Our Purpose
Our primary purpose as a ministry is to produce Bible study materials that build up a faithful generation of people who love God, love His Word, and praise Him throughout their lives.
Our History
Having taught women's Bible study courses in her local church for several years, in 2004 Kristie began writing her own course books and accompanying teacher/leader guides. At that time, we adopted the name "At Home Studies" to reflect the idea that believers should love and spend time in God's Word so much that they truly become "at home" in it as they hide it in their hearts and its truths abide within them. We remain strongly committed to this principle.
Interest in these courses spread by word of mouth and within two years resulted in Bible study groups in seven states. Over the next few years, we produced more course books, word about the studies continued to spread, and even more groups became interested in our courses.
In 2007 we contracted with Focus Publishing to release one of our course books, Hope in God, on a broader basis. Since then, Focus has also published a second course book, Prayer. We continue to distribute all other In Praise of God materials ourselves; online ordering is available through this site.
In early 2009 we changed our ministry name to In Praise of God Ministries to alleviate some confusion (no, the studies did not have to be done at home!) and to reflect some newer facets of our ministry. Along with continuing to develop inductive Bible study course materials, our ministry has expanded to include a limited number of speaking engagements for Kristie.
Our Courses and Leader Guides
Course Books
Each inductive Bible study course uses a variety of study methods (cross-references, word studies, lists, reasoning from the Scriptures, comparing and contrasting, and more). Each lesson also gives attention to application of truths to daily life through practical examples and application questions. Most importantly, each course focuses on the greatness of our God.
We hope that students will come away from each lesson with a new (or renewed) desire to love and follow Christ, and a greater ability to do so. The goal of each study is life-change to the glory of God!
Additional features found in many courses include Bible memorization helps, shorter study options, and calls to prayer. The Proverbs study also contains pages with help for teaching key principles from the study to children.
Leader's Materials
Our studies work well with groups or classes, and our leader's materials help those planning groups by providing a variety of ideas for meetings. Lesson plans are presented in sections, allowing leaders to choose those elements which best meet their individual teaching styles and goals. Every lesson plan is adjustable to any size group (personal study, one-on-one discipleship, homeschool Bible curriculum, small groups, large classes).
Leader's Guides include lesson aims, conversation starters, ideas for reviewing course material, discussion questions, visual aid helps, relevant quotations, cross-references, explanations to ensure understanding and application questions. Some guides include small group discussion sheets, while others provide reproducible handouts for use in large or small groups.
Leader's Notes are similar to Leader's Guides, but they provide more abbreviated and streamlined assistance. For more information on which type of leader's materials are available for each course, see our Studies page.