Archive for the 'Bible Studies for Life' Category
AWAKE: A CALL TO A RENEWED LIFE | A Six-Week Experience For Every Small Group and Church
Every pastor and staff member is always looking for a study that will help their church come alive and experience a renewed life. I believe we have the very thing.
Leading as President and General Editor
After I was elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention in June 2014, I sensed deeply from God that I needed to focus on the theme: Great Awakening: Clear Agreement, Visible Union, Extraordinary Prayer.
As General Editor of the Bible Studies For Life curriculum series, I appealed to the leadership of LifeWay to offer a study that would undergird the theme for spiritual renewal. They immediately readjusted their plans and we created this six-week study for small groups.
It is called AWAKE: THE CALL TO A RENEWED LIFE. In this study, Christ-followers will be called to return to God, their first love, prayer, God’s Word, unity with other Christians, and the task of fulfilling the Great Commission personally and as a church. This is a call to experience revival and awakening personally and in our churches.
This six-week study can be done at any time, even though thousands of churches will experience it this summer. I do not want you to miss the opportunity. This study can occur during any part of your church year, and is for men, women, and students.
What These Six Weeks Will Look Like
Don’t sleep through your spiritual life. Wake up! Nothing refreshes like a good’s night’s sleep. And who doesn’t enjoy the occasional afternoon nap? But when we are spiritually asleep, it is dangerous. It’s time to wake up! It’s time for our churches to wake up!
Since our greatest need is to experience spiritual renewal from God, this study will help anyone do just that. Please consider taking your people through this study. This is what they will experience each session:
Session 1: Return to God
Session 2: Return to Your First Love
Session 3: Return to Prayer
Session 4: Return to God’s Word
Session 5: Return to Unity
Session 6: Return to the Task
Encourage your staff team and leadership to go through this study this summer or as soon as possible.
Join Me in This Journey and Movement
When people have turned back to God throughout history, He has done extraordinary things and sparked great movements. Wouldn’t you like to see God do so again? Join me on the journey of asking God to bring about the next great movement of renewal and turning the nations back to Him.
As a pastor, you could even teach these topics as your people walk through this journey personally. It could be life-changing for many and influence churches dramatically.
For more information or to learn how to secure this study, please go here.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church
General Editor, Bible Studies for Life
President, Southern Baptist Convention
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Be Confident in God’s Power
Have you ever had to follow a strong leader? Maybe someone who led a team left your company and you had to step into his or her shoes. Maybe you followed a strong pastor who had led a great church. Or, maybe you followed a military leader well respected by his or her subordinates.
Following Great Leadership
It can be difficult to follow great leadership. Expectations are high, margins of error are low, and the pressure can be enormous.
Now, think for a moment what it must have been like to follow Moses. Moses is considered one of the heroes of the faith: His encounter with God at the burning bush, his back-and-forth with Pharaoh, and leading Israel through the Red Sea. The Bible records Moses this way,
“No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unparalleled for all the signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do against the land of Egypt–to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to all his land, and for all the mighty acts of power and terrifying deeds that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel” (Deut. 34:10-12).
This is the man Joshua had to follow in leading Israel. When God called Joshua to lead His people, it was a straightforward: “Moses My servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites” (Joshua 1:2).1
Learning From Other Leaders
Everything Joshua needed to know to lead he had learned from Moses. All the power Joshua needed he would get from God.
We often do not respond to God’s call to lead because we don’t have confidence in God’s power. We don’t doubt that God empowered Moses and Joshua, but we struggle to believe that He will help us in the same way.
Writing in Bible Studies for Life, Paul Jimenez notes: “[T]he people had affirmed Moses as their leader because they recognized God was present with him. Now, God would ‘exalt’ Joshua to show that his leadership would also be marked by God’s presence and power.”2
God will do the same for us. While we may not be exalted in the same way Joshua was, God will lift us in leadership through His power. We can have absolute confidence that God’s power is sufficient for our every challenge.
Your Biggest Challenge
Think about the biggest challenge God can give you. Is it bigger than crossing the Red Sea or the Jordan River? Think about the most successful leader you might follow. Is that leader more successful than Moses? Can God put you in any position where He cannot sustain you? Can He call you to any task for which He cannot empower you? Can God send you anywhere He cannot find you?
The answer to all these questions is “no.” Therefore, we can be confident in God’s complete power to do in and through us all He desires.
Whatever your biggest challenge is in leadership today, God will see you through!
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church General Editor, Bible Studies for Life President, Southern Baptist Convention
References
1-All scripture HCSB.
2–Bible Studies for Life, Be Strong and Courageous, Paul Jimenez
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.