BEING CHALLENGE RESOURCES

In order to continue to help you establish the Five Keystone Habits of Jesus, we have provided you with resources for each habit to help you continue to develop as a follower of Jesus. 

Click Here or the Image Above for All Official Being Challenge Resources from Pastor Zach Zehnder, including:

• Small Group Videos and Discussion Guides

• Sermon Videos and Manuscripts

• Kids Resources

• Personal Assessments

Commit to Community Resources

All four Gospels show that one of Jesus' first actions when He started His ministry was choosing His disciples. From the very beginning, He was committed to a community of like-minded people. If anyone could have been self-sufficient, it's Jesus. Actually, the guys He picked were slow to understand who He was and why he came, but Jesus was committed to His community. Why? Because... You aren't meant to be alone.

#1: Read "Community" by Brad House

Community within the church today is hemorrhaging. Attention spans are dwindling, noise levels are increasing, and we can't seem to find time for real relationships.

The answer to such social fragmentation can be found in small groups, and yet the majority of small groups―at least in the traditional sense―are often not the intentional, transformational community we really want and need. Somehow we need to get our groups off life support and into authentic community.

Pastor Brad House helps us to re-imagine what gospel-centered community looks like and shares from his experience leading and reproducing healthy small groups. With wisdom and candor, House challenges us to think carefully about our own groups and to take steps toward cultivating communities that are able to glorify Jesus, bless one another, and participate in the mission of God.

#2: Join or Lead a Small Group

Everyone has a desire to belong! At Gloria Dei, we believe in the power of community and the way it shapes and impacts the lives of disciples. Small groups are a unique way to experience biblical community on a regular basis, outside of worship. God has called us to live life together!  Click here to learn more.

#3: Join a Discipleship Adventure Trip

Men's, Women's, and Student's Discipleship Adventures are planned 2-3 times each year for camping, hiking and time outdoors in God's creation! These are times for deepening relationships with one another, with God, to learn how to hear the Lord's voice, and respond in obedience. Visit https://gdlc.org/events/ for upcoming adventures.

#4: Read "Leading Missional Communities" by Mike Breen

Missional Communities (MCs) are a hot topic right now in the church, and many are excited about the potential of MCs to be a vehicle that allows the church to better live out its mission in the world. But if we embrace and implement MCs merely as a new program, they won’t live up to their potential and we’ll be on to the next hot topic in a few months. MCs are helpful only if we use them as a vehicle that allows us to point ourselves towards a much deeper issue: how we can learn to live our everyday lives as extended families on mission.

#5: Listen to Episode 313 of the Everyday Disciple Podcast

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• How “Team K” was born as a family on mission and why it’s a big deal!
• The ways that discipleship in community mirrors effective parenting.
• Why church leaders need to have a family worth imitating as the starting point.
• A heartwarming story of how others have been included in this Team K family.

Study Scripture Resources

Even though Jesus was fully God, He had a regular habit of studying Scripture. This is the second keystone habit we explored. Jesus was constantly surrounded by Scripture at the temple or synagogues. In the only recorded story of Jesus as a growing child, He was at the temple learning from the rabbis. At the end of the story, it says, "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." Luke 2:52. Jesus continued to grow in wisdom, and if you and I want to grow in wisdom, there is no better way to gain wisdom than through the Scriptures.

#1: Download the Bible App & Do a Reading Plan

The Bible App is completely free, with no advertising and no in-app purchases. It's been installed on more than 500,000,000 unique devices so far.

#2: Subscribe and Listen to the Unveiling Mercy Podcast

#3: Download the Dwell App

Walk through Scripture with themed playlists that collect notable verses on subjects such as “hope” and “forgiveness.”  Listen to the greatest passages and stories from the greatest book. Dwell's user-friendly lists will help you find one in seconds, or browse for something new.  Cultivate a habit of listening to Scripture every day with Dwell’s various listening plan options. Click here or above.

Prioritize Prayer Resources

Many of us say we believe in the power of prayer, but our prayers show otherwise. Actually, with all of the technological advancement we've seen, it's become easier to trust in our own power. We've seen this in our lives. But if we really believe in the power of God, we'll prioritize prayer. If God answered every one of your prayer requests, what would be different in the world today?

#1: Read "Chair Time" by Dan Southerland

We have over-complicated prayer! In its purest form, it is talking with and listening to God. Most of us have the talking part down. The listening part – not so much! Chairtime is the story of learning to listen to God. It is a simple story of a simple man learning a life changing truth. God wants to speak to us! He will if we get in the chair!

#2: Use the Lord's Prayer as a Model for Prayer

The Lord's Prayer is an ancient prayer that we corporately pray as the Church. However, Jesus introduced it as a way to pray. Consider using Jesus' model of prayer as you pray your owns words. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

#3: Download the Shamah Way App

The Shamah Way App is an audible, interactive experience to help you bring your fully focused presence to God.  Your Spiritual Anatomy is made up of 4 unique parts: HEART | SOUL | MIND | & STRENGTH.

 Heart | Grows your capacity for intimate relationships

 Soul | Guides you to your true calling and purpose

 Mind | Gives greater knowledge and understanding

 Strength | Empowers you to achieve your passions

Shamah Way is designed to help you nourish each part of you so that you can grow holistically & experience God, not just learn about Him.

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Seek Solitude Resources

We can get so busy, so preoccupied, that we don't take the time to be quiet and connect to God. We often fill our schedules with only good things, while we ignore the best things God created in advance for us to do.

"If the devil can't make you sin, he'll make you busy." - Corrie ten Boom

#1: Read "Your Best Life In Jesus' Easy Yoke" by Bill Bill Gaultiere

“Eventually our well runs dry. Perhaps we dug into the arid ground of perfectionism, anxiety, overwork, or self-promotion. Here’s a map to show us where to dig deeply into the well-spring of God’s sustaining grace. I am so grateful for Bill Gaultiere, who lived Easy Yoke before he wrote it. He’s helped count- less harried leaders — like me! — drink from the life-giving waters of Jesus.” - Larry Winger, CEO of Provision Ministries [PURCHASE BOOK HERE].

#2: Read the SoulShepherding Article: "Solitude and Silence"

Solitude and silence are two of the main disciplines that belong on a short list spiritual disciplines. (We discuss these as means of grace in my book “Your Best Life in Jesus’ Easy Yoke.”) They are disciplines of abstinence which help disciples of Jesus learn to engage more deeply with the Lord and become more like him in daily life. Solitude and silence make space — space in our souls and space in our lives — for God to do a deep work inside us and through us in our relationships with others. [READ MORE...]

#3: Right-Side Up Leadership Podcast Episode 280

If you find yourself overwhelmed it turns out you’re normal, but you can’t stay there. Our culture seems to be stumbling drunk from a strange concoction of insecurity, overwork and boredom. If we don’t learn how to resist this we’ll fall in either the ditch of overwhelm or underwhelm. Without knowing it I think we’re all asking a core but silent question deep in our hearts, “How do I get whelmed?” // This podcast has so many episodes about healthy kingdom leadership that are worth your time and several other resources available to help you walk with Jesus and live a life marked by identity before impact.

Choose Church Resources

Jesus instituted the Church. At the end of time, when Jesus comes back, the Bible says that He'll return for "His bride," which is the Church. The Church wasn't optional to Jesus. It has been, is, and always will be central to His plan. Can you really love Jesus without choosing Church? Choosing Church brings consistency into our lives. It reminds us of God's infinite love, grace, and power. The Church is the consistent place where the Good News of Jesus is proclaimed.

#1: Extend an Invitation to Family, Friends, and Neighbors

It can be easy to separate your Church-life from your life-life. But the truth is, you have one life. Take a step and don't hesitate to invite others into your life, which includes Gloria Dei. You never know when someone may accept the invitation to an event, a gathering, or even a worship gathering!

Here are some tips!

• Love your neighbors and get to know those around you
• Casually ask a family member, friend, neighbor, or colleague to join you at a Gloria Dei event like Rodeo Sunday or Trunk or Treat
• Share a Gloria Dei social media post or invite
• Get some Gloria Dei apparel, stickers, or coffee mugs - they might spark a conversation!
• Text a friend and invite them to a Gloria Dei event
• Share the link to Gloria Dei's online services: https://gdlc.online.church/ 

 #2: Read "Americans Divided on the Importance of Church" / A BARNA Study

"What, if anything, helps Americans grow in their faith? When Barna Group asked, people offered a variety of answers—prayer, family or friends, reading the Bible, having children—but church did not even crack the top-10 list. Although church involvement was once a cornerstone of American life, U.S. adults today are evenly divided on the importance of attending church. While half (49%) say it is “somewhat” or “very” important, the other 51% say it is “not too” or “not at all” important. The divide between the religiously active and those resistant to churchgoing impacts American culture, morality, politics and religion." - https://www.barna.com/research/americans-divided-on-the-importance-of-church/