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G-Force: Taking Your Relationship with God to a New Level
G-Force: Taking Your Relationship with God to a New Level
G-Force: Taking Your Relationship with God to a New Level
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G-Force: Taking Your Relationship with God to a New Level

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Includes 55 personal devotions, 11 small group studies, and a leader’s guide!Ever feel tired of trying really hard to be a Christian? Being a Christ-follower isn’t about trying really hard; it’s about training to be more like Jesus so he can transform you into the person he made you to be. G-Force shows you how.The “Five Gs” of G-Force are markers or guides for your spiritual journey. They are designed to help take the guesswork out of what it really means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ—to live like Jesus would if he were in your place. In personal devotions and weekly small group gatherings you’ll learn about:Grace: Move beyond religious rules and regulations and learn how to live in God’s grace–then learn how to share this grace with others. Growth: Discover how spiritual practices can bring you closer to the heart of God.Groups: Experience an authentic community where you will learn what it means to know and be known—to have real and intimate friendships throughout your life.Gifts: Identify your spiritual gifts and dedicate them to serving God—then watch how God uses your gifts to impact the world in amazing ways.Good Stewardship: Trust God with all your resources and discover what it means to live with freedom and generosity.Each session you’ll be challenged to think about what you really believe and learn how to have a deeper relationship with God and with others. Once you discover the power of G-Force, you learn that ultimately, being a Christian is about Christ with you and within you, guiding and empowering you to become more like him. Attention Student Ministry Leaders!G-Force uses an innovative new approach that engages students both individually and in small groups: individually with daily devotions, guided journaling and creative experiences; and in small groups with a weekly Bible study and group activities. The result is two weeks of foundational training and powerful teaching that will equip students for a lifetime of full devotion to Christ.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherZondervan
Release dateJun 1, 2010
ISBN9780310872443
G-Force: Taking Your Relationship with God to a New Level
Author

Bo Boshers

Bo Boshers is President of LEAD222, a coaching and mentoring ministry to youth leaders. Bo is recognized as a national leader and influencer of youth ministry around the world. He served as Executive Director of Student Ministries at Willow Creek Community Church and the Willow Creek Association, which influences over 20,000 churches. He is a best-selling author, motivational speaker and trainer. His passion is coaching and mentoring youth leaders in professional skills and personal character.

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    Book preview

    G-Force - Bo Boshers

    G-Force

    Bo Boshers

    Taking Your Relationship with God to a New Level

    publisher logo

    This book is dedicated to all the shepherd leaders who understand the importance of building authentic community in small groups with this generation. I applaud your commitment to provide a healthy spiritual, emotional, and relational environment for students by not trying to fix, change, or judge them. Truth spoken in love, correction given in love, reproof received in the spirit of love, and grace given in love will have a life-changing impact on this generation.

    My prayer is that this book will assist you as you lead this generation down a path of full devotion to Christ. May God bless you.

    Table of Contents

    Cover Page

    Title Page

    Dedication

    Foreword by john ortberg

    Introduction

    Fully Devoted

    Group Study

    SESSION ONE Fully Devoted

    Devotion One Giving Your All

    Devotion Two A Marathon, Not a Sprint

    Devotion Three Graduation

    Devotion Four A Walk with God

    Devotion Five Be Yourself

    GRACE, Part I: A True Gift

    GROUP TWO GROUP STUDY

    SESSION TWO DAILY DEVOTIONS

    Devotion One Accepting the Gift

    Devotion Two A Gift of Freedom

    Devotion Three Noticing the Gift

    Devotion Four Living with the Gift Every Day

    Devotion Five An Everlasting Gift

    GRACE, Part 2: Sharing the Gift

    GROUP THREE GROUP STUDY

    SESSION THREE DAILY DEVOTIONS

    Devotion One Being Real

    Devotion Two You Have a Story

    Devotion Three Telling Your Story

    Devotion Four Growing in Compassion

    Devotion Five One Life at a Time

    GROWTH. Part I: Loving God

    GROUP FOUR GROUP STUDY

    SESSION FOUR DAILY DEVOTIONS

    Devotion One Training Smarter vs. Harder

    Devotion Two Be Silent, and Know That I Am God!

    Devotion Three A Breath Prayer

    Devotion Four Bible Meditation

    Devotion Five Dream Big

    GROWTH. Part 2: Loving Others

    GROUP FIVE GROUP STUDY

    SESSION FIVE DAILY DEVOTIONS

    Devotion One Servant Leader

    Devotion Two The Power of Encouragement

    Devotion Three 2:14 Attitude

    Devotion Four The Gossip Challenge

    Devotion Five Love of a Different Kind

    GROUPS. Part I: Building Authentic Community

    GROUP SIX GROUP STUDY

    SESSION SIX DAILY DEVOTIONS

    Devotion One The Giver vs. the Taker

    Devotion Two A Giver’s Gift: A Listening Ear

    Devotion Three It Ain’t Easy to Forgive

    Devotion Four Radical Love

    Devotion Five Speaking the Truth in Love

    GROUPS. Part 2: Receiving Love

    GROUP SEVEN GROUP STUDY

    SESSION SEVEN DAILY DEVOTIONS

    Devotion One No One Stands Alone

    Devotion Two Let Yourself Be Known

    Devotion Three Hide-and-Seek

    Devotion Four Community Breakers

    Devotion Five Having the Right Expectations

    GIFTS Part I: Discovering Your Gifts

    GROUP EIGHT GROUP STUDY

    SESSION EIGHT DAILY DEVOTIONS

    Devotion One Use Me

    Devotion Two Putting the Pieces Together

    Devotion Three Finding the Right Gift

    Devotion Four Who Am I?

    Devotion Five Celebrating Others’ Gifts

    GIFTS, Part 2: Using Your Gifts

    GROUP NINE GROUP STUDY

    SESSION NINE DAILY DEVOTIONS

    Devotion One The Right Purpose

    Devotion Two The Right Gift

    Devotion Three The Right Attitude

    Devotion Four The Right Attitude

    Devotion Five The Church—The Hope of the World

    GOOD STEWARDSHIP Part I: Show Me the Money

    GROUP TEN GROUP STUDY

    SESSION TEN DAILY DEVOTIONS

    Devotion One Whose Money Is It?

    Devotion Two Debt Free

    Devotion Three Living Large

    Devotion Four Being a Cheerful Giver

    Devotion Five The Blessing

    GOOD STEWARDSHIP Part 2: All I Have Is Yours, God

    GROUP ELEVEN GROUP STUDY

    SESSION ELEVEN DAILY DEVOTIONS

    Devotion One Having More Than I Need

    Devotion Two Time Out

    Devotion Three The Perfect Body

    Devotion Four Talented Humility

    Devotion Five Being a Good Trustee

    Afterword

    Leader’s Notes

    Also By Bo Boshers

    Acknowledgments

    Copyright Page

    About the Publisher

    Share Your Thoughts

    Foreword by john ortberg

    a word TO STUDENTS…

    As a pastor, coworker, and parent, the world of students at Willow Creek is a matter of urgent importance to me. No one carries the history and passion for that world with more enthusiasm than Bo Boshers. I wish you could experience his energy personally, but until you do this resource is a great asset. It has the potential to fuel enormous growth for any student with an open heart. When I think about the kind of planet you are inheriting, I am particularly grateful for the promise that with God’s presence you do not face today or tomorrow alone.

    Bo has served the local church effectively in the area of student ministries for many years and has for the past seven years trained, equipped, and cheered on student ministries and their leaders at churches all over the world. He is uniquely gifted and qualified to serve you as a spiritual guide.

    You are, right now, a potent force in your world—for better or for worse. And in the years to come, your impact will only grow greater. Many students I meet have a deep passion to know God, grow in faith, serve the poor—but they want to know how. In G-Force, Bo lays out how discipleship can become a concrete reality. In a world of guilt, you can be immersed in grace. In place of stagnation, you can know growth. Instead of isolation, you can live in groups and community. You can discover emerging gifts that will impact your church and world, and in an era of mall-culture, you can be a good steward at the beginning of your financial life.

    G-Force shows how you can become the difference-maker God made you to be. As you walk through daily devotions and talk in small groups about what you’re learning, you’ll begin to see what God has planned for your life and you will gain courage to take bold steps to become more like Christ.

    a word TO STUDENT MINISTRY LEADERS AND VOLUNTEERS…

    As I think about this generation of young students, I am particularly grateful to student ministry workers who have devoted themselves to teaching, training, and loving the young men and women who will one day inherit this world. After all, what could matter more than this next generation of Christ-followers? G-Force provides a clear path to help you equip and shape students into the Christ-followers who will become our future. So read on, and get ready to see your student ministry transformed!

    John Ortberg

    Introduction

    Five-G Living

    what DOES IT MEAN TO BE A STRONG CHRISTIAN?

    Be careful how you answer that question. You could find yourself following rules and pursuing activities that make your spiritual life boring—or worse, harmful. On the other hand, if you answer the question another way, you could end up on an exciting adventure—a life of freedom and fulfillment, of becoming a difference-maker to be used by God.

    G-Force was written for your generation of young Christ-followers who want to pursue authentic spiritual transformation. It involves having a real, life-changing experience with God. Each week you will be challenged to think about what you really believe and learn how to experience a deeper relationship with God and with others. You may find that being spiritual is not what you thought, and that being a Christ-follower is more exciting and rewarding than you could ever have imagined!

    how DOES IT WORK?

    So how does spiritual transformation work? It starts with a group of people who will commit to going on this journey together. While it is certainly possible to go through this guide on your own, it is designed to be a group journey because God often teaches us best in groups.

    If you have a group leader, there are Leader’s Notes in the back for any preparation work or guidance that may be needed for the studies.

    Each session begins with a Group Study that introduces a subject to be explored. The Group Study is followed by five Daily Devotions that everyone in the group does on his or her own during the time in between the Group Studies.

    The topics focus on the Five Gs—Grace, Growth, Groups, Gifts, and Good Stewardship—with two sessions devoted to each G. These Gs are markers in our spiritual journey to show us the progress we have made in our becoming more like Christ. The journey will not be complete by the end of this book. Spiritual transformation takes a lifetime. But the Five Gs are what you will need for this lifelong journey.

    equipment

    Be sure you have a good modern translation of the Bible, such as the New Living Translation, Today’s New Intemational Version, the New Revised StandardVersion, or one of the many others. Choose a Bible you’ll feel comfortable writing in. You’ll be invited to really wrestle with the issues in each study and part of that will involve underlining or highlighting passages in your Bible.

    It is up to you to make this journey successful. Your group leader is not there to lecture you. The questions are open-ended and need your participation to work. And not only do you discuss questions, each Group Study and Daily Devotion has an Experience It Yourself component where you get to practice applying what you are studying.

    If you want to learn how living the Christian life can be a daily adventure, G-Force is just for you.

    Fully Devoted

    Group Study

    opening up

    1. Describe the most spiritual person you can imagine. What would that person be like?

    2. Now describe the most fun person you can imagine. What would that person be like?

    3. What do you think it would have been like to hang out with Jesus when he walked the earth? Would he have been more like your ideal spiritual person or your ideal fun person?

    read TOGETHER

    Read these verses aloud and discuss them as a group:

    explore TOGETHER

    1. According to John’s first letter, how should we measure what it means to be godly or spiritual?

    >>1 John 2:6

    Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did.

    >> colossians 3:17

    Whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus.

    >> mark 12:29-31

    [Jesus speaking] The most important commandment is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.

    2. According to the apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians (a local church in Colosse, a city in what is now the country Turkey), in what part of our lives should we strive to be spiritual like Jesus?

    3. If we are to imitate how Jesus lived, then what do Jesus’ words in Mark tell us about what guiding values shaped his life?

    discuss TOGETHER

    1. From God’s perspective, your spiritual life is simply your whole life—every minute and detail of it. There is no part of your life that is not God’s or where you don’t have to live by God’s standard: to imitate Jesus in what you do and say. Reread Paul’s words in Colossians 3:17 on page 16. Have each person pick one activity below, and explain how it would be different if they were to live like Jesus would:

    Based on your discussion, where do you need to be challenged to think about how you live each moment as someone who has Jesus as their leader?

    2. Take a moment and have someone write on a white board or flip chart all the rules you’ve been taught about spirituality (for example, to have a daily quiet time, read the Bible, and so on).

    Now have the same person write down another list marked real spirituality. Under that heading, have the person write freedom. Since spirituality is really a love relationship with God that is expressed by loving others rather than following a list of rules, discuss the real motivations for doing some of the rules in the first list.

    MY PROMISE

    I,

    ____________________

    [your name], promise to explore what it means to become a fully devoted Christ-follower and enter into a journey of spiritual transformation. I pledge to do my best to fully participate in the Daily Devotions and in the eleven Group Studies. I will do my best to open up my heart, soul, and mind to what God wants to teach me on this journey.

    _______________ _______

    Signature              Date

    3. The best way to see if we are imitating Jesus is to ask ourselves this simple question: Am I becoming more loving toward God and others? Is this true for you? Have you become more loving since you became a Christian? How would those who know you best—family members, teachers, coaches, friends—answer that question?

    experience IT TOGETHER

    Everyone should read to themselves the Ten Core Values (page 19) and the promise below. After you finish reading the statement silently, sign and date the pledge as a commitment to help each other on this journey of spiritual transformation.

    Now choose someone to be your accountability partner. This is the person you will encourage and pray for to stay committed, and they will do the same for you. You will Signature Date ask each other how the Daily Devotions and spiritual exercises are going. Exchange email addresses and phone numbers and commit to contacting each other often.

    ten CORE VALUES

    community TIME

    Talk about what your hopes are for this group during this journey. What do you personally hope to learn and experience in the upcoming weeks? Do you have any doubts or fears about this?

    After everyone shares their hopes and personal goals, take out a candle and light it. The light represents God’s presence (see John 1:9, where Jesus is described as the true light who gives light to everyone) as you commit yourself to this eleven-week process. Pray that God blesses this adventure and that everybody’s goals would be fulfilled. Also ask God to

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