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How can my
church grow?
How can we train house-group leaders?
How can I use my home more effectively?
How can we grow as Christians?
How can I write my own study materials?
How can I run a support group for needy people?
How can we reach out to the community? etc.
If only one of these questions
is a problem you have met, then this 'Bible Encounter Manual' is for you!
It was written by and for a local congregation, and is an essential and vital
tool for the growing church! It is a fully comprehensive manual of hints on:
running a dynamic group; using the home evangelistically; preparing material for
on-going Bible study - plus over 60 short guides for running Bible studies on
many and varied topics.
These study guides can be used
in any order, depending on the particular needs of the group's members at the
time. It is not designed to be worked through consecutively.
The Bible Encounter Manual is divided into sections:
Introduction to Bible Encounter
Groups... their purpose; how to introduce Bible encounter groups into the
church: how to start an encounter group, etc.
Guidelines for using the manual
Two methods of running Bible studies; group dynamics; preparation; leading;
interpreting the Bible passage, etc.
Bible study guides - for
practical Christian living, including: the Christian family; the kingdom of God;
church growth, nurture, discipleship, growth in faith and maturity, cultivating
Christian character, coping with problems and sin, etc.
Explanatory notes, amplifying
the studies
The Bible Encounter Manual also includes... How to evangelise through Bible
encounter groups; using the 'How can I get to know God?' evangelistic leaflet; a
Biblical index; a thematic/topical index.
Bible encounter groups are
ideal for informal studies, and are non-threatening for unbelievers, while at
the same time presenting clearly the eternal truths of the gospel.
For new Christians, for example
those who have come to know the Lord through evangelistic outreach or the
'Alpha' courses, etc., Bible encounter groups provide a useful transition
between this low-key, relaxed and often social-activity based evangelism and
then going on to more 'solid food', which is systematic Bible study and
teaching.
This manual is also a good tool
for use in pastoral situations, where someone is suffering a particular problem
that can be dealt with either in a mutually-supportive group, or in a one-to-one
situation in private, between a counsellor and a person in need.
Every study in this manual is
totally based on the Bible text, with no watering down of principles, no
denominational bias, with no 'fudging' of issues, and yet it is sympathetically
and lovingly presented
As only the group Leader needs
a copy of this manual, using this text is much more economical than most Bible
study courses.
This material works! It has
been a great blessing, not only in the upper-middle class, fairly academic
churches like the one where it originated in a capital city in South America,
but also in socially- and educationally-disadvantaged groups in different
cultures and languages round the world.
Where a local church uses other
SEAN courses as part of an on-going growth and ministry programme for training
and enabling the whole congregation for service and ministry, the Bible
Encounter Manual can provide the continuum that links the different stages of
the programme.
This manual, used during a 'rest period' between more structured courses, can be
a relaxation before going on to the next course; students have a change, but
without losing momentum. They can meet with others from outside their own study
group, and so maintain better their integration with the rest of the local
congregation |
