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102 Fascinating Bible Studies: For Personal or Group Use
Whereas the typical Bible study book covers a single topic, 102 Fascinating Bible Studies gives small groups a wealth of options to choose from each week. Today's small groups need guides that allow for flexibility, whether because they are in a temporary transition, their membership is in constant flux, or they are taking a short break between longer studies. 102 Fascinating Bible Studies contains a wealth of diverse topics, ranging from "angels" to "temptation" to "worship." This book is also ideal for individuals looking for a refreshing new devotional guide.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 22, 2006
163 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 13, 2010
This book provides 102 topical Bible studies for small groups. Each Bible study is intended to last for only one session, and the studies can be done in any order. Each study started with some comments by the author. This was followed by 10 Scripture references to look up and about 2-4 questions after each Scripture reference.
The author strongly suggested reading the verses surrounding the given verses so that the reader knew the context. Indeed, sometimes the questions seemed to refer to verses just outside those referenced in the study. The verses were given in order so that they'd be easy to look up, however this sometimes meant that the study jumped around in focus since similar verses weren't grouped together.
The questions he provided will get a discussion going. Many of the questions brought out important points about and had their answers in the verses read. However, more frequently the questions were only lightly connected to the verses and asked questions that the reader would answer with their own opinions. To me, the point of a Bible study is to see what the Bible teaches--God's answers to our questions--so I was a bit disappointed by this.
My overall impression of these Bible studies was of uneven quality. Some studies did a great job of pulling out the verses that gave the "whole Bible" view of the topic and the questions focused on finding what the Bible said on the topic. Others studies skipped what I thought were important verses in favor of others so it gave a slanted view on the topic (like the Angel question section ignored their main role, which is as messengers).
So I like the idea of this book, and I really enjoyed about 35 of the studies. However, I'd recommend that anyone using this book for small group studies look the possible study over for quality before suggesting it to the group.
The topics: Amen, Angels, Anger/Wrath, Antichrist, Baptism, Beatitudes, Bible, Blindness, Blood, Boldness, Cheer/Encourage, Children, Church, Comfort, Ten Commandments, Confession, Conflicts/Strife, Cross of Christ, Death (Physical & Spiritual), Depression/Despair, Discernment/Understanding, Dreams/Visions, Evangelism/Witnessing, Faith, Fasting, Fellowship/Partnership, Fools, Forgiveness, Friends, Fruitful/Fruit, Glory/Glorification, God, Gospel, Government/Civic Life, Grace, Health/Healing, Heaven, Hell, Help, Holy Spirit, Hope, Humility, Hunger/Hungry, Husbands/Marriage, Hypocrisy, Inheritance, Jesus' Humanity, Jesus' Deity, Jesus' Death, Jesus' Resurrection, Jesus' Return, Joy, Judging/Judgment, Justify/Justification, Kingdom of God, Eternal Life, Love, Memory/Remember, Mercy, Miracles, Music/Singing, Patience, Peace, Pleasures, Poverty, Praise, Prayer/Praying, Pride, Prisons, Promises, Reconciliation, Redemption, Repentance, Rest, Rewards, Riches, Saints, Salvation, Sanctification, Satan/Devil, Senior Citizens, Sheep/Shepherds, Sin, Sleep, Spiritual Renewal, Suffering & Pain, Tears/Crying, Temptation, Time, Tithes & Offerings, Tongue/Tongues, Trials/Tribulations, Trinity, Vanity, Voices, War/Warfare, Water, Wisdom, Wives/Marriage, Work/Labor, Worship.
I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.
The author strongly suggested reading the verses surrounding the given verses so that the reader knew the context. Indeed, sometimes the questions seemed to refer to verses just outside those referenced in the study. The verses were given in order so that they'd be easy to look up, however this sometimes meant that the study jumped around in focus since similar verses weren't grouped together.
The questions he provided will get a discussion going. Many of the questions brought out important points about and had their answers in the verses read. However, more frequently the questions were only lightly connected to the verses and asked questions that the reader would answer with their own opinions. To me, the point of a Bible study is to see what the Bible teaches--God's answers to our questions--so I was a bit disappointed by this.
My overall impression of these Bible studies was of uneven quality. Some studies did a great job of pulling out the verses that gave the "whole Bible" view of the topic and the questions focused on finding what the Bible said on the topic. Others studies skipped what I thought were important verses in favor of others so it gave a slanted view on the topic (like the Angel question section ignored their main role, which is as messengers).
So I like the idea of this book, and I really enjoyed about 35 of the studies. However, I'd recommend that anyone using this book for small group studies look the possible study over for quality before suggesting it to the group.
The topics: Amen, Angels, Anger/Wrath, Antichrist, Baptism, Beatitudes, Bible, Blindness, Blood, Boldness, Cheer/Encourage, Children, Church, Comfort, Ten Commandments, Confession, Conflicts/Strife, Cross of Christ, Death (Physical & Spiritual), Depression/Despair, Discernment/Understanding, Dreams/Visions, Evangelism/Witnessing, Faith, Fasting, Fellowship/Partnership, Fools, Forgiveness, Friends, Fruitful/Fruit, Glory/Glorification, God, Gospel, Government/Civic Life, Grace, Health/Healing, Heaven, Hell, Help, Holy Spirit, Hope, Humility, Hunger/Hungry, Husbands/Marriage, Hypocrisy, Inheritance, Jesus' Humanity, Jesus' Deity, Jesus' Death, Jesus' Resurrection, Jesus' Return, Joy, Judging/Judgment, Justify/Justification, Kingdom of God, Eternal Life, Love, Memory/Remember, Mercy, Miracles, Music/Singing, Patience, Peace, Pleasures, Poverty, Praise, Prayer/Praying, Pride, Prisons, Promises, Reconciliation, Redemption, Repentance, Rest, Rewards, Riches, Saints, Salvation, Sanctification, Satan/Devil, Senior Citizens, Sheep/Shepherds, Sin, Sleep, Spiritual Renewal, Suffering & Pain, Tears/Crying, Temptation, Time, Tithes & Offerings, Tongue/Tongues, Trials/Tribulations, Trinity, Vanity, Voices, War/Warfare, Water, Wisdom, Wives/Marriage, Work/Labor, Worship.
I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.
did-not-finish
December 16, 20202020 is the second time I’ve picked this up thinking I would use it for personal devotion time. Either “Amen” (the first study) just falls flat or this is just not for me. I have used it in the past to help me flesh out Wednesday night studies in a small church I served. It worked in that setting when I just picked a word and some of the suggested scriptures. Each study has 10 scripture passages and some questions for each as well as a short write up about the term or concept.
November 8, 2021
This is a starting point for hours of Bible study. By cross referencing the scriptures provided for each topic, one could build a strong understanding of God’s word.
Want to read
March 23, 2023Christ United Methodist Church Bible Study
could-not-finish
July 20, 2015Not what I was hoping for. Questions with no answers. That's sorta the reason I pick up bible study books.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews