Issue 6 • Winter 2019
B I B L E
S T U D Y
SOURCE for women
powered by ChurchSource
inside this issue:
Learnin� �� REST L I S T E N I N G TO
also:
My Most Treasured Bible
&
THE LITURGY
of the Table
a
LETTER to our READERS
Fall
Dear Reader, In this age of social media, we all have “friends” who really only know us at the surface level. But hopefully, we also have a few true friends, those people we do life with, who know the unfiltered you, and love you anyway. We all need those people in our life—the truth-tellers, the ones who will not accept “I’m fine” as an answer when they ask how you are doing. The authors and Bible study teachers featured in this issue are those kind of women—the kind who are going to ask hard questions, share the ugly parts of their story, and tell you the truth. Their Bible studies don’t sugarcoat the fact that pain is inevitable in life. But every one of these teachers have walked through hard things, and found God to be faithful, every time. Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit will speak through these studies and these teachers to challenge you, encourage you, deepen your faith, and draw you closer to Jesus. Even when life is hard. Especially when life is hard. In Him,
Beth Murphy Director, Bible Study Source for Women P.S. If you or anyone in your group is looking for a Bible that will provide you with practical ways to apply God’s Word to your life every day, don’t miss the article on page 18 unpacking the newly updated and expanded NIV Life Application® Study Bible! Bible Study Source for Women is powered by ChurchSource, a team dedicated to serving pastors and church leaders by connecting them to God-honoring resources from two of the most trusted names in publishing: Zondervan and Thomas Nelson. Free shipping offer valid until December 31, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. ET or while supplies last. Offer valid online and by phone only. Receive free standard ground shipping on non-rush orders of $10 or more, valid within the 48 continental United States or to an FPO/APO address; offer does not apply to Alaska, Hawaii, or the U.S. Territories, rush orders, or expedited shipping methods, 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. 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.
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CHASE
Chasing after the Heart of God What are you chasing? Comfort, success, a bigger house, or someone’s approval? If we are honest, it feels like trying to catch the wind. We see in David’s life, he was a man who spent his life chasing after God. Whether you are running from God or working your tail off to please him, David’s journey shows us God is the only thing we can chase that won’t leave us feeling more empty. Eight Sessions | ~9 minutes each Study time: Substantial (an hour or more) Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Kit (DVD, Guide, Leader’s Guide, Cards, and Book) $59.99 $35.99
Jennie
ALLEN
Jennie is a recovering achiever who is passionate about Jesus. She founded the million-strong IF:Gathering, where she says she gathers deep kindred souls around food she didn’t cook, and asks terribly intrusive questions. She’s a risk-taker who married Zac, a crazier risk-taker. Then God thought it would be funny to give them four crazy strong risky-dreamer kids. As a true Austin, Texas family, their life revolves around the Friday night lights.
Deeper in Love with Jesus
EXPEC TING TO SEE JESUS
T H E R O C K , T H E R O A D, A N D T H E R A B B I
Anne delivers a wake-up call from the Mount of Olives to revive our passion for Jesus. Joined by pastors Crawford Loritts and Henry Blackaby, Anne leads us through a practical Bible study workshop designed to wake us up. We live as if we are unaware we are on the brink of Christ’s return. We ought to be praying differently. Scheduling our time differently. Spending our money differently. Be found faithful on that day. He is coming!
Do you want to deepen your faith? Join Kathie Lee as she visits sites in Israel that have impacted her life. Coauthor Rabbi Jason Sobel, a messianic Jewish rabbi, provides insight into the Hebrew language, culture, and heritage that will open your eyes to the Bible like never before.
Nine Sessions | ~28 minutes each Study Time: Substantial (an hour or more)
Six Sessions | ~20 minutes each Study Time: Moderate (30 minutes - 1 hour)
Participant’s Guide $10.99 $7.69 | DVD $26.99 $18.89
Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $41.99 $25.19
A Wake-Up Call for God’s People
Anne
GRAHAM LOTZ
Anne speaks around the globe with the wisdom and authority of years spent studying God’s Word. The New York Times named Anne one of the five most influential evangelists of her generation. Anne is a best-selling and award-winning author. Anne and her late husband, Danny Lotz, have three grown children and three grandchildren. She is the founder and president of AnGeL Ministries.
Come to the Land Where It All Began
Kathie Lee
GIFFORD
Kathie Lee Gifford is a television host, singer, songwriter, comedian, and actress. After seeing the Billy Grahamproduced film The Restless Ones at age 12, Kathie Lee became a born-again Christian. She attended Oral Roberts University, studying drama and music. She began her career as a Christian entertainer, and is best-known for her Emmy Award-winning 15-year run with ‘Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee.’ Currently she co-hosts ‘The Kathie Lee and Hoda Show’ on NBC’s Today.
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WANT TO LIVE OUT YOUR PURPOSE? It Sta r ts wi th
BY REBEKAH LYONS Nine years ago, we moved three kids, two toy poodles, and a minivan to midtown Manhattan. I remember thinking I was entering a life of meaning. My youngest was going off to kindergarten and I was ready to recover Rebekah, wherever she had gone. As it turned out, I found surrender instead. Four months into my time in New York I developed a panic disorder that lasted about 15 months. The Lord arrested my life in the middle of that and brought me into a healing journey starting with a retreat in the woods. In my journal from that retreat, I scribbled the words “rhythms of renewal” because I knew that I was going to have to get serious about what healing would look like. Over the next few months, I began to see patterns of rhythm modeled over and over throughout Scripture. These rhythms help sustain all aspects of a healthy person:
Rest is our spiritual, inner life. We ask God what he wants to do in our hearts.
Restore is our physical, active life, how we take care
of our bodies. Connect represents our relational, social life—our friendships and community. Create is our vocational life, and the gifts we bring to the world. Why rhythms? God created in rhythm! In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw
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that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. — Genesis 1:1-5 (NIV) So there we have a rhythm at the very beginning of creation. Day and night, land and sea, earth and sky, sun and moon, light and dark. These are all examples of how God created in rhythm. Not only does he create the land and the sea and the animals, he then culminates his creation with humanity. He gives us pulse and heartbeat and circulation all in rhythm. Even in the constellations and the galaxies and the stars orbiting on their axes—there’s more rhythm. It’s like God is saying everything you’re going to face that’s hard in a fallen world—everything that’s broken where you feel fear and stress and anxiety—those are going to come in opposition of the created order of rhythm that God already established for us. So what do we do with that? He doesn’t promise that fear won’t come knocking or that you won’t be faced with conflict and hardships. But he does always promise a way of escape. He’s going to meet you there. He’s going to stand alongside you and give you everything you need in those moments to push back the dark. Jesus, just like the Father, modeled rhythm. How did he walk out rhythms? First of all, Jesus rested. Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. —Luke 5:15-16 (NIV)
Imagine a public life. You know Jesus doesn’t have a home to run back to and shut the door and lock it and just get quiet on a prayer mat or go to a closet somewhere. Everywhere he would go, people would find him and follow him. So to offset that, he would sometimes retreat to a quiet place where he could pray because he knew that he needed to be filled up. He knew that he would have nothing to give if he didn’t receive first from the Father. That’s why his ministry begins with 40 days of solitude. Even in the wilderness, even in temptation, even in fasting, he knew that he would be equipped in that place of quiet to begin a public life of ministry. Aren’t you so glad that he rested? And he was God. It really helps the rest of us who are tired and just need a nap. It’s OK. We’re supposed to take a nap. It’s ordered by God! He’s not casual about it. He’s like, “No you need to rest.” It’s a mandate. So rest. I think we so often shortcut that. We are so ready to run after God and to serve him and do big things for him. And yet he’s saying, “No. I care more about your presence than your performance. I want you right here in the still and secret place so that I can pour into you and show you the riches of heaven and to fill you up so that the overflow is what you carry out. From that posture of rest.” See, the work of Jesus even in all these rhythms is reconciliation. The point of these rhythms is to bring us back. Jesus wants to reconcile you back to the Father because he has mighty plans and purposes to accomplish through you. That can be thwarted by the distraction of a fear and anxiety and stress, but these rhythms are always intended to bring you back into reconciliation with God so that you can live out your kingdom purpose each and every day.
Rebekah LYONS Through emotive writing and speaking, Rebekah reveals her own battles to overcome anxiety, depression, and consumer impulses—challenging women to discover and boldly pursue the calling God has for them.
RHY THMS OF RENEWAL Trading Stress and Anxiety for a Life of Peace and Purpose Rhythms of Renewal is a video Bible study for those struggling with anxiety, fear, depression, or the stress of a busy life and a packed schedule. You will be equipped through a common experience with simple daily practices and tips that help you own a new sense of peace, strength, and purpose. The result? Being filled with a Christ-like peace while becoming a blessing to others! Five Sessions | ~20-minutes each Study Time: Moderate (30 minutes - 1 hour) Study Guide $14.99 $10.49 | Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $43.99 $26.39
YOU ARE FREE
Be Who You Already Are Many of us believe that “calling” feels like something held for the exclusive few. Rebekah’s heart is to dismantle that idea, to remind each and every one of us that God has plans for something specific if we have ears to hear the still small voice of a Father that beckons.
Six Sessions | ~20 minutes each Study time: Moderate (30 minutes - 1 hour) Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 | Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $38.99 $23.39
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Lysa TERKEURST Lysa TerKeurst is a New York Times bestselling author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries. She writes from her sticky farm table in North Carolina where she lives with her family. Her favorite things include Monday night family dinners and toasted Ezekiel Bread with guacamole on top.
I T ’ S N O T S U P P O S E D T O B E T H I S W AY Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered What went wrong? Why did God let this happen? Reality often ends up so very far from the life we long for, doesn’t it? Bible teacher Lysa TerKeurst deeply understands daily disappointments and life-altering loss. By walking through her own valley, she’s discovered that in God we can find unexpected strength as we wrestle well between our faith and feelings. In this Bible study, Lysa offers a safe place to share your disappointments, fresh biblical insight to get you through painful situations, and life-giving perspectives for living in between Eden and eternity. Six Sessions | ~20 minutes each Study Time: Substantial (an hour or more) Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $41.99 $25.19
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UNINVITED Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely
Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $41.99 $25.19
The enemy wants us to feel rejected . . . left out, lonely, less than. Teaching from significant locations in the Holy Land, Lysa draws lessons from Biblical events that connect to her own experiences with rejection—from the painful childhood abandonment by her father to the perceived judgment of the perfectly-toned woman one elliptical over. Discover how we are destined for a love that can never be diminished, shaken, or taken—a love that does not uninvite. Six Sessions | ~18 minutes each | Study Time: Minimal (less than 30 min.)
THE BEST YES Making Wise Decisions in the Midst of Endless Demands
BECOMING MORE THAN A GOOD BIBLE STUDY GIRL Living the Faith after Bible Class Is Over
Do you spend a lot of time figuring out whether to say yes or no, thinking about how to manage your time, reduce stress, do your best for your family, find a little time for yourself? Learn the power of “the best yes,” the choice that shapes all other choices. Cure the disease to please, escape the guilt of disappointing others, overcome the agony of hard choices, rise above the rush of endless demands and discover your best yes.
Lysa TerKeurst knows what it’s like to consider God just another thing on her to-do list. For years she went through the motions of a Christian life: Go to church. Pray. Be nice. She longed for a deeper connection between what she knew in her head and her everyday reality. She wanted to stop coming home from Bible class and having a meltdown over a household disaster. Lysa invites you to uncover the spiritually exciting life for which we all yearn.
Six Sessions | ~16 minutes each Study Time: Substantial (an hour or more)
Six Sessions | ~15 minutes each Study Time: Minimal (less than 30 minutes)
Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $41.99 $25.19
Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $36.99 $22.19
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CHURCH OF THE SMALL THINGS Making a Difference Right Where You Are It’s been said, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.” The pressure of looking for those breathtaking moments can make us overlook the significance of fully living with every breath we take. The little pieces that make a life aren’t necessarily glamorous or far-reaching. But God uses some of the smallest, most ordinary acts of faithfulness—and sometimes they look a whole lot like packing lunch. Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $41.99 $25.19
Six Sessions | ~18 minutes each Study Time: Substantial (an hour or more)
Lisa HARPER Both hilarious storyteller and theological scholar, Lisa’s writing and speaking overflow with colorful, pop-culture references that connect the Bible era and modern life. She says, self-deprecatingly, “I’m so grateful for the opportunities God’s given me but don’t forget, he often uses donkeys and rocks!” She never married, but always wanted a child. When she heard about a dying orphan in Haiti named Missy, she undertook a two-year fight to save her life, and got to bring her home in 2014.
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Melanie SHANKLE Melanie Shankle writes at The Big Mama blog and is a New York Times bestselling author. Melanie is a graduate of Texas A&M and loves writing, shopping at Target, checking to see what’s on sale at Anthropologie, Frito Pie, and her Me-Ma and Pa-Pa. Most of all, she loves being the mother of Caroline, wife of Perry, and official herder of two wild dogs, Piper and Mabel. They live in San Antonio, Texas.
BELIEVING JESUS A Journey Through the Book of Acts
What does it mean to not just believe in Jesus, but to actually believe Jesus? Jesus’ command to spread the gospel reshaped the lives of the believers in Acts. Peter turned from Benedict Arnold to church-building saint. Stephen followed Christ to the death. The first believers out-gave Santa. God’s grace transformed the murderous Saul into Paul the missionary. Will we, like them, truly believe the words of Jesus and allow them to transform every part of our lives? Eight Sessions | ~20 minutes each Study Time: Substantial (an hour or more)
Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $36.99 $22.19
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L I STE N I N G TO
t הRi t Voi BY KASEY VAN NORMAN
I had never been more nervous. Sitting to my right, a volunteer college freshman who needed extra credit. To my left, behind a one-way sheet of glass, the entire faculty of my graduate counseling department. The next 30 minutes would determine whether I would be deemed worthy of a license that would set me loose on the world to help people with their problems. Three years of sleepless nights, study, and many tears all boiled down to this one, career-defining moment between me and an acne-ridden, fidgety young man who gripped his backpack tightly in his lap and preferred not to shake my hand. This was my final exam: to effectively use my learned counseling techniques to serve this pretend client with his very real problems. I knew the techniques: leading questions, redirections, healthy transitional statements. I knew all the right words: “So you’re saying that . . . ” “May I say that back to you?” “Thank you for trusting me with this information.” I’d read and reread my “client’s” back-ground file prior to our session. Before he walked through the door, I knew his presenting problem was anxiety and that he wanted help dealing with his pornography addiction. (Of course I would draw this guy’s name at random.) But when this poor guinea pig sat eyeball to eyeball with me, none of what I knew mattered. Where he was, who he saw himself to be, and what he wanted to do about it—these were the only facts that mattered. I could guide him, encourage him, reframe, ask new questions, and offer healthy alternatives, but I could not take ownership of his problems or the solutions to them. Offering him the what without his first identifying his why was no more helpful than offering him a Xanax or passing him another adult magazine.
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Sin, our choice not to trust God, will never change into a desire to trust him as long as we are listening to all of the other voices telling us who we should be, how we should live, or what we should do. Rules, rituals, religion, tradition, and the opinions of others have only enough power to change us at a surface level. They may help us exchange unhealthy behaviors for socially acceptable ones, but we will have no peace until we choose for ourselves to obey God.
for ourselves not because we think we have to but because we want to. Life is one big, leading question with God as the answer. Even Satan knew better than to tell Eve what she should do. Telling her to eat the fruit would not be personal enough to change her from the inside. It may have been dramatic enough to change her mind or feelings, but only through reasoning inside her life would Eve form a new belief that would change herself and the world around her.
For example, we may exchange our smoking habit for the more socially acceptable indulgence of eating pastry. Or release our energy through working out instead of through self gratification. But even though our what has changed, our why has stayed the same. Why does anyone need a high of any sort—nicotine, sugar, adrenaline, sexual release? Because God has not become so real to their hearts that he satisfies them. God knows what onlookers do not: our hearts. “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” -1 Samuel 16:7b (NIV)
Satan can speak only to our what, the external pieces of our lives—words and actions, what we do and say. But God will always speak to our why—our hearts, motives, beliefs, desires, wants.
God knows the pocket within each of us that holds everything that’s happened to us. He sees the whole story, the reason why we do what we do. He knows how stuck we feel, how numb, paralyzed, or cold we’ve become because of all of the pain and regret inside our hurt pockets.
And while the voices’ message differs, they both speak the loudest in our pain. We are never more keenly aware of the voices speaking to us than in our weakest moments: when we need, when we lose control, when we fall short of someone’s expectations, when we stand in front of a mirror and view our aging, sagging, frail, mortal bodies.
Only God speaks with the authority of eternity to the whole picture of our past, present, and future as it matters to heaven.
God also knows that his truth will not become real to us as long as we are exchanging behaviors. That’s why he doesn’t get his feathers ruffled by our displays of sin. He knows what humans struggle with most, that once our reality rests in him, our sinful behaviors will work themselves out on their own. God doesn’t want us to repent of our sin because we think we should. He wants us to own it, a decision that we make
When God speaks, our hearts cannot help but be nagged, drawn, intrigued, or compelled to attention. For only God speaks with the authority of eternity to the whole picture of our past, present, and future as it matters to heaven. Voices are speaking to us even now. One voice whispers a lie that divides our humanity and separates us from others. The other speaks a truth that makes us wholly known and eternally accepted.
The more often we choose to listen to the voice of God, the more convinced we will become that God sees our weaknesses differently than we do. Not as embarrassing moments we need to dismiss or dilute with drunkenness but as useable material. What seem like scraps to us are God’s best resources to prove his love for us once and for all.
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in our lives does not begin the moment we are saved, or at that one time of crisis we cried out to him because nothing else seemed to work. The shape of our entire lives was clear and useful to God
long before we were born. K A S E Y VA N N O R M A N Nothing Wasted
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NOTHING WASTED
HAGAR
God uses the Stuff You Wouldn’t
In the Face of Rejection, God Says I’m Significant
Have you ever sat in church and hoped against hope no one would find out who you once were? In a world that often encourages us to over-spiritualize, dismiss, or water down the messiest parts of us, Nothing Wasted presents God as a mixed-media artist, lovingly gathering the broken bits and scraps of our lives to create a masterpiece of grace and redemption. Kasey shows us just how capable and willing God is to resurrect us from sin and redeem us from all shame.
The women in the Bible asked the same three questions we all still ask today: How does everyone else see me? How do I see myself? How does God see me?
God does not care if we are the reason for or the recipient of our messes–he wants us to understand the magnitude of receiving his grace and trust him to transform our pain into something glorious! Nothing is wasted with God. Six Sessions | ~20 minutes each Study Time: Moderate (30 minutes - 1 hour) Study Guide $12.99 $9.09
Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $43.99 $26.39
Hagar’s story, found in Genesis 16, is a story of cultural victimization. She was betrayed, abandoned, and scorned. Her response? She did what most of us would do when deeply hurt by someone we trust–she ran away. She got defensive. She felt justified in her anger and hurt. But deep in her core was a woman who longed to be seen and hoped for redemption. The lack of finality in Hagar’s story teaches us to trust God with the ending, believing he sees us and he knows. Four Sessions | ~20 minutes each Study Time: Moderate (30 minutes - 1 hour) Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $41.99 $25.19
Kasey VAN NORMAN Bestselling author Kasey Van Norman has spoken to over 300,000 women across the nation. Kasey and her husband are cofounders of Northway Farms—a ministry housing and employing women with children out of homelessness. Kasey authored the bestselling Named By God and Raw Faith books and Bible studies, as well as coauthoring the Known By Name Bible Study Series: Rahab, Naomi, and Hagar.
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Approach God’s Throne for God can determine our filling by Him. So many times I beg to hear from God, and sadly, when He tries to speak, I’m either talking over Him or not paying attention. I want to listen to God like a lover listens to words from her beloved, a child listens to the words of a gentle mama, or a student listens to the words of a trusted teacher.
GARI MEACHAM Spirit Hunger
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of
Grace with Confidence HEBREWS 4:16 (NIV)
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JESUS CALLING Learn how to apply and live out the Scriptures and teachings in Jesus Calling with this Bible study series. Each study includes devotional readings from Jesus Calling, selected passages of Scripture for reflection, Bible study questions, and additional questions and activities for groups.
Jesus Calling Dwelling in God’s Peace Putting Jesus First Giving Thanks to God Living with God’s Courage Experiencing God’s Presence Trusting in Christ Receiving Christ’s Hope Living a Life of Worship
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J E S U S A LW AY S In Jesus Always, Sarah recounts the words and Scriptures that Jesus has laid on her heart to help her grow in faith and lead a joy-filled existence. Each of the Jesus Always Bible Studies includes Scripture for reflection, questions and activities for groups and individuals, and selected devotional readings from Jesus Always.
Jesus Always Embracing Jesus’ Love Following God’s Direction Leading a Joy-Filled Life Walking in God’s Grace
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My Most Treasured Bible by Melinda Bouma, VP & Publisher, Zondervan Bibles
I have a treasured Bible that sits on my shelf—a treasure because it was a gift from a loved one but also of how it impacted my young adult life. It’s encased in a beat-up burgundy leather with the gold gilded edges having long flaked off, scattered along the twisting, turning road of my life. On the presentation page, you would see that this Bible was gifted to me by my older brother, for Christmas of 1998. It was my senior year of high school, and he was already halfway through college. He had gone to his local Christian bookstore and spent time searching the shelves for the perfect Bible for his little sister. Whoever helped him secure this perfect gift that day did me a great favor, and I hope that the Bibles our team develop can continue to find their way into hearts and lives today the way that this Bible did mine. It’s quite special to open up this Bible and see God’s faithfulness written over the story of my life the past twenty years. I’ve loved my NIV Life Application Study Bible, and it has held up well considering the wear and tear two decades will do to a Bible like this! The highlighted pages and multiple notes in the margins are still as readable and clear as they were 20 years ago. And they still mean as much to me, if not more, than they did then. 18
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When I think about it—that Bible became a part of my life 5 years before my journey would lead me to the publishing company that printed it. I never could have guessed that 20 years later I’d get to be a part of the team bringing the new Third Edition to readers around the world! Tyndale House Publishers first developed the Life Application Study Bible in 1989, with the desire to show the Bible as practical application for all of life. Over 30 years, life has sure changed, but the truth of God’s Word has not. However, Bible readers long for more—more design sensibilities, more durable bindings, more color, more relevant study notes. When embarking on this new Third Edition, Tyndale worked with the original editorial team, plus added new millennial voices as they reviewed every single study note in the existing Life Application Study Bible. The result is that thousands of study notes have been significantly edited to reflect changes in culture, scholarship, and even in editorial style over the past 30 years. Zondervan is honored to co-publish this wonderful updated Bible, and one of the new bindings I’m particularly pleased to see is the one in the photo here. This deep navy bonded leather features metallic line art printed right on the leather! This innovative cover design brings beauty and elegance to the outside of the Bible, while the inside is brimming with rich insights and practical study notes.
This deep navy bonded leather features metallic line art.
"It's quite special to open up this Bible and see God's faithfulness written over the story of my life the past two decades." If the Life Application Study Bible is new to you, you will find a warm, welcoming companion on your faith journey. If you’ve grown up with this Bible— like I did—you will find it even more practical today.
If you or someone you know is looking for a powerful tool to help you enjoy God’s Word, see his spirit working in your life, and understand the heart of God revealed, I encourage you to take a look at this Bible.
My prayer is that this Bible will inspire believers to begin exploring God’s Word anew. The astounding thing is how the notes, character profiles, and charts are relevant and applicable at every point of the journey. If you want to drop me a note about what this Bible means to you, I’d love to hear your story— email me at melinda.bouma@harpercollins.com.
May you find yourself in 20 years, able to pick your special copy of this Bible off your shelves, and experience seeing decades of God’s faithfulness in your life recorded so clearly alongside his Word.
Melinda
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8 00 - 727 - 3480 | B I B L E S T U DYS O U R C E F O R W O M E N . CO M
NIV LIFE APPLICATION
Impacting more than 20 million lives over 30 years, the NIV Life Application® Study Bible is the #1–selling study Bible of our generation. Now, it has been thoroughly updated and expanded to be even more helpful and relevant for your life and today’s world. With a fresh, new interior page design and comprehensively updated study notes and features, this Bible will help you better understand God’s Word and provide you with practical ways to apply it to your life every day. The NIV Life Application Study Bible—A Bible for All Times! Study the stories and teachings of the Bible with verse-byverse commentary. Gain wisdom from people in the Bible by exploring their accomplishments and learning from their mistakes. Survey the big picture of each book through overviews, vital statistics, outlines, and timelines, and grasp difficult concepts using in-text maps, charts, and diagrams. Regular Editions $74.99 $52.49 Indexed Editions $84.99 $59.49
To see the complete line of NIV Life Application Study Bibles, Third Edition go to BibleStudySourceforWomen.com
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F E AT UR E S • Over 10,000 Life Application notes and other features • Over 100 personality profiles • Introductions and overviews for each book of the Bible • In-text maps, charts, and diagrams • Dictionary/concordance • Side-column cross-reference system • Subject index to notes, charts, maps, and profiles • Words of Jesus in red • Two-color page design • 16 pages of full-color maps • Presentation page • Single-column format • 8.5-point type size • Full text of the accurate, readable, and clear New International Version (NIV)
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The Liturgy of the Table Creator of all things delicious and nutritious, May we come into each other’s presence and recognize that you are among us. May we crack open the hurts behind our smiles and have you feed the unspoken hungers deep within. May you break down our walls as we break our bread. May our hearts be filled as we fill our cups. May those who gather here today taste from the Bread of Life and drink from the Living Water. May we glimpse the Garden of Eden that was and the feast of the lamb to come. May we taste and see your goodness, not just in the food we eat, but in the company we keep. God, pull up a chair. Eat with us today.
Amen. M A R G A R E T F E I N B E R G , Taste and See
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800 - 727 - 3480 | B I B L E S T U DYS O U R C E F O R W O M E N . CO M
Margaret FEINBERG Margaret Feinberg is one of American’s most beloved Bible teachers. Her books and studies have sold more than one million copies, and she was named one of fifty women most shaping culture and the church today by Christianity Today. Margaret savors life with Leif, a pastor in Park City, Utah, and their superpup, Hershey. A self-described “hot mess,” Margaret believes some of the best days are spent in jammies, laughing, and being silly.
TA S T E A N D S E E Discovering God Among Butchers, Bakers, and Fresh Food Makers The Psalmist declared, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps 34:8), so Margaret Feinberg decided to take the invitation literally. She embarked on a global culinary and spiritual adventure descending 410 feet into a salt mine, baking fresh matzo at Yale University, harvesting olives off the Croatian coast, and tasting succulent figs at a premier farm—all to discover the truth in such a simple verse. With each person she encountered, she asked, “How do you read the Scripture in light of what you do every day?” Their answers will change the way you read the Bible forever…and the way you approach every meal. Six Sessions | ~25 minutes each Study Time: Substantial (an hour or more)
Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $41.99 $25.19
PURSUING GOD Encountering His Love and Beauty in the Bible Genesis and the Gospel of John are written to spark our desire to pursue a deeper relationship with God. In Genesis we realize God created us for love, and we are meant to pursue God’s love and become expressions of it to our world. In John, we see the beauty of God radiating in Jesus Christ; when we pursue God’s beauty we encounter the person in whom God placed his whole heart on display for the world to see. Study Guide $12.99 $9.09 Leader Pack (DVD & Guide) $41.99 $25.19
Twelve Sessions | ~17 minutes each Study Time: Substantial (an hour or more)
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