Anonymous - Women's Bible Study Leader Guide: Discovering the Somebody You Are to God
Anonymous - Women's Bible Study Leader Guide: Discovering the Somebody You Are to God
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Overview
At one time or another, every woman has felt overlooked, unimportant, and bruised by the world. But there’s good news. While the opinion of others may drag us down, the God who created us has an entirely different opinion of who we are. That’s because we are His creations, and everything He created is good! Women today are searching for ways to make a difference in their daily lives. Whether they are working women, stay-at-home moms, or women moving into their retirement years, they all want to be a somebody who makes a positive impact in the world around them. The Bible is filled with “anonymous” women who made a significant impact in God’s story. Anonymous helps women discover their uniqueness and significance to Christ by exploring some of the "anonymous" women of the Bible. Though we do not know their names, they all were known and loved by God. Each week of this six-session study begins with an overview of the anonymous woman’s story, including background material with relevance to the cultural lifestyles and surroundings of the day. The daily lessons explore her story and the ways that all women can relate to her. Contemporary “anonymous” stories and quotes from everyday women are sprinkled throughout, reinforcing the very personal relevance of this powerful study. Together women will explore and grow in their relationship with Christ as they find their significance in the heart of God.
The Leader Guide contains six session plan outlines, complete with discussion points and questions, activities, prayers, and more—plus leader helps for facilitating a group.
Other available components, each available separately, include a Participant Workbook with five days of lessons per week, DVD with six 20-25 minute sessions (with closed captioning), and boxed Leader Kit containing one of each component.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781426792144 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Abingdon Press |
| Publication date: | 11/04/2014 |
| Series: | Anonymous |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Anonymous Leader Guide
Discovering the Somebody You Are to God
By Cindi Wood
Abingdon Press
Copyright © 2014 Abingdon PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4267-9214-4
CHAPTER 1
Week 1 Shades of Anonymous When You Feel Invisible
Leader Prep
Scripture and Theme Overview
This week we look at several Scriptures and a biblical promise: we are known, valued, and overwhelmingly loved by the God who created us. When we feel like no one knows us, like we're unseen, even then we are never anonymous in God's view. We are significant and worthy and loved. God promises that when we search for Him, we will find Him. When we go after God, we can be sure that God will meet us along the way. Later in the study, we'll meet four women who were unseen and unloved, or so they thought. But through personal contact with Jesus Christ, their whole lives changed.
Weekly Readings Recap
Review the key themes of the week:
Day 1: God longs for you to focus on Him. He wants you to allow His great love for you to override negative circumstances and negative opinions of others. He also wants you to allow Him to pull up any anchor of negativity that has weighed down your soul and clouded your vision of Him.
Day 2: God does not define you by your current or past struggle. He defines you by who you are in Him.
Day 3: A relationship with God begins by admitting you are not perfect but continually fall short of God's standards. God's love comes to you right in the middle of your sin. He doesn't ask you to clean up your life first; in fact, you are incapable of doing so.
Day 4: God has chosen each one of us not only for salvation but also to play a significant role in His Kingdom's purposes. He has given you a specific personality within a specific set of circumstances. Your circumstances will vary as you progress through life, but your calling to be His and to bear fruit for Him will never change.
Day 5: If you belong to Christ, He has reserved your spot at the most wonderful celebration banquet of all time! If you are in relationship with Him, then you are held in the highest esteem.
What You Will Need
• Anonymous DVD and DVD player
• Stick-on nametags and markers
• Colored pencils and card stock paper (Extended Session: Group Activity)
• Four-by-six index cards and pens (Extended Session: Scripture Memory)
Session Objective
Today you'll help the women in your group discover that they have God's undivided attention every moment of every day.
Session Outline
Preparing Your Hearts and Minds (1-2 minutes)
Welcome the women and then help to prepare their hearts and minds by saying an opening prayer. You may use the prayer below or offer a prayer of your own.
Loving God, what a joy it is to gather in Your name and study Your word. We thank You for these sisters joined here to seek You more fully. Teach us more about who You are and who we are in You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Getting to Know Each Other (3-5 minutes)
Hand out nametags and markers and ask participants to write their names and wear the nametags for the session. Then, ask each woman to find a partner. Say that each of them is to share with her partner her funniest story of when she wished she could have been anonymous. Explain that you'll announce when one minute is up, signaling that it is the other partner's turn.
After a couple of minutes, come back together as a full group and have each pair quickly introduce each other to the group by telling their names and sharing a highlight from their embarrassing episode.
Video (25-30 minutes)
Play the Week 1 video segment on the DVD. Invite participants to complete the Video Viewer Guide for Week 1 in the participant book as they watch.
Group Discussion (Basic Session: 20 minutes / Extended Session: 25 minutes)
1. Review Cindi's story of experiencing hurt feelings on the airplane. (Day 1)
• When have you been going along just fine, feeling mostly happy, and then experienced a rude comment or an inconsiderate act that threw you into a puddle of hurt feelings?
• How easy is it for you to "anchor down" in your hurt feelings? Why do you think it is so easy?
• What can we do to override these kinds of negative experiences?
2. The definition of the word anonymous for our study purposes is "lacking individuality, unique character, or distinction." (Day 1)
• Have you ever felt anonymous? (page 13)
• Have someone read aloud 1 Corinthians 13. What does it mean to know that someday you will know God face to face just as you are completely known by God today?
3. To set the scene for the coming weeks, Cindi reminds us that Jesus prays for us. He is pleading with the Father on our behalf that we would know the fullness of His love for us. (Video)
• Have volunteers read aloud John 17:20-26. What is Jesus asking of the Father?
• How can this passage encourage us when we are feeling anonymous in this world?
4. Cindi introduces the anonymous Bible characters for our study with names that represent labels in their stories. There is Judged, Hurting, Ordinary, and Shame. Each of them had become the personification of what she went through. (Day 2)
• Reflect on a difficult season in your life. What one-word label would you use to describe that season? What did you feel during that time?
• What was a turning point for you during this season, calling you out from that label?
5. God wants you to love Him above anyone or anything else because loving Him puts everything else in perspective. In God you find the hope, peace, and joy that are possible only through a personal relationship with Him. Through His presence in your life you can truly love others, because God is love. (Day 3)
• Have someone read aloud John 3:16. Why is it important to go back to the basics of our faith and remember how God demonstrated His deep love for us on the cross?
• What does salvation in Jesus Christ mean to you? Share your thoughts about what Jesus' sacrifice means to you on a daily basis. (page 20)
• How are you a changed person because God "so loved" you that He gave His Son for you?
6. A relationship with God begins by admitting you are not perfect but continually fall short of God's standards. He doesn't ask you to clean up your life first; in fact, you are incapable of doing so. Without His help you simply cannot live by His standards. (Day 3)
• Have you ever attempted to "clean up" before approaching God? What was the result of that effort?
• Have volunteers read aloud the following passages: Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 1 John 1:9; and Romans 10:13. What do these passages tell us about the need to get it together before we seek God?
7. The only way to get an accurate assessment of who we are is to look to Jesus, not to ourselves. (Day 4)
• When you look in the mirror, who do you see looking back at you? Describe her.
• Read John 15:16 aloud. What does Jesus say about who we are?
• According to the Greek translation of Jesus' words "I chose you" (John 15:16), we are picked out by Him and for Him. What is your reaction to this news?
8. Jesus had a way of exposing the arrogance that permeated the OK with this of His day. His words can both sting and comfort our hearts as well. Sting, because we have all been guilty of overlooking; comfort, because we have all been the overlooked. (Day 5)
• Have a volunteer read aloud Luke 14:7-14. Who are the ones doing the overlooking in this passage?
• Who are the overlooked?
• When have you consciously overlooked others? When have you been overlooked?
9. If you belong to Christ, He has Himself reserved your spot at the most wonderful celebration banquet of all time. If you are in a relationship with Him, then you are held in the highest esteem. (Day 5)
• How does the fact that Jesus has a special place of honor reserved just for you bring joy to your heart? (page 29)
10. Wrap up group discussion with one (or more) of these questions:
• How is a personal experience with Jesus a game changer in a person's life?
• What does a life with Jesus Christ offer?
• Jesus meets us in one place and leaves us different. How has this been true in your life?
Today's Touchpoint (Basic Session: 3-5 minutes / Extended Session: 5-10 minutes)
Ask everyone to turn to a neighbor and share responses to one or more of the following Today's Touchpoint questions:
Day 2: Are there others you know who could be named Judged, Hurting, Ordinary, or Shame? Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind someone who could use a good dousing of Jesus-love. How did you share His love with this person this week?
Day 4: What is a specific way you feel that God has chosen you to display one or more of His qualities—the fruit of His Spirit?
Day 5: What is God revealing to you regarding the attention He would like you to give those around you?
Group Activity (Extended Session Only: 15 minutes)
Give each participant a sheet of card stock paper and set out a variety of colored pencils. Invite them to write their names decoratively on the paper. Then ask them to think of descriptive words or phrases that describe them and write these descriptors around their names to create a mini-poster. As they work, ask:
• What are some things people know about you without having to really know you?
• What are some things that only those closest to you know about you?
• How many things are you thankful that only God knows about you?
When they are finished, encourage them to take their posters home and frame them, celebrating that they are created by, known by, and loved by God.
Scripture Memory (Extended Session Only: 5 minutes)
[She] who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1 Amplified
Explain that each week, during this part of the session, participants will have five minutes of quiet meditation with the Scripture memory verse. You might say something like this: "For the next five minutes, let's center our hearts and minds on our memory verse. Let the words soak deep into your hearts and speak to you as you write them on an index card." (Provide the cards and pens or markers.) You might want to play some quiet worship music in the background as they write and reflect. When the time is over, lead the group in reciting the verse together from memory.
You also might encourage the women to consider purchasing a four-by-six photo album (accordion fold or other) to hold the memory verse cards they create each week. This album can serve as an on-the-go Scripture memorization tool as well as a quick reference for encouragement from God's Word.
Closing Prayer (5 minutes)
Close the session by taking personal prayer requests from group members and leading the group in prayer. As you progress to later weeks in the study, encourage members to participate in the closing prayer by praying out loud for each other and the requests given. Remind group members to pray for one another throughout the week.
CHAPTER 2Week 2 The Woman Who Anointed Jesus When You Are Judged
Leader Prep
Scripture and Theme Overview
This week we met our first sister: Judged (Luke 7:36-50). She was determined to worship Jesus, even if it meant making a spectacle of herself in Simon the Pharisee's house. Whereas onlookers saw only a sinner and an outcast, Jesus saw a woman who knew the depth of her sin and the immense freedom to be found through forgiveness. Jesus not only received her worship, but he also defended her and made an example of her pure motivation. When we feel that we are being judged, we can know that Jesus sees us, loves us, forgives us, and defends us to our accuser. What a promise!
Weekly Readings Recap
Review the key themes of the week:
Day 1: God's opinion of us, not the opinions of others, is what is important; and God loves us completely and passionately.
Day 2: God does not want us to become overly concerned with impressing others. He also does not want us to allow the judgments of others, whether accurate or not, to consume us. With the Holy Spirit's guidance, we have the responsibility to guide and influence each other in God's ways.
Day 3: Jesus was not only her Savior—He was her Defender. He forgave her sins, and she responded with an extravagant gift. Remembering that Jesus is our defender will keep us walking in victory.
Day 4: The woman's sins were not forgiven because she loved much; that would have come by earning her forgiveness. Rather, she loved much because her sins had already been forgiven. Likewise, we do not earn God's mercy, love, and approval. Knowing this increases our gratitude and our love for God.
Day 5: This woman who had broken dreams, just as we do, discovered love, acceptance, and purpose in Jesus. He blessed her with peace and changed the direction of her life. Our lives—including our broken dreams—are completed and perfected in our union with Jesus Christ.
What You Will Need
• Anonymous DVD and DVD player
• Stick-on nametags and markers
• Small jars from a dollar or craft store and small slips of paper (Extended Session: Group Activity)
• Four-by-six index cards and pens (Extended Session: Scripture Memory)
Session Objective
Today you'll help the women in your group discover that they have God's undivided attention every moment of every day.
Session Outline
Preparing Your Hearts and Minds (1-2 minutes)
Welcome the women and then help to prepare their hearts and minds by saying an opening prayer. You may use the prayer below or offer a prayer of your own.
Forgiving God, we are so grateful that You don't leave us as You find us. We are overjoyed that You see beauty in us and have a heart of love toward us. Speak to us now as we study Your Word and seek Your heart. Amen.
Getting to Know Each Other (3-5 minutes)
Hand out nametags and markers and ask participants to write their names and wear the nametags for the session. Then, ask each woman to find a partner. Say that each of them is to share with her partner a story about when she misjudged something before having experienced it. For example, she might have assumed she would not enjoy camping but discovered she loved it after a family camping trip. Explain that you'll announce when one minute is up, signaling that it is the other partner's turn.
After a couple of minutes, come back together as a full group and have each pair share any funny highlights from their stories.
Video (25-30 minutes)
Play the Week 2 video segment on the DVD. Invite participants to complete the Video Viewer Guide for Week 2 in the participant book as they watch.
Group Discussion (Basic Session: 20 minutes / Extended Session: 25 minutes)
1. God adores you. The freeing part is that His love is not based on your success or accomplishments—or even on your worthiness to be loved. It's all about Him. He loves you because He created you. You are the product of His mind, His heart, and His awesome love. (Day 1)
• What statements did you check that have described your thoughts about God's love for you? (page 34)
• When have you struggled to accept the idea that God adores you?
• Have you ever felt that God's love for you is too good to be true? If so, why?
• When do you feel most loved by God?
2. Have a volunteer read aloud Luke 7:36-38. (Day 1)
• List some reasons why she might have been weeping as she stood behind Jesus.
• What do you think onlookers were thinking or feeling as she entered and stood there weeping?
• Have a volunteer read aloud Romans 5:8. What does Romans 5:8 say about God's love for sinners? (page 36)
3. For many of us, it still matters way too much what others think of us. There are particular areas of our lives where our focus still gravitates more toward what people think instead of what God thinks. (Day 2 and Video)
• In what ways do you struggle with what other people think of you?
• How often do you let what God thinks of you trump your fears of what others think? Why is that?
• Read aloud Luke 7:39. What does Simon the Pharisee think of the woman in our Bible story? What does Jesus think of her? Whose opinion of her matters most? Whose opinion or judgment of you matters most?
• What can help us to stop worrying about what others think and focus on God's opinion? How can this save us time and energy? In what ways does it "free" us?
4. In the video, Cindi talks about doing things for God and ignoring our love relationship with the Lord. (Video)
• When have you been so focused on doing things for God that you have neglected your relationship with Him?
• What helps you to keep the right focus—your relationship with God above what you do for God?
5. Summarize for participants the details of the parable Jesus told Simon in verses 41-43. (Day 2)
• What was the question Jesus asked? (page 41)
• What was the answer Simon gave? (page 41)
• What was Jesus saying through this parable?
• How have you experienced the power of this parable in your own life?
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Anonymous Leader Guide by Cindi Wood. Copyright © 2014 Abingdon Press. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction,Leader Helps,
Week 1: Shades of Anonymous When You Feel Invisible,
Week 2: The Woman Who Anointed Jesus When You Are Judged,
Week 3: The Woman with the Issue of Blood When You Are Tired of Hurting,
Week 4: The Woman at the Well When You Feel Ordinary,
Week 5: The Woman Who Committed Adultery When You Are Burdened with Shame,
Week 6: Rhythm of Grace New Name, New Identity,
Notes,