{"id":2590,"date":"2018-01-09T11:57:04","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T17:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nltblog.com\/?p=2590"},"modified":"2021-12-08T09:22:49","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T09:22:49","slug":"saddleback-small-group-loves-immerse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/2018\/01\/09\/saddleback-small-group-loves-immerse\/","title":{"rendered":"Saddleback Small Group Loves Immerse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris grew up in pastor\u2019s home in Texas and attends Saddleback Church but had never read the New Testament. So when his small group leader at Saddleback Church recommended the group read through\u00a0Immerse: Messiah<\/em>, Chris jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n

Tell me about your experience with the Bible before Immerse<\/a>.<\/strong>
\nReading the Bible, especially the New Testament, has always been on my bucket list, but when I tried to read I found it cumbersome and overwhelming. I think part of the problem was that I was reading from an older Bible that I got from church when I was a kid. I even downloaded a Bible app thinking that would help, but I found that overwhelming as well.<\/p>\n

So how was your experience reading Immerse: Messiah<\/a>?<\/strong>
\nHonestly I was a little intimidated at first. I\u2019m not a big reader\u2014I kind of got burned out reading so much in law school. But I was surprised at how easily Immerse read. I liked the layout, and the more contemporary language of the NLT* really helped\u2014although at first I kept going back to my original Bible to make sure Immerse was getting it right. [Author\u2019s note: This is what lawyers do\u2014right?]<\/p>\n

As a busy lawyer who\u2019s in court a lot, were you able to keep up with the reading?<\/strong>
\nHonestly, once I got started reading, it was hard for me to stop. I\u2019d take it to the office with me, and I actually ended up getting ahead of the 8-week reading schedule. I was surprised at how easy it was. I figured I was reading two to three hours a week. The book introductions are brilliant and helped me understand the cultural background and helped put everything in context for the reader.<\/p>\n

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How important was it that you read\u00a0Immerse: Messiah<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>with your group?<\/strong>
\nThe group experience was critical. Even though I was enjoying the reading, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d have kept reading without the group motivation. I really wanted to engage in the conversations when we got together, so the group really kept me on task. The book club approach was also helpful. I\u2019m not looking for more work! So I\u2019d just read and show up.<\/p>\n

What were your group conversations like?<\/strong>
\nThe discussions were great! People caught things that I\u2019d missed and vice versa. A number of times we recalled that Pastor Rick had preached on this before, but now we were seeing it as part of the whole. We actually had one of Saddleback\u2019s pastors in our group, and occasionally we\u2019d pick his brain about something we didn\u2019t understand, but because we\u2019d all read about fifty pages that week, everyone had a lot to contribute.<\/p>\n

Where do you go from here with the Bible?<\/strong>
\nI ordered copies of Immerse and sent them to members of my family. And I\u2019m excited that\u00a0Immerse: Messiah<\/em>\u00a0has come out\u00a0in Spanish<\/a>! We have relatives in Mexico and want to send them copies as well. Also, as my sports agency grows, I hope to share Immerse with the athletes I\u2019m working with. I don\u2019t want to cram anything down their throats, but I hope to give them a copy when the time is right.<\/p>\n

As a group, we\u2019re talking about starting \u00a0Beginnings<\/em><\/a>. I definitely want to read the Old Testament.<\/p>\n

*This is a typical response for people who read the NLT for the first time. Another person said to me: \u201cWith the NLT, I spend more time understanding it and less time trying to understand it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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