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.

Exhausted. Overwhelmed. Overscheduled. Sound familiar? Based on Bill Hybels'' groundbreaking book Simplify and the companion DVD series, the Simplify Participant''s Guide leads you on a journey of discovering a simpler life. Today''s velocity of life can consume and control us . . . until a 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. In Simplify, bestselling author Bill Hybels identifies the core issues that lure us into frenetic living--and offers practical steps for sweeping the clutter from our souls. This study guide is an ideal resource for small groups, along with the Simplify DVD Experience (sold separately).

In this five-session video-based Bible study (DVD/digital video sold separately), bestselling author and pastor Bill Hybels challenges you to make doing life together a priority, exploring from the book of Proverbs how experiencing community and growing in wisdom are inseparably linked and offering practical direction on how to experience this with others. All of us want to get better at life. Gettting wiser alone, however, is not the way it works. God didn’t wire us to catch onto wise and godly living through lone-ranger attempts at learning; it’s something that rubs off on us when we spend time with others who have the wisdom of God living inside of them. As the proverb says, “Iron sharpens iron as one person sharpens another.” This study is designed with both new and experienced group leaders in mind. For new leaders, it includes optional weekly DVD training sessions (DVD sold separately) to help them lead a fantastic, first-time small group experience. For experienced leaders, it includes a "Going Deeper" section for those ready to take this content to the next level. Sessions include: Walking with the Wise The Counsel of Community Iron Sharpens Iron The Heart of Community Faith and Friendship Designed for use with the Wiser Together Video Study 9780310820116 (sold separately).

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.

God still speaks, is anyone listening? Join bestselling author and pastor Bill Hybels in this four-session video-based study where your group will learn to navigate life through whispers from God. Through this dynamic teaching and group study, you will learn to practice hearing from God, surrender to the voice of God, obey his promptings and become a more effective kingdom-builder. This Participant’s Guide is designed to help facilitate group discussion and further study alongside the Power of a Whisper DVD. For more information go to: www.thewhisperwall.com.

In this four-session video Bible study based on bestselling author and pastor Bill Hybels''s classic book on prayer, Too Busy Not to Pray calls both young and old to make prayer a priority, broadening our vision for what our eternal, powerful God does when his people slow down to pray.

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.

Previously published as: The heart of Christmas (c1998).

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."

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.)

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.

God is ready to give the wisdom and insight needed to navigate the questions that seem too big, such as: Will wars ever cease? Can the planet survive? Is God really out there? Does God hear prayers? Aren''t all religions the same?

Those who follow in the steps of Jesus hear the invitation to excellent living. When believers seek to give God their best, they discover that the power of Jesus helps them live excellent lives on every level: spiritually, morally, relationally, financially, directionally, and eternally.

The floodwaters of life are rising; the current races faster. You feel yourself slipping. You need a secure foothold . . . and you need it now! We have all experienced the heart-pounding feeling of losing our stability in the storms of life. We want to stand strong as followers of Christ, but the world presses against us with staggering force. Where can we find an unshakable foundation for life? In the book of 1 Peter, you and your small group will find a rock-solid basis for living in a precarious and uncertain world. God offers you hope, love, purpose, service, submission, and victory. You can stand strong against the flood as you anchor yourself to the bedrock of Jesus Christ.

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.

Face the Tough Times with Confidence The question is not, “Will I face challenges?” The issue is, “How will I deal with the tough times that come my way?” No one travels far down the road without confronting the sobering reality that life can be hard. The book of Nehemiah is a case study in overcoming life’s challenges. Wave after wave of pain pounded on the shores of Nehemiah’s life, but he kept standing strong. A tsunami of relational, financial, and spiritual attacks came, but he withstood it all in the power of God. As we meditate on Nehemiah’s story, we discover the hope and victory that come when we walk in God’s wisdom through the challenges of life.

Come Close and Meet the One Who Loves You How do you jog your memory and restore your vision of God? A fresh encounter! Look into the face of the Father and see him smile with delight as he gazes adoringly at you. Open your eyes and stand amazed at the glory and intricacies of creation and remember the vastness of God’s handiwork. Peek behind the veil of eternity and get a glimpse of heavenly worship and be swept into the party of praise. The book of Psalms opens our hearts and eyes to the presence, power, and character of God. In this ancient prayer book we discover how to connect with the One who loves us more than we dare to dream.

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.

This volume of 6 studies will help you grow in your understanding of what it means to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

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.

What if you knew that by simply crossing the room and saying hello to someone, you could change that person’s forever? Just a few steps to make an eternal difference. It has nothing to do with methods and everything to do with taking a genuine interest in another human being. All you need is a heart that’s in tune with the Holy Spirit and a willingness to venture out of your “Circle of Comfort” and into another person’s life. Just Walk Across the Room brings personal evangelism into the twenty-first century. Building on the solid foundation laid in Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels shows how you can participate in the model first set by Jesus, who stepped down from heaven 2,000 years ago to bring hope and redemption to broken people living in a fallen world. Now it’s your turn. Your journey may not be as dramatic, but it can have a life-changing impact for someone standing a few steps away from you—and for you as well, as you learn the power of extending care, compassion, and inclusiveness under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The highest value in personal evangelism is cooperating with the Spirit, says Hybels. This means playing only the role you’re meant to play—walking when the Spirit says to walk, talking when he says to talk, and falling silent when he suggests that you’ve said enough. Hybels encourages you to “live in 3D” … —Developing friendships —Discovering stories —Discerning appropriate next steps … as a means of learning to understand the Holy Spirit’s promptings. With fresh perspectives from his own reflections and experiences collected during his most recent decade of ministry, Bill Hybels shows with convincing and inspiring clarity the power of this personal, richly relational approach to evangelism. The stakes are high. The implications are eternal. And you may be only a conversation away from having an eternal impact on someone’s life—if you will just walk across the room.

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.

The best leaders not only lead well but also reflect on their leadership long enough and thoughtfully enough to articulate the philosophies that cause them to do so. Whether serving in the marketplace or in ministry, as executives or rank-and-file employees, as salaried staff or volunteer servants, good leaders can pinpoint the rationale for their actions and decisions with the ease of reciting their home address. In Axiom: author Bill Hybels divulges the God-given convictions that have dictated his leadership strategy for more than three decades as senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Oriented toward four key leadership categories ... 1. Vision and strategy (''Promote Shameless Profitability, '' ''Take a Flyer'') 2. Teamwork and communication (''Obi-Wan Kenobi Isn''t for Hire, '' ''Disagree without Drawing Blood'') 3. Activity and assessment (''Develop a Mole System, '' ''Sweat the Small Stuff'') 4. Personal integrity (''Admit Mistakes, and Your Stock Goes Up, '' ''Fight for Your Family'') ...Axiom brokers accessible wisdom from one leader''s journey, as well as emboldens you to nail down the reasons why you lead like you lead.

Jesus knows what an overwhelming incline feels like. He carried the cross up a hill and became our model of enduring faith. Through his example we can discover practices that serve as a source of spiritual fuel to help us when we face the steep hills of life.

Shows readers how they can find and feed their personal areas of holy discontent, fight for it when things get risky, and follow it when it takes a mid-course turn.

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.

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

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

Discover the joy of serving others.How can you identify full devoted followers of Christ? Their servant lifestyle gives them away! In our "me-first" culture, servanthood is the earmark of men and women who have discovered the joy of giving. But the secret to servanthood isn''t running yourself ragged trying to be everything to everyone--it''s pouring freely out of a full cup the things you were designed to give.Love in Action shows how you can break the back of self-centeredness and experience the satisfaction of serving others wisely and effectively. You''ll discover how sharing your unique personal resources and spiritual gifts can become a source of strength to others, worship and praise to God, and a personal delight that nothing else can match!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.

This study will help you and your spouse draw insight from one another and from the other couples in your group to build the kind of close relationship you''ve always wanted. (6 sessions)