Welcome to the first week of our online Bible study, "Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman" 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 (or remind you, if you have studied in an online format before) 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. Kristin (who joins us again in this study) did this every week during our last study and it seemed to work well for her. It also served to encourage me very much in my own commitment to see that study through to the end. Of course, you are free to come up with other ways to keep yourself accountable and to reward yourself for staying caught up with your weekly assignments. But 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 viewer guide (to be completed while watching the introductory video session) can be found on pages 8 and 9 of our workbooks.
*** PLEASE NOTE: The Lifeway website has CHANGED! To order the “introduction” video, click the link below THEN you must choose the box that says “Introduction” in the section that says “Select Session Number.” I cannot send you a direct link to buy the introduction video for some reason with the format of the new website. ***
http://www.lifeway.com/Product/esther-its-tough-being-a-woman-video-sessions-M00000120#
(You may need to copy and past the above link into your web browser).
Our homework for week one begins on page 10 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 Tuesday, when I will post the link for our next video session and discuss some of the things that we learned 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! Let’s get to it!
Your friend, Amy
1 comment:
Okay so I downloaded week 1 instead of intro, so I'm both behind and ahead.. lol. I finished my homework, about to watch the intro. I was excited to do the Bible study, but not that excited about Esther. First, I somehow filled in the blanks of everything I'd been taught to think women didn't really matter as much as guys and their main job was too listen, so I didn't think it would be all that interesting. I was so wrong. It 's super exciting to know that not only are women so important but that one could affect so much. Really changing my outlook already. And I guess I knew Esther was in the Bible but never really knew she was an actual Book, so I love how this book is written and the story behind it. Very interesting, and maybe had I learned this stuff instead of hearing the same stories over and over I might have been more interested in church when I was younger... Very cool study so far!
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