A RENOVAR resource for spiritual renewal--This beginning workbook for Spiritual Formation Groups features guidelines for starting up, study plans for the first eight sessions, and a questionnaire that helps map the way ahead.

Customer Rating:
Summary: The Best Small Group Model Around
Comment: What separates this small group guide from others is that it provides a framework for all future groups that actually contains concrete paths to real character transformation. That framework has some key components: (1) An emphasis on trying spiritual exercises in your everyday life, with plenty of ideas for exercises provided; (2) An emphasis on growing toward a balanced spiritual life, centered around 6 areas of spirituality: personal prayer, holiness, interaction with the Holy Spirit, compassion for others, gospel knowledge/sharing, and interweaving the sacred into the secular life; (3) Seeking spiritual growth in partnership with other believers who will encourage and listen to one another; (4) A non-judgmental, non-legalistic attitude.

The content of the studies is solid, based on the life of Jesus as He modeled for us the 6 areas of spiritual life. There are also well-thought out discussion questions that allow for deep reflection. There is virtually no prep time because each session is read through and discussed together.

I am currently going through this study for the second time with a larger group (15-25), and it works well even in the larger context, especially when we break up into smaller groups for some segments. I have heard from several people how great this study is. I believe that if churches used a framework like this one for their small groups, the Church of Jesus Christ would see an astonishing amount of fruit that would surprise the world.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great exploration with little planning
Comment: I've worked as a small group minister for years now, and I feel that this workbook is excellent for starting a group of established Christians. Each discussion is clearly mapped out with leader's instructions in the margins. Through the course six different aspects or facets of Jesus are presented, and almost no one is intimately familiar with all six, so it stands to minister to long time church goers. But the new Christian will be strengthened too.
Other Christian authors are writing about Jesus as presented by various denominations (like Brian McLaren and Philip Yancey)but this little book is very easy to use for generating discussions.
What I found most important is that each section ends with several exercises or disciplines to practice in the time between sessions. Group members will surely experience spiritual growth if they practice the disciplines.
Lastly, it ends with an invitation to continue on as a group, using what has been learned through the study as a format for continued group life.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Educational and edifying ....
Comment: This is a great resource for bringing more balance into your life. The book describes six ways of meeting God - Holiness, Charismatic, Contemplative, Social Justice, Incarnational, and Evangelical - and sometimes these words don't mean what you think they mean. The authors encourage the reader to broaden their relationship with and vision of God, and for me, I was able to see God working more powerfully, and in many more ways, than before.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Great Start
Comment: I purchased several of these books to lead a spiritual formation group in my parish. The book has helped my people share their faith and their struggles in that faith. It has also introduced them to the concept of accountability, which is always good.

The only problem that I encountered is the tremendous amount of oral reading required for each lesson. Some of my folks are self-conscious about their reading skills and as you take turns reading, it can be laborioius. Other than that, I would highly recommend this workbook to anyone wanting to go deeper in their spiritual life.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Guide for Streams of Living Water
Comment: Adding in the how to the why. This book is a great handbook to go along with Streams of Living Water.

Streams is a book that takes about the different "streams" of Christianity and provides references and information on those different streams.

This handbook brings out the how of each stream. Each chapter deals with a different stream and how to practice that stream. There are real live applications for you to use to become better immersed in the particular stream.

This is a great book for someone who is working on the spiritual formation and needs help in the direction of figuring it out. This is also a useful guide for a small group or Sunday School class who wants to review the history of the church and the many streams that make it up.

I really enjoyed the Charismatic stream and what it had to offer in terms of understanding spiritual gifts and also fruits of the harvest.

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