Thessalonians Words Challenge

July 6 - August 5, 2020

It's been a while since I did a summer Words Challenge and the time just felt right to take one on. A friend at church asked me to do a Bible study with her this summer to help refresh her memory on study methods as well as to keep her accountable in the Word. So, since I am doing that study I thought I would turn it into a Words Challenge as well!

We will use 31 significant words to guide us through 1 & 2 Thessalonians from July 6 - August 5. In these two letters Paul writes to Christ-followers who are struggling to hold onto their faith in a time of great trial and suffering. He uses these letters to help encourage them to focus on Jesus and the hope of His return as an anchor during the trials they face. He calls them to a right perspective about how to live life as Christ-followers while holding onto the hope of Christ. Fitting topics for us in our current times while we live through a pandemic. May we also find encouragement for our faith from Paul's letters to the Thessalonians.

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The words of this challenge will provide us with opportunities to dig deeper into these books and inspiration to express what we discover through art journaling or other creative practices. That's my whole desire for Words Challenges. Daily devotions will be posted here on my blog and you can share your art and insights in a private Facebook group, while building community with others who enjoy Bible study and art. To join the Facebook community click the link here or on the button in the side bar.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wordschallengegroup/

With this Words Challenge I would also like to challenge anyone who is up for it to go deeper than simply reading my Bible Study Devotions. I have created a page with my Bible study tips and techniques. I would love it if you joined me in studying these letters as we go through the challenge. I have morphed together my own style of doing an inductive style discovery study and I will post different tools I use as the challenge progresses. Why not follow along! The Bible Study Tips and Techniques page can be found here or you can access it through the menu at the top of the page. I love to study the Bible and to teach others to study it as well. True spiritual transformation comes as we intimately connect with God through His Word and His Spirit, yet many Christ-followers are intimidated by study skills or feel they need seminary degrees to wade through study resources. This was not God's plan! We need to know how to study the Word of God for ourselves. How else can we grow deeply and understand how to live as a Christ-follower? How else can we know how to identify false teaching?  I have already loaded the first two pages of tips and techniques to get you started in advance. You may already know how to use the inductive study method, if so, join me in this study with your preferred method and give my techniques a try as well if you like.

Below is the calendar for the Words Challenge. Each word has a theme verse. Use these verses or content from your study to help you respond creatively. Creative responses can be anything you choose - art journal, collage, photography, poetry, Bible journaling, visual study pages...anything you choose! Taking what we have read or studied and adding a creative response is a way to meditate on the word - we take it from our minds to our hearts and our hands and visually express it to the world!

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