Surprised by Hope Participant's Guide: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church - Softcover

WRIGHT, N.T.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 031032470X ISBN 13: 9780310324706

Publisher: Zondervan, 2010

Synopsis

Many Christians believe our future in heaven is all that really matters. But that's not what the Bible teaches. In this six-session small group Bible study (DVD/digital video sold separately), premier Bible scholar N. T. Wright brings you inside the Scriptures to grasp the full, breathtaking hope Jesus offers the world, and its impact on your life today.

Gain an exciting new vision for your life on earth in light of your future in heaven. Wonderful as is the promise of heaven, a glorious hereafter is just part of what salvation is about.

What about today? Jesus called his followers the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Your life here and now is of tremendous consequence, and what you believe about the future has a direct impact on how you live in the present.

In six transforming, faith-inspiring sessions, premiere biblical scholar N. T. Wright opens your eyes to the amazing full scope of what God's Word has to say about the world to come and the world that is.

Filled with discussion questions, thoughts for reflection, and ideas for personal application, this study guide will help you get the most out of each session as you explore such questions as What is heaven really like? Is our main duty as Christians simply to help non-Christians get there? What hope does the gospel hold for this present life? In what ways does God intend for us to experience that hope personally and spread its healing power to the world around us?

Surprised by Hope provides a clearer vision both of the future and of God's kingdom at hand today.

This study provides individual and group activities, additional background material, and between-session personal studies that will enhance your experience of the video sessions.

Sessions include:

1. Hope for the World
2. The Hope of the Resurrection
3. The Hope of Heaven
4. The Hope of Jesus' Second Coming
5. The Hope of Salvation
6. The Hope of the Church

Designed for use with the Surprised by Hope Video Study (sold separately).

About this title

About the Author

N. T. Wright is the former bishop of Durham and senior research fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University. He is one of the world's leading New Testament scholars and the award-winning author of many books, including?After You Believe, Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian, Interpreting Paul, and The New Testament in Its World, as well as the Christian Origins and the Question of God series.

From the Back Cover

Gain an exciting new vision for your life on earth in light of your future in heaven. Wonderful as is the promise of heaven, a glorious hereafter is just part of what salvation is about. What about today? Jesus called his followers the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Your life here and now is of tremendous consequence, and what you believe about the future has a direct impact on how you live in the present. In six transforming, faith-inspiring sessions, premier biblical scholar N. T. Wright opens your eyes to the amazing full scope of what God's Word has to say about the world to come and the world that is. Filled with discussion questions, thoughts for reflection, and ideas for personal application, this study guide will help you get the most out of each session as you explore such questions as What is heaven really like? ? Is our main duty as Christians simply to help non-Christians get there? ? What hope does the gospel hold for this present life? ? In what ways does God intend for us to experience that hope personally and spread its healing power to the world around us? Surprised by Hope will give you a clearer vision both of the future and of God's kingdom at hand today. 1. Hope 2. Resurrection 3. Heaven 4. Second Coming 5. Salvation 6. Church Designed for use with the Surprised by Hope DVD.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Surprised by Hope Leader's Guide

By N.T. Wright

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2010 N. T. Wright
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-32470-6

Contents

A Word from N. T. Wright...........................................6Session One Hope for the World....................................11Session Two The Hope of the Resurrection..........................25Session Three The Hope of Heaven..................................39Session Four The Hope of Jesus' Second Coming.....................53Session Five The Hope of Salvation................................67Session Six The Hope of the Church................................81

Chapter One

Session One HOPE FOR THE WORLD

God wants his people to experience hope and to share it with the world. Hope that has world transforming power is more than just anticipation of what God will do in the future. It is the coming of God's kingdom here on earth ... today.

INTRODUCTION

This DVD study series, based on N. T. Wright's book of the same name, invites us to look closer and think deeper. Wright has a beautiful way of pointing to the familiar and helping us see things we never noticed before.

There are words in the Christian vocabulary that can feel familiar, almost a bit worn. Words like heaven, resurrection, salvation, and the church should stir our imagination and cause our heart to race, but often they can feel mundane.

In these six sessions you will be invited to take a fresh new look at the theological landscape of the Christian faith. N. T. Wright will be your tour guide. Along the way those familiar landmarks, locations, and ideas will begin to take on new meaning that will do more than stir your heart ... they will transform your life!

The first destination on this journey is the place where the Christian hope is born. What is the source of our hope? Can the hope found in Jesus really transform our lives and the world in which we live? And, how can those who follow Christ bring his light to a hope-starved world?

"God's kingdom" in the preaching of Jesus refers not to postmortem destiny, not to our escape from this world into another one, but to God's sovereign rule coming "on earth as it is in heaven."

TALK ABOUT IT

How might living with the assurance and hope of heaven, and having confidence in the resurrection, move us to action and bring hope right where we live today?

What we say about death and resurrection gives shape and color to everything else. If we are not careful, we will offer merely a "hope" that is no longer a surprise, no longer able to transform lives and communities in the present, no longer generated by the resurrection of Jesus himself and looking forward to the promised new heavens and new earth.

DVD TEACHING NOTES

As you watch the DVD teaching segment for session one, featuring N. T. Wright, use the following outline to record anything that stands out to you.

People all around of the world are asking, "Is there any hope?" and they do so with good reason! Two particular ways that people can go astray:

The "secret code" approach

The "escape the world" approach

The biblical vision for this world and the future

What the Bible means and does not mean when it talks about judging the world

The Gospels and Jesus' teaching about hope and God's kingdom

The conflict between the message of God's kingdom coming and the presiding powers of Jesus' day (religious and political)

The apostle Paul's vision of hope

A good definition of being the church

"Thy kingdom come, on earth as in heaven," remains one of the most powerful and revolutionary sentences we can ever say. As I see it, the prayer was powerfully answered at the first Easter and will finally be answered fully when heaven and earth are joined in the new Jerusalem. Easter was when Hope in person surprised the whole world by coming forward from the future into the present.

DVD DISCUSSION

1. Tell a story from your personal life, church life, or national history, where a person of hope stood up for others during a hard time and helped bring hope back to the people.

2. N. T. Wright lives and ministers in a region where there is potential for hopelessness and fatalism. Name places in your community or country where hope seems to have run out and that desperately need a fresh infusion of the hope that only God can bring.

3. If someone asked you, "What is the hope of the Christian faith?" what would you answer?

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Surprised by Hope Leader's Guideby N.T. Wright Copyright © 2010 by N. T. Wright. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 031032470X
• ISBN 13: 9780310324706
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 98