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Once you've met Jesus, you are never the same again. His teaching challenges your thinking. His compassion softens your heart. His love turns your life around. In this thirteen session LifeGuide® Bible Study, evangelist Leighton Ford leads you through thirteen studies from the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) that will open your eyes anew--or for the first time--to Jesus Christ.This LifeGuide Bible Study in IVP Connect's revised format features questions for starting group discussions and for meeting God in personal reflection, as well as a "Now or Later" section following each session to help you act on what you learn.For over three decades LifeGuide Bible Studies have provided solid biblical content and raised thought-provoking questions—making for a one-of-a-kind Bible study experience for individuals and groups. This series has more than 130 titles on Old and New Testament books, character studies, and topical studies. PDF download with a single-user license; available from InterVarsity Press and other resellers.
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13 STUDIES FOR INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS
1
The Real Jesus
Mark 1:9-45
2
The Surprising Jesus
Luke 5:17-32
3
Jesus the Storytelling Teacher
Mark 4:1-25
4
Jesus the Master over Fear
Luke 8:22-39
5
Jesus the Challenging Savior
Mark 8:22-38
6
Jesus the Source of Power
Mark 9:2-32
7
Jesus & a Rich Man
Luke 18:15-30
8
Jesus the Servant Leader
Mark 10:32-45
9
Jesus the Puzzling King
Mark 11
10
Jesus the Prophet
Matthew 24:1-31
11
Jesus the Sacrifice
Matthew 26:1-30
12
Jesus the Dying King
John 19:16-42
13
Jesus the Risen Lord
John 20
A few years ago I was asked to speak at the University of Virginia for a weekend on the topic “Jesus Christ versus Christianity.” The sponsors had chosen that topic to capture the interest of many students who had reacted against their church upbringing, who assumed they knew very well who Jesus was or either dismissed or ignored him.
It was quite a weekend! Joining me were a very active Black evangelist and a sort of counterculture folk singer. As the students heard the team from different cultural backgrounds talking about the same Jesus, their stereotypes began to crumble.
Before we came, the Christian students handed out a questionnaire which included the request to complete the statement: “When I think of Christianity I think of . . .” One fellow said that he thought of the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Thirty Years’ War. Almost anything bad that happened in history he blamed on Christianity.
He came to me at the very end and said, “I was the one who filled out that response. But this weekend I saw Jesus as I’d never seen him before, and I have now become a follower of Christ.”
This present study assumes that all of us need to take a fresh look at the real Jesus. Some of us, through familiarity, have given Jesus only a comfortable conventional place in our lives. Others have dismissed him as boring and irrelevant. Still others are fascinated with the person of Jesus and long to know whether he might, in truth, have the answers we are looking for. Like one of Jesus’ own contemporaries, they are curious to see who Jesus really is.
This study guide draws on the four books that tell us the story of Jesus—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Three of these, the so-called Synoptic Gospels, are very similar, although each has its own unique perspective. John’s Gospel is noticeably different in both style and content. Yet as we read the Gospels, we realize that each writer is talking about the same powerful transforming personality. It is as if four artists were sketching the same person—three from similar perspectives, one from a different viewpoint, with each one highlighting unique details but all vividly portraying the same reality.
Contrary to some skeptics, this study assumes the essential historical accuracy of the accounts in those four books, and that there is reliable, scholarly evidence for this belief.*1
It is not necessary that you accept the Gospel accounts as “divinely inspired” in order to use this guide. Rather, come to the accounts of Jesus as you would to any sound history, with an open mind and heart to see what you find—more important, what finds you!
The story of Jesus is many-sided. So this study guide selects thirteen key facets of the story of Jesus which disclose his person, his teaching, his actions and his claims. Each study explores who Jesus was and what he can be in our lives today. As the title implies, it is my hope that you will not only study Jesus as a historical figure but meet him as your present friend and Lord.
1. As you begin each study, pray that God will speak to you through his Word.
2. Read the introduction to the study and respond to the personal reflection question or exercise. This is designed to help you focus on God and on the theme of the study.
3. Each study deals with a particular passage—so that you can delve into the author’s meaning in that context. Read and reread the passage to be studied. If you are studying a book, it will be helpful to read through the entire book prior to the first study. The questions are written using the language of the New International Version, so you may wish to use that version of the Bible. The New Revised Standard Version is also recommended.
4. This is an inductive Bible study, designed to help you discover for yourself what Scripture is saying. The study includes three types of questions. Observation questions ask about the basic facts: who, what, when, where and how. Interpretation questions delve into the meaning of the passage. Application questions help you discover the implications of the text for growing in Christ. These three keys unlock the treasures of Scripture.
Write your answers to the questions in the spaces provided or in a personal journal. Writing can bring clarity and deeper understanding of yourself and of God’s Word.
5. It might be good to have a Bible dictionary handy. Use it to look up any unfamiliar words, names or places.
6. Use the prayer suggestion to guide you in thanking God for what you have learned and to pray about the applications that have come to mind.
7. You may want to go on to the suggestion under “Now or Later,” or you may want to use that idea for your next study.
1. Come to the study prepared. Follow the suggestions for individual study mentioned above. You will find that careful preparation will greatly enrich your time spent in group discussion.
2. Be willing to participate in the discussion. The leader of your group will not be lecturing. Instead, he or she will be encouraging the members of the group to discuss what they have learned. The leader will be asking the questions that are found in this guide.
3. Stick to the topic being discussed. Your answers should be based on the verses which are the focus of the discussion and not on outside authorities such as commentaries or speakers. These studies focus on a particular passage of Scripture. Only rarely should you refer to other portions of the Bible. This allows for everyone to participate in in-depth study on equal ground.
4. Be sensitive to the other members of the group. Listen attentively when they describe what they have learned. You may be surprised by their insights! Each question assumes a variety of answers. Many questions do not have “right” answers, particularly questions that aim at meaning or application. Instead the questions push us to explore the passage more thoroughly.
When possible, link what you say to the comments of others. Also, be affirming whenever you can. This will encourage some of the more hesitant members of the group to participate.
5. Be careful not to dominate the discussion. We are sometimes so eager to express our thoughts that we leave too little opportunity for others to respond. By all means participate! But allow others to also.
6. Expect God to teach you through the passage being discussed and through the other members of the group. Pray that you will have an enjoyable and profitable time together, but also that as a result of the study you will find ways that you can take action individually and/or as a group.
7. Remember that anything said in the group is considered confidential and should not be discussed outside the group unless specific permission is given to do so.
8. If you are the group leader, you will find additional suggestions at the back of the guide.
We have a daughter named Debbie and a son named Kevin. (Our other son, Sandy, died when he was twenty-one.) Their coworkers and friends could give you some idea of who they are. But I could tell you what they are really like! I know them well.
GROUP DISCUSSION. Write down three facts about yourself on a piece of paper and put them into a hat. Each person then draws out a paper and tries to guess who the writer is.
PERSONAL REFLECTION. When have you had the wrong impression about someone when you first met them?
Most people have some half-formed picture of Jesus—a good man, a great teacher, an embodiment of “the force” or perhaps even a divine figure. Mark, one of the first followers of Jesus, wrote his book to tell us what Jesus was really like. He and Peter, from whom he got his information, knew Jesus well. His opening words tell us abruptly that his story is the gospel—literally, “good news”—about “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” His first chapter tells us how Jesus was identified and introduced to the people of his time. Read Mark 1:9-45.
1. What activities does Jesus get involved in throughout this passage?
2. John baptized people who confessed their sins. If Jesus was the Son of God, why do you think he was baptized (vv. 9-11) and then tempted (vv. 12-13)?
3. How do you feel about the fact that Jesus was one of us?
4. Jesus’ first action is to proclaim that “the kingdom of God is near” (vv. 14-15). Why was this good news?
5. Some working fishermen, who were not likely to be very religious, are Jesus’ first followers (vv. 16-20). Why do you think they follow him with so little persuasion or information?
6. How much does a person need to know to start following Jesus?
7. Jesus’ dynamic authority becomes apparent as he helps people (see vv. 21-34). What words or actions show his authority?
8. What does Mark 1:35 reveal about the source of Jesus’ authority?
What can we learn from his example here?
9. When everyone was looking for him, Jesus left (vv. 36-39). Why then do you think he stops and touches one man with leprosy (vv. 40-45)?
10. Mark clearly wants to tell us who Jesus is. Yet Jesus himself seems strangely reluctant to reveal his identity (vv. 34, 43-44). (Later he’s much more open.) Why this hesitance now?
11. How would you summarize the way this chapter describes Jesus, and what impresses or puzzles you most? Explain.
Ask God to help you understand who Jesus is.
Read Mark 1:1-11. Jesus’ identity is affirmed by three witnesses: Isaiah (vv. 2-3), John the Baptist (vv. 4-8) and a voice from heaven (vv. 10-11). What does each tell us about him?
Most people assume they know Jesus. Imagine that you go to a busy place near where you live. You survey people, asking them, “Do you know who Jesus Christ was?” Most people would say yes. When you ask them for details, they give you some, maybe suggesting he was a great moral teacher or the founder of Christianity. Some might even say he was the Son of God. But for any of us, reading about Jesus always brings surprises, even when we already know a lot about him.
GROUP DISCUSSION. Think back to when you first learned about Jesus Christ. What did you think he was like?
PERSONAL REFLECTION. How would you like Jesus to surprise you?