You may have seen the Bible studies I’ve written for Threads. I’ve been incredibly honored by the response the resources have gotten, and it’s really cool to think God might be using these resources to challenge people in their walks with Him. If you haven’t seen them, I’d love for you to check them out.
They’re called The Tough Sayings of Jesus and The Tough Sayings of Jesus II. Each Bible study is 4 sessions long, and each session deals with a “tough” saying of Jesus.
Volume 1 includes the rich young ruler, the unpardonable sin, the divisive nature of Christ, and the encounter with the Canaanite woman.
Volume 2 includes the cursing of the fig tree, the death of Lazarus, Jesus’ demand for righteousness, and the parable of the dishonest steward.
Each volume has a member book, which you can work through as an individual, and a leader kit that you can use to lead a small group or Sunday school class. The leader kits both have audio, video, and music components to help you facilitate the group.
I’d be honored if you wanted to get one of the books to work through yourself, and thrilled if you wanted to ask your church to begin a small group or start one yourself.
You can click here to find out more about volume I, including read a sample session.
For volume 2 you can click here.
(For what it’s worth, I think volume 2 is better.)
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I’ve heard that people really liked volume 2 the best. I was going to get that one at first, but decided to get the first volume, well, first.. haha.. I will definitely be getting volume 2 this semester though. Keep up the good fight bro!
-Rod
Through the fall, I led a group through Volume 1. I really liked it. I recently purchased Volume 2 and will work through it solo before possibly taking it to the group later on (our slate is full for a while). I’ve struggled finding stuff like this that is engaging and I don’t feel like I’ve read a hundred times before. Great job! I love the blog too which I’ve discovered since finishing the study. Really dug The Gospel According to Herod recently.
I am using your material in our College ministry. In the lesson on Figs and Fits you point out that Jesus got mad at the fig tree and at the corrupt people.
1. Is there an application concerning Jesus’ anger? Can anger be justified?
2. How can this lesson be relevant to collegiates?
hey man…I was in Glorietta, NM over the holidays and we went in the bookstore and I found your books. Great stuff. My sister in law was wondering if there are plans to print them in Spanish. Heard anything about an Espanol release?
I think I’m going to order them and pass them around at work. Turning Point is always looking for quality material. Great job.
Thanks, guys, for reading.
Jonathan:
At one point there was talk of a Spanish edition; I had a meeting with some international Lifeway folks, but I’m not sure what came of it.
Kevin:
I think you would have to argue that anger, in some form, can be justified because Jesus was definitely angry. I’ve read other people describe the difference in Jesus’ anger and ours as unholy vs. holy anger. I know for me, almost all of the time I get angry I do so because I feel like my rights have been infringed on, and that’s a fundamentally flawed statement and reasoning. But Jesus? Jesus was angry on behalf of God, and His reasoning was righteous.
As far as particularly for collegiates, the main point I was trying to make in that session was to force people to ask what in their lives is flash and what is substance. College is a time I think you pick up both; both an authentic faith and all the other stuff, so I think that’s a great question to bring to the table. Hope that’s helpful, Kevin.
Hey Michael,
I met you at the Connect Conference in Orlando and I wanted to say what a pleasure it was. You probably don’t remember me, but my wife and I lead a young adults class at our church and we have done the Tough Sayings I & II. Great work! So…the BIG question; when can we expect Tough Sayings III?
Brad – Good to hear from you. I’m so glad you guys had a good experience with the studies.
So there’s no TSIII in the works as of now; however, I’m writing a resource that will come out next year that I’m really excited about. It’s called:
“One Word: Rescuing the Language of Faith from Christianity”
Supercool. It’s about 25 words that can change your life, one word at a time. More forthcoming…
Hey Michael. I know this is a little late to be commenting again, but I wanted to do a follow-up. I told you I was going to get TSOJ 2 last semester, but I didn’t get around to it. This summer, I worked at Lifeway’s Glorieta Conference Center in New Mexico. During our “High Point” Discipleship Program, we had different Bible Study groups for guys and girls. Well, it just so happens that one of our coordinators announced that we would be using TSOJ 1 & 2 as our guides this summer. I was like, “SWEET!” So guess what, I actually got to review #1 (and learned much more) and go through #2. And truth be told, I liked #2 better as well. Just thought I’d let you know how awesome it was that it went down like that.