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Curriculum Catalog

Here you will find the pre-approve curriculums for use in our Journey Groups.  This list is primarily used for Journey Group facilitators as they look for new studies to be shared within their individual groups. This list is not limited to the books enclosed but any other book that is desired to be used will need to be pre-approve prior to use.  It is our hopes that the books within our curriculm catalog will provide a broad spectrum of topics of study, from verse-by-verse Bible study and doctrine to topics focused toward life issues for men, women, and couples.  For previews of the actual books click on the book icon and a preview will open in another window when available.

Believing God
Do you believe God - or merely believe in him? Beth Moore has believed in God all of her life. But as an adult she came face-to-face with the single most important question as she meditated on Isaiah 43:10: What does it mean to believe God?

Abraham and Moses believed God, which planted in them a seed of faith that grew into steadfast trust and belief. Beth Moore brings these characters to life in a way that will spring forth in you a fresh explosion of faith! 


Chasing Daylight
In this inspiring book (formerly Seizing Your Divine Moment), Erwin McManus uses the biblical account of Israel's war with the Philistines (1 Samuel 13 and 14) and the characters of Saul and Jonathan to demonstrate the difference between living a life of purpose and adventure, and living one of apathy and missed opportunity. In the midst of a less-than-hopeful battle, Saul rested beneath a tree as Jonathan seized the divine moment that would impact the future of Israel. Through this story McManus artfully illustrates the eight characteristics of an adventurer's heart, what he calls "the Jonathan factor."

Using powerful examples from his own life and ministry, along with fresh biblical teaching, McManus asserts that God crafts divine moments specific to each of us-priceless opportunities for us to actively engage in God's plan. By developing the characteristics McManus outlines, Christians can move from mundane to miraculous living.

Crazy Love
God is love. Crazy, relentless, all-powerful love. Have you ever wondered if we’re missing it? It’s crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe--the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor--loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss. Whether you’ve verbalized it yet or not...we all know somethings wrong. Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn’t working harder at a list of do’s and don’ts--it’s falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as Francis Chan describes it, you will never be the same. Because when you’re wildly in love with someone, it changes everything.

Dangerous Wonder
The other day I wore my son's board shorts on my head. The cord hung undecorously behind my ear and the legs ballooned out behind. My nearly eight-year-old came down from his room and placed his swimmers on my head while I was eating breakfast and reading Dangerous Wonder. I normally would have removed them and ordered him to get ready for school, but I was reading that book. So I left them on ...If none of this makes sense to you, then you urgently need to read Dangerous Wonder...If people read it they might sell everything and give it to the poor, or dance with all their might in church, or wear swimmers on their head. They might stop what they are doing and, for the first time since they were nearly eight, do nothing but enjoy life. And suddenly find that God is there enjoying it with them. -- Peter Hallett, Alive, May 1999

This is the sort of book which can and will change lives. It is so refreshing to read someone who communicates passionately through words and images. I, for one, hope to find the courage to follow the invitation to childlike discipleship-a "jump-first-fear-later" faith. -- Donald Macaskill, Life & Work, February 1999 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Everybody's Normal Until You Get to Know Them
There are no normal people, asserts prolific author and pastor Ortberg (If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat; The Life You've Always Wanted), and the sooner Christians accept this disquieting truth, the healthier they and their churches will be. In this mediocre treatise on Christian community, Ortberg implicates Christians who are constantly on the run and on the most superficial terms with their fellows. Citing numerous biblical stories where Jesus turned the tables on foes and drew in unlovable and undesirable people, Ortberg nicely communicates his passion for seeing past external appearances and delving deeply into people's hearts and souls. Christians, he says, must learn to communicate on Jesus' terms; they should practice unconditional love, strive for authenticity and build mutual trust. While Ortberg warns readers to be circumspect with personal disclosure, he contends that the modern Christian church has failed miserably in biblical communication, especially in loving confrontation. Still, the overall message of this book is upbeat, as Ortberg reminds readers of the positive aspects found in solid relationships, which he names as genuine forgiveness, deliberate inclusion and heartfelt gratitude. While this message is ageless, it is certainly not new; "Christian living" bookshelves are crowded with volumes on spiritual formation, congregational life, group prayer and communication. Among these, Ortberg's offering loses its impact quickly because of poor organization, various tangents and over-long chapters.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Experiencing God
The Experiencing God ministry is even more vibrant today than when it began. As it continues to rise, and the world continues to change, the Experiencing God book has been revised and expanded with more than seventy percent of its material newly written. A modern classic that has sold millions of copies worldwide, Experiencing God is based on seven Scriptural realities that teach us how to develop a true relationship with the Creator.



Forgotten God
A follow up to the profound message of Crazy Love, Pastor Francis Chan offers a compelling invitation to understand, embrace, and follow the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and … the Holy Spirit. We pray in the name of all three, but how often do we live with an awareness of only the first two? As Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised to send the Holy Spirit—the Helper—so that we could be true and living witnesses for Christ. Unfortunately, today’s church has admired the gift but neglected to open it.

Breakthrough author Francis Chan rips away paper and bows to get at the true source of the church’s power—the Holy Spirit. Chan contends that we’ve ignored the Spirit for far too long, and we are reaping the disastrous results. Thorough scriptural support and compelling narrative form Chan’s invitation to stop and remember the One we’ve forgotten, the Spirit of the living God.

Fresh Encounter
Fresh Encounterguides believers through the biblical pattern of experiencing God's presence which leads to revival in the church a spiritual awakening in the world. As churches today search for the right ministry to reach their community, the Blackabys teaching will help them return to their first love of Christ so He can work powerfully in them and through them. 




Fresh Wind Fresh Fire
What is Brooklyn Tabernacle's secret to success? In Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire Jim Cymbala provides a one-word answer: prayer. In this powerful volume Pastor Cymbala will show you how passionate, persistent prayer transforms individuals, revives churches and revitalizes communities. Drawing on the teaching of scripture, his own experience and the collected wisdom of the great revivalists, Pastor Cymbala seeks to fan your passion for prayer into a flame. Take this opportunity to learn how to listen to God's voice and prayerfully depend upon God!



God's Story Your Story
Carpools and car crashes, job switches and joint custody, moves and motionlessness. Is there a cohesive storyline to the chaos, confusion, and clutter of your daily life? According to well-loved author Max Lucado, the answer is a resounding yes! So what is the text of your life? With his unequaled warmth and honesty, Lucado plumbs the depths of your storyline and comes up smiling. 'Your story indwells God's,' writes Lucado. 'This is the great promise of the Bible and the hope of this book ... Above and around us God directs a grander saga, written by his hand, orchestrated by his will, unveiled according to his calendar. And you are a part of it ...' Join Max for an unforgettable journey woven with New Testament stories and contemporary examples of God's beautiful story-making skills. The beginning of the narrative is legendary, the middle unfolds with surprises still in store, and the ending of your final earthly chapter ushers in a reunion that almost defies description. It's time to see what your life looks like when God's story becomes your story.

The Holy Spirit Within Us
What is the Holy Spirit doing in the lives of Christians today? If all believers have the Holy Spirit within them, what is the "fullness" or "baptism" of the Holy Spirit? And can all Christians experience this?

Long-time evangelist, missionary, and pastor Bill C. Konstantopoulos seeks answers to these questions with a thoughtful study of scripture. Every Christian will be challenged by what he finds. 


I Saw the Church
Dedicated to advancing the cause of Christian holiness and unity, the Church of God movement (headquartered in Anderson, IN) now claims more than seven hundred thousand adherents around the world. This textbook in historical theology traces how the teachings of the movement have matured and changed over its 130+ years of existence.




Life Lessons
The Lucado Life Lessons for the New Testament- 19 workbooks that bring insight, understanding, and application to your study of the books of the New Testament. Each workbook contains twelve lessons filled with intriguing questions, inspirational storytelling, profound reflections, and space for journaling.




Our God is Awesome
Do you want to be challenged to deepen your understanding of the characteristics and requirements of Almighty God? The Understanding God Series contains the bulk of Pastor Tony Evans' compelling and hard-hitting resources on the essentials about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Warfare, and prophecy. Now available in paperback, readers will not want to be without a single book in the series by this popular and powerful speaker and author.God's sovereignty inspires our worship. His omnipotence guides our lives. The more we learn about God's attributes, the more awestruck we become. In his captivating style, Tony Evans explores the characteristics of God and challenges readers to a deeper level of intimacy with the Father.


Outlive Your Life
These are difficult days in our world's history. 1.75 billion people are desperately poor, natural disasters are gouging entire nations, and economic uncertainty still reigns across the globe. But you and I have been given an opportunity to make a big difference. What if we did? What if we rocked the world with hope? Infiltrated all corners with God's love and life? We are created by a great God to do great works. He invites us to outlive our lives, not just in heaven, but here on earth. Let's live our lives in such a way that the world will be glad we did.



Overcoming Challenges
Face the Tough Times with Confidence The question is not, 'Will I face challenges?' The issue is, 'How will I deal with the tough times that come my way?' No one travels far down the road without confronting the sobering reality that life can be hard. The book of Nehemiah is a case study in overcoming life's challenges. Wave after wave of pain pounded on the shores of Nehemiah's life, but he kept standing strong. A tsunami of relational, financial, and spiritual attacks came, but he withstood it all in the power of God. As we meditate on Nehemiah's story, we discover the hope and victory that come when we walk in God's wisdom through the challenges of life. 


Simple Church
The simple revolution is here. From the design of Apple products to Google's uncluttered homepage, simple ideas are changing the world.

Now in paperback, multi-awarded #1 national bestseller Simple Church guides Christians back to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. No bells or whistles required. With insights based on case studies of 400 American churches, Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger prove the disciple-making process is often too complex. Simple churches thrive by taking four ideas to heart: Clarity. Movement. Alignment. Focus.

Simple Church examines each idea, clearly showing why it is time to simplify. This updated trade paper edition includes a new chapter with further insights the authors have gained through hundreds of conversations with church leaders since this landmark book's original release.

Take It to the Limit
Overloaded? Maxed out? Our culture encourages us to live as if we have no limits. So we fill up our schedules and empty our bank accounts. We do as much as we can, spend as much as we can, and acquire as much as we can—all in an effort to get as much as we can out of life. This six-part DVD shows that the secret to getting more out of life is not by doing more, but by doing less. Its companion study guide is complete with a leader’s guide and six lessons, including conversation-starting exercises, discussion questions, and application steps. You’ll learn to create the margin you need to live the life God intends for you. 


Creative Marriage
Disposable relationships and throw away marriages permeate our culture. When the dream fades and the realities of life set in, many just throw in the towel. In their book, The Creative Marriage: The Art of Keeping Your Love Alive, Ed and Lisa Young take a penetrating look at what it means to have a lasting marriage in today s world. After more than twenty years of marriage, Ed speaks openly and honestly about the hard work involved in a creative marriage and the lasting rewards of doing it God s way.


 
The Principle of the Path
There is often a tension between where we want to end up in life and the path we choose to get there. We fail to see that having good intentions is never good enough. Like Charlie Brown, we wrongly believe there's something to be said for trying hard. We need to understand why, in spite of our good intentions, we may have ended up at the wrong destination with our finances, our marriages, our careers, or a host of other dreams. So how do we get from where we are to where we truly want to be? The Principle of the Path is a road map to proper direction and discipline.



Transformational Church
How are we doing? The church, that is. And how are we doing it? Congregations have long measured success by "bodies, budget, and buildings"--a certain record of attendance, the offering plate, and square footage. But the scorecard can't stop there. When it does, the deeper emphasis on accountability, discipleship, and spiritual maturity is lost. Ignoring those details, we see fewer lives transformed, Christian influence wane, and churches thin out--a situation that is all too familiar across North America today. It is time to take heart and rework the scorecard. According the Ed Stetzer and Thom S. Rainer, the authors of Transformational Church, "Too often we've highlighted the negative realities of the declining American church but missed the opportunity to magnify the God of hope and transformation." Based on the most comprehensive study of its kind, including a survey of more than 7,000 churches and hundreds of on-site interviews with pastors, Transformational Church takes us to the thriving congregations where truly changing lives is the norm. Stetzer and Rainer clearly confirm the importance of disciple making for all through active biblical engagement and prayerful dependence on God alongside of ever-increasing, intentional participation in mission and ministry activities. As the church engages these issues, the world will see the change: More people following Christ. More believers growing in their faith. More churches making an impact on their communities. The transformation starts now.

Twisting the Truth
Unraveling the Lies That Twist Our Lives In six insight-packed sessions, Andy Stanley exposes four destructive and all-too-prevalent lies about authority, pain, sex, and sin. They're deceptions powerful enough to ruin our relationships, our lives, even our eternities---but only if we let them. Including both a small group DVD and participant's guide that work together, Twisting the Truth untwists the lies that can drag us down. With his gift for straight, to-the-heart communication, Andy Stanley helps us exchange falsehoods for truths that can turn our lives completely around. 



Just Walk Across the Room
In Just Walk Across the Room, Bill Hybels brings personal evangelism into the twenty-first century with a natural and empowering approach modeled after Jesus himself. When Christ 'walked' clear across the cosmos more than 2,000 years ago, he had no forced formulas and no memorized script; rather, he came armed only with an offer of redemption for people like us, many of whom were neck-deep in pain of their own making. This dynamic four-week experience is designed to equip and inspire your entire church to participate in that same pattern of grace-giving by taking simple walks across rooms---leaving your circles of comfort and extending hands of care, compassion, and inclusiveness to people who might need a touch of God's love today. Expanding on the principles set forth in Hybels' book of the same name, Just Walk Across the Room consists of three integrated components: Sermons, an implementation guide, and church promotional materials provided on CD-ROM to address the church as a whole Small group DVD and a participant's guide to enable people to work through the material in small, connected circles of community The book Just Walk Across the Room to allow participants to think through the concepts individually.

When God's People Pray
This participant's guide will help you to understand, personalize, and apply the powerful, life-changing concepts described in the six video sessions of When God's People Pray Small Group DVD. It includes questions to think about, session outlines with room for note-taking, discussion questions, Bible studies, a prayer journal, and more. Prayer can change lives and circumstances like nothing else can. What are the keys that unlock its power, that turn prayer from a mere activity into a vital link with God and all his resources? In When God's People Pray, Jim Cymbala, pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle, shows you and your small group truths about prayer that God has used to turn his own church from a tiny, struggling inner-city congregation into a vital, thriving community of believers who pray with passion, focus, and faith. Featuring teachings by Jim Cymbala and video interviews of ordinary people who have received extraordinary answers to their prayers, these six sessions will help you pray with new confidence. Six sessions [Show thumbnails for the following sessions.] God's Heart for Us The Amazing Power of Prayer Obedience in Prayer The Word of God and Prayer Why Prayer Matters Creating a Prayer Ministry in Your Church.

The 5 Love Languages
Marriage should be based on love, right? But does it seem as though you and your spouse are speaking two different languages? New York Times bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman guides couples in identifying, understanding, and speaking their spouse’s primary love language—quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, or physical touch.

By learning the five love languages, you and your spouse will discover your unique love languages and learn practical steps in truly loving each other. Chapters are categorized by love language for easy reference, and each one ends with specific, simple steps to express a specific language to your spouse and guide your marriage in the right direction. A newly designed love languages assessment will help you understand and strengthen your relationship. You can build a lasting, loving marriage together.

Gary Chapman hosts a nationally syndicated daily radio program called A Love Language Minute that can be heard on more than 150 radio stations as well as the weekly syndicated program Building Relationships with Gary Chapman, which can both be heard on fivelovelanguages.com.

The Five Love Languages is a consistent new York Times bestseller - with over 5 million copies sold and translated into 38 languages. This book is a sales phenomenon, with each year outselling the prior for 16 years running!