Does Your Faith Seem Stuck? Do you ever feel like you're not growing in your faith the way you're supposed to? It turns out, there are forces working against you--threats to your faith--trying to keep you from flourishing in your relationship with God. One of Jesus' parables--in fact, the one that gets the most space on God's sacred pages--deals with this very issue. It's the story about the sower, the seed, and the soil (Matthew 13). Just as a farmer doesn't toss seed on the ground to get rid of it, God never brings you into contact with his Word for no reason. A farmer wants fruit, and God wants to help you experience more joy, peace, love, etc. This book is structured around the six threats Jesus lists in the parable of the sower and the seed--pride, pain, worries, wealth, wants, and not waiting--and the corresponding strategies to overcome them. If you're wondering why your faith isn't working in some aspects of your life, the message of this book may be what you've been looking for. "Mike Novotny is one of those rare writers who is a real joy to read, and his new book, What's Big Starts Small, is no exception. If you've ever struggled with your Christian life or been frustrated with God, this is the book for you."--PHIL COOK, PhD, media producer and author of The Way Back: How Christians Blew Our Credibility and How We Get It Back

In the six-session small group Bible study, God is Closer Than You Think, John Ortberg helps you to discover and enjoy a vibrant, moment-by-moment relationship with God the Father.

Today you can see God in action. Today you can hear God speaking to you. Today you can connect with God heart-to-heart. Today

Intimacy with God can happen right now a closeness you can feel, a reality you can experience for yourself. God is closer than you think, and connecting with him isn t the exclusive domain of monks and ascetics. It s for business people, high school students, busy moms, single men, single women and most important, it s for YOU

In God is Closer than You Think, Ortberg reveals the face of God waiting to be discovered in the complex mosaic of your life. This insightful and impactful small group study will help you:

• Find God where you least expect him
• Listen to God s voice
• Identify which pathway of relationship you re uniquely designed to travel
• Align yourself with the flow of the Holy Spirit
• Draw closer to God even when he seems absent

This Participant Guide is designed for use together with the God Is Closer Than You Think DVD (sold separately) and includes discussion questions for individuals and groups. When used together they provide you with a practical tool than can transform your faith.

Sessions include:

1. God s Great Desire for People
2. Where is God in My World?
3. Partnering with God Today
4. Listening to the Voice of God
5. God Wants a Relationship with You
6. Heaven Breaking Through

Christians taking their first steps of faith, as well as experienced believers reexamining their spiritual foundations, will find wisdom in this study of Philippians and the disciplines of the Christian life. They'll be encouraged to let the cross shape their outlook on suffering, emulate worthy Christian role models, persevere by developing seven virtues, and put the gospel first in all aspects of life.

This is a book about how, on a cosmic and a personal level, darkness gives way to light. It does not sugar-coat the reality of darkness but is full of hope, reminding voyagers that `light shines in the darkness', that darkness is required to perceive light - and that Easter means the light has come, life triumphs, and the promised Holy Spirit will empower us for growth: `eastering' ... These reflective, prayerful poems are `a ticket and passport for a spiritual journey' and can be used in a daily discipline or with groups. `For each traveller I pray journeying mercies,' Bonnie Thurston writes. `And I remind pilgrims: Take heart. He will come.' Having resigned a professorship and chair in New Testament studies, Bonnie Thurston now lives quietly as a solitary near Wheeling, West Virginia, USA, working as a spiritual director and retreat leader and volunteering in a food bank. She is the author of over 20 books. `You are in skilled hands here, so let yourself be carried along, ready to experience delight, or be jarred into discomfort. Above all ponder, weigh, take time. For each poem comes out of the quiet depths of a person who is a fellow pilgrim, illuminating the familiar with her own God-given insight.' - Esther de Waal