Nicole Unice - The Struggle Is Real Participants Guide: A Six-Week Study

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The Struggle Is Real Participants Guide: A Six-Week Study

Copyright 2018 by Nicole Unice. All rights reserved.

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The author is represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary, Inc.

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If youve picked up this guide, some part of you resonates with the idea that the struggle is real.

At least were starting with honesty!

I dont know what struggle is at the forefront of your mind and heart right now. It might be the struggle between you and someone you love. It might be an unexpected and unwelcome challenge involving your health, job, or finances. It might simply be the struggle to get up every morning, pay the bills, feed the kids, walk the dog, and try to find time to exercise while still making room in your day to do your devotions, love your spouse, and pray with your kids at night. Probably its a deep-down angstthe struggle between your ideal life and your reality. But hey, heres the good news: The struggle most certainly is real, and the struggle can be good.

This participants guide is a companion to the six-session video curriculum The Struggle Is Real DVD Experience. My hope is that youll use both this guide and the video series either on your own for self-study or in a small group, with a book club, or with another circle of friends who want to make sense of their lives in the bigger story of Gods freedom and grace.

Over the next six sessions, well explore how our struggles are part of the bigger story that goes all the way back to Adam and Eveand how we can find Gods wisdom so that we can rewrite that story into a wholehearted life. The study is meant to complement the book The Struggle Is Real. I think youll enjoy these sessions most if you read the book as well, but you can also complete the study using just the participants guide and the video.

My prayer for you over the coming weeks is that you experience the freedom that comes from self-awareness and God-awareness and from recognizing the beautiful way that God meets you in the struggle with His grace, truth, and mercy.

Here are some answers to FAQs to help get you started:

Youll need the Participants Guide and a Bible along with the video sessions. We also recommend The Struggle Is Real book, but it is not required for the study.

The book The Struggle Is Real is like a personal conversation in which I draw from my own life and the lives of others whove shared their stories of coming into wholehearted connection with Christ. This participants guide takes those truths and makes them personal and interactive as we open the Bible together and walk through some life-changing principles. The videos center around a few stories from friends of mine whove experienced what it means to walk in Gods freedom, along with my teaching straight from the Bible, in order to help you understand and apply Gods wisdom and promises to your daily life.

You may choose to read The Struggle Is Real first and then reinforce your learning with the study, or you can read the book as a companion to the study. (At the start of each sessions On Your Own section, I recommend which chapters from the book to read that week.) You can also do the study without reading the book. It is best, however, to use the participants guide with the video, as those two are designed to work together.

The curriculum may be completed on your own or with a group. You may need or want to work through this material independently, and you can certainly do that. In that case, being together will be a conversation between the two of us, as we do the work of inviting God into your story and seeing Him change your perspective as you spend time in His Word.

If you have the opportunity to study this material with otherswhether one friend or a crowd of one hundredI recommend that approach. Ive found that one of Gods greatest gifts is the chance to experience fellowship through the encouragement of being together.

Scripture is clear that we are called to share each others burdens, and that in doing so, we fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). God designed us to grow in community. When we circle up, whether in a group of two or twelve, we are acknowledging that we need one another for faith, for encouragement, and for the accountability needed to live with love and intentionalitynot just for ourselves, but for others.

The book of Hebrews says that we should run the race of life with perseverance because we have such a great cloud of witnesses around us testifying to the love of Christ (see 12:1). Those witnesses include the generations of faithful men and women who have gone before us and the generation we are part of now. That means that your lifethe way God has rescued you from your own sin, the way God can restore and redeem your hardest strugglesis a part of His great and glorious story.

Studying Gods Word with others is a reminder that your connection to Christ is also a connection to other people. Its okay if you feel unsure in your faith. God has given you His Word, a sure and steady anchor. And Hes given you otherspeople you can link arms with to gain the strength and support you need to live boldly into your new story.

Whether youre a veteran small group leader or are ready to jump in with some friends and lead a group for the first time, I want to help! Turn to to access the leaders guide and helpful hints, as well as individual session outlines for each week.