All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “ Abba, Father. ” 16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
These eight to eleven week, in-depth, high commitment Bible studies are modeled after the basic design of DISCIPLE Bible Study, which has enriched more than 1 million lives. Short-Term DISCIPLE Bible Studies make these life-changing courses easier to be a part of for those busy people who are unable to commit to longer studies. Weekly group meetings are designed to last 60-90 minutes with a two-part video segment to guide each session with interpretive presentations from biblical scholars; contextual presentations and roundtable discussions; and opportunities for reflection, contemplation, or inspiration on some aspect of the Scripture studied. Weekly Group Session and Format Gathering Around God’s Word *Video Presentation and Discussion Encountering God’s Word in the Text *Discussion of Daily Reading Assignments *Interpretive Exercise Concentrating on One Focal Passage Examining God’s Word in Context *Video Presentation and Discussion Going Forth with God’s Word *Discussion of Marks of Discipleship *Closing Prayers
The human emotions expressed in the Book of Psalms rise to peaks of joy and descend into valleys of despair. In the Psalms, the promise of the reign of God meets the historical experience of God's people. Faith in God's faithfulness collides with human experiences of pain and suffering, enslavement, oppression, and exile. God's people--given voice in the Pslams--struggle to make sense of who God is and who they are, and in so doing they have composed a collection of moving testimonies of grace, glory, sorrow, and beauty unmatched in sacred literature. For students of the Psalms today, this study offers greater understanding of how these ancient texts of praise, lament, worship, and prayer can still speak to us and for us.
Author Michael Jinkins is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He is the author of eleven books, including In the House of the Lord: Inhabiting the Psalms of Lament, Invitation to Theology, and Letters to New Pastors.
Study Contents 1. Word of God, Words of Prayer 2. The Prayerbook of God's People 3. Praying the Psalms 4. The Language of the Heart 5. The Geography of the Imagination 6. A Theology of the Imagination 7. Lament and Praise 8. Grace and Repentance 9. Love and Wrath 10. Hallelujah and Amen
In its wisdom, the early church chose to keep four Gospel accounts of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Three of these Gospels are very similar to each other in both what they tell about the story of Jesus and how they tell it. However, the Gospel of John stands apart. In it, we find Jesus speaking not in parables but in lengthy discourses.
We overhear Jesus talking with Nicodemus, a Samaritan woman, and Mary Magdalene. We marvel at Jesus turning water into wine, calling Lazarus from the tomb, and washing his disciples’ feet. We linger over Jesus’ great promises: “For God so loved the world.…” “I am the bread of life.…” “I am the resurrection.…” “Peace I leave with you.…” In the very first chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus issues two invitations: “Come and see,” and “Follow me.” They echo the invitations of this study: to come and see this Jesus—to hear him speak, to see his signs—and to consider anew what it means to be his followers.
This eleven-week study includes a participant book outlining daily reading assignments for group preparations, a leader guide suggesting discussion activities for use in the 60–90-minute weekly meeting, and a video component providing interpretation and context for the biblical texts.
The video segments welcome the participant into the study of John. The first segment each week presents a portion of the week's scripture read against a background of classic and contemporary art depicting the story. The second video segment presents an interviewer and scholar discussing the text in an informal and accessible exchange, followed by an onscreen small group who consider the questions of the week. Video presenters include Susan Hylen, Jaime Clark-Soles, Ben Witherington and Craig Koestler.
Author Robert D. Kysar, Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching and New Testament, Candler School of Theology, is a noted scholar on the Gospel of John. He has authored numerous articles and books, including a revised edition of John: The Maverick Gospel, Preaching John, and most recently Voyages With John: Charting the Fourth Gospel.
Study Contents 1. Come and See (John 1–2) 2. How Is It Possible? (John 3–4) 3. Taste for Yourself (John 5–6) 4. To Believe or Not to Believe (John 7–8) 5. Are We Blind? (John 9–10) 6. I Couldn’t Believe My Eyes! (John 11–12) 7. Would You Believe It? (John 13–14) 8. What Time Is It? (John 15–16) 9. Look Out! (John 17–18) 10. Believing Without Seeing (John 19–20) 11. Do You See Him? (John 21)
Click here to order online.
Using Matthew's Gospel as a starting piont, this study explores how the new Testament writers and the early Christian community wrestled with the coming of Jesus--his life, actions, mission, death, and resurrection--and the implications of his arrival for their lives and their communities of faith.
Moving through the Gospel of Matthew sequentially, the overarching themes from this story of Jesus provide the converstaion topics for each of the eight sessions. Each theme is then traced through other related passages in the New Testament.
Who is Jesus and what is his significance for our lives? Participants are invited to join this conversation, to study afresh this story of Jesus, and to learn more about their calling to discipleship and to community.
Study Contents 1. Jesus Calls Us Into God's Redemption Story 2. Jesus Calls Us to a Transformed Life 3. Jesus Calls Us to Minister to a Hostile World 4. Jesus Calls Us to Complex Communities of Faith 5. Jesus Calls Us to Serve One Another 6. Jesus Calls Us to a New Relationship With Tradition 7. Jesus Calls Us to Live in Light of His Coming Again 8. Jesus Calls Us to Experience the Gifts of His Dying and Rising
Authors David deSilva - Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, OH.
Emerson Powery - Chair of the Department of Theology and Associate Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Lee University in Cleveland, TN. In addition to the authors, video segments feature these scholars: Amy-Jill Levine - E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School IN Nashville, TN.
Bishop William Willimon - Bishop of the Birmingham Area, Southeastern Jurisdiction, of The United Methodist Church.
K. K. Yeo - Henry R. Kendall Associate Professor of New Testament at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL.
Click here to order online!
This study approaches the study of Hebrew Scriptures by inviting participants to hear the story of God and God's calling of the people of Israel through the many "voices" of the biblical text. Narrative, poem, history, and prophetic utterance all have their own distinctive characteristics and purpose, arising out of a particular historical, social, and cultural setting. To understand fully the story of God's covenantal relationship with Israel calls for listening to these various ways the story is told throughout the Old Testament. What does it mean to be God's chosen people? And how does the story of Israel's covenant with God inform our own identity as heirs of that covenant? Through this study, participants will be invited to listen afresh to the witness of the Old Testament to hear God's call and purpose for their own lives and respond to that call.
Study Contents 1. The Making of the Hebrew Bible 2. The Creation Story of Israel 3. Out of Bondage 4. Promise and Problem in the Land 5. Israel Has a King 6. Division and the Rise of Prophecy 7. Exile and Response 8. Restoration and Renewal
Authors James D. Tabor - Professor of Christian Origins and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Celia Brewer Sinclair - Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
In addition to the authors, video segments feature these scholars: Pete Enns - Associate Professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, PA.
Julia M. O'Brien - Paul and Grace L. Stern Professor of Old Testament at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, PA.
Click here to Order Online!
“In the beginning . . .” These first words in Genesis may be among the most familiar words in all the Bible. Many readers of the Bible recognize Genesis as a book that describes the beginning of all things: the Creation. This is certainly true but is only part of the story—the creation of the world only takes up the first two chapters of a fifty-chapter book. What are the other chapters about? This study approaches the Book of Genesis not simply as a story of the beginning but as a story of beginnings from start to finish. Through the study, participants will be invited to listen afresh to the witness of this opening book of the Hebrew Bible and to understand more clearly God’s purpose in beginning to form a people with the likes of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, and Jacob and Esau.
Study Contents 1. The Beginning . . . and What Went Wrong 2. Another Beginning: The Flood . . . and What Went Wrong 3. Another Beginning: Abraham and the Patriarchs 4. Abraham and a Glimpse to the Future 5. The Promise Fulfilled: Isaac 6. Another Beginning: Jacob and the Uneasy Birth of a People 7. Jacob: The Struggle Continues 8. Another New Beginning: Joseph and the Family of Israel 9. The Trek into Egypt 10. An End and Another Beginning: Israel’s Story Author Pete Enns - Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Hermeneutics at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, PA In addition to the author, video segments feature these scholars: Alice Ogden Bellis - Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature at the Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, DC. Sidnie White Crawford - Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible and Chair of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, NE Anathea Portier-Young - Assistant Professor of Old Testament at the Duke University Divinity School in Durham, NC. Tremper Longman III - Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA. Michael E. Williams - Senior Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Hendersonville, Tennessee, and Series Editor for The Storyteller’s Companion to the Bible.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of Romans in Christian tradition. Some of the great formers and re-formers of church teaching were themselves formed by their reading of Romans. As a result, Paul’s teachings in Romans come to us mediated through the history of the church’s interpretations of his letter. The challenge of reading Romans, then, is to learn to have our own interpretive conversation with the text itself, in spite of centuries of commentary on the text. One of the aims of this study is to invite us into conversation around several key themes: (1) Paul’s emphasis on communal salvation; (2) the centrality of God’s righteousness; and (3) the relationship between Jews and Gentiles and the relationship of both to God.
Study Contents 1. An Orientation to Romans 2. The Righteousness of God and the Faith of Jesus 3. Abraham, Father of All 4. Christ, the New Adam 5. Sin, Law, and Grace 6. Divine Purpose and Human Responsibility 7. The Salvation of Israel and the Nations 8. Love and Humility Are the Making of God’s Kingdom Author Pamela M. Eisenbaum - Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO. In addition to the author, video segments feature these scholars: Bill J. Leonard - Dean and Professor of Church History, The Divinity School at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC. Mark Reasoner - Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, the Department of Religious Studies at Bethel University at St. Paul, MN. Michael E. Williams - Senior Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Hendersonville, TN, and Series Editor for The Storyteller’s Companion to the Bible.