Six studies showing you the difference between genuine and fake faith—and how real Christianity makes a real difference.
Part of the Good Book Guides series.
Many churches, and many believers, long for a deeper, more whole-hearted Christian life. But what does that look like? James wrote his letter to show us.
This deeply practical book of the Bible shows us what genuine faith looks like. These six sessions will reveal to groups and individuals how to experience joy in hardships, patience in suffering, and whole-heartedness in how you speak, act and pray.
For use with groups or individuals. Leader's Guide included. Can be used alongside Sam's James For You expository guide.
Introduction
Why study James?
Timeline
1. Joy in trials (1 v 1-18)
2. Listen well (1 v 19 - 2 v 13)
3. Faith works (2 v 14-26)
4. Tongues on fire (3 v 1-18)
5. How to come back to God (4 v 1-12)
6. Wisdom in planning, patience in suffering (4 v 13 - 5 v 20)
Leader's Guide
| Contributors | Sam Allberry |
|---|---|
| ISBN | 9781910307816 |
| Format | Paperback |
| First published | September 2015 |
| Dimensions | 140mm x 210mm x 4.5mm |
| Weight | 0.11 kg |
| Print size | 9.0pt |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 80 |
| No. of studies | 6 |
| Publisher | The Good Book Company |
The Good Book Guides have been developed to ensure that each session not only seeks to uncover the meaning of the passage and see how it fits into the big picture of the Bible, but also leads people to apply what they have learnt to their lives. Flexible and practical, the Good Book Guides are ideal for small groups, or individual study.
Excellent small group study. Good discussion questions and added information. I appreciated the leader's guide section as well. Used this study in our Growth Group ministry with 6 groups and 50 people.
We are a small group of ladies who have enjoyed numerous studies but this one has had a huge impact on us. Everyone should do this study, it maps out everything one needs to know about whether their walk with Christ is genuine or not.
The book is direct and honest, we have truly enjoyed it.
We have begun this study in our house group. We thought it suitable to coordinate with sermon series on distinctives. And it does do that from a slightly different angle. Helpful but we have tended to take a long time; I guess the questions have been rightly provocative!
I bought this book along with it's companion book, James for you, by the same author. They are absolutely wonderful! I am re reading the chapters to absorb the wonderful exposition of this letter from James, which I have found difficult to understand in the past. It is not a study to rush through. Often I have had to stop, search my heart and ask myself tough questions. Highly recommended.
We used the guide in our church house groups where ages ranged from 18 to elderly and all found the book to be a great basis to begin looking at the book of James. The questions were thought provoking and prompted further discussion ( and the additional information/answers at the back of the book proved very helpful)
I test-ran these Bible study notes for James’ epistle in a regular meet-up I have with one of the guys from our church. We meet for an hour in a coffee shop in the morning on a weekly basis before work. As a result, we need a study that is user-friendly, because we need to get down to business and have a limited time window. Sam Allberry’s James Genuine Faith fits this bill in most ways.
One thing that I like about this set of Bible study notes is that they are laid out in a logical way—with questions that follow the Bible verse by verse. This verse by verse approach is useful because it directs the reader to get their noses into the bible text. Also, the discussion questions that are provided are clearly written and don’t require any deciphering. I also like that the application questions were insightful and helped us to think of specific ways we might change our thinking or behaviour in response to God’s word.
These notes are also helpful because they are laid out to make them easy to use. Within the studies there are helpful additions including: a Bible timeline that places the book of James within its context, inset panels that define technical and theological terms and suggestions for further reading. Finally, the leaders’ notes at the back (ie the leaders cheat sheet) are really helpful. Not just because these notes model the ‘right’ answers, but also because they help a leader to anticipate how each question might direct discipleship conversations.
The only minor critique I have of these notes is that it was difficult to fit each study into just an hour. We managed okay by dividing the studies over two weeks, so it definitely was not a deal breaker. All in all this is a solid set of notes and I would recommend them.
I was given this book free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
