Grow: A Bible Study for Spiritual Growth

By Barbara Ann Gareis

Is your soul overgrown with weeds? Is fear or doubt eroding your foundation? Do you long for renewed life? GROW promises to plant seeds of hope in six powerful sessions, which include creative and meaningful exercises, Bible stories, and current day examples to strengthen your Christian walk.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CrossLink Publishing
• Release date: May 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781633570733

Book preview

Introduction

I’ ve been a believer for forty years as of this writing. It hasn’t been easy, but we are not promised easy. In fact, we are to expect tribulation (John 16:33). I’ve questioned how God could love me when I am so undeserving. I’ve taken His blessings for granted and focused too much on the things that weren’t going my way . I’ve been in seasons of my life when I was totally committed to serving Him, and I’ve been in seasons when it was all I could do to drag myself to church on Sunday morning because I just didn’t feel like being a Christian that day.

But the Lord reminds us repeatedly of His awesomeness, His love, and His mercy. He can use average, ordinary me for awesome, extraordinary good in the world. He can use you, too. He reminds us how blessed we are by sprinkling us with love and laughter. He is committed to us, and I want to be totally committed to Him. Maybe you do, too. He delivers us from day-to-day trials and from sin. When we focus on the power of our Savior, we are encouraged; we regain hope in this difficult world. He is faithful, and our faithfulness in return is how we can show Him that we love Him.

As long as we are living in this broken world, we will face heartache, become discouraged, continue to make mistakes, and even turn our backs on God. He knows this, and yet He loves us anyway. Not one person is so messed up that she cannot be saved. Romans 3:10 says, As it is written: there is none righteous, no, not one. And John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. These words (the world) mean no one is excluded. He loves each and every one of us just the way we are. All we have to do is accept His love.

Join me on this journey towards spiritual growth. As you work through this book, I hope that you will take away the following:

• Know that you were created for a great purpose.

• Be aware of the abundant blessings that surround you.

• Grow stronger in your Christian walk.

• Replace fear with courage in your day-to-day activities.

• Overcome discouragement and increase your hope.

• Be faithful in the midst of great difficulties.

You’ll notice this Bible study depicts a garden theme. When I think about growing, I think of a garden. You must prepare the ground before you can plant seeds. You must fertilize the soil, water it, and be sure it gets plenty of light. You will need to do some weeding and pruning along the way, but if you maintain it well, your garden will grow.

As I continue to grow spiritually, I want to share my experiences with others. This desire led me to start my Sharing Hope blog in 2012. I like to think that I’m sharing hope one word at a time. I do this by being transparent in my own walk, especially when I fall down and realize that God is always right there to pick me up again. I hope that you’ll be encouraged through this Bible study and through my ministry. Let’s grow together.

What to Expect

This six-session Bible study is designed to be used in a group setting, but you may also use it as an individual study tool. It is recommended that you focus on one session per week to receive the greatest benefit in your journey to spiritual growth.

Each session is broken into the following parts:

PREPARING THE FOUNDATION

We’ll begin with an introduction to the session’s topic, followed by a few conversation starters and questions to prepare your