In research, there is a common practice used to measure data: the pretest and posttest. The pretest is a baseline, assessing the state of something prior to experimental factors being introduced. As is suggested by the name, this happens prior to the experiment.  The posttest is a comparison, designed to compare the outcome of the experiment to the pretest...

This week’s training notes: This week, your group will be studying Unit 3, Session 5, A Family Preserved, which focuses on the story of Joseph and how God uses adversity and even the evil actions of people to bring about good. So here are your three things to know, read, and do as you prepare for this week’s session:...

The story of Joseph is packed full of moments that resonate with us. Maybe you were the favorite child or the favorite child’s sibling. Some people resonate with being cast away from family or being undeservingly welcomed into a new family. Some resonate with finding favor with an enemy or showing favor to an enemy. In Joseph’s story, we...

This week’s training notes: This week, your group will be studying Unit 3, Session 4, A Plan Unhindered. This session is a quick survey of the fracturing of Isaac’s family, the brokenness that severs the relationship between Jacob and Esau, and how God’s plan to bless the world continued, even in spite of the sin and dysfunction of HIs...

Jacob’s journey in Genesis is one of unexpected and undeserved blessing after blessing. With a name that literally means “he cheats,” Jacob was a surprising recipient of the privilege and opportunity God gave him. Jacob was a cheater, a liar, and a deceiver. He was quiet and not strongly gifted. And he was gullible, too. We cannot miss that...

This week’s training notes: This week, your group will be studying Unit 3, Session 3, A Promise Tested, which focuses on the command to sacrifice Isaac, the child God promised to Abraham and Sarah. Here are three things to know, read, and do as you prepare for this week’s session: Something to know This is a difficult passage of...