"For too many years I missed out on the life God had given me to live-to steward-because I was too busy trying to build a life that looked more...perfect." Shauna Niequist invites you to leave behind perfection-seeking and embrace presence as a way of life-free from illusions and soaked in grace. In this five-session video Bible study (DVD/digital video sold separately), New York Times bestselling author Shauna Niequist will take you on the same journey that changed her own life-away from frantic striving and toward a soulful thriving. Maintaining an image of perfection is exhausting, and it isn't the way we're meant to live. The Present Over Perfect Study Guide will help you and your group pull each other free from the constant pressure to perform faster, push harder, and produce more. Watch Shauna give a vulnerable account of what led her to begin this journey, and a compelling vision for an entirely new way to live: soaked in grace, rest, silence, simplicity, prayer, and connection with the people that matter most to us. The study guide includes first thoughts, video notes, group discussion questions, practicing presence reflections, and solo work for you to complete between sessions. Sessions include: Pain Points The Roles We Play Yes, And No Unflashy, Unspectacular, Good Living the Love Designed for use with the Present Over Perfect Video Study 9780310816034 (sold separately).

Building on the solid foundation laid in Becoming a Contagious Christian, Just Walk Across the Room signals the next era in personal evangelism. Pastor Bill Hybels s firm conviction is that the highest value in personal evangelism is being attuned to and cooperative with the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This means playing only the role you are intended to play---walking when the Spirit says to walk, talking when the Spirit says to talk, and falling silent when the Spirit suggests that you ve already said enough. More than two thousand years ago, Jesus himself introduced the perfect model for evangelism. He left the marvelous adoration of the angels and the perfection of heaven, and he chose to walk clear across the cosmos. He had no memorized script, no forced formulas. Instead, he was armed only with an offer of redemption to people just like you and me, many of whom were neck-deep in pain of their own making. Today, the goal for every Christian is to reflect Christ s love and follow his example by taking simple walks across rooms---leaving our circles of comfort and extending hands of care, compassion, and inclusiveness to people living far from God. Hybels encourages Christ-followers to live in 3-D ---developing friendships, discovering stories, and discerning appropriate next steps---as a means of learning to understand the Spirit s promptings. With fresh perspectives from his own reflections and experiences collected during his most recent decade of ministry. Hybels shows with undeniable clarity the power of this approach to evangelism. The stakes are high. The implications are eternal. And you may be only a conversation away from having unparalleled impact on someone s life---if you will just walk across the room."