Start Becoming a Good Samaritan Participant's Guide: Six Sessions download epub

This is meant to go along with the DVD of the same title. I definitely would get just one of these guides when you purchase the DVD for your small group. It has some helpful discussion questions and fun interactive activities. Best of all, at the end of each chapter is a list of websites, books, movies, and other resources you can use to take action on the topic at hand. At the end of the series, we had a night where everyone brought their laptops, we divided up the different resources the book mentions, and looked up info. From there, we got some ideas for things we could implement. I would not get a guide for all the members in your group, unless they are super diligent and you think they will go through it all on their own between group meetings. Otherwise, just order one, and use it like a leader guide.

The DVD is full of false teaching and the group leader, to contend for the faith as Jude says, did away with the DVD. We still used the work book, which wasn't much better in areas. Seemed to go along with the writer's world views and opinions more than Jesus' words. Didn't sit well with us. The most important info we have shouldn't be misused. A drop of poison ruins the whole bucket.

Really enjoying this series. It gets more in depth and and video accompaniment is better than most studies so far. I am, however, only through 2 sessions.

Of all the bible studies I have done, this is / was hands down my favorite. Loved it. So much to learn.

Used in Sunday School class. Content current and relevant. Promotes good discussio

Something I have explored more and more over the past couple of years is the social-justice component of the Gospel. Thanks to many prophetic voices in the Christian world, the proclamation that all Christians should intentionally care for the "least of these brothers and sisters" has been ringing loudly among many groups of Christians, particularly my own generation, the Millennials.

As a crown to this budding movement of social-justice in Christian circles, renowned publisher Zondervan has teamed up with World Vision--one of the largest Christian humanitarian organizations in the world--to produce a small-group study curriculum called "start>Becoming a Good Samaritan".

The program, led by Michael Seaton, is designed to help "churches, small groups, and outreach organizations to inform, train, and inspire individuals to start putting their faith into action." To bring about this transformation, the process uses six dynamic one-hour sessions, each themed around a particular issue. Each session is aided by a Participant's Guide and is composed of an opening prayer, some personal introspection, the viewing of a forty-minute segment from the program DVD, and finally some discussion.

While the discussion and small-group participatory elements form the foundation for transformation to occur, the core component of the curriculum is the DVD. In what I consider to be a masterpiece, Zondervan and World Vision brought together a veritable "who's who" of justice-minded Evangelical Christians.

Some of the most well-known participants include Rob Bell (popular pastor and author), Shane Claiborne (ordinary radical and author), Eugene Peterson (author of "The Message" Bible paraphrase), Tony Campolo (Christian teacher, author, and sociology professor), Gary Haugen (President of International Justice Mission), Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace prize winner and major opponent of apartheid in South Africa), Chuck Colson (the founder of "Prison Fellowship"), Jim Wallis (founder and editor of "Sojourners Magazine"), Richard Stearns (President of World Vision), John Ortberg (popular pastor and author), Kay Warren (wife of pastor Rick Warren and social activist), Philip Yancey (popular spirituality author), and Ron Sider (author of the seminal justice book "Rich Christian In An Age of Hunger"). Overall there are more than 50 leading social justice voices taking part in the project; click here to read a short biography of each contributor.

These participants each share some words throughout the DVD segments of the curriculum. The DVD segments are formatted in a video-interview format with some of the participants being featured more prominently than others, but each of the participants has at least a couple of minutes of screen time. Also, the whole series is hosted by John Ortberg, who offers a provocative introduction to each session as well as some concluding remarks.

Understanding that the realm of social justice is vast, the program splits up the material into six sessions, each with a particular theme:

"Becoming A Good Samaritan" (Who Is My Neighbor?)
"Caring For the Sick" (How to Fight Global Epidemics and Prevent Diseases)
"Seeking Justice and Reconciliation" (How Fairness Changes People, Communities, and Nations
"Honoring the Poor" (How Best to Serve Those In Need)
"Tending to God's Creation" (Why Environmental Stewardship Is Biblical and Beneficial)
"Loving the Forsaken" (How to Care for the Disabled, Orphaned, and Incarcerated)

The quality of the DVD segments is fantastic. Put together by the C2 group, the segments are for more than mundane interviews. The clips are deeply experiential due to musical interludes and images relating to each segment's theme which are sprinkled throughout the duration. The DVD's style reaches to a generation of young-adults raised on rapidly-moving, evocative media as its main medium of communication.

In its immense scope, "start>Becoming a Good Samaritan" is truly an unprecedented initiative. Aimed at launching a global campaign of love and justice, the program beckons each of us to embrace our individual roles as "good Samaritans" and dares to imagine the impact that more than 77 million American Christians could have on the greater world.

I highly recommend this curriculum for small-group study, but it also has great value for individual study; I made my way through the Participant's Guide and DVD on my own and still gained much. The only downside I see to the program is its truncated length. I'm not fully convinced that full transformation of the heart can occur through only six one-hour sessions but, as the title suggests, the program is a great start. I think for someone who is already engaged in many of these issues, the program is great fuel for the fire, but for someone being introduced to these matters for the first time, this curriculum should be viewed as a springboard to much more study and activity.

If you want to learn practical ways that you can live out your faith through the love of the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized, I strongly encourage you to listen to the great words of these modern-day prophets of justice and compassion and start becoming a "good Samaritan" today.

Our group has greatly appreciated this resource as it not only has prompted us to show our faith through actions, but it has also given very practical suggestions on how we can show our faith. Each session gives you a Personal Reflection section, which are split into 3 parts, and are great to read through in the morning. At the end of each of the 3 sections there are suggested ways in which you can live out what you are learning about. At the very end of each session there are lists of books, websites, and videos that continue to explore the topic covered.

Overall, Great Book for small group study.