Who is the Stranger Bible Study
The Strangers in Our Midst Bible Study
Building Lasting Bridges: An Updated Handbook for Intercultural Ministries, by Kathryn Choy-Wong, Lucia Ann McSpadden, and Dale M. Weatherspoon. With much of our media focused on divisiveness, this book helps readers understand the unity available through Christ, regardless of our backgrounds.
Available via Judson Press.
7 Creative Models for Community Ministry, by Joy F. Skjegstad. A practical guide for church leaders seeking to engage their congregations with the community. The author offers step-by-step instructions on seven ways to structure transformational community ministry. She also provides insights on assessing gifts and passions within the church and how to find a good fit between the church body and the community. Examples of how churches have implemented each model and pitfalls to avoid are included.
Available via Judson Press.
Church on the Move: a Practical Guide for Ministry in the Community by G. Travis Norvell. What is your church doing to make a real difference in others’ lives? That’s the theme of this book. Moving from the pews and into the community to welcome strangers and move toward renewal and social justice. The book provides practical ways for the church and individuals to begin implementing this movement.
Available via Judson Press.
Authentic Evangelism: Sharing the Good News with Sense and Sensitivity, by William Powell Tuck. Evangelism is an indispensable part of the church. But how does the church effectively share the Good News in a world full of strife? Taking into account today’s contemporary influences, the author offers practical ideas to help churches be evangelists with greater sensitivity and effectiveness than ever before. Available via Judson Press.
Making Room: a Study of Biblical Hospitality, by She Reads Truth, a nonprofit organization of Christian women around the world. This helpful and free guide offers 14 lessons in biblical hospitality. Lesson 9 focuses on “Making Room for the Stranger,” but other lessons would also be useful.
https://shereadstruth.com/plans/making-room-a-study-of-biblical-hospitality/
Making Room Study Book, by She Reads Truth. This is the full-length resource to accompany the study above. The description says in part this book will help us, “. . . see what Scripture has to say about making room for others—our neighbors, the poor, our betrayers, strangers, widows, orphans, children, and more.”
https://www.shopshereadstruth.com/products/making-room-study-book
Welcoming the Stranger Guide, (World Relief) by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang. A free, downloadable guide to help individuals and church groups respond to immigration from a Christian perspective.
https://worldrelief.org/guide-welcoming-the-stranger/
Welcoming the Stranger, by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang. This book offers “a Christian response to immigration.” The authors debunk myths and works to clarify misconceptions about the current immigration processes.
Available on Amazon.
Romans 15:7 ESV: Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Mathew 25:35 ESV: For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
Leviticus 19:33-34 ESV: When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall do him no wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Hebrews 13:1-2 ESV: Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares
3 John 1:5 NIV: Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.
Deuteronomy 10:18-19, NIV: He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
Zechariah 7:9-10, NIV: “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’
Psalm 146:9, NIV: The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
Exodus 22:21 NIV: “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.
Numbers 35:15 NIV: These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.
Joshua 20:9 NIV: Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.
Jeremiah 22:3 NIV: This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.