There’s a portion of our Bibles that many of us have never read. It’s not that we don’t think they’re important, we just don’t understand them and, to be honest, the books just sound weird. The Minor Prophets don’t get preached on often, rarely get read, and we mispronounce their names a lot. But, God put these twelve books in the Bible for a reason and they can be serious encouragements if we will take the time to read them.
Big Idea of the Summer Series:
Over the course of the summer of 2023, JRCC will be doing a teaching series on the Old Testament Minor Prophets. Each week, we will focus on one prophet and their story. Common themes will run throughout these twelve prophets in Israel’s history, and a primary theme is restoration. The prophets often brought words of judgment, but they also spoke words of hope and ultimate renewal (Hence the name / theme of the series: Return)
We have produced a Summer Series GUIDE to help you follow along and deepen your learning. It is available in a print format or a downloadable PDF format for you.
What’s Included in this Series Guide?
- A Bible reading plan: We won’t be able to read the entire book together during our Sunday gatherings. This guide will help you pre-read along in advance of Sundays.
- Video links: The Bible Project© provides incredibly helpful “book overviews.” This can be an easy way to get an understanding of what the author of each book is trying to achieve as well as gain some contextual knowledge.
- Taking It Deeper: This section contains an assortment of background info, helpful metaphors/comparisons, and quotes from theologians and other significant writers.
How To Use the Guide:
The series guide can be used either individually or in a group setting. Individually, you can use it as a daily reading plan with some questions to ponder afterwards. Or, you could use it together as a family with your kids to dig deeper into what the Minor Prophets were writing about in the Scriptures.
This guide follows along at the same pace as our sermon series on Sunday mornings. Each week begins with a sermon from a member of our teaching team, then you can spend the following week in that same book to keep exploring what God is saying. The messages, themes, and applications, that the teaching team express on Sundays may not always be the same as what is in this guide. So, you will be able to see multiple perspectives of each book.
Sharing is Caring
We would love for you to share on social media with us how you are using the guide. Take a picture of it at your campsite this summer. Take a video and send it to us with a win or an “ah ha!” moment you experienced as you dove into the content.
Our prayer is that summer 2023 be a time of rich spiritual growth and advance in your life. We welcome your feedback on how we can help you shift gears spiritually in July and August to take advantage of the different pace of life and capture the opportunity that the different pace of life presents to engage in new spiritual habits or rhythms. Don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know how it is going. We hope you hear God clearly and rest in God richly during these summer months.
Learning and growing together,
Pastors Brad, Brady, Ruth Ellen, Liam, and Jenna
