New Year planning guide

New Year Studies for Small Groups

January is when a group is most willing to try something new and least able to keep it up alone. These studies are about habits, rhythms, and the state of your mind — the things people resolve to change — and each one is built to be worked through together, a set number of weeks at a time.

12 studies below. Catalog facts last updated .

How these studies were chosen

These are studies about habits, rhythms, emotional health, and starting over — the subjects January actually raises. We kept the session counts visible so you can pick something your group can still be doing in March.

This is editorial judgment plus catalog facts — nothing here is ordered by sales, downloads, or ratings, and no title is claimed to be better than another. Read Week 1 of any guide free and decide for your own group.

Anxious for Nothing

by Max Lucado

Schedule
10 sessions
Full guide
74 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Ten sessions in Philippians 4 around Lucado’s CALM pattern: celebrate, ask, leave it there, dwell on good things. A gentle first study for a group coming out of a heavy December.

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  1. 1.Introduction — The Weapons of Mass Anxiety
  2. 2.Chapter 1 — Rejoice in the Lord Always
  3. 3.Chapter 2 — The Garden of Gethsemane and the Gift of Prayer
  4. 4.Chapter 3 — Leave Your Worries at the Altar
  5. 5.Chapter 4 — Meditate on Good Things
  6. 6.Chapter 5 — God Is Near
  7. 7.Chapter 6 — Calmness as a Lifestyle
  8. 8.Chapter 7 — Cling to Christ
  9. 9.Chapter 8 — You Can Count on God
  10. 10.Review & Reflection
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Made to Crave

by Lysa TerKeurst

Schedule
9 sessions
Full guide
68 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Nine sessions on the appetite underneath the resolution. TerKeurst takes the January health push seriously and then keeps asking what the craving is really for.

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  1. 1.Introduction — Made to Crave
  2. 2.Session 1 — Created for More
  3. 3.Session 2 — The Desire to Be Healthy and Honoring to God
  4. 4.Session 3 — Getting a Plan and Finding Your Spiritual Motivation
  5. 5.Session 4 — The Emotion Connection
  6. 6.Session 5 — Maintenance and Setbacks
  7. 7.Session 6 — Victory Is Possible
  8. 8.Deeper Reflections — Specific Struggles and Spiritual Practices
  9. 9.Review & Reflection — The Journey Continues
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Habits of the Household

by Justin Whitmel Earley

Schedule
10 sessions
Full guide
71 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Ten sessions on the small liturgies of a home — waking, mealtimes, discipline, screen time, bedtime. Families rearrange these in January anyway; this makes it deliberate instead of accidental.

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  1. 1.Introduction — The Liturgies of Home
  2. 2.Chapter 1 — Waking
  3. 3.Chapter 2 — Mealtimes
  4. 4.Chapter 3 — Discipline
  5. 5.Chapter 4 — Screentime
  6. 6.Chapter 5 — Family Worship
  7. 7.Chapter 6 — Marriage in the Household
  8. 8.Chapter 7 — Bedtimes
  9. 9.Chapter 8 — The Age Chart & Planning the Years
  10. 10.Review & Reflection
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The Next Right Thing

by Emily P. Freeman

Schedule
13 sessions
Full guide
92 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Thirteen sessions for people facing a decision rather than a resolution: name the arrows, consider your constraints, let yourself off the hook. Quiet, and steadying when January arrives as pressure.

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  1. 1.Introduction — The Practice of the Next Right Thing
  2. 2.Chapter 1 — Become a Student of Yourself
  3. 3.Chapter 2 — Be with God As You Are
  4. 4.Chapter 3 — Pay Attention to Right Now
  5. 5.Chapter 4 — Name the Arrows
  6. 6.Chapter 5 — Consider Your Constraints
  7. 7.Chapter 6 — Let Yourself Off the Hook
  8. 8.Chapter 7 — Build a Rule of Life
  9. 9.Chapter 8 — Tend to Your Soul
  10. 10.Chapter 9 — Seek Spiritual Community
  11. 11.Chapter 10 — Allow the Fog to Descend
  12. 12.Chapter 11 — Do the Next Right Thing in Love
  13. 13.Review & Reflection — Looking Back Across the Journey
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Practicing the Way

by John Mark Comer

Schedule
12 sessions
Full guide
96 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Twelve sessions on apprenticeship to Jesus, ending with solitude, prayer, Sabbath, and practicing together. If your group wants a rule of life for the year, this one builds it week by week.

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  1. 1.Introduction — The Invitation
  2. 2.Chapter 1 — You Are Being Formed
  3. 3.Chapter 2 — Apprentice
  4. 4.Chapter 3 — With Jesus
  5. 5.Chapter 4 — Become Like Jesus
  6. 6.Chapter 5 — Do What Jesus Did
  7. 7.Chapter 6 — A Rule of Life
  8. 8.Chapter 7 — Solitude & Silence
  9. 9.Chapter 8 — Prayer
  10. 10.Chapter 9 — Sabbath
  11. 11.Chapter 10 — Community & Practices Together
  12. 12.Review & Reflection
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Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

by Peter Scazzero

Schedule
11 sessions
Full guide
78 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Eleven sessions on the gap between being busy at church and being emotionally grown up. Scazzero’s “going back in order to go forward” is a January-shaped chapter if there ever was one.

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  1. 1.Introduction — The Problem of Emotionally Unhealthy Spirituality
  2. 2.Chapter 1 — The Problem of Emotionally Unhealthy Spirituality
  3. 3.Chapter 2 — Know Yourself That You May Know God
  4. 4.Chapter 3 — Going Back in Order to Go Forward
  5. 5.Chapter 4 — Journey Through the Wall
  6. 6.Chapter 5 — Enlarge Your Soul Through Grief and Loss
  7. 7.Chapter 6 — Discover the Rhythms of the Daily Office and Sabbath
  8. 8.Chapter 7 — Grow Into an Emotionally Mature Adult
  9. 9.Chapter 8 — Go the Next Step to Develop a "Rule of Life"
  10. 10.Chapter 9 — Love Christ Above All Else
  11. 11.Review & Reflection — The Whole Journey
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Try Softer

by Aundi Kolber

Schedule
11 sessions
Full guide
78 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Eleven sessions from a therapist written for people whose only plan is to try harder. A useful counterweight for a group that shows up in January carrying a list.

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  1. 1.Introduction — The Try Softer Invitation
  2. 2.Chapter 1 — Permission to Be Human
  3. 3.Chapter 2 — Your Story Matters
  4. 4.Chapter 3 — Your Body Keeps the Score
  5. 5.Chapter 4 — Attachment: How We Learn to Love
  6. 6.Chapter 5 — Emotions as Information
  7. 7.Chapter 6 — The Inner Critic and Self-Compassion
  8. 8.Chapter 7 — Boundaries as Belonging
  9. 9.Chapter 8 — The Gentle Life
  10. 10.Chapter 9 — Try Softer: Putting It All Together
  11. 11.Review & Reflection
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Winning the War in Your Mind

by Craig Groeschel

Schedule
11 sessions
Full guide
78 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Eleven sessions on four ways to interrupt thoughts that run on their own: replacement, reframing, renewal, and what Groeschel calls the dirt-patch principle. Concrete enough to practice for a month.

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  1. 1.Introduction — The Battle Is in Your Mind
  2. 2.Part One — The Replacement Principle (Chapters 1–2)
  3. 3.Part One — The Lies We Believe (Chapters 3–4)
  4. 4.Part Two — The Reframe Principle (Chapters 5–6)
  5. 5.Part Two — Identifying Your Triggers (Chapters 7–8)
  6. 6.Part Three — The Renewing Principle (Chapters 9–10)
  7. 7.Part Three — The Power of Prayer and Praise (Chapters 11–12)
  8. 8.Part Four — The Dirt Patch Principle (Chapters 13–14)
  9. 9.Part Four — Winning Thought Patterns (Chapters 15–16)
  10. 10.Conclusion — Your New Mind, Your New Life
  11. 11.Review & Reflection — Looking Back, Moving Forward
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Sacred Rhythms

by Ruth Haley Barton

Schedule
9 sessions
Full guide
71 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Nine sessions, one per practice — solitude, Scripture, prayer, honoring the body, self-examination, discernment — and then a session on building a rule of life. January is when a group is most willing to try one.

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  1. 1.Introduction — Desire as the Starting Point
  2. 2.Chapter 1 — Solitude: Creating Space for God
  3. 3.Chapter 2 — Scripture: Encountering God in the Word
  4. 4.Chapter 3 — Prayer: Intimate Conversation with God
  5. 5.Chapter 4 — Honoring the Body: Flesh-and-Blood Spirituality
  6. 6.Chapter 5 — Self-Examination: Reclaiming the Examined Life
  7. 7.Chapter 6 — Discernment: Recognizing and Responding to the Presence of God
  8. 8.Chapter 7 — A Rule of Life: Cultivating Rhythms for Spiritual Transformation
  9. 9.Review & Reflection — Looking Back, Looking Forward
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The Common Rule

by Justin Whitmel Earley

Schedule
13 sessions
Full guide
92 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Thirteen sessions on four daily and four weekly habits — kneeling prayer, a meal with others, an hour with the phone off, Scripture before the phone. Named plainly enough that a group can start them the same week they read about them.

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  1. 1.Introduction — The Liturgies of Our Lives
  2. 2.Daily Habit 1 — Kneeling Prayer
  3. 3.Daily Habit 2 — One Meal with Others
  4. 4.Daily Habit 3 — One Hour with Phone Off
  5. 5.Daily Habit 4 — Scripture Before Phone
  6. 6.Weekly Habit 1 — One Hour of Conversation with a Friend
  7. 7.Weekly Habit 2 — One Hour of Curated Media
  8. 8.Weekly Habit 3 — One Fast
  9. 9.Weekly Habit 4 — One Sabbath
  10. 10.The Habits Together — Love of God and Neighbor
  11. 11.Community and the Common Rule
  12. 12.Practicing the Rule — Starting and Sustaining
  13. 13.Review & Reflection — Looking Back, Moving Forward
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Cultivate

by Lara Casey

Schedule
12 sessions
Full guide
85 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Twelve sessions that use a garden as the picture — unclutter, prepare the soil, plant what matters, pull weeds, tend with patience. It is about intention without the pressure of a perfect year.

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  1. 1.Introduction — Tired of Striving
  2. 2.Chapter 1 — Unclutter
  3. 3.Chapter 2 — Prepare the Soil
  4. 4.Chapter 3 — Plant What Matters
  5. 5.Chapter 4 — Water with Prayer
  6. 6.Chapter 5 — Pull Weeds
  7. 7.Chapter 6 — Tend with Patience
  8. 8.Chapter 7 — Embrace Imperfect Progress
  9. 9.Chapter 8 — Cultivate Community
  10. 10.Chapter 9 — Grow Through Hard Seasons
  11. 11.Chapter 10 — Celebrate the Harvest
  12. 12.Review & Reflection — A Life Worth Cultivating
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Get Out of Your Head

by Jennie Allen

Schedule
14 sessions
Full guide
100 discussion questions

Why it works for New Year: Fourteen sessions naming one spiral at a time — anxious, insignificant, afraid, angry, hopeless, alone — and the choice that interrupts each. A long study whose weekly portion stays small.

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  1. 1.Introduction — The Problem Is in Your Head
  2. 2.Chapter 1 — A Spiral of Toxic Thoughts
  3. 3.Chapter 2 — We Have a Choice
  4. 4.Chapter 3 — The Weapon We Have Been Given
  5. 5.Chapter 4 — I Feel Anxious: Choose to Be Still
  6. 6.Chapter 5 — I Feel Insignificant: Choose to Be Known
  7. 7.Chapter 6 — I Feel Afraid: Choose to Be Grateful
  8. 8.Chapter 7 — I Feel Angry: Choose to Delight
  9. 9.Chapter 8 — I Feel Hopeless: Choose to Serve
  10. 10.Chapter 9 — I Feel Alone: Choose Community
  11. 11.Chapter 10 — I Feel Worthless: Choose Delight in God
  12. 12.Chapter 11 — Running the Race with Our Minds Fixed on Jesus
  13. 13.Chapter 12 — Surrender Your Mind, Change Your World
  14. 14.Review & Reflection — Looking Back, Moving Forward
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