Journey Through Booklets Basis for 2026 Nurturing Your Faith Bible Study
Project Connect’s four-booklet Journey Through booklet series is the basis for LHM’s next Nurturing Your Faith (NYF) Bible study. These texts explore anxiety, depression, entanglements, and life’s rat race. Each booklet’s focus will be highlighted and presented in a single Bible study corresponding with and available in the four 2026 issues of The Lutheran Layman. Each installment features supporting Scriptures, commentary, reflection questions, video, and more.
The study’s video host will be Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour. He will interview Rev. Dr. Rick Marrs, senior professor of practical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, who has extensive experience in pastoral care and Christian counseling.
Session 1 zeroes in on anxiety—something that troubles us all. While we’ll never be completely free from anxiety, it can be managed. Our anxiety is a warning light for change and an invitation to get creative in dealing with it. The apostle Paul was no stranger to anxiety. In Philippians he encourages us to surrender our anxieties to God, letting His peace, “which surpasses all understanding,” protect our minds in Christ Jesus. (See Philippians 4:4-9.)
Session 2 addresses depression and a weight that can range from overwhelming lethargy to thoughts of death and suicide. Depression has many causes, but there is a way out of its depths. Even when life is darkest and we feel alone and helpless, nothing—including depression and other mental disorders—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. (See Romans 8:38-39.)
Session 3 concentrates on snares or entanglements in our lives. It will focus on those things that hold us back from growing in our faith. The wilderness of bad habits can bring suffering, both for ourselves and others. But Christ knows our suffering, has experienced it, and can bring us through to the other side. He tells us, “In the world you will have tribulation [suffering]. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b).
Session 4 speaks to the rat race, the daily grind of activities and measuring up. Throttling back from the myriad responsibilities we face is not easy. The drive to keep pace is a hamster wheel that wears us out with every footfall. So, what can calm the heart from this endless sprint? Learning to say no and finding a beautiful place are two good starts. Jesus came to give an abundant life, not a frenetic one. (See John 10:10.)