Invitation to the New Testament: Participant Book (A Short-term DISCIPLE Bible Study)

Explore the writings of the New Testament using the story of Jesus as the starting point. This survey of the testament looks at how the early church took ownership of and was shaped by the story of Jesus and how the church learned how to develop as disciples and create communities of faith.

Participants find a deeper conversation with the writers of the New Testament and a renewal of our commitment to be shaped — personally and communally — by the story of Jesus. The study is accessible for adults with little prior Bible experience.

In the weekly video segments, listen as scholars fascinate you with facts and information that opens new understanding and enlightenment for your group. In the second video, sit in on a table conversation between guest scholars and debate key issues in the text.

Participants gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the New Testament as an integral part of the Christian Bible and a renewed discovery of our identity in God and God's vision for all things.

This eight-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.
Sessions:

Jesus Calls Us Into God's Redemption Story
Jesus Calls Us to a Transformed Life
Jesus Calls Us to Minister to a Hostile World
Jesus Calls Us to Complex Communities of Faith
Jesus Calls Us to Serve One Another
Jesus Calls Us to a New Relationship With Tradition
Jesus Calls Us to Live in Light of His Coming Again
Jesus Calls Us to Experience the Gifts of His Dying and Rising

David A. deSilva (Ph.D., Emory University) is Trustees' Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio and an ordained elder in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church.  He is the author of over twenty books, including The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude: What Earliest Christianity Learned From the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (2012), Global Readings: A Sri Lankan Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Galatians (2011), Seeing Things John's Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation (2009), An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation (2004),  Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance (2002), Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle "to the Hebrews" (2000), and Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture (2000), as well as over one hundred journal articles and contributions to reference works and collections of essays.

Emerson Powery (Ph.D., Duke University) is Professor of New Testament at Messiah College.  He is the author of Jesus Reads Scripture: The Function of Jesus' Use of Scripture in the Synoptic Gospels (2003) and Mark: Immersion Bible Studies (2011). He also served as host for the revised video series accompanying United Methodist Publishing House's DISCIPLE I curriculum.