Covenant Bible Study: Living Participant Guide
Ebook
This Covenant experience will guide participants in a
comprehensive, in-depth study of the Bible over twenty-four weeks.
Unlike the learning participants may have experienced in other
groups, this in-depth study of the whole Bible emphasizes the
biblical concept of covenant as a unifying pattern through
all the books in the Old and New Testaments. It underscores the
unique relationship that God chooses to have with us as God’s
people. This relationship is grounded in the faithfulness of God’s
love and on our ongoing commitment to stay in love with God while
we share signs of that love with others.
Each episode connects to an aspect of this covenant relationship,
which is summarized in the heading of each participant guide.
COVENANT TRANSLATES INTO ACTIONS—into how we behave in our everyday
lives. That’s why the second module, Living the Covenant,
focuses on how the community lives out their covenant in faithful
love—how it’s applied to actual relationships in daily
life.
The books included in these eight episodes examine the practical
challenges of faithful covenant life. We explore leadership
problems among tribal chieftains, kings and prophets, and spiritual
and political crises. They look for practical wisdom and guidance
in the teachings of Israel’s sages, the letters of Paul, and
more.
And by demonstrating how people of vastly different cultures came
together in a common purpose, they show how faithful love is the
root of the covenant life.
Each participant in the group needs the Participant Guides and a
Bible. The CEB Study Bible is preferred.
The Living Participant Guide is 8 weeks long, and has a lay flat
binding making it easy to take notes in the generous space provided
on each page.
The Living Participant Guide contains the following episodes:
Episode 9: Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs
Ruth, Esther, and Song of Songs are a part of the “Festival Scroll”
and linked to sacred celebrations in Israel’s life. In the story of
Ruth, both Ruth and Boaz risk caring beyond conventional
expectations, displaying faithful, expansive love with consequences
for Israel’s royal future. Esther risks everything to identify with
her people and rescue them from a genocidal plot. Song of Songs
displays the power and passion of a “crazy love” that also helps us
understand God’s love.
Episode 10: Luke and Acts
Luke and Acts offer a vision of who God is and what salvation
means. For the writer of Luke, Jesus is a prophet who reveals God’s
heart and intention to remake human beings and the broader world
through a new community gathered in Jesus’ name: the church. Living
out Jesus’ prophetic role in the power of the Holy Spirit, the
church continues God’s call to changed hearts and lives. Through
Jesus and the church, God’s Spirit calls people to belong, serve,
and love by welcoming those considered outsiders by the
world.
Episode 11: 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings
In these books the prophets serve as truth-tellers to Israel’s
kings. They stress that relationship rather than power is central
to choosing what’s best for the people God loves. Kings are at
their best when they are moved by compassion that trumps every
preoccupation with power. Idolatry splits our attention and
distorts our priorities, distracting us from the main thing: God
alone is worthy of absolute loyalty and trust.
Episode 12: 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus
1 and 2 Thessalonians are written to a community Paul loves—a
community suffering and anxious about Jesus’ return. 1 and 2
Timothy and Titus (pastoral letters) are written to Paul’s younger
partners in ministry. While 1 Timothy is intimate, 2 Timothy reads
like a last will and testament for Paul.
Episode 13: Wisdom—Proverbs and Ecclesiastes
Wisdom literature begins and ends with what is good for human
beings in life. Starting with everyday insights gathered across
time by courts scribes, these sayings are short and easy to
remember. The wise person is one who understands these teachings
and can apply them appropriately in real-life situations. Life is
fragile and short, so wise people will enjoy family, friends, and
the simple things in life.
Episode 14: Philemon, Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians
From a place where hope goes to die, an imprisoned Paul says that
God is able to restore hope and encourages reconciliation between
Philemon (home church leader) and his runaway slave (Onesimus). To
the Philippians Paul passes on an early hymn that speaks of Jesus
as the self-emptying, suffering servant exalted by God. Paul is a
pastoral thinker and his words about slaves and masters must be
understood in the context of Jesus’ expected return.
Episode 15: James, Jude, 1 and 2 Peter
These letters are written to churches suffering harassment and
struggling to keep the faith when Jesus’ promised return hasn’t
occurred. They are written in the voice of those closest to Jesus
and speak to new circumstances and situations. Concerned about
real-life issues like gossip and favoritism toward the rich, James
is a practical book stressing who God is and what you should do
about it. Peter writes to guide the church in a negotiated
faithfulness that requires discernment.
Episode 16: Prophets—Isaiah 1-39 and the Book of the Twelve
The prophets express the feelings of God: God’s deep love for
Israel and all of humanity, but also God’s deep pain,
disappointment, and anger when the people fail to be a loving
community of neighbors.
They also communicate God’s yearning to call the people back to
taking care of each other, especially those they are most likely to
exclude (widows, orphans, strangers/immigrants). For prophets like
Hosea, God has a parent’s heart and refuses to give up on a
faithless people.
More Questions? Visit http://covenantbiblestudy.com/ for more
information.
Product Details
- Title : Covenant Bible Study: Living Participant Guide
- Authors:
- Stanford, Shane
- Chakoian, Christine
- Fentress-Williams, Judy
- Skinner, Matthew L
- Heller, Roy
- West, Dr Audrey
- Yoder, Christine R.
- Brown, Michael Joseph
- Bartlett, David L
- Garcia, Francisco
- Publisher: Abingdon Press
- Publication Date: 2016
- ISBN: 9781501839283