Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Person of Jesus - Jesus as Revealed in Gospel Narratives

The Person of Jesus study, an interactive Bible Study by Paul Miller that coordinates with Miller's Book Love Walked Among Us: Learning To Love Like Jesus.

For those not quite ready to tell Bible Stories but who want an excellent introduction to using Gospel Narratives to reach people who "hate the church" but are "interested in Jesus", this may be the resource you're looking for.

Miller's study guides focus on the Person of Jesus as He reacted to people and situations and what that communicates about the Love of God in action. It emphasizes Jesus as the One who modeled for us life lived in communion with the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. The theological perspective of the studies is faithfully evangelical.

People are using this resource in a variety of settings including home bible studies, church based studies, church planting, prison ministry and as an adjunct to discipleship based "recovery" ministries. You can read those stories here. It's even used in settings where evangelism and discipleship are taking place in the same group.

On a practical level, it gives you a structure, example, and model for conducting interactive Bible studies that are the goal of methods like "Simply the Story".

If the idea of telling a Bible Story and leading an interactive study frightens you, Miller's work offers a very accessible "path" to get you going in the use of Gospel narratives in evangelism and discipleship. In addition to the print resources, his ministry offers DVDs and live workshops to equip people to use the Person of Jesus curriculum.

Paul Miller's work isn't "Bible Story Telling" per se, but a Bible Story Teller could easily use the outlines and concepts Miller compiles to tell the relevant stories to an audience unable read, resistant to reading or not committed to read at this point. For example, the story that is the basis for the study could be told at a coffee house and then people could be invited to "look deeper" at the story in a setting where they may be able to read the text.