Don't be discouraged! Rather than rushing through the reading to catch up, it's best to jump forward to the starting point for each week's reading. That will give you a chance to read with the rest of the group that week. Then if you knock out that week's reading with time to spare, you can always go back and play catch up.

The audio version in our Saddleback app can be a great way to supplement reading as well! Your book club hosts will also take the group to places that are pointed out to read the section so that everyone has context during the weekly discussions. So relax. Pray and ask God to help you find the time each week. You got this!

But if you do want to watch previous week's videos or read the previous emails, you can do so here:

The Anchored Life Challenge is an invitation to join with all of Saddleback Church in stepping into a year that stands to be one of the most divisive yet by anchoring ourselves in the clarifying truth of God's Word.

The challenge is simple: Commit to reading through the New Testament in eight weeks as part of an Anchored Life Book Club. Anchored Life Book Clubs will gather weekly to discuss insights, learnings, and "aha" moments from the Immerse Bible in a casual, conversational style akin to any other book club.

It is a "reading Bible" that has restored the formatting of the Bible to its original layout by removing the features we've added over time (chapter numbers, verse numbers, section headings, cross references, footnotes, etc.). This makes it read more like the grand narrative it was written to be. The translation is Tyndale's widely respected New Living Translation - a modern, readable translation that's accessible to readers of all ages.

One of the more innovative and refreshing aspects of the Immerse Bible is its book club approach to reading and discussing the Bible together. Book club members will read through the New Testament together over the course of eight weeks, gathering each week to discuss the same 4 questions that anyone can answer, regardless of where they are on their faith journey:

• What stood out to you this week?
• Was there anything that was confusing or troubling?
• Did anything make you think differently about God?
• How might this change the way that we live?

If you're already in a small group, you're all set! Each of our existing groups will become an Anchored Life Book Club for the duration of the series.

Not in a group? The best Anchored Life Book Club for you is the one you start! This is a great opportunity to invite friends, neighbors, and co-workers to join you for the journey. You don't have to be a Bible scholar or expert - the group simply comes together each week and compares notes on what was read and discovered.

If you're still not comfortable launching your own book club, don't worry. Each one of our campuses is offering an on-campus experience to make discussing and processing what we read each week as easy and convenient as possible. You can stop by the Connection Center for more information.

Technically yes, there is nothing stopping you from reading on your own. But flying solo would mean missing out on some of the real beauty being in an Anchored Life Book Club. Reading through the Immerse Bible in eight weeks is a big undertaking. Not only will having a weekly discussion on the calendar help keep you motivated to stick to the reading plan, God will use other perspectives to help you see new things in Scripture. It's an experience not unlike that of the early church, where Bible passages were read aloud in gatherings and discussed.

"Better together" has always been a core conviction at Saddleback. That's why we've made the Immerse Bible freely available to anyone and everyone ready to be a part of a book club to mine the treasure of God's Word together!

We'll be giving free copies to everyone who says "yes" to the Anchored Life Challenge beginning on the weekend of January 13/14. To get your free copy, simply accept the challenge on the digital program. You'll receive a confirmation email with a QR code you can use to pick up your copy of the Immerse Bible at your campus.

It averages out to about 25-30 minutes a day, five days a week. For some it will be easiest to do it in one sitting as part of a daily quiet time, but for others splitting it into 15-minute chunks to begin and end each day may feel more doable and natural. You can also listen to the audio through the Anchored Life Journey on the Saddleback app!

Don't be discouraged! Rather than rushing through the reading to catch up, it's best to jump forward to the starting point for each week's reading. That will give you a chance to read with the rest of the group that week. Then if you knock out that week's reading with time to spare, you can always go back and play catch up.

The audio version in our Saddleback app can be a great way to supplement reading as well! Your book club hosts will also take the group to places that are pointed out to read the section so that everyone has context during the weekly discussions. So relax. Pray and ask God to help you find the time each week. You got this!

From a content standpoint, they are identical. But the layout and organization is unique. Immerse: Messiah begins with Luke and Acts - Luke's original unified work that was pulled apart in our modern Bibles. From there books are organized in rough chronological order with the aim of allowing the story to flow more as it unfolded.

And as mentioned above, it has removed all the markings that have been added over time, many of which are useful for finding passages but serve as stop signs that promote reading in smaller chunks. This gives it much more of an epic book feel than a typical Bible, and promotes reading broadly in a way that leads to "aha" moments as broad themes that may have been previously missed!

Yes! It's also available on the Saddleback app as a Journey that includes weekly intro videos, audiobook readings, and the text of the New Testament readings for each day. So feel free to choose your favorite way of engaging with books or combine different approaches that make use of drive time, gym time, etc. to complete each week's reading. A favorite way to read the Immerse Bible is to listen along to the audio reading on the app.

Yes, we are inviting everyone in our church to experience the power of God's Word together as a church, including our kids and students! Our kids and students won't be doing formal book clubs, but we've created unique Bible reading journeys just for them. We hope you'll encourage them to participate!

Absolutely! Because the Immerse Bible takes more of a book club approach that virtually everyone in our culture is aware of, this is actually a perfect opportunity to extend an invitation to join you and your group. It's more of a Bible "exploration" than a Bible "study" that makes for a great introduction to God's Word for someone who may never have engaged or experienced it before.

Don't be discouraged! Rather than rushing through the reading to catch up, it's best to jump forward to the starting point for each week's reading. That will give you a chance to read with the rest of the group that week. Then if you knock out that week's reading with time to spare, you can always go back and play catch up.

The audio version in our Saddleback app can be a great way to supplement reading as well! Your book club hosts will also take the group to places that are pointed out to read the section so that everyone has context during the weekly discussions. So relax. Pray and ask God to help you find the time each week. You got this!

But if you do want to watch previous week's videos or read the previous emails, you can do so here:

The Anchored Life Challenge is an invitation to join with all of Saddleback Church in stepping into a year that stands to be one of the most divisive yet by anchoring ourselves in the clarifying truth of God's Word.

The challenge is simple: Commit to reading through the New Testament in eight weeks as part of an Anchored Life Book Club. Anchored Life Book Clubs will gather weekly to discuss insights, learnings, and "aha" moments from the Immerse Bible in a casual, conversational style akin to any other book club.

It is a "reading Bible" that has restored the formatting of the Bible to its original layout by removing the features we've added over time (chapter numbers, verse numbers, section headings, cross references, footnotes, etc.). This makes it read more like the grand narrative it was written to be. The translation is Tyndale's widely respected New Living Translation - a modern, readable translation that's accessible to readers of all ages.

One of the more innovative and refreshing aspects of the Immerse Bible is its book club approach to reading and discussing the Bible together. Book club members will read through the New Testament together over the course of eight weeks, gathering each week to discuss the same 4 questions that anyone can answer, regardless of where they are on their faith journey:

• What stood out to you this week?
• Was there anything that was confusing or troubling?
• Did anything make you think differently about God?
• How might this change the way that we live?

From a content standpoint, they are identical. But the layout and organization is unique. Immerse: Messiah begins with Luke and Acts - Luke's original unified work that was pulled apart in our modern Bibles. From there books are organized in rough chronological order with the aim of allowing the story to flow more as it unfolded.

And as mentioned above, it has removed all the markings that have been added over time, many of which are useful for finding passages but serve as stop signs that promote reading in smaller chunks. This gives it much more of an epic book feel than a typical Bible, and promotes reading broadly in a way that leads to "aha" moments as broad themes that may have been previously missed are discovered!

Yes! It's also available on the Saddleback app as a Journey that includes weekly intro videos, audiobook readings, and the text of the New Testament readings for each day. So feel free to choose your favorite way of engaging with books or combine different approaches that make use of drive time, gym time, etc. to complete each week's reading. A favorite way to read the Immerse Bible is to listen along to the audio reading on the app.

We'll be giving free copies to everyone who says "yes" to the Anchored Life Challenge beginning on the weekend of January 13/14. To get your free copy, simply accept the challenge on the digital program. You'll receive a confirmation email with a QR code you can use to pick up your copy of the Immerse Bible at your campus.

If you're already in a small group, you're all set! Each of our existing groups will become an Anchored Life Book Club for the duration of the series.

Not in a group? The best Anchored Life Book Club for you is the one you start! This is a great opportunity to invite friends, neighbors, and co-workers to join you for the journey. You don't have to be a Bible scholar or expert - the group simply comes together each week and compares notes on what was read and discovered.

If you're still not comfortable launching your own book club, don't worry. Each one of our campuses is offering an on-campus experience to make discussing and processing what we read each week easy.

Each week everyone will watch the brief, two-minute intro video that sets the stage for the week and read through and/or listen to that week's Bible passages according to the reading plan. When the group comes together to discuss, a typical gathering will look something like:

• 10 minutes: Arrivals, welcome, get comfy
• 70 minutes: Discuss four questions:
  • What stood out to you this week?
  • Was there anything that was confusing or troubling?
  • Did anything make you think differently about God?
  • How might this change the way that we live?
• 10 minutes: Final thoughts and prayer

Don't worry if you don't get through all the questions - a lively conversation is a great thing! The second question is often answered when discussing the first. In fact, it's not uncommon for discussion around that first question (What stood out to you this week?) to take the majority of the group's time. Just be sure to reserve 10 minutes or so of discussion time to allow people to begin to connect the dots of what they are discovering about Jesus to the way they live each week.

While there are great weekly videos that introduce the group to the upcoming book(s) of the Bible you'll be reading together, these are brief (2-3 minutes) videos that are meant to be watched individually before diving into that week's reading. Part of the beauty of the Immerse Bible is its simplicity: Everyone reads and/or listens to the text each week and gathers to share learnings and insights in book club fashion. No videos, no study guides. Just the Bible speaking for itself in community!

The best way to handle a question that the group isn't sure how to answer is to add it to your "Parking Lot," a space for questions that require further exploration. This will keep the conversation moving rather than getting bogged down on a puzzling question, and can make for fun research projects between meetings.

We've also set up a way for your group to submit questions to our pastoral staff for perspective. You can submit those questions to biblequestions@saddleback.com. Need some help making sense of a passage? Email us and one of our pastors will get back to you with a few helpful thoughts prior to your next meeting.

It averages out to about 25-30 minutes a day, five days a week. For some it will be easiest to do it in one sitting as part of a daily quiet time, but for others splitting it into 15-minute chunks to begin and end each day may feel more doable and natural. You can also listen to the audio through the Anchored Life Journey on the Saddleback app!

Don't be discouraged! Rather than rushing through the reading to catch up, it's best to jump forward to the starting point for each week's reading. That will give you a chance to read with the rest of the group that week. Then if you knock out that week's reading with time to spare, you can always go back and play catch up.

The audio version in our Saddleback app can be a great way to supplement reading as well! Your book club hosts will also take the group to places that are pointed out to read the section so that everyone has context during the weekly discussions. So relax. Pray and ask God to help you find the time each week. You got this!

Yes, there are lots of great options for keeping your group in God's Word. There are five other great volumes of the Immerse Bible that you can find as a Saddleback group host at saddleback.com/watch.

We also have a variety of book and chapter studies that take a deeper dive into some of the most powerful passages of Scripture. We will recommend a few of those as The Anchored Life series winds down to a close, but you can also explore some of those at saddleback.com/watch.

Technically yes, there is nothing stopping you from reading on your own. But flying solo would mean missing out on some of the real beauty being in an Anchored Life Book Club. Reading through the Immerse Bible in eight weeks is a big undertaking. Not only will having a weekly discussion on the calendar help keep you motivated to stick to the reading plan, God will use other perspectives to help you see new things in Scripture. It's an experience not unlike that of the early church, where Bible passages were read aloud in gatherings and discussed.

"Better together" has always been a core conviction at Saddleback. That's why we've made the Immerse Bible freely available to anyone and everyone ready to be a part of a book club to mine the treasure of God's Word together!

Absolutely! Because the Immerse Bible takes more of a book club approach that virtually everyone in our culture is aware of, this is actually a perfect opportunity to extend an invitation to join you and your group. It's more of a Bible "exploration" than a Bible "study" that makes for a great introduction to God's Word for someone who may never have engaged or experienced it before.

Yes! Join us for a special Zoom meeting for Hosts with our Executive Pastor of Ministries, Jason Williams. Jason and his wife, Joy, have led several Immerse Bible Book Clubs and will share some best practices, tips, and tricks that will help ensure that you and your group have a transformational experience with God's Word that your group will never forget.

Days of Zoom Calls:

• Tuesday, January 9 at 7:00 PM
• Thursday, January 11 at 6:00 AM
• Thursday, January 11 at 7:00 PM
• Monday, January 15 at 7:00 PM
• Wednesday, January 17 at 7:00 PM