What does it mean to have a genuine experience of God?
Part of the Good Book Guides series.
“Have you had an experience of God?” It’s a question that provokes mixed reactions.
The word “experience” may set alarm bells ringing for some Christians, as they imagine the word means supernatural encounters, strange visions, voices or other revelations.
But the Bible, God’s final, complete revelation, reveals a different, yet no less marvellous experience of God. The wonderful truths of the Gospel, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit give Christians a unique experience of God, seen and felt in many ways: A love for Christ and for others; peace in place of anxiety and joy in all circumstances; a passion for doing good; and a deep sense of fulfilment and freedom.
These studies stem from the conviction that a deeper understanding of God’s gospel leads us to a genuine, life-transforming experience of the living God in Christ, which leaves us hungry to know Him more, and serve Him more faithfully. Work through them yourself, with a friend, your partner or in a Bible-study group to discover the riches that are yours in Christ.
Introduction
Why study Experiencing God
1. Experiencing God, experiencing Christ - Colossians 1 v 24 – 2 v 10
2. Experiencing God, experiencing love - Luke 7 v 36-50
3. Experiencing God, experiencing peace - Mark 4 v 35 – 5 v 43
4. Experiencing God, experiencing joy - Philippians 1 v 12-30 and 4 v 4-13
5. Experiencing God, experiencing passion - Titus 2 v 11 – 3 v 8
6. Experiencing God, experiencing rest - Acts 16 v 11-34
Leader's Guide
| Contributors | Tim Chester |
|---|---|
| Format | eBook |
| Language | English |
| No. of studies | 6 |
| Publisher | The Good Book Company |
The Good Book Guides have been developed to ensure that each session not only seeks to uncover the meaning of the passage and see how it fits into the big picture of the Bible, but also leads people to apply what they have learnt to their lives. Flexible and practical, the Good Book Guides are ideal for small groups, or individual study.
"The format is very user-friendly and the content is rich and accessible."
- Justin Taylor, Gospel Coalition blogger and Vice-President of Editorial, Crossway
"God-centered, application-oriented, and driven by the text throughout, this resource is a gift to God’s church."
- Matt Smethurst, Gospel Coalition reviewer and Master of Divinity student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Here at Covenant Life Church, we have greatly benefitted from the small group resources from The Good Book Company. Many small groups in our family life ministry have used "Colossians: Confident Christianity" in their study of scripture. Additionally, our youth ministry has used "Romans 1-5: God and You" in their small groups. Both resources were very easy to use, helped the reader engage directly with the scriptures, and had a wonderful pastoral emphasis demonstrated in all the questions.
- Dave Brewer, Youth Pastor at Covenant Life Church, Maryland
I love this small group study guide series from The Good Book Company. Christians are regularly told they should spend more time studying God’s Word, but sometimes there’s not a clear plan for how to do this. These study guides provide practical, step-by-step guidance on working through books of the Bible, along with wonderful questions that encourage reflection and application. I hope churches and Christian ministries will take advantage of this wonderful resource.
The aim of the The Good Book Company is to be biblical, relevant and accessible, and nothing embodies that ethos more than their Good Book Guides. Each guide provides a framework for your group to dig into the text of Scripture for itself while providing enough of a steer to keep you on track plus useful pointers towards application. The result is a great combination of fidelity to Scripture and ease of use.
The Good Book Guides are an immensely precious resource for the church. A careful blend of helpful context and clearly-worded, searching questions which aim to help readers to uncover the meaning of the text and apply it in responsible ways. I think these small group studies are the best available and pray that they will continue to prove helpful to local churches across the world!
Scripture based, a series of user-friendly studies well suited to small group work. Readily accessible topics to be used selectively as dictated by group members.
