The New Eve (28 page)

A New Eve recognizes that her family is a crucial change agent within society. She knows her family has been designed by God to be a redemptive force for good, regardless of the age in which she lives, even an atomistic one. That means you and your
family can be a part of restoring our nation to health.
Believe it!
Even an atomized society can be reunified. But it has to happen one family at a time. A New Eve carries that conviction deep in her heart and allows it to shape her pursuits and priorities. She knows what God knows: her family is society's future.

The following study guide with small-group discussion questions is provided to help you join with a small group of women to process and personalize the insights and challenges found in
The New Eve.

Small groups work best when the group size allows everyone the opportunity to freely participate. It is recommended that your group be no larger than five or six in number. One woman should serve as the moderator with the following responsibilities:

• To provide a setting that is comfortable and free of interruption
  
• To establish and maintain starting and stopping times
  
• To facilitate the weekly discussions, making sure everyone participates
  
• To keep everyone informed of the weekly assignments
  
• To encourage prayer for one another
  

Several types of small groups can be formed around
The New Eve:

• The
  eclectic
  small group, made up of adult women of all ages, preferably led by a mature Christian woman.
  
• The
  age-specific
  small group, made up of women in a common season of life. For help on the seasons of life, see chapters 7 and 8. If the small group is composed specifically of younger women (twenties and/or thirties in age), it is highly recommended that one or two more experienced mentors facilitate the group.
  
• The
  mother-daughter
  small group. This group works best when all the daughters participating are between the ages of eighteen and twenty. This gives the moms a great opportunity to “initiate” their daughters into the specifics of Christian womanhood at a crucial developmental period of their lives. In such cases, some kind of special ceremony calling these young daughters to pursue bold, godly femininity might be a fitting way to end this study.
  

Nine New Eve discussion sessions cover the twelve chapters in this book. Six of these sessions focus on single chapters. Three cover two chapters each. The final discussion session focuses specifically on each participant's personal takeaways and the one bold move each woman plans to concentrate on once the study has concluded.

Two additional resources are available to enhance this study. First is a
Discussion Starter DVD,
which is available to help you launch each of your small group discussions. In this video, Dr. Robert Lewis and his host, Lisa Fischer, open both the
orientation meeting and each of the nine discussion sessions to you in a more personal way. Their comments are designed to give focus and added energy to the beginning of each of your small-group times.

Second, a recording of a live presentation of
The New Eve
by Dr. Lewis is available on CD for you to listen to. This can be used after your study has concluded as an easy way to review the New Eve material and reinforce key insights you have learned. Both the CD package and the Discussion Starter DVD can be obtained by calling Fellowship Associates at 1-800-446-7228 or by going online at www.mensfraternity.com.

Small-group discussions work best when group participants know one another and the ground rules for meeting together. Therefore, once a small group of women has expressed interest in doing a New Eve study together and a leader has been identified, a preparatory meeting should be arranged to help the group get started right.

At this relaxed orientation meeting, the group leader allows whatever time is necessary for group members to comfortably get to know one another and invites each woman to tell the group what she hopes to receive from this study. The leader should also allow Robert Lewis and Lisa Fischer to introduce themselves by showing the group the first Discussion Starter video.

After these introductions the leader should remind the women that the focus of this study will be to offer each woman in the group specific, hands-on ways of making her unique life better, richer, more meaningful, and more honoring to God. At its best this New Eve study and discussion should provide time for thought-provoking interaction and reflection, personal examination, and helpful life-changing applications.

With that said, the leader will work through the following checklist with the group members:

• Set a place and date for the first meeting.
  
• Gain a commitment from each woman to attend all nine discussion sessions.
  
• Set starting and stopping times for each of the small-group discussions.
  
• Establish the “golden rule” of small-group discussion: everyone will participate, and no one will dominate.
  
• Make time ( five minutes or more) for reflection at the end of every small-group discussion time for group members to write specific applications (new beliefs, priorities, behavior, ways of thinking, etc.) for themselves that would make life better.
  
• Make sure everyone has a book and knows to read chapter 1 and to work through the discussion questions before the first meeting.
  

Discussion Questions

Writing out your initial answers to these questions
before
your small-group meeting will enhance the quality of your discussions. Take a moment to record your answers.

1. Chapter 1 captures some of the immense sociological changes that have unfolded in and around the lives of modern women. How have these changes impacted and influenced your life?

2. Are there specific changes happening to women today that concern you? What are they, and why do they concern you?

3. True or false: Women can have it all. Explain your answer.

4. What does a successful and fulfilling life look like to you as a woman right now? Can you describe it in specific terms?

5. Given so many new freedoms today, what would you think are the biggest trouble spots for women to look out for? Where have you made mistakes?

6. In this new world of opportunity, do you personally have clear guidelines for navigating life successfully? If so, what are they? If not, what do you think you need?

7. Chapter 2 presents four general worldviews or mind-sets women (and men) may live from. Which of these four world-views do you think best describes how you live your life? Explain your answer.

8. Look over the five bold moves introduced at the end of this chapter. Which one grabs your attention the most here at the start? Tell why.

Now that you have read these chapters and had your discussion time, what personal applications (new beliefs, priorities, behaviors, ways of thinking, etc.) will you leave with? Take a few minutes and record them in the space below.

Discussion Questions

Writing out your initial answers to these questions
before
your small-group meeting will enhance the quality of your discussions. Take a moment to record your answers.

1. Look over the list provided in this chapter of problems women say they struggle with. Which ones did you circle that personally apply to your life? Explain. Can you spot a common theme to the problems you've circled? If so, what is it?

2. This chapter focuses on five major issues swirling around the lives of women today. How would you rank them in order of importance and impact on your life, with 1 being most important and 5 being least important?

_____ An ever-evolving femininity

_____ A new supreme pursuit

_____ The challenge of motherhood

_____ Successfully engaging a man

_____ The maze of unlimited choices

Tell why you ranked these issues the way you did. Do the common problems you discerned for your life from question #1 fit into one of the five issues?

3. As you look over these five major issues, what important questions do they raise for you personally that you would pay money to have answered?

4. Where are you on the “swinging social pendulum” of evolving femininity? Are you still in a traditional role? The do-it-all role? The sameness role? Role reversal? Explain. What role would you design for yourself if you could do so right now?

5. Looking back, have you been disappointed with some of your choices in life? Which one stands out? What led you to believe at the time this choice was a good one? What could have helped you to make a better decision, knowing what you know now?

6. What was your greatest personal insight from this chapter? Explain.

7. What is one thing you would like the other women in the group to pray with you about?

Now that you have read this chapter and had your discussion time, what personal applications (new beliefs, priorities, behaviors, ways of thinking, etc.) will you leave with? Take a few minutes and record them in the space below.

Discussion Questions

Writing out your initial answers to these questions
before
your small-group meeting will enhance the quality of your discussions. Take a moment to record your answers.

1. Chapters 4 and 5 assume that the Genesis account of creation is foundational to understanding God's timeless design for gender. Is that your assumption? Why or why not? How much weight do you give Genesis in shaping your life as a woman? A little? A lot? None? Not sure? Pick one and tell why.

2. In reading about the core callings of every woman in chapter 4, did you feel excited, disturbed, relieved, challenged, or something else? Share your thoughts with the group.

3. What conclusions is Genesis drawing for you concerning the purpose of your life as a woman? The priorities of your life as a woman? The kind of freedom you have as a woman? The way to go about making choices as a woman? Take some time on this question.

4. Which direction of life is most impacting you right now: living from the outside in or living from the inside out? Explain your answer.

5. If you took the bold move of living from the inside out more seriously, how would it alter your life as a woman? In what specific ways? What would hold you back from taking that step? Explain.

6. What important warnings does the life of Eve offer modern women today? Share as a group as many as you can.

7. What impacted you the most from these two chapters and this discussion? What questions or concerns do you still have?

Now that you have read these chapters and had your discussion time, what personal applications (new beliefs, priorities, behaviors, ways of thinking, etc.) will you leave with? Take a few minutes and record them in the space below.

Discussion Questions

Writing out your initial answers to these questions
before
your small-group meeting will enhance the quality of your discussions. Take a moment to record your answers.

1. This chapter begins with the statement “Vision energizes life.” Before this study began, what vision of womanhood (if any) has been calling your life forward? Can you describe it? How did you decide on that particular vision? What was the source of it?

2. Share your thoughts concerning the biblical definition of manhood presented in this chapter. What specific aspects of this manhood definition are you drawn to? What aspects are you less certain about? Explain.

3. How did you feel about using Eve and Mary as the main characters for constructing a biblical definition of womanhood? Explain.

4. This chapter makes three comparisons between Eve and Mary. What did you find in these comparisons that could be applied to your life?

5. Share your thoughts on the biblical definition of womanhood presented in this chapter. Is it helpful? How? What reservations (if any) do you have with it?