Date: September 6, 2026
Session Title: God Speaks to His People
In Focus: God loves us enough to speak to us.
Podcast—Bible Studies for Life: Adults
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Additional Teaching Options
Optional teaching ideas that incorporate current news, cultural trends, and real-world illustrations to help your group engage more deeply and view today’s issues through a clear biblical lens.
Getting Started/Look at Our World
Read after discussing Getting Started—Question 1:
Taylor McConnell thought she had to choose between continuing the agriculture she grew up with and serving in missions until she served alongside an International Mission Board team in Uganda. When community members learned she had raised pigs, they began asking her all kinds of questions about animal care. McConnell realized she could combine missionary service with agricultural development and began exploring new ways to do so. God led her to a team for South American missions that was looking for someone to lead an animal project.
Called “the pig project,” McConnell and her team have eight locations where they bring pigs and train local Colombian churches how to care for them. The pigs ultimately belong to the local churches, who can use them for any purpose. Any sales income from the pigs can help cover ministry costs. McConnell is teaching Colombian churches how to make the project more sustainable, especially since some churches are in remote areas. As she teaches these churches, she also uses the time to encourage them in their ministry efforts.
When God tries to get your attention, He works things together in ways that wouldn’t work without Him. Without God’s involvement, McConnell wouldn’t have been at a conference the same time a missionary was looking for someone to lead an agricultural project. But God led them together because He calls ordinary people in ordinary circumstances to do amazing things for His kingdom. When you already have a skill set, He leads you to ministry opportunities where you can use those skills. You don’t have to be a pig-farming expert like McConnell, or travel around the world, but God is calling you to minister to people in your daily life.
To read more of this article, visit IMB.org and search “Oklahoma farm girl helps to strengthen churches in Colombia, one pig at a time.”
Learn God’s Way
Read after discussing Learn God’s Way—Question 3, or alongside any part of the Exodus 3:1-6 section of your study:
What does it say about God’s love that He chose to speak to Moses while he was tending sheep in the wilderness?
Missionaries Michael Love and Emmett Grant walked into a cafe and noticed Aaron had a Bible on his table. The team asked if Aaron was a Christian, and he replied that while he wasn’t yet, he thought he would be. Aaron was a lapsed Catholic who nearly died from a drug overdose several years earlier. He said that God had saved him from dying, and now he was trying to figure out how to know God. Aaron had been reading texts from different religions and noted that they all referenced Jesus. He then picked up a Bible and started reading, eventually reaching the Gospels.
A team of volunteers from Texas, serving alongside missionaries Love and Grant, first found Aaron’s Bible sitting on his café table. Aaron explained he’d been exploring different religions and had started reading the Bible on his own. Before leaving, the team gave him a postcard with a Bible verse and told him they were praying for him. When Love and Grant later visited the café themselves, Aaron grabbed the postcard the moment he saw them—he called it a “double sign from God.” Love began meeting weekly with Aaron to study the Bible, but eventually had to return to the U.S. When Aaron had pressing questions, Grant met with him and walked him through the gospel. Aaron accepted Christ after that conversation.
Each mission team met Aaron at the cafe he owned. He didn’t have to travel to them or go somewhere special to hear the gospel. God led people to him to plant and water the seeds of faith. Just as God met Moses while tending sheep and Aaron in a cafe, God meets us where we are to speak to us.
Names have been changed for security.
To read more of this article, visit IMB.org and search “Finding the source of hope and joy in the city.”
The week’s writer for Extra is Emily Duncan. Emily is a Southern California native who lives in west Georgia with her husband and daughter. God saved her from Wicca while at a youth retreat when she was sixteen. Emily’s a member of Midway Church in Villa Rica and mentors young women as they transition from high school to college.
[Linked material and sources serve as background illustration only and do not imply endorsement beyond our biblical application.]
Additional Questions
These optional questions are designed to warm up group conversation and guide engagement throughout each Bible passage—helping your group think critically, connect personally, and process Scripture through a clear biblical lens. For full session plans—including additional discussion questions, teaching content, and leader helps built specifically for this study—get the Adult Leader Guide, Daily Discipleship Guide Leader Guide, or QuickSource at biblestudiesforlife.com.
Icebreakers
- What’s an example of a time when changing your perspective changed your understanding?
- When have you misinterpreted a situation because you didn’t have the full picture?
Exodus 3:1-6. God initiates the conversation with us.
- What does this encounter teach us about God’s desire to reveal Himself to people?
- Why is it often difficult to recognize God’s voice in the middle of everyday routines and responsibilities?
Exodus 3:11-15. We must acknowledge God’s voice.
- Why is God’s presence more important than our abilities?
- How does God’s unchanging character give you confidence in uncertain situations?
Exodus 4:28-31. We must respond to what God says to us.
- Why is obedience often the doorway to experiencing more of God’s work and presence?
- How would your outlook change if you focused more on what God has promised than on what might happen?
Phil brought some great comments and examples, as well as Ryan. ☺️
Thank you for these sessions.
Thanks, Shirley. Appreciate you listening and commenting. We’re glad Phil has joined the podcast and appreciate his additions. May the Lord bless you as you continue to study His Word. Thank you and have a blessed day.
Good Morning Ryan.
Very disappointed in the Fall Leader Guide Font. It really should be larger for Senior reading. I hope that the Spring version is updated to reflect an increased Font size.
At our Church there has been much discussion on Font Size in the Senior Bible Study Guide as well.
I do note it’s larger than the Leader Guide Font, but it is definitely smaller than previous edition Font’s.
Please do what you can to influence a review of the Senior Content Material to promote within Lifeway republishing with larger font in the future.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Hi Sherri, yes, we appreciate your comment. With the Fall 2026 update, we’ve heard from some users that the print in the Personal Study Guide is smaller than what they were previous used to in the Senior guides. We’ve listened to that feedback and will have a larger-font for with the Summer 2027. Given that Spring 2027 is already in production, Summer 27 is the earliest the change can take place. We’re grateful for your feedback and for using BSFL. Thank you.
Will there be a return of the promotional videos? We just started using them and they stopped being available. The square does not give enough information to use as a promotion in our announcement time.
Thanks for reaching out, Cindy. We appreciate you commenting and using BSFL resources. You’re correct that the one-minute promotional video is not included with the studies. That said, we are continuing to invest in a variety of digital resources, including the full Bible Study Introduction videos (the three minute overviews) for each study (you can find those introductions in the front of your leader guide by QR code), bonus content in the Leader Guide, EXTRA articles and resources, and podcast content designed to support leaders and participants throughout the quarter. We appreciate your interest and hope these resources will continue to serve your group well.
This is the ONLY place I can find to give feedback. You regular teacher download has the formatting for the CSB version such that it does not allow you to read like a normal word document. The right hand end of each line is not visible. Grrh
Good morning, Karen. We’re sorry for the frustration on this. Look for an email from me with the corrected document. I’m told the file has been updated in the grid and the rest of the quarters files aren’t affected. So please, look for me email with the document you need. Thanks.
Hi Ryan, long time listener to the podcast. Thanks for providing that each week.
Am I right that there is a new format to the PSG (or did we order the wrong thing…)? What was the reason for the change? I recall the change several years ago that I felt went too simplistic; this seems to be moving back to some meaty Bible study. Just curious what led to the change. Thank you!
Hi Janice, thanks for listening each week—and yes, you have the right resource! We did update Bible Studies for Life beginning this fall. One of the goals was to strengthen the Bible study experience while still keeping it accessible and practical for a wide range of adults. We also gave greater attention to our Levels of Biblical Learning framework, helping us be more intentional about what adults are studying and how the studies build biblical understanding over time. I’m glad to hear the new format feels a little “meatier” to you. That was certainly part of the desire behind the update—more engagement with the biblical text while continuing to connect Scripture clearly to everyday life. Thanks for the encouragement!
I’m having a hard time reading the small print in the leader guide. Is there a large print edition? Or online edition? So I have print large enough to read with my macular degeneration eyes. Thanks
Hello June, thank you for letting us know. With the recent Bible Studies for Life update, we’ve heard from some users that the print in the Personal Study Guide is smaller than what they previously used and difficult to read. We’ve listened carefully to that feedback and have identified a larger-font solution for the guide beginning with the Summer 2027 quarter. Because Spring 2027 is already in production, we aren’t able to make the change sooner. We know that doesn’t solve the immediate need, but we’re grateful for your comment. Feedback like yours helped us recognize the issue and make an improvement going forward. Thank you.
Hello, I am searching for a story I thought i read in my personal or leader guide. It was about a meeting similar to AA where the leader brought a satchel of tools to give away free to someone. He wound up giving it to a lady who gave away the individual tools. I cannot find it, did i read it here? If so, can I get a copy? thank you for checking. Gayle
Hi Gayle, thanks for reaching out. I checked with our team, and unfortunately we weren’t able to identify that particular story. If you happen to remember approximately when you read it—or the study or topic it was connected to—that may help us narrow the search. We’d be glad to take another look and, if we can locate it, point you to the resource where it appeared. Thanks for reading and for checking with us.
I don’t have the book anymore, but I think that was in our last study “The Essentials for Christian Living”. Perhaps on the study of 1 Corinthians chapter 12
Hi Gayle, it is in the BSFL Summer 2026 Study Guide, on pg 105.
Thank you for the update on the font size! That was our first observation. The PSG book was made larger but the font was made smaller. We will look forward to the change with the summer edition.
Hi Amy, thank you for your comment, your understanding, and for studying with Bible Studies for Life!
Gayle,Look in the Summer Personal Study Guide, page 138, for the story about the tools.
Why does the on-line version of the Fall Leader’s guide skip pages 2 & 3? I don’t have a hard copy to see what may be missing, if anything. Thanks.
Thanks for letting us know about this, John. I’m checking on this and will let you know what we find out asap. Thank you.
Hi Ryan,
I am not able to download the Sermon Outlines for the new fall lessons like I was able to in the Summer session. Are those not being supported anymore? I use and enjoy all the materials including your Podcast, and really found both versions of the sermon notes helpful.
Hi Jim, Thank you for your comment and question. Yes, we are still providing these tools. You may need to clean your cache and try this link again. They should be found at https://biblestudiesforlife.lifeway.com/leader-extras-sermon-outlines/