Nicole Johnson - Fresh Brewed Life: EZ Lesson Plan

Fresh-Brewed
Life
Student's Guide Published by A division of Thomas Nelson Publishers
Copyright 2000 by Thomas Nelson Publishers
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of Thomas Nelson Publishers. Scripture quotations noted NKJV are from The New King James Version, Copyright 1979,1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Printed in the United States of America ISBN 0-7852-9724-3 For Information
Call Thomas Nelson Publishers 1-800-251-4000
www.thomasnelson.com Introduction "And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom," Anais Nin When will you begin living the life you've always wanted to live? When things finally slow down? When you get married, or get the job you've wanted? When you move into your new house or when your husband finally gets that big promotion? When the kids leave for college? Almost every woman I know has a list of reasons that tempt her to wait on life, to postpone her passion, or to put joy on hold until some later time. Well, take a deep breath and look at your calendar. Mark this day.

Make a note of today and say a gentle yes to letting your life begin this very moment. Right now. No more delays. No more excuses. No more waiting on anybody else to do it for you, to get it right, to make you happy, or to finish their work. The time has come for you to tear up that mental list of tempting reasons and wake up to join your life already in progress.

I have written my book, Fresh-Brewed Life, as a journey in nine cups. In this small group study I will only deal with four of those cups. This doesn't mean you'll only wake up halfway-it simply means you have an opportunity to let God begin to stir your soul. I invite you to embark on this journey with your bible, a journal, and a small group that will be your companions along the trip. Coffee is a wonderful metaphor for this study because it's so much more than a beverage, it's an invitation. Getting together for coffee is about spending time together and having good conversation.

So even if you don't like coffee, this study still holds the same promise: wake up to a richer life. I define a fresh-brewed life as "surrendering to God the whole bean essence of who you are, allowing yourself to be finely ground, letting the firey love of God pour over you, releasing from your life the most fragrant aroma possible."
This is your wake up call.
Nicole Johnson, Easter 2000 T en signs you know you need a wake-up call to a fresh-brewed life: 1. You yelled at your minister last Sunday, or ever. 2. You fell asleep at your own party. 3.

You lobby for chocolate to be one of the four food groups. 4. Your husband doesn't want sex, and you're happy about that. 5. You called your best friend and started chatting, and she said, "Who is this?" 6. 7. 7.

Your kids look forward to going to school. 8. Your idea of a good time is a coma. 9. You can't remember your last vacation. 10.

You agreed to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity. Table of ContentsAbout the Author Nicole Johnson is an actress, a television host, and a guest dramatist with the Women of Faith conferences. She has been traveling and performing for over ten years, delighting audiences across America with a lively blend of comedy and drama. Fresh-Brewed LifeVideo NotesReflection and Discussion PSALM 57:8 Awake, my soul!
JOHN 10:10 I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."The mostbeautiful makeupofa womanis passion.Butcosmetics areeasier to buy." Yves St. Laurent Beauty Designed for One What would it take for us to trust that the Lord has gently created each of us to be beautiful in our own way? Not one woman has been overlooked by his delicate gifts. Unfortunately for some women, beauty has become an enemy.

Beauty, or the perceived lack of it, has been the cause of painful rejections, passed over promotions, struggles in marriage, or even self-hatred. Where do most women you know get their images of beauty?What about you? We're scared to try to uncover the beauty within us. Isn't it better, we reason, to dismiss beauty than to try to embrace something that we fear we don't have? Won't we look foolish if we think we are beautiful when we are not? All of these were my thoughts as I began to think about how negative I had become toward beauty. I was so afraid that I didn't have "it" that I rejected it before "it" or anyone could reject me. "Themass mediaoften trivializeour lives and ourachievements,narrowing thelitmus test offemaleworth toone question:Doesshe havedimpledthighs orcrow's feet? If so,onto the trashheap of history." Susan Douglas Think about occasions in your own life when you wereat odds with the world's ideals of beauty. What falseresponses should we avoid? What I missed in this thinking was what a refusal to embrace beauty was doing to me and to my spirit, not to mention what it was doing to those around me.

The more I dismissed beauty as something that belonged to others, the more I rejected opportunities to nurture my own spirit. The more I held my physical appearance at arm's length and tried not to care about it, the more I died on the inside. Do you agree that women are torn over how we seeourselves?If so, what does that do to us inside?"I am beautiful to the one who loves me.' Or 'I will be loved if I am beautiful.' In the gap between. those two statements, thousands of women live in fear and sorrow." Karen Lee-Thorp and Cynthia Hicks Why Beauty Matters