Intro to Jesus for the Undecided

Free E-mail Bible Study Bible study King Solomon: Wisdom, Wealth, Weakness

Have you been searching?
Trying to find out if Jesus is real?

Here's an opportunity for you

"Intro to Jesus for the Yet Undecided" is a six-week examination of Jesus from original source documents. You and about a dozen other inquirers will look at brief passages from the New Testament which focus on Jesus' life and teaching, and then discuss what they say, what they mean, and what they might mean to you.

No pressure, no preaching. We're convinced that, given half a chance, Jesus can speak pretty powerfully for himself if we look seriously at what he has to say.

You'll be part of an experimental on-line project researching how the Internet can be used for examining the Christian faith. If this interests you, read on, and then fill out the brief application form below.

Lessons

Get acquainted session. Introduction to the Bible and Bible study. We will also make available a Web page with basic facts about how to use a Bible.

  1. Jesus' Teaching: "The Good Samaritan," Luke 10:25-37
  2. Jesus' Miracles: "Healing of the Paralyzed Man," Luke 5:17-26
  3. Jesus and People: "Recruiting a New Associate," Luke 5:27-32 (with Luke 19:1-10)
  4. Jesus' Understanding of His Mission, "," Matthew 20:17-28
  5. Jesus' Death and Its Meaning, "The Last Supper," Matthew 26:20-29
  6. Jesus in Perspective, "The Exalted Servant," Philippians 2:1-9

This group was conducted in mid-January 1997.

Security

In order to minimize interruptions from people who disrupt the spirit of this study, entry to the group is restricted to those who sign up using the form below.

Questions and Answers

Question: I don't really believe in the Bible. Should I be a part of this group?

Answer: We don't expect you to believe in the Bible, except as an ancient book containing helpful teachings. Once you examine it seriously, however, you may feel differently about it.

Method

  • Passage to be studied and study questions available one week in advance.
  • E-mail discussion group to discuss each passage, two or three new questions every couple of days.
  • Focus on the text itself: what it says and means, rather than someone's off-the-wall opinion. An inductive method begins with the original text documents and builds understanding from them, rather than imposing a presupposed doctrine upon the texts.
  • Bible. We encourage you to purchase a modern language translation of the Bible for your own use. I will be using the New International Version.
The discussion is led by means of questions designed to help you discover -- and examine with the other participants -- important issues implicit in each text. Questions are asked at three levels:
  • Level 1: Observation. What does the text say? A question or two to get people looking closely at what is going on in the text.
  • Level 2: Interpretation. What does the text mean? We are trying to set the text in its own context and understand it there before importing it to the 20th century.
  • Level 3: Application. What does this text mean to me? What difference might it make to my own life? We are not learning just to tickle our intellect, but to become better people in the process.

While we desire to see people put their faith in Jesus after examining him in this way, there will be no pressure to do so. Trust us on this. I don't like someone pressuring me to make some decision when I'm still trying to weigh the facts. I understand.

Participants

Dr. Ralph Wilson will moderate the discussion. An Assistant Moderator will participate each week as well, and moderate the group if Pastor Ralph is unable to be on-line. We are looking for participants with the following characteristics:
  • No present commitment to Jesus as the Son of God and Savior. We don't want committed Christians in this group, since that might make it harder for you to get at the issues that you are grappling with.
  • A genuine desire to learn about Jesus. If you've made up your mind already that Christianity is a bunch of hog-wash, this isn't the group for you.
  • A willingness to believe in Jesus if the facts lead you there.
  • A willingness to participate in the group discussion and follow the group guidelines.
  • Courtesy and respect for the opinions of others. People who "flame" will be excluded from future discussions. ;-)
  • No ax to grind, such as to dissuade others from belief.

Copyright © 2024, Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor@joyfulheart.com> All rights reserved. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. See legal, copyright, and reprint information.

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