While I don't think this material qualifies as a "bible study", I do highly recommend the book "SHAPE" by Eric Rees. Eric is a staff member of Saddleback Church and the book is a great companion to the perennial bestseller, Purpose Driven Life. SHAPE is an acronym for: Spiritual Gifts Heart Abilities Personality Experiences This wonderful book allows you to take your son or daughter onto a great exploration of how God has prepared or equipped him or her for ministry. While you can take nine weeks to cover the book, I recommend you do it in six weeks. What I did with my kids was to sit down with them and explore each of the above topics, a week at a time. What is invaluable about the book is the extensive "suggestions" the author offers to help you consider how you are gifted in each area. You spend about a half hour going over the chapter to understand how the topic is important in understanding the call on your life. Then you read through the lists of possible items that help you identify your giftedness. This is especially encouraging when you do it as a family. Each family member encourages the other on items they see as evident in one another's life. This valuable exercise helps you pinpoint how God has equipped you. The sixth week is an eye opener. We spent that week reviewing the previous five lessons. It was amazing how you clearly began to understand God's calling on your life. For each of us, there was an "aha!" moment when a picture began to form in our mind of the purpose and direction that God might be calling us to. SHAPE is a powerful resource that will help young men and young women to get a better handle on what the future might hold in their life. And during those years when you're making life changing decisions such as where to go to college, what to major in, and where to live - knowing yourself better is an invaluable asset to have.
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Young Men's Bible Studies |
