Bible Study Resources

Thanks, Becky, for asking earlier this week for some resources in Bible study! I am most happy to share a few of my favorites! 

I want to say, before launching in with some recommendations, that I know different people have different needs and desires from a Bible study. Depending on how much background you have in understanding Scripture and how much time you have in your day to devote to study, you might gravitate toward one type of study over another. There isn't any need for shame if you're new to all this and need something simple with a lot of explanation. Or if you're in a crazy busy season of life and don't have a whole extra hour in every day, that is okay too! I'll try to give you a range of ideas here, and you can see what works best for you!

You might remember that I have often recommended studies from The Daily Grace Co. One of the great things about this company is that they are always rolling out a new study. I really do think they release a new one just about every month. If you're like me and want to do them all, though, this frequent release cycle can actually be a little frustrating! I can't keep up with how quickly they offer them. 

That complaint aside, I feel like The Daily Grace Co. offers a wide range of study topics. You can study a book of the Bible, for example. It looked like they had studies over 19 different books (and some books have more than one study). Or you can study a topic, like anxiety, rest, or discipleship. They have Lent studies, Advent studies, and other topics, too. They also offer study tools, like notebooks, Bible highlighters, hymn studies, and more. Everything they sell is very aesthetically pleasing, so if you like pretty pictures and graphics, you'll find those here. The studies are manageable in length and great (in my opinion) for new Bible students and those with a long history of Bible study. The company has multiple writers who contribute to the studies, so you won't find the same author for every one.

I think I've done close to ten of their studies and learned quite a bit from all of them. I probably would have continued with them regularly if I felt like I could keep up with all the releases. (Oh! They also run really great sales ALL THE TIME, so this can be very affordable and also a great place to purchase Christmas gifts.)

The company I've been using over the last year is Precept Ministries. It was founded over 50 years ago by a woman named Kay Arthur, and she is well-known for the Inductive Bible Study method. One thing I really love about Precept studies is that they are NOT fluffy at all. There isn't a lot of spoon-feeding to be found here, nor is there much "pretty" fluff. The workbooks have plain green covers and are all text inside. They're about as opposite a Daily Grace study as you can get in presentation. But inside - SO RICH!!!!

The studies are also offered on multiple depth levels. You can click on a "Depth of Study" tab on the website and look to see what they have to offer in the amount of time you have to spend each week. So two people could be studying the same topic, but one might be diving way deeper than another. (And that is okay!) I think they have studies over almost every single book of the Bible, so if you want to study a book, you can probably find it! (And Genesis, for example, has five workbooks, so you can also study a specific section - like Creation or Abraham.) I see they do offer leader guides, DVDs and more, so although I haven't explored any of that, perhaps you can get additional teaching from those resources that are not found in the workbooks. That could be helpful if you're new to Bible study!

I use the deepest level study - Precept Upon Precept. It is intense and takes several hours each week. I slow it down to my own pace if I need more time in a section. But it is rich, and I really love it. Having said that, there are definitely study levels that are less time-intensive if that's your need. (Less time-intensive does not equal less meaningful, by the way.)

I do see they also have a large number of topical studies, including adversity, priorities, stress, and more. So if you prefer a topic to a book-of-the-Bible study, they've got you covered! 

My final recommendation for today would be the studies through Moody Press. To be fair, I have not read all the studies or even the authors, but I generally trust Moody to be doctrinally sound, so I feel comfortable recommending them on the whole (at least at this time). 

My favorite Moody author is Erica Wiggenhorn. Ryan and I have done (and led) her studies on Acts, and she has several other books as well. We also led a study by Trillia Newbell. The styles of the studies differ with each author, so I can't give you a formula on how they work. I know some (like Erica's) have the option of additional resources, such as DVD teachings. Some may not. But it's another option if you'd like to check it out!

Whatever you choose, I highly encourage you to pick something that pushes you to really open the Bible itself and study, learn, and grow!!