Charles Stanley - Man of God: Leading Your Family by Allowing God to Lead You

Contents

STUDY GUIDE

An Eight-Session Group Leaders Guide

GENERAL PREPARATION

Survey the entire text of both the preceding chapters and this study guide. Underline important passages in the text and make notes as you read. Become familiar with the entire study before you begin. A general knowledge of what is coming up later will enable you to conduct each session more effectively and to keep discussion relevant to the subject at hand. If a group member asks a question that will be considered later in the book, postpone discussion until that time.

Keep in mind that the outline for each session assumes that group members are reading the applicable chapter before each class or group meets.

Add to your teaching notes any material and ideas you think important to your group. As leader, your enthusiasm for the subject and your personal interest in those you lead can determine the interest and response of your group.

We recommend that you plan to use some kind of visual aid, even if you merely jot down answers to group questions on a chalkboard, whiteboard, or pad of paper on an easel. This will impress each point on your group. Then make sure all the necessary equipment or material is on hand before group time.

Encourage group members to bring Bibles or New Testaments to the meetings and use them during the group time.

GETTING STARTED RIGHT

Start on time. This is especially important for the first session for two reasons. First, it will set the pattern for the rest of the course. If you begin the first session late, members will have less reason for being on time to the other sessions. Those who are punctual will be robbed of time, and those who are habitually late will come still later next time. Second, the first session should begin promptly because getting acquainted and introducing the book will shorten your study time as it is.

Begin with prayer by asking the Holy Spirit to open hearts and minds, to give understanding, and to apply the truths that will be studied. The Holy Spirit is the great Teacher. No instruction, however orthodox and carefully presented, can be truly Christian or spiritual without His control.

Involve everyone. The suggested plans for each session provide maximum opportunity for participation for members of your class. This is important because:

1. People are usually more interested if they take part.

2. People remember more of what they discuss together than they do of what they are told by a lecturer.

3. People like to help arrive at conclusions and applications. They are more likely to act on truth if they apply it to themselves than if it is applied to them by someone else.

4. To promote relaxed involvement, you may find it wise to:

a. Ask the group to sit in a circle or semicircle. This arrangement makes group members feel more at home. It will also make discussion easier and more relaxed.

b. Remain seated while you teach (unless the group numbers and/or venue require standing).

c. Be relaxed in your own attitude and manner. Remember that the group is not yours, but the Lords, so dont get tense!

d. Use some means to get the group better acquainted, unless everyone already knows one another. At the first meeting or two, each person could wear a large-lettered name tag. Each person might also briefly tell something about himself or herself and perhaps tell what, specifically, he or she expects to get from this study.

ADAPTING THE COURSE

This material is designed for an eight-week discussion group, but it may be readily adapted to different uses. For a twelve-week quarter, some of the chapters (for example: chapters 2, 3, and 6) can be covered in two weeks, and then a week can be allowed for the group to share what theyve gained from the study and what they hope to do differently going forward. For a weekend retreat, ask group members to read the book ahead of time, and then plan eight forty-five-minute (or four ninety-minute) discussion times.

APPENDIX A

Training Principles from Proverbs

In a notebook or journal, summarize the verse in your own words. Study these passages; then in the conclusions section, list the significant observations or guiding principles you see.

Proverbs 3:12 _________________________________________

Proverbs 13:24 ________________________________________

Proverbs 19:18 73 ________________________________________

Proverbs 22:15 ________________________________________

Proverbs 23:1314 _____________________________________

Proverbs 29:15 ________________________________________

Proverbs 29:17 ________________________________________

CONCLUSIONS:

APPENDIX B

Ephesians 5:2233 Outline

I. Instructions to Wives: Submit (vv. 2224)

A. To Your Own Husbands (v. 22)

B. As to the Lord (v. 22)

C. Rationale for Submission: Headship of Husband (v. 23)

D. As Church Is Subject to Christ (v. 24)

E. In Everything (v. 24)

II. Instructions to Husbands: Love (vv. 2530)

A. How to Love Your Wife

1. As Christ Loved the Church (v. 25)

2. As Christ Gave Himself for the Church (v. 25)

3. As Your Own Bodies (v. 28)

4. As You Nourish and Cherish Your Own Flesh (v. 29)

B. Evidences of Loving Her

1. Sanctifying Her (v. 26)

2. Cleansing Her with Word (v. 26)

3. Presenting Her (v. 27)

a. Without Spot

b. Without Wrinkle

c. Holy

d. Blameless

III. The Making of a Marriage (v. 31)

A. Leave Parents

B. Cleave to One Another

C. Become One Flesh

IV. Marriage Analogy: Christ and the Church (v. 32)

V. Summary of Pauls Instruction (v. 33)

A. To Husbands: Love

B. To Wives: Respect

MAN OF GOD

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance View

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C Cook Distribution Canada

55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5

David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, scanned, resold, or distributed by or through any print or electronic medium without written permission from the publisher. This ebook is licensed solely for the personal and noncommercial use of the original authorized purchaser, subject to the terms of use under which it was purchased. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org.)

LCCN 2013934364

ISBN 978-1-4347-0547-1

eISBN 978-0-7814-0960-5

2013 Charles F. Stanley

First edition published by SP Publications in 1977 Charles F. Stanley. Study Guide first published by SP Publications in 1977 Charles F. Stanley. Second edition published by Victor Books in 1992 Charles F. Stanley.

The Team: Alex Field, Amy Konyndyk, Nick Lee, Caitlyn Carlson, Karen Athen

Cover Design: Brian Fowler

3rd Edition 2013