G.W. Bill Elliott, Jr once noted;
Have you ever had to swallow your pride, and quickly realized; "Man... I bit off more than I can chew?" Talk about needing a weight-loss program, right!
Hoping Stones
12 Week Study Guide
Trust and Surrender
5
Week:
Choosing dependence, surrender, and obedience
Choosing dependence, surrender, and obedience. This module invites a posture of relinquishment—trading control for trust in God’s wisdom and timing. It addresses common barriers to surrender and provides practices for obedience that flow from love rather than duty. Participants are encouraged to test trust in concrete ways and to reflect on how surrender transforms decision-making.
Spiritual Practices and Rest
6
Week:
Rhythms: rest, prayer, habits that sustain life
Rhythms: rest, prayer, habits that sustain life. This week focuses on sustainable spiritual rhythms that integrate rest, prayer, and habit into a whole-life formation plan. It highlights Sabbath, contemplative practices, and simple daily disciplines that replenish rather than deplete. The emphasis is on creating patterns that protect soul health and enable long-term faithfulness.
Discernment and Guarding Influence
7
Week:
Protecting mind, attention, sources, and speech
Protecting mind, attention, sources, and speech. Participants learn to steward attention and to evaluate influences—media, relationships, and internal narratives—that shape belief and behavior. The week offers tools for discernment, boundaries for healthy consumption, and practices for truthful, life-giving speech. The aim is a guarded openness: receptive to God while wise about what shapes us.
Humility, Weakness, and Renewal
8
Week:
Humble growth, repentance, reclaiming lost ground
Humble growth, repentance, reclaiming lost ground. This session reframes weakness as a place of grace and growth, inviting honest repentance and the humility that precedes renewal. It teaches how to reclaim areas of life that have drifted from God through confession, restoration, and small corrective practices. Participants are encouraged to see vulnerability as a pathway to deeper formation.
Purpose
A guided 12‑week journey that moves learners from early faith toward deeper formation. Each week focuses on a single theme and uses 3–9 of our devotionals as daily Hoping Stones (stepping-stones of faith).
Format
Each week contains: Theme, Learning Objectives, Daily Readings, Reflection Questions, Practical Exercise, Leader Notes, and Suggested Scripture. Use the daily readings as short personal devotions or group discussion prompts.
Pacing Options
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Daily personal track: one devotional per day (self paced).
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Small‑group track: three devotionals per week with deeper discussion.
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Retreat track: compress a week into a single half‑day session for concentrated groups.
Printing: Print one workbook page per week (or two pages for leader notes). Provide participants with a journal or printable reflection sheet.