Kathie Lee Gifford - The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi Study Guide: Come to the Land Where It All Began

The land that God promised to Abraham and his descendants is a dry, rocky piece of dirt roughly the size of New Hampshire. It has been quarreled over for millennia because it lies on a land bridge linking Asia and Africa, and is thus a key part of the trade route between those two continents. Every time an empire from the Middle East wanted to expand into North Africa (or vice versa), its army had to march through what we call the Holy Land.

Some of the events of the Bible took place outside the Holy Land, but the whole of Jesus earthly life was spent there. So, if we want to understand what His life was about, we are well served to know about the places where He lived and taught and died and rose again. This study aims to bring those places alive in ways that will illuminate the message of the Gospels, the message of Jesus. You will also be discovering the very Jewish background of the Gospels in ways that shed fresh light on the Scriptures. If you think you already know what happened in Bethlehem or Jerusalem, get ready to be amazed!

This guide contains six sessions that accompany the six video teachings. You can meet weekly for six weeks, or proceed at a slower pace if you prefer. Each session contains these sections:

Todays Tour Stop: An introduction to the places you will be exploring in the session.

First Thoughts: An icebreaker that will help you get to know others in your group as you start discussing the sessions theme. After session one, you will also have a chance to share insights you gained from doing the Digging Deeper work between sessions.

Watch the Video: Includes an outline of key thoughts from the video segment, along with space to write your own notes of what stands out to you.

Debriefing the Tour (Group Discussion): Questions for your group to discuss. Youll interact with the Bible, the video, and your own stories.

Trying It Out: A fun and enlightening exercise that lets you do something with what youre learning other than just talking about it.

Thats a Wrap: A summary of the session teachings.

Closing Prayer: An idea for how to guide your group prayer time as you finish your meeting.

Recommended Reading: The chapters in The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi book that correspond to this weeks study.

Digging Deeper: Questions for you to investigate on your own before the next session. Ideally, youll want to do these exercises over several sittings rather than trying to do all of them at one time. The exercises are divided into three days, but you can spread them over more days if you prefer.

For group meetings, you will need a copy of this study guide, a Bible, a pen, and an open heart. For the solo work between meetings, you will need:

A copy of Kathie Lee Giffords and Rabbi Jason Sobels book, The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi: My Journey into the Heart of the Scriptural Faith and the Land Where It All Began

A Bible

A pen

Extra paper or a journal, in case you need more room to express your thoughts

If youre going to do the Trying It Out sections of each session, your group leader will need to plan ahead and bring some materials. The materials for each session are:

Session 1: Cardboard, felt tip pens, white ribbon, tape

Session 2: Paper and pens

Session 3: Paper and felt tip pens or pencils

Session 4: No materials

Session 5: Palm branches or stones the size of paper weights, magic markers

Session 6: Laptop, tablet, or smartphone for internet search

Everything you need to lead your group is right here in this study guide. In each session, watch for the instructions in italics immediately under each section heading. If your group is newly formed, you may find it helpful to go over a few simple ground rules in your first meeting. These can help everyone get the most out of the group experience. For example, most groups are most effective with ground rules like these:

Confidentiality: What someone shares in the group stays in the group and is not repeated to outsiders for any reason.

Active Listening: One of the best gifts you can give each other is your full attention. Listen closely to what others say in your group. Dont be focused on what you can say as soon as someone pauses. Think about what the other person is saying. Dont dominate the discussion.

No Distractions: Silence and put away your phone.

Honesty: Be honest about what you think.

Timeliness: Arrive on time.

Commitment: Try to commit to attending all six sessions of the group. If you cant attend, let the leader know.

As the leader, your primary job is to keep discussions on track with an eye on the clock to be sure you get through the whole session in ninety minutes. You may also need to keep the conversation shared fairly by drawing out quieter members and helping more talkative members to remember that others insights are valued in your group.

It will be helpful if you preview the sessions video teaching segment and then scan the discussion questions that pertain to it, highlighting various questions that you want to be sure to cover during your groups meeting. Ask God in advance of your time together to guide your groups discussion, and then be sensitive to the direction He wishes to lead.

Ask group members to bring their study guide and pen to every meeting. Urge them to consider buying a copy of