Open Your Door to ‘Where Love Lives’
Looking for a fresh, welcoming way to share the Gospel with women around you? Open your home to Where Love Lives, Stonecroft’s exciting new outreach! Designed for small groups of women, Where Love Lives is about creating community around food, conversation, and friendship. The outreach kicks off on Feb. 22, 2019, with a livestream followed by four video-based discussions about the principles of love and how they affect our relationships with each other, ourselves, and God. In the last session, the Gospel is tenderly presented with an invitation to accept a love like no other, the love of God through Jesus Christ.
Sign up today to host a group in your home or church. Only $25 per group provides a host with a kit that includes a planning guide, invitations, participant booklets, sample resources to use in a follow-up small group, and access to a Facebook host group. To register or for more information, go to stonecroft.org/wherelovelives.
New Bible Study Resources Available from RSVP Ministries in Canada
A new Bible study on the Gospel of John and other resources produced by RSVP Ministries – Stonecroft’s partner in Canada – are now available for purchase through stonecroft.org/store. The Life We Long For – Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John is the first study in RSVP’s InLight Bible Studies series. Other RSVP resources at the Stonecroft store include two video series and a devotional. A follow-up study on John will also be available in early 2019.
Join Us for Holiday Prays
Share the love and hope of Jesus through prayer during the holidays. Click here to view a video message from staff member Maddison Berciunas inviting you to be a part of Stonecroft’s annual Holiday Prays outreach.
Throughout this holiday season, ask others around you – especially nonbelievers – how you can pray for them. Then pray for their requests and follow up later to see what God did in their lives. Learn more about Holiday Prays at stonecroft.org/prays.
After the holidays, tell us about your experience with Holiday Prays. Go to stonecroft.org/prays and scroll to “What is God Doing?” to share. When you do so, your name will be entered in a drawing for a special “Take Care of Yourself After the Holidays” gift package. The gifts include a 2019 Dayspring planner, Bible highlighter pens, a sweet-smelling bath bomb, and a Stonecroft T-shirt all packaged in an attractive storage basket. Watch Stonecroft social media pages for more details about the giveaway.
Every Season Free Printables Offer Ends Soon
We’ve been sending free printables as a “thank you” to those purchasing the newest Stonecroft Bible Study, Every Season: embracing a forever kind of purpose. The printables include three downloadable PDFs with interactive components to enhance your learning experience. The printables are available if you order the study by Dec. 15. Please include your email address when you place your order and they will be delivered to you by email, usually within the week.
International Partner Visits Home Office
An international partner from a country where evangelism is against the law and Christians are experiencing persecution visited Stonecroft’s Home Office in October. The partner is a pastor who translates and uses Stonecroft Bible Studies and Stonecroft Life Publications in his ministry. He told staff members how the Gospel is spreading across his country despite an increasingly anti-Christian sentiment there. This pastor leads a Christian organization that operates an orphanage, ministers to widows, provides vocational training for women, plants churches, teaches God’s Word, and trains pastors and other church leaders. Pray for these ministries and for protection and encouragement for the pastor and his co-workers as they seek to shine the light of Jesus Christ across their land and into neighboring countries.
Podcast Presents ‘She Found Freedom’
“She Found Freedom” – the newest series of Stonecroft’s Ears to Speak podcast –features compelling interviews with three women who share how Jesus Christ set them free:
“She Found Freedom from Addiction” (posted Nov. 9) highlights Kyra Langston, who developed a dependency on opiates as a new mother. She later spiraled into heroin addiction and ended up in jail. It was there she met Jesus Christ. Today, Krya serves Him as a Stonecroft hub leader in Florida.
“She Found Freedom from Human Trafficking” (posted Nov. 23) features Theresa Flores, who became a victim of sex trafficking at age 15 while growing up in a wealthy suburb of Detroit. Theresa tells how her faith helped her become a resilient advocate for others who have lived her story, how to spot the warning signs of human trafficking, and what we can do to help.
“She Found Freedom from Proving Herself” (coming Dec. 7) introduces Laurel Bunker, who tells about times she was made to feel she wasn’t enough in her role as a Christian leader and offers suggestions to women who may have had similar experiences. Laurel, an administrator at a Christian college, shares how Jesus has helped her to become a bold woman who leads with integrity and dignity – and how can do the same for you.
Access these episodes at stonecroft.org/earstospeak. Follow the podcast on Facebook at facebook.com/earstospeak.
In Case You Missed It
Holiday stress can take its toll on all of us. Stonecroft shares these previously published resources to help us navigate the season:
“Loving My Actual Christmas” – This Season 1 episode of the Ears to Speak podcast features an interview with Christ-follower Alexandra (Alex) Kuykendall, author of Loving my Actual Christmas: An Experiment in Relishing the Season. Alex provides helpful suggestions on dealing with difficult family relationships during the holidays and cultivating traditions, budgets, and a celebration that will fit your actual Christmas. Access this episode here.
“How to Avoid Getting ‘Triggered’ this Holiday Season”– Stonecroft’s Suzy Shepherd, Central Divisional Field Director, offers five practical ways to “let your light shine” by engaging with relatives in kind, gentle ways during the holidays. Follow this link to read the article.
Rest, part of Stonecroft’s Conversations series, shows us how God enables us to find rest in an overly busy world. Rest invites us to consider God’s care amid the stress of life – whether that’s during the busy holiday season or at other times throughout the year. Order at stonecroft.org/store.