About the Book

Book: Ephesians (Real World Bible Study)

Author: Joy Suzanne Hunt

Genre: Bible Study Guide

Release Date: December 15, 2023

God’s Word + YOUR Real Life

If you’ve ever had trouble building a Bible study habit or understanding God’s Word for yourself, you’re not alone. But God’s Word was actually written about real life, for real life! It’s meant for the real world!

Connect with God’s Word in 15 min a Day

Whether you’re a Bible Study veteran, or you’re brand new and don’t know where to start, this study guide is for you. In this study, you’ll learn the steps to understand Scripture for yourself and connect it to your life and community. Each week, you’ll complete 5 days of study on your own (in manageable chunks that allow you go to deeper if desired), followed by a group session to explore the text with friends or family, because we interpret Scripture with the help of the Holy Spirit and community.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Joy Suzanne Hunt is the Pastor of Adult Education for CityWide Mosaic Church in Temecula, CA and a professor with SoCal School of Ministry. Her mission is to equip men and women to take ownership of their lives, faith, and finances. When she’s not teaching, writing, or coaching, you can find her walking her Temecula neighborhood, trying out crockpot recipes, or playing board games with friends.

Author Interview with Joy

Q: Please give us a little introduction to your book.

Joy: I’m a Bible college professor, and the one thing my students most often take away from our classes is the “three steps to interpret a Bible passage.” I follow these same three steps when I study a passage before preaching or writing about it, but they are steps any person can learn to follow:

What did it mean “back then when it was written?” We want to understand what the passage meant to the original hearers, so we need to know the historical and literary context as much as possible.
What does it mean in light of the rest of Scripture? We can use Scripture to interpret Scripture!
What does it mean in my life and community? This is the application step.

When we follow these steps, we avoid some common interpretation errors, but it’s more than that - Scripture comes alive for us in a new way when we understand the original meaning and then build a bridge from that original audience to our world. I hope my readers can experience this for themselves as they study the book of Ephesians!

Q: How long did it take you to write this book?

Joy: It took about a month; I originally wrote it for my church’s summer small group series!

Q: What do you hope readers take away from your book?

Joy: I hope readers walk away feeling excited about God’s Word and more confident in their ability to interpret it correctly. I hope that new students of the Bible will develop a healthy Bible study habit that they can build upon and share with others.

Q: What do you like to do when you aren't writing?

Joy: I’m a financial coach which is a lot of fun! I love to read and enjoy playing French Horn and going on bike rides with my mom.

Q: What are you reading now?

Joy: I’m currently listening to Michael Hyatt’s No Fail Habits. And I received a copy of God’s Smuggler for Christmas which I’m looking forward to starting soon!

More from Joy

As a Bible college professor, I’m always looking for books written “by the seminary guys but for normal people,” meaning that I want the best scholarship and teaching out there, written in a way that everyone can understand. (Let’s face it: even if you’ve been to grad school, chances are reading someone’s PhD dissertation isn’t actually fun for you.)

And as a pastor, I choose study guides for our small groups that help teach members how to study the Bible and give them a framework to build Bible study into daily life. My favorite study guides pull in great background information and teach hands-on study skills, and are structured in a way that helps readers to spend time in God’s Word every day (whether they spend 5 minutes or 30). This study was born from our church calendar: all of my favorite study guide series’ are 13-week studies, and I needed to plan for a small group series that would last 7-8 weeks. What do you do when you can’t find the book you want? You write it, of course!

This study guide is built around the “3 Steps to Interpret a Bible Passage” that I’ve been teaching to my School of Ministry students for years. If you’ve never looked into the historical context of a passage on your own and made the connection to our lives today, you’re in for a treat. Getting into the context really makes God’s Word come alive for us and it helps guide how we handle difficult topics. I hope this study leaves you hungry for more – and armed with the tools to encounter and interpret God’s Word for yourself every day.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, February 23

Lighthouse Academy Blog, February 24 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 25

Texas Book-aholic, February 26

Locks, Hooks and Books, February 27

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 28

Godly Book Reviews, February 29

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 1

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, March 2

Batya’s Bits, March 3

Beauty in the Binding, March 4 (Author Interview)

Artistic Nobody, March 4

Cover Lover Book Review, March 5

Aryn The Libraryan, March 6

Blossoms and Blessings, March 7 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, March 7

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Joy is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon Gift Card, copy of the book, and NLT Filament Bible Journal: Ephesians (Softcover)!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Link for giveaway: https://promosimple.com/ps/2a258/ephesians-celebration-tour-giveaway