and muscles I thought I could not. Even though the process was frightening, before long, I began to regain flexibility and mobility. I took the next step. Bit by bit. And, finally….

STAND IN A SURPRISING STRENGTH

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (Judges 6:14-15, NIV)

There is so much contained in this powerfully brief exchange, but I want to focus on just a few transformative elements.

In our previous Scriptural dialogue, God says to Gideon, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of the hands of the Midianites.” At first glance, we might be tempted to think that this is God’s call to Gideon to utilize what small measure of strength and self-confidence he possesses.

However, I don’t believe that is at the heart of God’s words. Let’s face it, Gideon doesn’t really have any strength of his own. But Gideon does possess a strength he doesn’t yet know he has. To be sure, it’s an odd kind of strength—the kind the Bible says is made

perfect in abject weakness. Speaking to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:8, the Lord says, “For my strength is made perfect in your weakness.” (NKJV)

Did you notice where God’s strength is perfected?

WEAKNESS

God doesn’t say his strength is simply made a touch stronger in weakness. He says his strength is made perfect, whole and complete, right in the place of deepest weakness. This is why Paul can proclaim as a response to God’s promise, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV)

In his inestimable grace, God calls Gideons to become judges. He calls hiders to become leaders. He calls the immobile to move again.

Because of these things, I gently remind my heart, and maybe yours as well:

It’s time to stop hiding. It’s time to join Jesus wherever he leads.

Our culture teaches us to boast in strength, not to hold high our weakness or wounding. Yet, it is our weakness that is the perfect magnet for the perfect strength of God Almighty. This unusual exchange is one of the many the upside-down components of life with Jesus. He chooses the foolish things to confound the wise. He uses weak things to confound the strong. He uses lowly things to nullify things that are lofty, all so no one can boast before him. (See I Cor. 1:27-31)

Study Guide with Streaming Video Access

Six 20-minute Video Sessions

HIDDEN

Finding Delight in Your Life with Christ by Allison

Allen

A is ALLEN

ALLISON ALLEN is the spiritual wingwoman to Lisa Harper on Lisa's popular podcast, Back Porch Theology. She attended Carnegie Mellon University’s Acting Conservatory, and afterward landed on Broadway. She now uses her gifts to teach the Bible all over the country.

LYSA

TERKEURST

and DR. JOEL

MUDDAMALLE help you make connections between the Old and New Testaments so you can understand the Bible as one complete story. LEARN

BRINGING DEBORAH’S STORY TO LIFE

What can this ancient tale of courage and conflict have to say to us, right here and now?

Deborah’s is a story that emerges from Israel’s earliest days in the land; a tale of prophets, judges, outlaws, and an entire cast of unlikely leaders.

Even though the book of Judges narrates one of the most chaotic and morally dark eras of Israel’s story, the prophet Deborah leads us out of the chaos, back into order. And as our only female judge, she commands the forces of Israel in one of the most pivotal victories of the settlement period.

In this study, we’re going to bring Deborah’s world to life. You’ll discover real people who lived in real places and struggled with real issues of faith. There will be archaeology. There will be geography, military strategy, and the realities of gender in the ancient world. As we transport you

back into the grand tale of Deborah and Barak, Jabin and Sisera, and of course, the most unlikely hero of all, Jael, you will engage with the very real past while drawing it into the very needy present.

And we will do so by asking and answering three critical questions:

1. What territory can you see from where you’re standing that you know belongs to the kingdom of God, but is not yet won?

2. Is that territory worth fighting for?

3. What are you going to do about it?

So get your people together. Adventure awaits.

Study Guide with Streaming Video Access

Eight 20-minute Video Sessions

Sandra L. RICHTER, P h .D

Internationally known scholar SANDRA L. RICHTER, Ph.D brings the Old Testament to life by exploring the real people and real places from which it comes. A sought-after speaker in both academic and lay settings, Dr. Richter is a graduate of Valley Forge University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and earned her doctorate from the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department of Harvard University in Hebrew Bible. A veteran of many years of leading student groups in archaeological excavation and historical geography classes in Israel, she has taught at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wesley Biblical Seminary, and Wheaton College.

ONOW AND NOT YET

by Ruth Chou Simons

ver there, on the other side of the not-yet wonderful circumstances of our lives…is where we so often long to be. The place where we’re fi nally who we want to be, where we achieve the goals we set out to accomplish, where we fi nally get where we aim to go. Not yet is the good life that always seems to be just out of reach, while the right now —today—feels fraught with lack of progress, impossible challenges, and unwanted circumstances.

How do we live presently and courageously in our right-now circumstances when all the not yet we long for seems so far away? How do we fi nd our right-now seasons purposeful when we cannot yet see how they will be fruitful?

In the Now and Not Yet Bible Study , we’ll discover six ways God is more faithful than we know. We will take an honest look at the tension of living in the not-yet-

resolved, not-yet-fruitful, not-yet-clear, or not-yet-wonderful seasons of our lives.

Study Guide with Streaming Video Access

Six 20-minute Video Sessions

The Bible is a book about God. It details the wonder of God’s pursuit of us, and how he desires to have a relationship with us. When we encounter him through the pages of his Word, we begin to see his ways, his character, his purposes, and his faithfulness in the lives of his people. The more we understand God’s ways, the more we will see our right-now circumstances through the lens of God’s faithfulness.

how he desires to have a relationship with

God is purposeful and at work in our daily lives, through every season. He doesn’t waste a thing.

Discovering Six Ways God is More Faithful than You Know

Ru CHOU SIMONS

RUTH CHOU SIMONS is an artist, entrepreneur, podcaster, speaker, and a bestselling and award-winning author and Bible teacher. Ruth and her husband, Troy, are grateful parents to six boys—their greatest adventure.

—RUTH CHOU SIMONS

Dear Jesus, when my faith is tested, help me speak up in moments when my heart is tested. Remind me you are with me helping my faith to flourish and shine.

Give me words, wisdom, and hope that I know only comes from you especially when my heart is tested. *

In Jesus’ name, amen.

When Your

by Micah Maddox

“F or as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26 (NKJV)

There are moments in our lives that make us face reality: Is our faith dead or alive? These moments knock the wind out of us. They force us to evaluate what we truly believe, in the depths of our souls.

In the Bible study I wrote on the book of James, I share a little bit about my dad, who walked through a very difficult battle with head and neck cancer. The first time he was diagnosed the outcome was surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. And after all that he was cancer free! The doctor told us if the cancer returned it would probably come back with a vengeance and take him home to heaven. And it did.

The cancer spread quickly and the time we had with my dad was short. In those days of waiting in hospice care, my dad continued sharing Jesus until he had no life left. He could not speak because the cancer was in his throat and mouth. His voice was completely taken away by the cancer, but he had a little tablet on which he wrote messages.

Each time someone entered the hospital room, he would write on his tablet these words, “Do you know Jesus.” They would answer yes and testify of God’s great love or they would answer with questions and doubt. If the second response came, Dad would look over at me or my mom and give us the look to speak up. This is when we had the opportunity to speak the truth about Jesus and what he had done for us. It was amazing to see people look with wonder and amazement as we shared the hope of Jesus amidst such a difficult time.

Fai Is Tested

This testifying wasn’t something we did because we were amazing Christians, it was because of faith we held so close to our hearts. We knew without any double that Jesus was the only way we were making it through these difficult days. We truly believe Jesus is the only way to God the Father. We believe with all our hearts that Jesus is the only answer to our problems, our sins, our past, and our future hope in heaven.

Early one morning we received the call that dad had taken his final breath. We rushed to the hospice room only to find a room filled with stillness. There was no life left. There was no spirit, no joy, nothing but the shell of a human body lying in the bed. And in that moment it hit me, just as James says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Faith is dead, silent and still, without any movement or spirit when it is not at work. But faith that works is alive, active, powerful, and filled with hope like a heart working hard to keep the body alive.

The lesson here is, it’s not that we must work for more faith, it’s that we let the faith we hold work within us and in turn it works from us and beyond us. When we truly believe deep within our souls that Jesus is the only way to God, to heaven, to hope, faith works. It shines light into the darkness of life. When we doubt and struggle to believe, we stay quiet, still, and lifeless like a dead corpse whose spirit has moved on.

Don’t let the enemy quench your spirit. When you feel the faith inside you springing up, speak up. Say what you believe and let faith be the foundation of your words.

A five-week study on the book of James

Micah MADDOX

MICAH MADDOX is a Bible teacher, writer for Proverbs 31 Ministries First 5 App, and author. As a pastor’s wife, mother of five and foster mom, she contributes her time to her family and local church.

LEARN MORE

LUKE

Gut-Level Compassion

by Lisa Harper

Understand the great news woven throughout the Gospel according to Luke: Perfection is not a prerequisite for a deep and personal relationship with Jesus.

Study Guide with Streaming Video Access

Eight 30-minute Video Sessions

STUDY THE GOSPELS and ACTS

ACTS

Feasting on the Abundance of God’s Word

by Kristy Cambron

Unpack the meaning of Scripture through Hebrew and Greek word studies, finding connections in Scripture, comparing Bible translations, and time with the Holy Spirit.

Six-session

Study Guide with DVD Streaming Video also available

JOHN

Believe I Am

by Megan Fate Marshman

Focus on Jesus’ seven “I Am” statements, where we learn what Jesus wants us to know most about His character.

Study Guide with Streaming Video Access

Eight 27-minute Video Sessions

NOTHING TO PROVE

Eight-Session Bible Study in the Gospel of John

by Jennie Allen

Study key passages in John’s Gospel that demonstrate how Jesus is more than enough and how our thirsty hearts can only be quenched by the living water he offers.

Study Guide with Streaming Video Access

Eight 13-minute Video Sessions

STUDY Paul AND His Letters

EPHESIANS

Head Held High by Lori Wilhite

Reconnect with your identity in Christ so you don’t have to live under the crushing weight of heartache and disappointment.

Guide with Streaming Video

Six 21-minute Sessions

ROMANS

Live with Clarity by Jada Edwards

The power of the Gospel brings clarity to everyday decisions and relationships.

Guide with Streaming Video

Six 21-minute Sessions

GALATIANS

Accepted & Free by Jada Edwards

Know that you are wholly and fully accepted in Christ, by Christ, and through Christ.

Guide with Streaming Video

Six 21-minute Sessions

GRIT DON’T QUIT

Get Back Up and Keep Going: Learning from Paul’s Example

by Bianca Juárez Olthoff

Learn from Paul’s example to overcome obstacles in your life.

Guide with Streaming Video

Five 17-minute Sessions

LIVE FULL WALK FREE

Set Apart in a Sin-Soaked World

by Cindy Bultema

Learn from 1 Corinthians how to cultivate a holy life in the midst of a wayward and confused culture.

Guide with DVD

Six 26-minute Sessions

GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD

Six-Session Bible Study in Philippians

by Jennie Allen

Tools from the book of Philippians to transform our emotions, our outlook, and our circumstances, by taking control of our minds.

Guide with Streaming Video

Six 17-minute Sessions

WHAT HAVE Y O U BEEN RUNNING AFTER?

RUNNING AFTER?

by Madison Prewett Troutt

What have you been running to or thirsting after, hoping it would satisfy the longings of your heart?

READ JOHN 4:7–30

In the story of the woman at the well (John 4:13-14), “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”

This is one of my favorite passages in Scripture. I can relate to this woman. Maybe you can too.

A few years ago, I ran a 10k. I didn’t train much because I thought to myself, “I’m in pretty good shape,” but about a mile in, I quickly realized I was very wrong. I barely made it to the finish line and as soon as I crossed it—I collapsed. I was so thirsty and exhausted. The line to get a drink of water was so long and slow that I remember being at the back of the line, watching people throw away half-full cups of water and thinking to myself, “I’m so thirsty that I’m about to grab someone else’s used cup of water, basically their backwash and drink it.” I was so desperate I was willing to drink anything. Gross, right?

But if we’re honest, I think we’ve all been in situations where we are so desperate for love and connection, that we are willing to do just about anything to get that attention or acceptance. But God’s Word reminds us that you and I were made for much more than that. We weren’t made for the half-drank back-washed cup of water in the trash.

No, no. We were made for the water Jesus gives that becomes a fresh bubbling spring within. It never runs out!

John 4:15 reads, “The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

The lie we tend to believe is that you can find satisfaction, security, and belonging outside of Jesus. The world sells us this lie, but it always over promises and under delivers. Nothing apart from Christ quenches the thirst in our soul…it only makes us thirstier. Being a woman of God in today’s world starts with an awareness of our need for Jesus. Recognizing our need for him and that nothing else satisfies. And this isn’t a one-time moment of proclaiming “Jesus, I need you. Only you can satisfy me!” This should be an everyday declaration.

This woman was thirsty and she was trying to quench her thirst with something that could only satisfy her for a moment. I know I’ve been there. And what I love is that Jesus met this woman exactly where she was. But he loved her too much to just let her go and remain as she was.

Following her request for this everlasting water, Jesus calls the woman out of her sin. Jesus met her in the midst of her sin and shame, yet he called her out of it in a loving and truth-filled way. He knew there was more for her life. He called her out not to humiliate her, but to free her. The truth sets people free!

What sin in your life right now has created shame and kept you from

feeling loved by God and handicapped your ability to love yourself? Jot down what Jesus’ sacrifice of his life FOR YOU actually means. He thought you were worth it—do you agree?

Matthew 5:6 tells us, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Our hearts can only be filled and satisfied by the One who created them. This story reminds us that although you and I were made to thirst, it is only in taking our longings and desires to Christ, that we are satisfied.

The story doesn’t end there. After the woman hears Jesus say that he offers living water and that he’s the Messiah she’s been awaiting, she leaves her water jug at the well and runs back to her town. She abandons the very reason she was there in the first place and runs and tells everyone she sees about the man she met at the well. She began telling everyone her testimony, boasting in the very things that had her bound for so long. The very things that might have caused isolation and anxiety in her life became her testimony and a testament to God’s power.

others. So today, I pray we would be like the woman at the well. Not only would we

You and I weren’t just made to be filled by Christ and sit inside and live comfortably. We weren’t saved and set free just for ourselves. We have been set free to set others free. We have been filled by Christ to let him overflow through us onto others. So today, I pray we would be like the woman at the well. Not only would we encounter God and be filled by his love that fully satisfies. But that we would take that love and share with everyone we see.

We were made from love and for love. We were made to know God and to make been freely given to us to those around us. If God chose the woman at the well, he

We were made from love and for love. We were made to know God and to make him known. We were made to go and make disciples. To tell people about the good news of God’s grace. That is why you and I are here, that’s why we were created. Although, in him we are filled, we won’t find rest and peace until we take what has been freely given to us to those around us. If God chose the woman at the well, he can choose you.

THE LOVE EVERYBODY WANTS

How to Build Your Relationships on God’s LOVE by Madison Prewett Troutt

Study Guide with Streaming Video Access

Four 20-minute Video Sessions

Madis PREWETT TROUTT

MADISON PREWETT TROUT earned her bachelor of science in communication from Auburn University and her certificate in ministry in pastoral leadership through Highlands College. She serves on the creative team and helps lead the college ministry for her church.

Two NEW Bible Studies from LISA HARPER and CHRISTINE CAINE for ADVENT and EASTER

Favorite Bible teachers (and real-life besties) Lisa and Christine team up to teach two Bible studies to refocus our hearts through the busy and often distracting seasons of Advent and Easter.

Your group will love this fresh look at what Advent and Easter truly mean, and understand anew the significance of the incarnation and resurrection.

THE PROMISE AND POWER OF EASTER

Reclaiming the Signifi cance of Jesus’ Cross and Resurrection

THE MARVEL AND MIRACLE OF ADVENT

Recapturing the Wonder of Jesus Living with Us LEARN MORE

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— Jennie Allen

“Feelings were never meant to be fixed ; feelings are meant to be felt.”

In the Untangle Your Emotions Bible study, we’re going to look at undeniable proof that God is a feeler—Father, Son, and Spirit, and that he not only has feelings, but expresses them, and responds to our feelings.

In this way, emotions are simply another facet of what it means to be made in the image of God. Therefore, emotions are not bad; emotions are not sin. Emotions aren’t even neutral.

Understood from the perspective of God having a purpose and plan for them, emotions are actually good—and not just some of them, like peace and joy, but all of them.

Nothing is more powerful than God getting bigger in our lives. He has the power to heal with a word. My goal as you walk through the Untangle

Your Emotions Bible study is that God would get bigger for you, realer for you, and that you would feel his compassion for what you’re going through. And as he does, that you would see a new, richer, more authentic way to do life, led by his Spirit.

JENNIE ALLEN is the founder and visionary of IF:Gathering as well as the bestselling author of many Bible studies and books. Jennie earned a master’s degree in biblical studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. She and her husband, Zac, have four children.

staff

PICKS

Asking the members of the HarperChristian Resources team to pick a favorite study is like asking a parent to pick their favorite child—impossible! But here are a few Bible studies we have been enjoying lately.

SARA’S PICK: RAHAB

“I love studies that don’t shy away from the messiness of life and people in the Bible who didn’t have it all together. This study focuses on someone who doesn’t usually make the cut for a Bible study, yet she is one of just five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus! I also love that we get the perspective of two teachers, Jada Edwards and Kasey Van Norman, and how dramatist Nicole Johnson brings Rahab’s story to life in a modern context.”

LU’S PICK: THE GOD OF THE OTHER SIDE

“Kathie Lee Gifford and Joanne Moody teach through the Gospels in a conversational way. They bring out cultural and historical aspects of the Bible stories we’ve heard so many times, to help us understand Jesus’ ministry and miracles in a deeper way.”

CHRIS’ PICK: HABITS OF THE HOUSEHOLD

“As a dad of two boys, I felt right at home watching Justin’s teaching videos, filmed in his house with his family running around in the background. It can sometimes feel like authors of parenting books don’t live in the real world, but Justin definitely does. This Bible study is so practical and doable for busy families like mine.”

BETH’S PICK: 12 DARING WOMEN OF THE BIBLE

“There are a lot of ‘women in the Bible’ studies out there, but what I like about this one is the variety of teachers and viewpoints in this study. It keeps things interesting to hear from a different teacher each week. I also enjoyed the variety of women covered in the study, from both the Old and New Testaments.”

Fall Bible Study Planner

TO DO:

❑ Review studies/watch first sessions

❑ Choose Fall 1, Fall 2, and Advent studies

❑ Announce/advertise selected studies to your group/church

❑ Order study guides for the group (don’t forget to use promo code BibleStudy14 to save $10!)

BIBLE STUDY OPTIONS FOR FALL