Converge Bible Studies: Who You Are in Christ

Converge Bible Studies: Who You Are in Christ
Author: Shane Raynor
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 66
Release: 2013-04-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1426771614

From childhood through adulthood, most of us spend a considerable amount of time and energy trying to figure out who we are and who we want to be. And there’s no shortage of people in the world willing to give us their answers to those questions. Who You Are in Christ takes a look at how our faith in Jesus radically changes who we are and our relationships with God, each other, and the world. Using passages from Paul’s New Testament letters, this study explores our identity in Christ as well as how our self-perception affects who we become and what we accomplish when we choose to live according to God’s ways of justice, mercy, and love. Converge Bible Studies is a series of topical Bible studies based on the Common English Bible. Each title in the series consists of four studies on a common topic or theme. Converge can be used by small groups, classes, or individuals. Primary Scripture passages are included for ease of study, as are questions designed to encourage both personal reflection and group conversation. The topics and Scriptures in Converge come together to transform readers’ relationships with others, themselves, and God.

Converge Bible Studies: Christ the Lightgiver

Converge Bible Studies: Christ the Lightgiver
Author: Clifton Stringer
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 60
Release: 2015-06-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1501805886

In John 9, Jesus heals a man blind from birth. This is shocking. Even more: This miraculous healing is a microcosm of the whole Christian gospel. In merely seven verses of text, the contemplative Bible reader can see the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work, putting the infinite Word of God into a mere handful of human words. In Christ the Lightgiver, Clifton Stringer explores the story of the gospel from creation to the fall, then from the incarnation to the mystery of Jesus' (and our) Passover to eternal life. Converge Bible Studies is a series of topical Bible studies based on the Common English Bible. Each title in the series consists of four studies on a common topic or theme. Converge can be used by small groups, classes, or individuals. Primary Scripture passages are included for ease of study, as are questions designed to encourage both personal reflection and group conversation. The topics and Scriptures in Converge come together to transform readers’ relationships with others, themselves, and God.

Converge Bible Studies: Encountering Grace

Converge Bible Studies: Encountering Grace
Author: Joseph Yoo
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2014-05-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1426795580

Grace is both liberating and contagious. Once you truly experience it, you become a different person, and the further you journey in your faith, the more you realize the role God’s grace has played in your life—even before you came to faith in Christ. In Encountering Grace, you’ll examine passages about God’s unmerited favor. You’ll learn more about receiving God’s grace as well as offering that grace to others. Converge Bible Studies is a series of topical Bible studies based on the Common English Bible. Each title in the series consists of four studies on a common topic or theme. Converge can be used by small groups, classes, or individuals. Primary Scripture passages are included for ease of study, as are questions designed to encourage both personal reflection and group conversation. The topics and Scriptures in Converge come together to transform readers’ relationships with others, themselves, and God.

Converge Bible Studies: Reclaiming Anger

Converge Bible Studies: Reclaiming Anger
Author: David Dorn
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 66
Release: 2013-09-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1426771657

As Christians, we process grief, show love, understand compassion, and accept forgiveness. But when it comes to anger, we often reject it as not being useful or holy. There simply is no place for anger in the worldview of many Christians. We’re told to just “let it go,” “get over it,” or “count to ten.” In the church, anger is treated like a dirty little secret. But why? God gets angry. Why can’t we? We’re made in the image of God, and being truly human is to fully embrace who God made us to be. In Reclaiming Anger, David Dorn asserts that anger doesn’t have to be a forbidden, destructive emotion. Biblical anger serves a purpose. In this study you’ll discover what anger is, how God gets angry, when we need anger, and when we need to let it go. Converge Bible Studies is a series of topical Bible studies. Each title in the series consists of four studies on a common topic or theme. Converge can be used by small groups, classes, or individuals. Primary Scripture passages from the Common English Bible are included for ease of study, as are questions designed to encourage both personal reflection and group conversation. The topics and Scriptures in Converge come together to transform readers’ relationships with others, themselves, and God.

Converge Bible Studies: Perplexing Scriptures

Converge Bible Studies: Perplexing Scriptures
Author: Josh Tinley
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2014-01-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1426789548

Christian communities, with a few exceptions, consider the canon of Scripture closed. There’s no process for adding or removing books from our Bibles. Even so, we end up creating our own canons, whether intentionally or unintentionally. There are certain texts that come up frequently in worship or in the youth room or in the children's Sunday school wing. And there are certain texts that we never read in worship or Sunday school. Perplexing Scriptures examines some of these passages. This study may raise more questions than it answers; but as you work through each session, you will begin to see how God’s love and grace are at work, even in the most troubling texts. Converge Bible Studies is a series of topical Bible studies based on the Common English Bible. Each title in the series consists of four studies on a common topic or theme. Converge can be used by small groups, classes, or individuals. Primary Scripture passages are included for ease of study, as are questions designed to encourage both personal reflection and group conversation. The topics and Scriptures in Converge come together to transform readers’ relationships with others, themselves, and God.

Converge Bible Studies: Three Gifts, One Christ

Converge Bible Studies: Three Gifts, One Christ
Author: Katie Z. Dawson
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 65
Release: 2013-10-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1426778287

Scripture tells the story of magi who followed a star in the sky—a light in the midst of the darkness—to find the Messiah. In the gifts that they placed at the feet of the Christ—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—they recognized the intermingling of light and darkness, truth and falsehood, life and death. But more than what the magi gave the child, Three Gifts, One Christ is about what Jesus offers us. Using passages from Matthew and Hebrews, Katie Z. Dawson explores three of Christ’s roles—Jesus comes as the high priest who sacrifices himself for us, the prophet who calls us into the Kingdom and shows us a better way to live, and the Messiah who triumphs over evil and sets us free. Converge Bible Studies is a series of topical Bible studies. Each title in the series consists of four studies on a common topic or theme. Converge can be used by small groups, classes, or individuals. Primary Scripture passages from the Common English Bible are included for ease of study, as are questions designed to encourage both personal reflection and group conversation. The topics and Scriptures in Converge come together to transform readers’ relationships with others, themselves, and God.

Converge Bible Studies: Being Holy

Converge Bible Studies: Being Holy
Author: Shane Raynor
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2014-04-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1426795572

What does it mean to be holy? The author of Hebrews tells us we’ve already been made holy through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. But in the same letter, we’re also told to pursue holiness. What are we to make of this apparent paradox? Are there multiple types of holiness, or just multiple levels of the same attribute? In Being Holy, you’ll explore the meaning of biblical holiness and how it relates to justification, sanctification, and Christian perfection. Converge Bible Studies is a series of topical Bible studies based on the Common English Bible. Each title in the series consists of four studies on a common topic or theme. Converge can be used by small groups, classes, or individuals. Primary Scripture passages are included for ease of study, as are questions designed to encourage both personal reflection and group conversation. The topics and Scriptures in Converge come together to transform readers’ relationships with others, themselves, and God.

Converge Bible Studies: Idolatry

Converge Bible Studies: Idolatry
Author: Curtis Zackery
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 65
Release: 2014-06-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1426795599

Idols are fairly easy to recognize in Old Testament stories about false gods, golden calves, statues, and Asherah poles. And they’re not hard to spot in the lives of other people. But what about our own idols? Is it even possible for 21st-Century Christians to worship gods that aren’t real? How do we know if we’re doing it? In Idolatry, Curtis Zackery takes a look at an ancient sin that still ensnares God’s people today. Converge Bible Studies is a series of topical Bible studies based on the Common English Bible. Each title in the series consists of four studies on a common topic or theme. Converge can be used by small groups, classes, or individuals. Primary Scripture passages are included for ease of study, as are questions designed to encourage both personal reflection and group conversation. The topics and Scriptures in Converge come together to transform readers’ relationships with others, themselves, and God.