This summer at Founders Baptist Church, where I serve as part-time Pastor of Adult Education & Discipleship, we are working through a study guide called Change and Your Relationships: A Mess Worth Making(by Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp). We kick off the study on June 12 and then work through the 12 chapters until Sept 11 (one Sunday is a catch-up day). Most of our Adult Bible Fellowships (AFBs) are going through this study on Sundays at 9am (until 10:30), and I invite you to join us.

From the publisher’s website: “Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp skillfully help individuals and small groups identify the deeper issues that keep relationships less than they are designed to be. They give practical direction on how to resolve conflicts, have difficult conversations, grant forgiveness, overlook weaknesses, celebrate strengths, and grow casual relationships into deep friendships.”

From the front-matter of the Study Guide: “As you work through Change and Your Relationships, it is our hope that you will learn to think more clearly about the primary purpose of relationships and how important they are in conforming us to the likeness of Christ. This key idea of being conformed to Christ can and should radically reorient the way we think about friendships, marriages, relationships with our children and parents, our neighbors, coworkers, and everyone in between.”

Paul Tripp made an excerpt available online, which includes some of the introductory material and the first chapter. You can find it by clicking here.