Luke-Acts (Understanding the Books of the Bible) - Softcover

Smith, Christopher R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0830858075 ISBN 13: 9780830858071

Publisher: IVP Connect, 2011

Synopsis

This study guide will take individuals or groups through Luke and Acts in 32 sessions that correspond with their natural parts. Readers will discover that these books are actually the two parts of a single story that tells how the community of Jesus' followers began with his life and ministry and then spread around the world. The readings and discussion will help them recognize the ways God is still working today and how they can be part of what God is doing. The Understanding the Books of the Bible series helps readers understand the biblical story by not only talking about what the authors wrote, but also how they wrote. Quite often, recognizing whether a passage is poetry, proverb, or history and discerning how the author built his book will unlock its meaning for today's reader. Instead of following artificial chapter and verse divisions, these Bible study guides lead groups through whole books following their natural outlines, and pose engaging questions for discussion and personal application all along the way.

About this title

About the Author

The Rev. Dr. Christopher R. Smith is an author and biblical scholar who lives in East Lansing, Michigan. He served local churches for nearly twenty years in Massachusetts, Ontario and Michigan and is now a volunteer campus staff member with Graduate InterVarsity at Michigan State University. He was a consulting editor to the International Bible Society (now Biblica) for The Books of the Bible, an edition of the Scriptures that presents the biblical books according to their natural literary outlines, without chapters and verses. He was one of the translators for The Voice Bible. Smith has a B.A. in literature from Harvard, a master's degree in theological studies from Gordon-Conwell, and a Ph.D. in historical theology and Bible from Boston College. He has taught visiting, adjunct and extension courses at Williams College, Regent College and the Ontario Bible College (now Tyndale University College). His articles have appeared in professional journals such as Novum Testamentum, New Testament Studies and the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, in periodicals such as Bible Study Magazine, and on websites such as The High Calling of Our Daily Work.

From the Back Cover

This study guide will take individuals and groups through the books of Luke and Acts in thirty-two sessions that correspond with their natural parts. Readers will discover that these books are actually the two parts of a single story that tells how the community of Jesus' followers began with his life and ministry and then spread around the world. The readings and discussion will help readers recognize the ways God is still working today and how they can be part of what God is doing.

The Understanding the Books of the Bible series moves groups away from a typical Bible study format into a new approach to experiencing the Bible together. Instead of following artificial chapter and verse divisions, these study guides lead groups through whole books following their natural outlines and flow. They pose engaging questions for discussion with personal implications all along the way, leading to a community Bible experience.

From the Inside Flap

There's a revolutionary movement loose in the world today that's very different from, and much bigger than, the shadowy networks and armed bands we hear about on the news. It doesn't use violence or deception to achieve its goals. It isn't political, or even religious, in the usual sense of that term. But it's still committed to overthrowing all established authorities and implementing a new vision of what human society should be. This movement is the spreading influence of what Jesus called the "kingdom of God." It's embodied in the community of Jesus' followers.

How did this community begin? How has it spread around the word? How does a person become part of it? What are its aims and goals? What will it accomplish in the end? People have been asking these questions ever since Jesus started this movement back in the days of the Roman Empire. Fortunately for us, a gifted historian named Luke lived at that time and wrote a two-volume account of the origins, development, and worldwide spread of the "kingdom of God." He wrote this account for a friend, a Roman official named Theophilus, who was asking these very questions. When we read Luke's history today, we'll find the answers ourselves, and we'll also experience an invitation to become part of this movement personally.

The first volume or book in this history is now known as the gospel of Luke. It tells the story of Jesus' life, giving particular emphasis to how his actions and teachings brought the kingdom of God to earth and how he established a community that was committed to its values and destiny. The second volume is known as the book of Acts. It tells how the community of Jesus' followers, which was initially only about 100 people in the city of Jerusalem, expanded and multiplied so rapidly that within a generation it had spread throughout the entire Roman Empire. From there, it has since spread to every corner of the world.

You may have seen Luke and Acts treated as separate books. But they're actually two parts of a single history. So get some friends together to read and discuss Luke-Acts as a whole work. This study guide will walk you through it. When you do, you'll discover how the kingdom of God has been breaking into our world ever since the time of Jesus, and how you can become part of its revolutionary mission, which is, in Jesus' own words, to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, and sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the Lord's favor.

Edition details

• Publisher: IVP Connect
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0830858075
• ISBN 13: 9780830858071
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 132