Sumatra with the Seven Churches (Coffee Cup Bible Studies) Paperback – April 11, 2011

I love all the Bible studies in this series! Love the format, the way the book opens flat, the writer's style, and just the good questions and lessons learned. So helpful! Would be great for a women's Bible study.

Great Bible study! I teamed it up with a DVD series from Day of Discovery. What a wonderful study with tremendous insight into the 7 churches in Revelation

This study delves into the seven churches with precision and clarity...excellent!!!

Too long. A bit complicated.

Great study

Reading someone else's 'mail' can be good for us if it's the letters to the Seven Churches! Interesting, engaging, and challenging-- all are apt descriptions of Sumatra with the Seven Churches. The focus and the style of this study of just one portion of Revelation helped me to understand these ancient cultures and to realize the distractions, temptations, and hardships facing these early believers. It was enlightening to have background on these cities, but it was convicting as I reflected on how my own Christian walk needed the warnings and exhortations from these letters. This is a great choice for personal Bible study! Sumatra with the Seven Churches gives step-by-step guidance through the passages. The format is conveniently divided into daily portions, just the right length for one sitting. Eight weeks seems a perfect timeframe for a small group study, my own experience. The content is well-suited to group discussions, but equally useful for individual work. Questions on supporting scriptures and related passages provide a strong Biblical foundation. The subject and the style make this study interesting, practical and applicable; the convenient size and layout make it easy to keep close at hand. Special features are a chart for preparing an overview of all seven letters and the inclusion of the scripture passages for easy reference. Interesting photographs, supplemental notes, and personal examples of the authors add to the appeal.

As part of the coffee cup series, Sumatra possesses several characteristics every book in the series has. For instance, the entirety of the Biblical passage is included in the study (NET translation); furthermore, an informative introduction section (author, date, place, etc.) also precedes the body of the study. An introduction to study (not Revelation) features the author's purpose in only providing questions during the weekdays, why the NET is included, and a short explanation of the "timeless" truth principle. An encouragement to memorize scripture finalizes the introduction. The body of the work weaves commentary with questions and cross-references. Several observation, interpretation, and application questions occur in each week's lessons. Furthermore, this study demonstrates correlation well as it asks the reader to extract the timeless truths from Revelation and apply them to other parts of Scripture (namely look at pg 24). In terms of difficulty, this study showcases plenty of "easy" observation questions for novice learners, but also asks the reader to think beyond the surface level to answer many of the questions. Also, terms such as soteriology and eschatology are subtlety defined in their use. This allows the author to educate the reader while also using appropriate theological terms. In the "Saturday" portions, the writing of the author really comes to live and personality and style shine forth. Finally, darkened boxes pepper the study giving opportunity for deeper study beyond the scope of the spiral bound book. Overall, this study serves as an excellent example of how to weave correlation and interpretation at a level that is appropriate for biblical study. It should be referenced when looking for a study that raises the level of intellect for the reader.

Sumatra with the Seven Churches is a perfect Bible study if you are looking for a study that combines observation, interpretation and application of Scripture. The study is portable enough to do on my couch with a cup of coffee or on a crowded airplane or on a brief lunch break at work. Each lesson is packed with Scripture (the entire Scripture text to be studied is printed in the guide), challenging questions that make you think with your head and heart, extra historical insights to enhance the lesson, a final prayer corresponding to the week's lesson and an optional memory verse. Instead of tackling the entire book of Revelation, the authors chose to look in-depth at the seven churches in Revelation 1-3. This proves to be very relevant in considering the corporate church in the present time. The study was well-researched and multi-sensory for those who have different learning styles. The descriptions of the modern and ancient day cities were vivid and helpful. Each lesson also presents very practical applications of what is learned. Honest sharing from the authors' personal experiences made the study heart-felt and authentic. This little study contains 8 lessons with each lesson split into daily bite-sized chunks. Some days reading the Scriptural text is all that is required and other days a review of the text is presented with questions following. The study can be used as a personal devotional (which I did) or as a small group study (which would prove lively). The only thing I would change would be to have more space for answering questions as some require longer answers and have limited writing space. I received a review copy of Sumatra with the Seven Churches and overall, I would rate it as an excellent study that encourages women to think for themselves and to spend quality time in the Scripture.