Imarriage Study Guide: Transforming Your Expectations

By Andy Stanley

Book Overview

Until Expectations May You Part Giddy with excitement and burning with love's fire, engaged couples are filled with desires and expectations Wonder and eager anticipation propel them forward. Then comes the marriage and if they take the wrong approach, those unrealized expectations and unmet wants can turn a life-giving covenant relationship into a dead-end contractual agreement. Suddenly your marriage has no love, joy, or peace. In this marriage-makeover DVD and study guide from Northpoint Resources, Andy Stanley 's three key teachings help you transform your expectations and examine the "I's" of marriage: "Keeping My 'I' On You," "Putting Your 'I' Out," and "It Takes Three." Broken into six DVD sessions with discussion questions, this is one lesson your marriage won't survive without. Until Expectations Do Us Part Standing at the altar we all had a picture of what our marriage would look like. The problem is this picture of marriage ends up as expectations that we unload on our spouse. The weight of these expectations will rob your marriage of love and joy. As a spouse you never feel like you measure up and you never feel like you are good enough. So what are you to do with your expectations? You can't deny them because most expectations started out as God-given desires. In this six-session companion study guide to the DVD, Andy Stanley explains that you must instead learn to transform your expectations and look to God if you are to experience marriage as it was designed. This study guide is complete with a leader's guide and six lessons including conversation-starting exercises, discussion questions and application steps. Story Behind the Book Andy Stanley is the senior pastor of three North Point Ministries campuses, with a cumulative congregation of more than twenty thousand. As couples voiced their various marital struggles to him, the common root problem became undeniably clear. The "me" syndrome, or the "I" effect, was tearing apart husbands and wives who were once head-over-heels in love. To help couples step back from their immediate circumstances and realize the bigger picture, he preached a series called "iMarriage." This DVD and study guide will empower couples everywhere to transform their marriages into the one God intends for them.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590526651
• ISBN13: 9781590526651
• Release Date: July 2006
• Publisher: Multnomah Books
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A must for small groups

We have used the iMarriage DVD and accompanying study for various small groups, marriage emphasis studies in our coffee shop, and even for marriage counseling. The study is practical, engaging and effective in communicating the message of the crucial topic of expectations. The six week committment is minimal and sets up further studies as well. We highly recommend this product.

Crash Course in Marriage Counseling!

If you are having difficulty in your marriage, this is a must-see DVD! The video can be viewed in segments or "sessions" which makes it easier to think about what is being said. The narrator, Andy Stanley (a minister) delivers "counseling" in a very upbeat, youthful, pragmatic way. When I began to watch the video, I thought he was going to be a hard sell, especially when he talked about "zero expectations" and unconditional love. But by the end of the video I was 100% convinced that his approach would work, absolutely. What is needed from the viewer is an open mind, a willing heart, a can-do attitude, and loving kindness. Try praying for guidance, wisdom, and love, and see if it doesn't make a difference in your marriage.

Flexible Lessons for Marriage

My husband and I both enjoyed and learned from this series. You have two options, you can watch the series in three sessions (basically entertaining 40 or so minute sermons), or you can watch it broken down into shorter sessions (designed more for a Sunday School or Wednesday night series of lessons). I like the flexibility in presentation and my husband and I both found the series entertaining and enlightening. At the end of each session, we opted to write down our own lesson "highlights", put them on our respective bedroom mirrors and review them individually until they were in our heads. My two favorites are as follows: "I love you unconditionally because God loved me unconditionally. It is my job to love my spouse because God asked me to; what he/she does with my love is between that person and God." I highly recommend this series and plan to revisit the DVD in a small group couples Bible study.

Best short series

I speak a good bit on marriage and have seen God change many lives. Having looking through a good number of resources, I rank this as the best short series on marriage. The ONLY thing I would prefer is to have more Scripture. Yes, that's a big one. However, Andy's message is thoroughly Biblical even if he does not exposit Scripture much. Get it.

Great DVD and study

Andy Stanley is anointed to bring unique insight with great common sense. We highly reccommend