Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Carolyn Slaughter leads membership and marriage preparation ministries at Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio. She is co-author of Transformation Journal: A Daily Walk in the Word (2008), and Transformation Journal: A One-Year Journey through the Bible (2007), both from Abingdon Press.

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Following Jesus Leader Guide

Abingdon Press

Chapter One

Prepare for the Session

Supplies Needed

? chalkboard or dry-erase board and markers ? Bibles ? participant books and copies of the "Who Are You?" handout ? pens/pencils

Before class, read Session One from the participant book. Imagine how participants may be feeling about what they are reading. Consider the questions they may bring with them to the class session.

Group Discussion - Who Are You?

Have participants form groups of four to six. If you have a group of six or fewer, work together in a single group. Provide each person with a writing utensil and the "Who Are You?" handout (p. 19). Allow a few minutes for everyone to complete the handout, then give each group five minutes to get to know one another in their small groups. Have each group merge with another group, so you have groups of eight to twelve participants. Ask participants to take turns introducing each other to the larger group they have just joined. When everyone has finished, gather participants and collect the handouts.

Purpose of the Study

Open the session with prayer. Begin this first session by explaining the purpose of the study and what will be expected of the participants. Following Jesus: Steps to a Passionate Faith is designed to give an overview of Christianity and what it means to follow Jesus. Since this course is foundational to understanding a personal relationship with Christ and discipleship, it is important for students to make a commitment to attend and fully participate in all the classes. If for some reason one or more participants cannot attend all the sessions, help them work out a way to participate fully.

Who Is Jesus?

Ask participants to call out descriptions of how various people describe Jesus. Write their answers on a chalkboard or dry-erase board. Then ask:

? How do most people come to conclusions about Jesus like these? (hearsay, tradition, opinion, own study)

? How do they know whether or not they are right? Pull out one of the "Who Are You?" handouts from the previous activity. Pass around the handout and ask various people to tell the class something about that person based upon what is written on the handout. After a minute or so, thank the person and ask:

? How is this different from how the conclusions we listed about Jesus are determined? (came from an authoritative source, can be corroborated by other sources, is personally gathered information rather than hearsay)

Origin of the Bible

Discuss the history of the Bible and why Christians believe that it is the Word of God. The Bible is a Christian's fact base—the basis of faith and life practices. As we learn in 2 Timothy 3:16, the Bible is God-breathed, the very words of God whispered into the ears and hearts of its human writers. It is God's tool used to transform and equip us to do God's work.

The word bible comes from the Greek ta biblia, meaning "the scrolls" or "the books." Although today we think of the Bible as a single work, it is actually a group of books written by a variety of authors. They were first written on individual scrolls of paper, but around 450 B.C. the documents were edited and compiled into what we now call the Old Testament.

Following Jesus' death and resurrection, various witnesses (or disciples of eyewitnesses) recorded the life of Jesus and the early church. Included in these writings were also letters of instructions to new churches across the Middle East. Together, these writings are what we call the New Testament. The list of books to be included in the New Testament was finalized in A.D. 376 and is the New Testament we know today.

The Bible is God's means of communication with us in written form. It consists of 66 books, but one story is told through the entire Bible. It is the love story of a personal, holy God who created human beings to be in relationship with God. When that relationship was broken, this loving God pursued humans and put together a plan to restore their broken relationship.

Written over a 1,600-year period by approximately 50 different human authors, one consistent theme flows through the entire text from Genesis to Revelation: what God was willing to do to be in relationship with us.

Although consisting of one story, the Bible is divided into two sections. The Old Testament is made up of the first 39 books and covers the ancient time period from Creation to around 50 B.C. The Old Testament time is known as B.C. (before Christ). After Jesus Christ came to earth, time was reordered and is now dated as A.D. (anno Domini, "in the year of our Lord"). The New Testament covers the time from Jesus' birth to approximately A.D. 100. In today's session, we will focus on insights about Jesus from the Old Testament.

The Prophecy of the Coming Messiah

In Isaiah 48:3-6, God told the purpose of the Old Testament messianic prophecies (references to the person God would send to free people and bring them into a personal relationship with God):

I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, "My images brought them about; my wooden image and metal god ordained them." You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?

God knows how stubborn humans are and how, left to our own devices, we will come up with our own reasons for whatever happens. But God wanted the people to know who was in control of all that was being done. No credit was to go to false gods of wood and bronze. Reading Scripture from the Old Testament foretelling of the purpose of the coming Messiah and seeing that purpose and promise fulfilled in Jesus reveals to us God's plan for humankind.

Group Discussion - Messianic Prophecies

The fulfillment of specific prophecies is an important part of identifying Jesus as the Messiah. Form six groups and point each group to the list of prophecies on pages 12–13 of the participant book. It's okay if a "group" is just one person. We will use this representative sample of prophecies and see what the prophecies tell us about who Jesus is. The same set of verses is provided below. The first Bible verse is the Old Testament prophecy, and the second verse is the New Testament fulfillment of that prophecy. Assign each group one of the Scripture sets.

In their groups, have participants discuss the Scriptures assigned to them. Have them write down their observations and be prepared to share their findings with the rest of the class. Information on each set of verses is given below to support you in the class discussion.

A. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25—The first clue God gave to identify the Messiah was that a virgin would...