Monday, November 8, 2010

Introduction - WGPDUT

Welcome to the first week of our online Bible study, "When Godly People Do Ungodly Things" by Beth Moore. I am so happy you have decided to participate. I am confident you will greatly benefit from time spent in the study of God’s word. It is truly an eternal investment. You know the saying, “you can’t take it with you when you go.” Well this is the exception to that rule. This is the stuff that matters both here on earth and eternally. So welcome.

Before we begin, I want to lovingly caution you that online Bible Study can be very difficult to see through to completion. It is one of those things that begin with the best of intentions and end without much thought at all. One of the reasons for this is because there is very little accountability in an online setting. Indeed, I (as the facilitator) am really the only person accountable to make regular posts and stay on schedule with our study. Thus participants in past studies have often gotten behind or altogether lost. Of course, my intention is not to discourage anyone from online study, but to encourage each of you to set your own personal goals that will enable you to succeed. Consider making a personal commitment to post a comment on our group page about what you learn in study each week. Or come up with another way to reward yourself for staying caught up with your weekly assignment. Whatever you do, do not get discouraged if you do fall behind. Bible study (especially online bible study) is difficult for everyone. I want this to be a place of encouragement (not a place of judgment or discouragement). You are loved here - whether you complete on schedule, fall behind, or quit altogether. I do want each of you to succeed, however. So if there is anything I can do to help you to do that, please do not hesitate to ask. I will be sure to pray for you regularly, and would very much appreciate your prayers for me as well.

That being said, let me give you a quick overview of what this online Bible study will entail. We will start each week of study by watching a video of our teacher, Beth Moore. The videos are approximately one hour in length. After viewing the video, we will have five days of homework to complete in our workbooks. Each day of homework will take about 45 minutes to complete. If you are new to Bible study, this may seem like a lot of work. But again, I encourage you to persevere. I have never found the study of God’s word to be a waste of time. To the contrary, it has always proven to be one of the most valuable uses of my time. I am sure that once you get started, you will feel the same.

This week, we’ll be watching the introductory video session. The video response sheet (to be completed while watching the introductory video session) can be found on page 9 of our workbooks. Click the link below to download the introductory video session.

http://www.lifeway.com/product/005093344/?cs=1

Our homework for the week begins on page 11 of our workbooks. Again, the homework is broken down into 5 days that should take about 45 minutes each day to complete. Make every effort to complete this homework before next Monday, when I will post the link for our next video session and discuss some of the things that we will will learn this week.

Okay, so that’s it. Please do not hesitate to ask for help (by private inbox to me, if you prefer) if you find yourself struggling with the homework or anything else. That is why we are studying as a group instead of studying on our own.

Also, please feel free to post any comments and/or prayer requests at any point throughout the week. We will all enjoy and benefit from hearing what you’ve been learning, and it is truly our privilege to lift one another up in prayer.

I can’t wait to get started! So let’s do it.

Your friend, Amy

PS- If at any point any of you are interested in attending the Tuesday night home group study of this same Bible study series, please let me know. We are meeting in the Mickleton, NJ area at 6:15 pm on Tuesday nights, and we would love for you to join us. There is no cost to attend the home group video sessions as a local church (Bethel Baptist Church of Cherry Hill, NJ) has graciously lent our home group the video series. Hope to see you there!

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