Announcing {Hymn & Scripture Challenge} for 2012

Since we do not have a post for this weekend, I wanted to share where the Lord has led me for 2012. Some of you have asked, and I know I certainly have been asking the Lord too. And just as last year, He wasn't clearly calling me to stop these challenges, so I will continue on. They are a blessing to me, and I certainly pray they have been for you too! One thing He has showed me recently is how many truths are in old hymns. I love old hymns, and I am always singing a hymn. How about you? Have you seen God's truths in hymns?

This year I will be using a book called "Then Sings My Soul" to find the hymns we will use. I will also use my hymnal but this particular book has information on the author of the hymn and background on the writing of the hymn.

There is also a scripture reference for each hymn. I will then use the scripture reference to prepare a study over the scripture and truths from the hymn. Our study will always be taken back to the Bible.

There are several different versions of this book, and each book contains different hymns. I have 3 of these books. You can search on "Then Sings My Soul" on amazon.com, and all of the versions should come up. I have seen many used editions going for $1.39-$3.59. You by no means need one of these books for the study. The Bible is the only thing you need. I will be posting parts of each hymn too in each study. At some point in the study, I may be "RAKing" a book or two. :) Be on the lookout! I also hope many of you will continue this year and that many more will join in too! Now let's look at the details.

Album, ATC, Cards--What Will You Use?
So, what will you use for your album this year? What have you used in the past? Maybe you are new to these challenges and would like some ideas. Here is what I have used in all of the past challenges. Please feel free to click on the link (title) to each challenge to see that year's study.

2008 Scripture Challenge
*ATCs
2009 His Holy Name Challenge
*6x6 Pages in D-ring Album

2010 Scripture Challenge
*6x6 Pages on a Wooden Stand

2011 ABC Scripture Challenge
*5x6 Pages on 7Gypsies Photo Carousel

Of course, if you are doing pages, you can create any size and use any album you want! You can do hybrid or digi pages, or you can also create cards and mail to people. You can create anything you wish. These are just ideas!  I am not exactly sure yet what I will use for this 2012 study. I will post when I decide. :)

If You Participate, Do You Have to Create Something?
Absolutely not! :) You can just study God's Word and keep notes. You do not have to create a thing! I personally love the creating part and someday my kids can have these pages too as part of my faith legacy. For those of you not creating pages, etc., you may just want to keep a journal of each hymn and scripture along with your study notes.

What if You Want to Study with People at Church?
Wonderful! Please do have them study along. However, I ask that you not copy my work. I also ask that you have the participants print the study directly from my blog post each time. It takes me many, many hours to prepare these studies, and they are inspired by the Lord. The studies are copyrighted, and I pray that you respect that. Thank you! For more information, please see the section below titled "Will this challenge be hosted on other sites? What about posting on my own blog?"

Now let me share a bit about how this challenge will work.
**I will post a study every other Sunday beginning January 1, 2012. Mark your calendars, and see the entire 2012 calendar below! :)
**Challenges will be posted usually by 5 p.m. Central Standard Time on challenge Sundays.
**My post will also share some thoughts, the hymn, and scripture or scriptures that I chose (usually from the NIV), and a picture of my page.
**Then you will study your Bible and find scriptures that are meaningful to you based on the study and truth posted for that week.
**I love using Biblegateway to look up single keywords in the Bible. It is a great resource for this study.
**Then you will create your page using your selected scripture/thoughts based on the study for that week.
**Feel free to look at previous studies linked above to get an idea of how this Hymn and Scripture Challenge will work.
**For more information, also see the Scripture Challenge {Study Resources} post here. You may find it helpful.

Is there a time limit to complete the challenge?
No, there is not a time limit to complete the challenge. This is for you so that you can study and learn to apply God's truths to your daily life! You do what you can when you can. On occasion, I may offer RAKs, and at those times there will be a deadline. Watch out for those. :) You may join this challenge at ANY time throughout the year!

Do I need to sign up?
No, you can just subscribe to my blog to get the updates.

Will this challenge be hosted on other sites? What about posting on my own blog?
No, you will only be able to find the challenge here on my blog. Please do not copy the post to other websites or your own blog. You may certainly link the study but do not copy the study. Feel free to post a quote but not the entire study. Remember, this study is copyrighted. Thank you! And make sure you subscribe to my blog if you haven't already. :) If you have friends that you think may be interested in joining us, feel free to send them the link to this post! For more information, please see the section above titled "What if You Want to Study with People at Church?"

Where can we share our work?
A lot of us will be sharing on our blogs and in various galleries such as Splitcoaststampers, 2Peas, Scrapbook.com, etc. Wherever you share, you can use this keyword and it will help others find your work more easily--HSCRC12. I will also use inlinkz.com for this challenge so that you can leave a link to your work here on my blog for others to see.

Is there a blinkie for this challenge?
Yes, but let's call it a button instead of a blinkie. :) It's a miniature version of the picture at the beginning of this post. I did not make one that blinks. It is a "stand alone" button. You will find it in the sidebar of my blog and below this paragraph. Right-click and save it to your computer to add to your blog. I also ask that you link it back to this post or my blog. Feel free to add it to message board signatures too. I hope you like it.

2012 Hymn and Scripture Challenge Schedule:
Challenge 1: January 1
Challenge 2: January 15
Challenge 3: January 29
Challenge 4: February 12
Challenge 5: February 26
Challenge 6: March 11
Challenge 7: March 25
Challenge 8: April 8
Challenge 9: April 22
Challenge 10: May 6
Challenge 11: May 20
Challenge 12: June 3
Challenge 13: June 17
Challenge 14: July 1
Challenge 15: July 15
Challenge 16: July 29
Challenge 17: August 12
Challenge 18: August 26
Challenge 19: September 9
Challenge 20: September 23
Challenge 21: October 7
Challenge 22: October 21
Challenge 23: November 4
Challenge 24: November 18
Challenge 25: December 2
Challenge 26: December 16

To see all of the current challenges thus far for 2012, please click here.

Whew, sorry this post got so long. Book mark it. It will be the "main information page" for the Hymn and Scripture Challenge. Please e-mail me if you have more questions, and I would love to know your thoughts on this upcoming challenge. Feel free to leave comments here! Blessings, and see you January 1st with our first hymn and study!