Faith Limps: Trusting a Good God in a Broken World | New from Lifeway
Spent some time this weekend with a relatively new study from LifeWay. Faith Limps: Trusting God in a Broken World, featuring Michael Kelley, is DVD-driven study that will help your group members wrestle with some of life’s most challenging questions.
There are several very important aspects to Faith Limps. First of all, the back story of this DVD-driven study is very compelling. As told in Michael Kelley’s 2012 Wednesday’s Were Pretty Normal, the teaching in this study is very personal. Kelley’s understanding of the biblical concepts became very personal when his young son Joshua was diagnosed with leukemia. The journey of the next long season became practical theology.
The DVD sessions are pitched just right. More slice of life than talking head, the sessions are captivating and at about 10 minutes long, they do a great job of setting up a very good discussion.
Along with the DVD, a companion member book includes a set of getting started questions, room to take notes on the DVD segment, a walking on section with questions for discussion, and a short reading. Just enough to provide the foundation a leader needs to wrestle with this kind of topic.
In addition, the member book includes a very reasonable set of daily devotionals for each week. While not too challenging in terms of the time investment, these daily exercises are very practical and will help members dive in to a study that will help ground their faith.
As I worked my way through the study, the practical application of Faith Limps was very evident. Without prompting, the faces and stories of people of faith that I’ve known over the years quickly came to mind. This study has the potential to help many people take very productive faith steps. Still, there are a couple aspects that should be noted. First, there isn’t a leader’s guide. A simple study, that shouldn’t be an issue for most experienced leaders. If you have a newer leader, you might need to provide a little help. Second, there are a few times when Kelley’s language and terminology assumes a little more biblical knowledge than I’d prefer. At the same time, for many, if not most small group leaders this will not even be noticed.
If you’re looking for a resource that builds faith even when faith limps…this is a great study and ought to be on your recommended list. I really found it very compelling and I think you will too.
