Anders Max E. - What You Need to Know About Spiritual Growth in 12 Lessons: The What You Need To Know Study Guide Series

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
S PIRITUAL
GROWTH
IN 12 LESSONS

MAX ANDERS

1997 by Max Anders

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible , 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

Scripture quotations identified by NASB are from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, by the Lockman Foundation, and used by permission.

Scripture quotations identified by NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version , 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society, and used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations identified by PHILLIPS are from The New Testament in Modern Speech: Revised Edition , 1972 by Macmillan, and used by permission.

Scripture quotations from The Holy Bible, New Century Version copyright 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, Dallas, Texas, and used by permission.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Anders, Max E., 1947
Spiritual growth/by Max Anders.
p. cm.(What you need to know about) Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 978-0-8407-1936-2
1. Spiritual lifeChristianity. 2. Spiritual formation.
I. Title. II. Series.
BV4501.2.A4555 1997
248dc21

97-8578
CIP

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 802 01 00 99 98 97

Contents

Part One:
Understanding Spiritual Growth

Introduction to the
What You Need to Know Series

You hold in your hands a tool with enormous potentialthe ability to help ground you, and a whole new generation of other Christians, in the basics of the Christian faith.

I believe the times call for just this tool. We face a serious crisis in the church today... namely, a generation of Christians who know the truth but who do not live it. An even greater challenge is coming straight at us, however: a coming generation of Christians who may not even know the truth!

Many Christian leaders agree that todays evangelical church urgently needs a tool flexible enough to be used by a wide variety of churches to ground current and future generations of Christians in the basics of Scripture and historic Christianity.

This guide, and the whole series from which it comesthe What You Need to Know series, can be used by individuals or groups for just that reason.

Here are five other reasons why we believe you will enjoy using this guide:

1. It is easy to read .

You dont want to wade through complicated technical jargon to try to stumble on the important truths you are looking for. This series puts biblical truth right out in the open. It is written in a warm and friendly style with even a smattering of humor here and there. See if you dont think it is different from anything you have ever read before.

2. It is easy to teach.

You dont have time to spend ten hours preparing for Sunday school, small group, or discipleship lessons. On the other hand, you dont want watered down material that insults your groups intellect. There is real meat in these pages, but it is presented in a way that is easy to teach. It follows a question-and-answer format that can be used to cover the material, along with discussion questions at the end of each chapter that make it easy to get group interaction going.

3. It is thoroughly biblical.

You believe the Bible, and dont want to use anything that isnt thoroughly biblical. This series has been written and reviewed by a team of people who are well-educated, personally committed Christians who have a high view of Scripture, and great care has been taken to reflect what the Bible teaches. If the Bible is unambiguous on a subject, such as the resurrection of Christ, then that subject is presented unambiguously.

4. It respectfully presents differing evangelical positions.

You dont want anyone forcing conclusions on you that you dont agree with. There are many subjects in the Bible on which there is more than one responsible position. When that is the case, this series presents those positions with respect, accuracy and fairness. In fact, to make sure, a team of evaluators from various evangelical perspectives has reviewed each of the volumes in this series.

5. It lets you follow up with your own convictions and distinctives on a given issue.

You may have convictions on an issue that you want to communicate to the people to whom you are ministering. These books give you that flexibility. After presenting the various responsible positions that may be held on a given subject, you will find it easy then to identify and expand upon your view or the view of your church.

We send this study guide to you with the prayer that God may use it to help strengthen His church for her work in these days.

The books in this series are written so that they can be used as a thirteen-week curriculum, ideal for Sunday school classes or other small-group meetings. You will notice that there are only twelve chaptersto allow for a session when you may want to do something else. Every quarter seems to call for at least one different type of session, because of holidays, summer vacation, or other special events. If you use all twelve chapters, and still have a session left in the quarter, have a fellowship meeting with refreshments, and use the time to get to know others better. Or use the session to invite newcomers in hopes they will continue with the course.

All ten books in the series together form a Basic Knowledge Curriculum for Christians. Certainly Christians would eventually want to know more than is in these books, but they should not know less. Therefore, the series is excellent for seekers, for new Christians, and for Christians who may not have a solid foundation of biblical education. It is also a good series for those whose biblical education has been spotty.

Of course, the books can also be used in small groups and discipleship groups. If you are studying the book by yourself, you can simply read the chapters and go through the material at the end. If you are using the books to teach others, you might find the following guidelines helpful:

Teaching Outline

1. Begin the session with prayer.

2. Consider having a quiz at the beginning of each meeting over the self-test from the chapter to be studied for that day. The quiz can be optional, or the group may want everyone to commit to it, depending on the setting in which the material is taught. In a small discipleship group or one-on-one, it might be required. In a larger Sunday school class, it might need to be optional.

3. At the beginning of the session, summarize the material. You may want to have class members be prepared to summarize the material. You might want to bring in information that was not covered in the book. There might be some in the class who have not read the material, and this will help catch them up with those who did. Even for those who did read it, a summary will refresh their minds and get everyone into a common mind-set. It may also generate questions and discussion.

4. Discuss the material at the end of the chapters as time permits. Use whatever you think best fits the group.