Materials Included • 5 Sessions of Learner’s Materials  • 5 Sessions of Bible Commentary  • 5 Sessions of Teaching Materials  Scriptures 1. Esther 2:1-18 2. Esther 3:1-15 3. Esther 4 4. Esther 5:1-8; 7:1–8:2 5. Esther 8:3–9:3, 26-28 Brief Description Some five centuries before Christ, the biblical narrative travels east, out of Israel to the kingdom of Persia—modern-day Iran. King Ahasuerus, or Xerxes, ruled the Middle East and the Persian Gulf at the apex of world domination. God’s people, the Jews, were in exile, yanked violently away from their homeland. There, in a foreign land, one of the great stories of Jewish deliverance unfolds, precipitated by a beautiful young woman named Esther. The account that bears Esther’s name is one of the more enigmatic books of the Old Testament. Once part of the Kethubim or “miscellaneous writings” of Judaism, it was one of the last books admitted into the canon of Scripture, and only then with editorial adjustment. Why the delay? First, a clear candidate for authorship has never emerged. More importantly, God is not mentioned anywhere in the entire volume. This is a unique characteristic of Esther when compared to the other biblical writings. Nevertheless, this appears to be the author’s intent, whoever he or she may have been: invoked or not invoked, God is present. The book of Esther is not a record of historical facts as such. Rather, it is a magnificent narrative that refuses to interpret life as being driven by coincidence or happenstance. While the silence of God is all too normative for life, this does not mean God is not nearby or actively at work behind the scenes. In the otherwise unknown characters of Esther, Haman, and Mordecai, we trace the movement of the divine hand as God collaborates with God’s risk-taking people to rescue them from the hand of their enemies. At the conclusion of the book of Esther, the reader is introduced to the Jewish festival of Purim. This was a national celebration honoring the Jewish deliverance from extermination. The word Purim means “chance” or “lot”: the rolling of the dice. Yet, this escape from destruction was not the accomplishment of a lucky political wager. It was through the providence of God and the courage of the Jewish queen Esther. A part of the NextSunday Resources line of adult Bible studies, The Book of Esther contains five lessons for use as individual study or group discussion. Each study contains lessons on the biblical material, combined with an additional commentary from an alternate, but complementary, viewpoint. Free teaching materials available online at NextSunday.com.

Approaching a Missional Mindset

Religion & Spirituality

Prosser, Bo

Cartledge, Tony

Christian Books & Bibles

NextSunday Resources

Periodically, a new program appears calling individuals to a deeper commitment to Christ. Generally, these programs suggest some form of accountability for practicing the spiritual disciplines. Throughout the centuries—from the Desert Fathers to the Spiritual Disciplines of St. Ignatius to the eight-point record system of 1950s Sunday schools to the contemporary practices of Richard Foster—this call to a deeper spiritual life has been part of a Christian’s journey. Currently, people are expressing renewed interest in spiritual direction, a process through which a trained director helps a seeker discern the ways of the Spirit. The director often guides the seeker to the classical spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines affect both the inner and outer life. The inner disciplines include prayer and meditation, fasting, Bible study and devotional reading, silence and solitude, and the practice of taking a moral inventory. The outer disciplines include worship and praise, fellowship, missions, ministry, service, and the giving of one’s resources. These disciplines help deepen a believer’s faith and increase his or her intimacy with Christ. We practice them to approach wholeness and health and experience our salvation more fully. Through the disciplines, we learn to walk in fellowship with Christ, who transforms us. Then, as a natural outcome, we extend that love into the world. God issues the call to a deeper life in a variety of ways, but however we receive the call, the purpose of the disciplines is to help us “follow God more nearly, know God more clearly, and love God more dearly ” (Richard of Chichester). In this unit, we take a deeper look at some of the disciplines and consider their practice as a response to God’s love. “Richard of Chichester,” bartleby.com,  (18 December, 2002).

Spiritual Disciplines: Obligation or Opportunity?

Miley, Jeanie

Sherman, Cecil

“Facing Life’s Challenges” is the common thread that binds the next four sessions. These Bible Study sessions explore four significant challenges common to most persons of faith. They are challenges faced by every generation of believers. First, is the challenge of new light. What do we do when we see new light on old truth? Do we close our eyes and pretend not to see, or do we follow new light into the pain and joy of growing and changing? In the second lesson, we face the challenge of time’s limits. We will not live on this planet forever. There is a limit to the time of our lives. Parents are aging. Children are growing. The years are passing. How can we best live each of our days, keeping in mind that any one of our days could be our last? The third challenge is the formidable task of living with mystery. Tragedy, suffering, and pain leave us struggling to understand the incomprehensible and inexplicable mystery of life. Real spiritual maturity means being at home with mystery and choosing silence over inadequate explanations. The last of the four challenges is the endeavor of authentic spirituality. Is there an authentic Christ-centered spirituality for sincere followers of Jesus who don’t feel at home with self-righteous hyperreligion, on the one hand, or cool nonchalance, on the other? These four challenges are a quartet of difficult issues—neither simple nor easy to ponder. Consider them in the light of the Scriptures and in the spirit of Christ our Lord.

Facing Life's Challenges

Poole, Charles E.

Even in the midst of difficult circumstances, Advent is a time when we can find hope. Much like today, people in the 1st century church also faced struggles. Matthew’s words to the young church were words of hope. They were reminded that Jesus was born into a world of turmoil. But Matthew’s story also reminded his readers that, through the Messiah, God brought hope to these people. We are reminded that God, through Christ, brings us hope as well. In the first session, we will explore our own anxious waiting for the Messiah’s appearance. Session two will guide us in preparation for the coming Messiah. Session three asks, “What if Jesus doesn’t meet our expectations?” In the fourth session, we focus on our responses to the announcement of Christ’s coming, before the final session leads us to hope in the Christ child’s arrival. NextSunday Resources provides adult Bible studies on a wide range of topics, all of which are useful for individual or group study. A printed Study Guide offers four, five or six lessons with in-depth commentary and Bible background material. A free, downloadable Teaching Guide features a wealth of options, questions and ideas for teaching each lesson.

Christ is Born!

Smith, LaWanda

When the Ten Commandments are in the news, it is usually because a judge or teacher has hung them up on the walls. The Ten Commandments do not need to be posted or even preached nearly so much as they need to be practiced. They need to be taken down from the wall and talked about, defended as well as debated, but most of all, they need to be taken seriously. Then, rather than seeing them as tokens, insults, or negative "thou-shalt-nots," we will view them as life-giving, joyful affirmations of a better way of life. NextSunday Resources offers Bible studies designed to help adults study Scripture seriously within the context of the larger Christian tradition and, through that process, find their faith renewed, challenged, and strengthened. We study the Scriptures because we believe they affect our current lives in important ways. Inside, you’ll find a Study Guide and a Commentary for each Lesson.

The Ten Commandments

Younger, Brett

Easter Confessions

May, David M.

Materials Included • 4 Sessions of Learner’s Materials • 4 Sessions of Teaching Materials • 4 Sessions of Bible Background Sessions Included 1. History and Decision-Making 2. Lifestyle and Decision-Making 3. Leadership and Decision-Making 4. Process and Decision-Making Scriptures 1. Acts 1:15-26 2. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 3. Acts 9:26-30 4. Acts 15:1-35 Brief Description One needs only to eavesdrop on conversations in church parking lots, hallways and classrooms to know that an array of decisions draw energy and time from church members. These decisions may be theological in nature, concerning the ordination of women, mode of baptism, or style of worship. Then again, these decisions also could concern aesthetic matters, such as the color of the sanctuary carpet or choir robes. Other decisions may be functional in nature: the selection of a new minister or the purchase of property. And of course, there is always the looming decision that must be made by every family every Sunday: Where do we eat lunch? Over the course of sessions, this study will consider how the church has made its decisions in the past. Within these biblical stories will not be found any secret formulas, foolproof techniques, or even suggestions for where to eat lunch. No one story will provide the key to a smooth decision-making process in your own life or the life of your church. But each story will offer its own unique perspective on what your church’s intentional and unintentional decision-making processes might look like. A part of the NextSunday Resources line of adult Bible studies, How Does the Church Decide? contains four lessons for use as individual study or group discussion. Each study contains lessons on the biblical material, combined with an additional commentary from an alternate, but complementary, viewpoint.

How Does the Church Decide?

Dant, James C.

Let’s admit that being Christian is not easy. We encounter temptations of one sort or another at every turn. We are disappointed by people who hurt us. The Scriptures teach us that Jesus was completely human and subject to the same temptations and frustrations common to all of us; yet, he remained sinless. He was surrounded by bumblers and opposed by the power structures, but he never gave up on them or his mission. What was his secret? We want to say his divinity made the difference, because then we would have an excuse for our failures. Yet no such claims are found in the Scriptures. I would like to propose that Jesus’ secret was a life of prayer.  Prayer was essential in Jesus’ life. Through prayer, he achieved a unity of action and purpose with God. His longing to know the mind and feel the heart of God drove him to open his life to God through prayer. Luke’s portrait of Jesus reveals one whose thoughts, words, and actions were born out of prayer. Jesus taught his disciples to pray and urged them to be persistent. Prayer, he taught them, was the way of the Kingdom of God.  The study of Jesus’ prayer life can deepen our own prayer practices. Jesus prayed because he believed God loved him and wanted to share in his life. He found his identity in God; the more Jesus prayed, the more he understood God and himself. The study of Jesus’ prayer life reveals to whom we pray, how to pray, when to pray, and what to expect from prayer.  As a result of these studies, we may find ourselves more comfortable with establishing a prayer lifestyle. The struggles of Jesus in prayer may give us courage to struggle with God. Prayer shaped the life and mission of Jesus, and it can shape the life and mission of the church.  These five sessions examine the importance of prayer at various stages of Jesus’ life and ministry. He made no important decisions without consulting God. Jesus’ human relationships and actions were all shaped by a sense of God’s presence. As we study the lifestyle of Jesus, we may discover a lifestyle that will allow God to bring to completion the good work among us which God began in Jesus (Phil 3:6). Jesus’ life of prayer, always in harmony with God’s purpose for humanity, put him at the center of the Kingdom of God.  NextSunday Resources provides adult Bible studies on a wide range of topics, all of which are useful for individual or group study. A printed Study Guide offers four, five or six lessons with in-depth commentary and Bible background material. A free, downloadable Teaching Guide features a wealth of options, questions and ideas for teaching each lesson.

The Prayer Life of Jesus

Bailey, Raymond

Materials Included  • 4 Lessons of Learner’s Materials  • 4 Lessons of Teaching Materials  • 4 Lessons of Bible Background  Sessions Included 1. The Fuel-efficient Church 2. The True Meaning of Life 3. What's In It For Me? 4. Giving That Should Hurt  Scriptures  1. 1 Corinthians 12:7-26  2. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20; Hebrews 13:1-6  3. 2 Corinthians 9:6-15; Philippians 4:14-19  4. Luke 21:1-4  Brief Description  Great News! Stewardship is not about money! At least not just about money. Certainly, stewardship relates to money, and, yes, we need to tithe. However, stewardship branches out into multiple areas of life. Properly practiced, this act of service can lead to peace and purpose in living.  Each day, millions of people try diligently to control their lives. They plan, implement, scheme, invest, position themselves, and plunge forward in life. However, while planning is necessary, none of us can control all the aspects of our lives. This unit of study concentrates on the scope of stewardship. We will address the topic of money and sacrificial giving because it is an aspect of stewardship, but we will also consider how stewardship of our spiritual gifts contributes to God’s kingdom and to personal contentment.  Stewardship is a beautiful requirement for the Christian that can make a difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us. God desires a stewardship life for us. When we are ready to accept the call, God will provide the strength to serve. NextSunday Resources provides adult Bible studies on a wide range of topics, all of which are useful for individual or group study.  A printed Study Guide offers four, five or six lessons with in-depth commentary and Bible background material. A free, downloadable Teaching Guide features a wealth of options, questions and ideas for teaching each lesson.

Stewardship: A Way of Living

McCullar, Michael

Galatians: Freedom in Christ

Olson, Mark J.

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the NextSunday Resources publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by NextSunday Resources