Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work. ~ Peter Drucker

Eric Geiger

Eric Geiger, LifeWay, Lifeway Christian Resources, Lifeway Church Resources, Sunday School, Innovation, Church, Theology, Simple Church, Simple Youth Ministry

[GIVEAWAY] Explore the Bible and Let the Word Dwell in You

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I am honored to lead the Resources Division at LifeWay and serve with a team of leaders who are passionate to serve the Church in Her mission of making disciples. Each Wednesday, I share the heart behind one of the resources our team has developed and give an opportunity for you to register to win a free copy of the resource. This week’s resource is Explore the Bible’s fall study of Genesis.

László Polgár is a Hungarian educational psychologist and author. He is a believer in the theory that genius is made, not born. Early in his life, he was convinced that early and intense specialization in a particular subject produces incredible results. But he wanted to test this theory personally, so he pursued a wife with whom he could partner to raise kids who were radically committed to one thing. He married Klara, and when their firstborn daughter, Susan, was four, she discovered a chess set while rummaging through a cabinet. Susan’s interest was piqued, so the family decided to focus on chess. Chess would become their one thing. They fought for permission from the Hungarian authorities for the right to homeschool their daughters, and hours each day were devoted to chess. Their apartment in Budapest was filled with thousands of books on chess and a file card system that allowed them to evaluate previous matches. The results were incredible. Susan, at the age of 21, became the world’s first female grandmaster in chess. Judit, the youngest daughter, is known as the greatest female chess player in history. And Sophia, the middle daughter, was once ranked the sixth strongest female player in the world.

Polgár’s example reminds us that there is great power in dedicating ourselves to one overarching thing, one ultimate thing dwelling in and ruling our hearts. As his daughters show, whatever dwells deeply in our hearts will greatly impact us.

Whatever dwells in our hearts, dominates our lives. For this reason, the apostle Paul challenged believers living in Colossae to let the Word of Christ be the thing that dwells deeply in them. He wrote: 

And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:15-16)

Let the Word of Christ dwell richly (not scarcely) among you.

Paul was writing to a church. He wanted the Word, the message about Christ, to be central in their community of faith. The Word must not be a small part of our churches, our groups, and our classes. It must dwell richly and deeply among us. And the result of the Word dwelling is beautiful—believers admonishing one another, people filled with gratitude, and people singing songs of praise to God. If we want people filled with gratitude to God, then the Word of Christ must dwell among us.

This is the foundation and the heart of Explore the Bible. Explore the Bible is a book-by-book Bible study designed to help groups of all ages dive deep into the Word of God.

 

Today I’m giving away a complete small group experience–eight copies of Explore the Bible‘s 6-week study from Genesis on the life of Abraham. Click here or fill out the form below to enter to win by Thursday, August 6th 12:01 am CST.