New Releases by Bill Hybels

Modern business practice and scholarship have honed the laws of the leadership. To achieve success, you''re supposed to - among other things - leverage your time, choose a strong team, and avoid unnecessary controversy. But what do you do when the laws of leadership collide with the teachings of Christ? What would it mean to reveal your true character to those you lead? What would it take for you to take an honest look at yourself and ask, "Am I leading from my mission … or my shadow mission?" Using stories from their own lives and ministries, Bill Hybels, John Ortberg, and Dan Allender illustrate how the laws of leadership sometimes crash head-on into the demands of discipleship, and how the decisions you make at these crossroads could affect not only you, but the destiny of those you lead. The Call to Lead includesthe previous releases from the Leadership Library series: When Leadership and Discipleship Collide, by Bill Hybels, Overcoming Your Shadow Mission, by John Ortberg, and Leading Character from Dan Allender.

In "Simplify," bestselling author Bill Hybels identifies the core issues that lure us into frenetic living--and offers searingly practical steps for sweeping the clutter from our souls. Today's velocity of life can consume and control us . . . until our breakneck pace begins to feel normal and expected. That's where the danger lies: When we spend our lives doing things that keep us busy but don't really matter, we sacrifice the things that do.What if your life could be different? What if you could be certain you were living the life God called you to live--and building a legacy for those you love? If you crave a simpler life anchored by the priorities that matter most, roll up your sleeves: Simplified living requires more than just cleaning out your closets or reorganizing your desk drawer. It requires uncluttering your soul. By eradicating the stuff that leaves your spirit drained, you can stop doing what doesn't matter--and start doing what does.

Pastor Bill Hybels’s firm conviction is that the highest value in personal evangelism is being attuned to and cooperative with the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This means playing only the role you are intended to play—walking when the Spirit says to walk, talking when the Spirit says to talk, and falling silent when the Spirit suggests that you’ve already said enough. More than two thousand years ago, Jesus himself introduced the perfect model for evangelism. He left the marvelous adoration of the angels and the perfection of heaven, and he chose to “walk” clear across the cosmos. He had no memorized script, no forced formulas. Instead, he was armed only with an offer of redemption to people just like you and me, many of whom were neck-deep in pain of their own making. Today, the goal for every Christian is to reflect Christ’s love and follow his example by taking simple walks across rooms—leaving our circles of comfort and extending hands of care, compassion, and inclusiveness to people living far from God. Designed for use with the video.

The urgent need for prayer in today’s broken world is clear, but busyness still keeps many of us from finding time to pray. So Bill Hybels offers us his practical, time-tested ideas on slowing down to pray. In this four-session video Bible study (DVD/digital video sold separately) based on Hybels’s classic book on prayer, Too Busy Not to Pray calls both young and old to make prayer a priority, broadening the vision for what our eternal, powerful God does when his people slow down to pray. In Too Busy Not to Pray, you and your small group will learn: The importance of a consistent time and place for prayer How to organize prayers according to tried-and-true frameworks How to hear the Spirit’s promptings To love prayer time Hybels helps you slow down, listen to God, and learn how to respond. As a result, you will grow closer to God and experience the benefits of spending time with him. Sessions include: Why Pray? (15:00) Our Part of the Deal (20:00) When Prayer Feels Hard (19:00) People of Prayer (20:00) Designed for use with the Too Busy Not to Pray Video Study (sold separately).

In this four-session small group bible study, Just Walk Across the Room, Bill Hybels equips participants with simple, practical ways to share their spiritual journey. This pack includes one softcover Participant Guide and one DVD.

Imagine writing a sermon that must be original, insightful, useful, challenging, comforting . . . once a week. Thats exactly what most preachers are called upon to do while seeing to all of the other responsibilities that comprise their vocation.

In a society where "upward mobility" is the highest goal, Bill Hybels asks a tough question: Do Christians place God''s desires first-or their own? In Descending into Greatness, Hybels and writer Rob Wilkins take the example of Christ''s downward journey as it was meant to be; the radical and essential answer for every Christian. In fourteen powerful chapters, the authors explore such topics as How Jesus managed power. The intentional decisions necessary to move down. The uplifting nature of true humility. Abundant life through dying to self. The ambush of joy. Moving down is never an easy matter that can be reduced to a formula. It involves a life committed to discipleship. Descending into Greatness introduces you to the touching stories of modern men and women committed to advancing the kingdom of God: from the pro football player, to the medical missionary, to a businessman wrestling with the priorities in the world of finance. Descending into Greatness asks tough questions and gives hopeful answers. Now, this powerful, urgent message also includes a discussion guide so that you can follow through, too. "Like Christ, we must descend-into self-abandonment, unconditional giving, sacrifice, and death to self. And, like Christ, we will then ascend-into fulfillment, blessing, joy, and purpose."

"When I listen to the evening news or read the morning paper these days my reaction is always the same: what''s wrong in our world will not be set right until people who love God and who refuse to cave to these overwhelming challenges put the things they believe into action, things like courage and discipline and love." Bill Hybels Who You Are When No One''s Looking has pointed the way to godly character for more than twenty years. Now Bill Hybels''s essential book is completely revised and updated, featuring a new introduction, a new concluding chapter ("World-Change: When Character Counts Most") and a discussion guide for groups. Read this book to discover who God is calling you to be in the world around you.

Bill Hybels points us to the wisdom of the book of Proverbs. This practical guidebook is ideal for anyone who wants to live the Christian life with wisdom and wholeness. (Read by Chris Fabry; abridged.)

You probably don’t think of yourself as an evangelist.Most Christians would rather leave evangelism to a select few with "special talent" for outreach. But when Christ gave the command to spread the Gospel, He gave it to us all. Because He knew we''d each have something unique to offer as His witnesses to the world. In Reaching Out, Bill Hybels helps you develop your own evangelism style—one that fits your personality like a glove. You''ll discover the meaning and importance of sharing your faith and learn the motivation and mind-set behind evangelism. You''ll also get the solid guidance and seasoned tips you need to put it all into motion successfully. As you walk through this proven, highly effective approach, you''ll find your hesitations melting into an enthusiasm for winning lost men and women to Christ.Interactions—a powerful and challenging tool for building deep relationships between you and your group members, and you and God. Interactions is far more than another group Bible study. It''s a cutting-edge series designed to help small group participants develop into fully devoted followers of Christ.

FOR DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE THE USA. Full-throttle faith resides in fully yielded hearts. In The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God, Having the Guts to Respond, Bill Hybels reveals the attitudes and actions that help us hear directly from heaven as we navigate the most significant challenges on earth.

God instituted festivals and feasts. Jesus went to weddings and parties. Christians were made to be people who celebrate, and the focal point of praise should always be God. He is generous, and He is righteous, and believers'' natural responses should be celebration.

The Ten Commandments are a heaven-sent source of liberation. For millennia God's people have known that these laws bring freedom and sanity to a crazed world. Those who want to live with peace and freedom will go back to these commandments often, hold them tightly, and allow them become formative truths for their daily life.

Evangelism doesn''t have to be frustrating or intimidating. We just need encouragement and direction. In Crossing the Line of Faith you will discover how to build spiritually strategic relationships, to direct conversations toward matters of faith, and to share biblical truths in everyday language. This easy-to-read book presents a blueprint for starting a spiritual epidemic of hope and enthusiasm for spreading the Gospel.

Our lives are like lumps of clay on a potter's wheel. Form, function, and beauty appear as God, the Potter, shapes us with his hands. He is in the business of molding our common lives -- even the ugly parts -- into something wonderful! In Colossians, you and your small group will discover how to place your lives in the secure hands of God. If you long to experience newness of life, this study will point the way. If you desire to see God mold and shape your spiritual life, home, workplace, church, and relationships, Colossians will teach you the pathway to a whole new you.

The book you hold resonates with this conviction: that leaders such as you have the potential to be the most influential forces on planet Earth. Yours is the staggering responsibility and the matchless privilege of rallying believers and mobilizing their spiritual gifts in order to help people who are far from God become fully devoted followers of Christ. Life transformation and the eternal destinies of real people depend on the redemptive message entrusted to the local church. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to lead your church effectively so God’s message of hope can change the world? Then this book is for you. Courageous Leadership is Bill Hybels’ magnum opus, a book far too important to be written before its time. Only now, after nearly thirty years leading his own church from a handful of people with a burning vision into a globe-spanning kingdom force—only after almost three decades of victories and setbacks, of praying hard and risking big—is Hybels ready at last to share the lessons he has learned, and continues to learn, about Christian leadership. Too much is at stake for you not to maximize your spiritual gift of leadership, insists Hybels. In this passionate, powerful book, he unpacks the tools, tasks, and challenges of your calling. You’ll discover the power of vision and how to turn it into action. You’ll gain frontline insights for developing a kingdom dream team, discovering your leadership style, developing other leaders, making decisions, walking with God, embracing change, staying your God-given course, and much, much more. Drawing on his own richly varied life experiences, Hybels fleshes out vital principles with riveting firsthand stories. This is far more than another book on leadership strategies and techniques. You’ll find those topics in here, to be sure. But beyond them, you’ll find the very essence of one of today’s foremost Christian leaders—his fervent commitment to evangelism and discipleship and his zeal to inspire fellow church leaders even as he seeks to keep growing as a leader himself. If unchurched people matter to you . . . if you love seeing believers serve passionately with their spiritual gifts . . . if God’s heartbeat for the church is your heartbeat as well . . . then this book is a must. Courageous Leadership will convince you to lead with all your might, all your skill, and all your faith. And it will give you the tools to do just that.

When Leadership and Discipleship Collide Using stories from his own life and ministry, Bill Hybels shows how the laws for leadership success can sometimes crash headlong into another reality: an inner prompting of the Spirit showing you a different approach. The decisions you make at that point could affect not only you, but the ultimate destiny of those you lead.

Where do we find hope, strength, and comfort? Through faith in Jesus we can be connected to the heart of the Father with inseparable love. Romans chapter eight contains a message of hope-filled optimism. We are loved children and our Father will never let go of us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God...nothing.

Author Bill Hybels offers his practical time-tested ideas on slowing down to pray and broadens our vision for what our God does when we make prayer a priority.

With this volume of the Interactions Small Group Series you will move toward wise choices and disciplined action in five vital areas of your life: your time, your health, your finances, your spiritual life, and your relationships. 6 SESSIONS

This study will help you recognize and cooperate with God''s transforming influence in your life. You''ll learn proven ways of responding to God''s guidance that will keep you growing closer to Him.. 6 SESSIONS

The Psalms reflect the many-faceted relationship between humans and God in the ever-changing proving grounds of life. Learn about God''s heart toward you -- and what He looks for in your heart toward Him. 6 SESSIONS

You can learn to conduct spirited discussions with others as you explore the basics of faith -- principles deeper and more far-reaching than you may have imagined. (6 Sessions)

Learn the life-transforming qualities God wants to cultivate inside you, and discover the supernatural Agent who empowers you to attain them. 6 SESSIONS

Identify the trappings of Christianity and trade them for a vibrant faith that integrates Christian values into your everyday life. Discover the inconsistent areas of your life, proven ways to align them with the teaching of the Bible, and find a new joy that comes from growing closer to God. (6 Sessions)

God wants you to walk confidently in your new identity in Christ, serving Him with joy and energy in your various roles. This study gives you a close-up view of these different roles and equips you with the sound biblical insights you need to fulfill them. (6 sessions)

Discover a strategy for becoming all God wants you to be. God has a plan for your liberation, and He has provided the power needed to put this plan into action. 6 SESSIONS

Through this small group Bible study, move beyond six tough hurdles: adversity, fear, apathy, greed, lust, and sorrow. As you unite the hope and insight of Scripture with the support of the people in your group, you''ll find strength to overcome the things in your life you thought would never change. 6 SESSIONS

What kind of love makes a differenceA bold yet compassionate love is a trademark of Jesus Christ. Love without limits. A world-changing love. Can such love be reproduced in the lives of sinful men and women like us Is it possible to follow Jesus'' model of giving and receiving love In Lessons on Love, you''ll find out how. You''ll learn about the various kinds of love, beginning with forms of love you''ll recognize--and ending with a supernatural love so awesome it can utterly transform lives. Christ''s love. The world around you will take note when you unleash the power of Christ''s love--and it will never be the same.Interactions--a powerful and challenging tool for building deep relationships between you and your group members, and you and God. Interactions is far more than another group Bible study. It''s a cutting-edge series designed to help small group participants develop into fully devoted followers of Christ.

Focusing on the key aspects of Christian life--prayer, character, and wisdom--this one-year devotional shows believers how to know God more deeply and discover how he works in them.