Back to Basics

Built around the well-known Just for Starters Bible studies, Back to Basics adds stories and illustrations both from Christian history and our day, songs old and new, discussion ideas and skills training material.

The overall result is an engaging and effective course, which is becoming very popular for reinvigorating Christians in their understanding of God, and their love and service of others.

This third edition uses the NIV 2011 for its Bible passages.

Help in preparing the Just for Starters component of the Back to Basics studies can be found through the Preparing Just for Starters resource.

Download a free sample from our online store.

Preface

No-one has been a Christian so long that they don’t need to get back to basics from time to time. Back to Basics is a seven-week course for teaching and reminding Christians about basic biblical belief and living.

Back to Basics is built around the well-known Just for Starters set of Bible studies. For many years, Just for Starters has served as a useful tool for personal follow-up. Countless young or new believers around the world have been nurtured and established in the Christian faith through these seven foundational Bible studies.

Back to Basics starts with the framework of Just for Starters and supplements it with extra material:

• illustrations
• testimonies old and new
• songs
• book reviews
• ideas for discussion
• skills to learn
• a ‘Your story’ section at the end of each session, which calls on participants to put together and respond to what they’ve learned.

For example—in session 5 on prayer (‘Talking to God’), after learning what God says in the Bible about prayer, there are examples of how people’s lives have been shaped by prayer, a song that reflects the importance of prayer, a book to read about prayer to build on what has been learned, and a range of skills relating to how this applies to your personal life, the group’s life, and the life of the church.

By using Back to Basics in small groups, or even in a larger weekly congregational meeting, your church or fellowship group can re-establish basic beliefs and priorities and lay the foundation for continuing spiritual growth together. In churches where this material has already been used, it has certainly done this job. We hope that it can prove useful in your context as well.