Seeds of Hope: A Guide to Growing Your Spiritual Garden

By Doreen Weinberg

Seeds of Hope A Guide to Growing Your Spiritual Garden Our spiritual garden, much like our actual garden, needs the same elements to grow and flourish to reap a bountiful harvest. In this book, you and your small group will learn the basics of growing your spiritual garden and how to pass on the fruits of your labor with others. In the fourteen chapters, you will focus on the key elements of spiritual growth:*

Learn the importance of location, Son-light, choosing the right seeds, staying close to the living water, and choosing the suitable soil for your growth.*    Develop an understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit, the "mulch" in your garden, the instructions in the manual you have been given, which containers are best for optimal growth, and how to nourish and maintain your garden.*

Discover the power and benefits of pruning in your garden and the reasons behind your fallow seasons, those times of rest and regeneration.*    Spread seeds of hope you have developed with those in your Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.This study will walk you through the Bible with examples of how others trusted the Master Gardener and will provide practical ways to grow your spiritual garden. Whether you are a new or seasoned believer, this study will resonate with you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886859492

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Chapter 1: Location, Location, Location

Chapter 2: Son-light

Chapter 3: Choose the Right Seeds

Chapter 4: Stay Close to Water

Chapter 5: Start with Great Soil

Chapter 6: Mulch: Plants' Protective Blanket

Chapter 7: Read the Instructions on the Package

Chapter 8: Consider Containers

Chapter 9: Nourishment Essential for Growth

Chapter 10: Maintaining Your Garden

Chapter 11: The Power of Pruning

Chapter 12: The Fallow Season

Chapter 13: Sharing the Harvest

Chapter 14: Propagation: Spreading the Seeds of Good News

Acknowledgments: Notes

Appendix A: Verse Mapping and Bible Study Methods

Appendix B: Spiritual Gift Inventories

Appendix C: Samaria Opportunities

About the Author

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Seeds of Hope

A Guide to Growing Your Spiritual Garden

Doreen Weinberg

ISBN 979-8-88685-948-5 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88685-949-2 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Doreen Weinberg

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

To my fellow gardeners who have walked alongside me, may your gardens reflect the Master Gardener.

As a student of the Bible and a long-standing member of lady Bible study groups, Sunday school classes, and vacation Bible school, I have spent a better part of my sixty-seven plus years delving into God's Word. As my grandmother would say, I learn something new every day about my Lord. That has undoubtedly been my experience with writing a Bible study. As I prepared for this study, I spent so much time in God's Word. It has been a sweet time of seeking His direction and allowing Him to guide my fingers across the keyboard.

Writing this Bible study began many years ago with a women's prayer breakfast in Stuttgart, Germany. My dear friend Gloria Nwangoro asked me to be one of the speakers, as I was the first lady of Robinson Barracks Chapel. I learned the term first lady was a southern term for the pastor's wife. Her request made me pause.

Before God brought Frank and me together, the thought of being a pastor's wife was so far off my radar that it didn't even register with me. I was twice divorced. Yes, twice. I find it difficult to speak those words, let alone write them. This is occasionally an area of my life that requires all God's grace and mercy. Intellectually, I know God has forgiven me, but my heart and pride bring me to a place of shame and regret.

I felt woefully underqualified, as I considered speaking at this prayer breakfast. I was reminded of Paul's words that God uses the insignificant things in life to show His greatness. And I felt totally insignificant. Could God use me to minister to women in my church or community, knowing I came with considerable baggage? Thankfully, He saw beyond my past and into my future.

The theme of the prayer breakfast was Planting Seeds of Hope. I used Frank's love for gardening as the foundation of my talk. I wondered, How is gardening in the earth's soil like the gardening of our soul's soil? We all want to be seen as worthy and beautiful in the Master Gardener's eyes. Although some of us feel like more weeds than the prized roses, God is a skilled gardener and will plant us where we will bloom. I was blessed and honored to be used by the Master Gardener in sharing His grace and mercy in my life with the ladies in attendance. Though that prayer breakfast took place about ten years ago, the seeds for this study had been planted in my heart and would one day bloom.

In 2020, the year of COVID, the Lord placed starting a Bible study on my heart. We had just moved from Carson City, Nevada, to The Villages, Florida, which meant my local circle of friends was very limited. With all the restrictions placed on us, we couldn't go to church in person. However, I needed the contact and fellowship of other women. It is incredible how God can use what we have and our willingness to follow His lead to propel us in His direction. I asked a few friends and my older sister if they were interested in an online Bible study that we could do together. One thing led to another. And our weekly online/Zoom Bible study started with two friends, a sister-in-law, and two sisters. We have been meeting weekly for almost three years and have no desire to discontinue this blessed time together.

At the closure of our study in March of 2021, I found my speech, Planting Seeds of Hope, I had written for the prayer breakfast in a Bible of Frank's. It possibly was the one I carried to that very breakfast so many years ago. Its theme went along with the study my online group had just finished, so I shared it with them. As I finished reading it, my friend Luci said, Go, Beth Moore! She encouraged me, You will write a Bible study! I immediately resisted, saying, Oh no, I couldn't. God began to work in my heart and tended to the seed He planted, and in time it grew to this study today. As God would have it, His timing is always impeccable.

I am reminded of a hanging floral basket that Frank bought and placed on the side of the house where it got sun throughout the day. After a few days, we noticed it was beginning to stress under the heat. Its leaves and blossoms were wilted and burnt by the intense heat. I thought it was too far gone, and I would have thrown it out, but Frank saw beyond its condition and moved it into the lanai where it could recover. He cleaned it up, took off the dead parts, and gave it ample water and light. And it began to blossom again.

Now, it thrives in a place where it gets the right amount of sunlight. Isn't this what God does with us? When we or the world thinks we are too broken to keep, to be useful, God, the Master Gardener, comes in and tends to our every need and gives us new life. He has done that for me; His love for me saw beyond my brokenness. For all who take part in this journey with me, allow God to tend to your hearts, and I promise you will grow and bloom into the person He has created you to be.

This study focuses on Christian growth and addresses the needs of new believers as well as mature believers. Each chapter looks at a different aspect of our spiritual growth process. The format of this study allows you to work at your own pace through each weekly chapter. It can be completed as a personal Bible study or in small groups. You will need a Bible (traditional or a Bible app) and a desire to grow.

There is a Digging Deeper section at the end of each chapter, for those who wish to spend a little more time with the Master Gardener. This section varies in length and time required to complete. I love music as a form of worship, so I have included a playlist of songs that I felt went along with each chapter. All the songs can be seen or heard on YouTube or another streaming music service.

My prayer for you is simple: grow in the rich soil of the Master's garden, soak in His water, bask in the Son-light, take in His nutrients, and bless the lives of others through what you have been taught.

Being a Christian is a lot like being a pumpkin.

The Master Gardener picks you from His patch.

He brings