Randy Frazee - The Story of Jesus Participants Guide: Experience the Life of Jesus as One Seamless Story

S INCE 2005, WHEN T HES TORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED, HUNDREDS OF thousands of people have experienced Gods great love affair with humanity through this accessible, chronologically arranged bestselling Bible. And whole families and churches around the world joined them when a complementary 31-session, children-through-adult curriculum was introduced in 2011.

Now, the seven sessions focused on the life of Jesus, complete with the corollary Bible readings from The Story, have been excerpted into a perfect study for small groups, churches, or individuals designed for use with The Story of Jesus video, featuring the compelling teaching of pastor and author Randy Frazee.

Each session of this book consists of a Bible Reading (the related chapter of The Story) followed by a study guide that includes space for taking notes while viewing the video teaching, group discussion questions, prayer cues, and personal application ideas for between meetings.

If you are unfamiliar with The Story, it features the words of the Bible as recorded in the New International Version (NIV). These portions of Scripture have been thoughtfully and carefully excerpted and then placed in chronological order. Transitions, which appear in italic, summarize omitted Scripture text in order to help the storyline read smoothly. Line spaces between Scripture portions indicate breaks in the text.

Ideally, with the exception of session 1, you will read the Bible Reading before your group meets so that you are prepared to jump right into the video presentation. Or, if your group meets for 90 minutes or more, volunteers may choose to take turns reading the Scripture at the beginning of the session; this will probably require at least 15 20 minutes. Even if you have not had opportunity to read the Bible Reading ahead of time, please attend the group anyway the discussion questions focus on shorter passages that can be easily read on the spot.

As you use the participants guide and listen to Randy Frazees video teaching, you will regularly encounter the terms Upper Story and Lower Story. What do they mean?

All through the story of the Bible two parallel and beautiful dramas unfold: There is the Upper Story. God is real, he is present, and he is working on our behalf. Heaven is breaking into the world more than we recognize, and the story of Gods seeking love, perpetual grace, and longing for relationship with ordinary people is breathtaking. There is also the Lower Story. We live on earth. We make mistakes, run from God, and resist his overtures of love. Sometimes we get so mired in the Lower Story that we fail to recognize Gods presence breaking into our world. We forget that the God of heaven longs to have a growing relationship, a friendship, with us. It is in The Story of Jesus that these two stories intertwine most significantly, as God himself entered the Lower Story through his Son and changed the course and hopes of humankind for both history and eternity.

Ultimately, God wants to be with us; with you, with me. This is the refrain that rings true through The Story.

In this ebook edition, please use your devices note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response]. Use your devices highlighting function whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).