The Story of Jesus Bible Study Participant's Guide: Experience the Life of Jesus as One Seamless Story

By Randy Frazee, Kevin G. Harney and Sherry Harney

The Story of Jesus small group video Bible study is a seven-week exploration into the life and ministry of Jesus that is adapted from the original The Story Adult Curriculum.  Pulled straight from the pages of the Bible, this study provides individuals and groups of all sizes the opportunity to learn, discuss, and apply Jesus’ life, work, and teaching to their everyday lives. Pastor and author Randy Frazee presents seven ten-minute teachings on how the story of Jesus intersects with the story of our modern day lives.

To understand the Bible, says author and pastor Randy Frazee, you need bifocal lenses, because two perspectives are involved. The Lower Story, our story, is actually many stories of men and women interacting with God in the daily course of life. The Upper Story is God's story, the tale of his great, overarching purpose that fits all the individual stories together like panels in one unified mural.

The Story of Jesus Participant’s Guide includes DVD teaching notes, discussion questions, between session personal experiences, and also includes seven chapters of the full text of The Story hardcover book as it relates to Jesus, from his birth to the beginning of the church.

Sessions include:

1. The Birth of the King
2. Jesus' Ministry Begins
3. No Ordinary Man
4. Jesus, the Son of God
5. The Hour of Darkness
6. The Resurrection
7. New Beginnings

Designed for use with The Story of Jesus Video Study (sold separately).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Jul 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9780310696704

Randy Frazee

Randy Frazee is a pastor at Westside Family Church in Kansas City. A frontrunner and innovator in spiritual formation and biblical community, Randy is the architect of The Story and Believe church engagement campaign. He is also the author of The Heart of the Story; Think, Act, Be Like Jesus; What Happens After You Die; His Mighty Strength; The Connecting Church 2.0; and The Christian Life Profile Assessment. He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Rozanne, for more than forty years. They have four children and two grandchildren, with more on the way! To learn more about his work and ministry go to randyfrazee.com.

Book preview

Introduction

SINCE 2005, WHEN THE STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED, HUNDREDS OF thousands of people have experienced God’s 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.

Using This Participant’s Guide

♦ 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 participant’s guide and listen to Randy Frazee’s 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 God’s 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 God’s 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.

Ebook Instructions

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

Of Note

The quotes interspersed through this participant’s guide are excerpts from The Story of Jesus video, The Story, and materials developed by the authors in the writing of this study.

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SESSION 1

The Birth

of the King

The journey can be adventurous, and we should enjoy it. But

let’s be honest, there is something nice about finally arriving!

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Bible Reading

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace¹ and truth.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.

How will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin?

The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

I am the Lord’s servant, Mary answered. May your word to me be fulfilled. Then the angel left her.

And Mary said:

"My soul glorifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,²

for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

for the Mighty One has done great things for me —

holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost

     thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors."

How did Mary, a virgin, become pregnant? She and Joseph were engaged but had not had sexual relations. No medical doctor could answer this question, but such was the mysterious nature of Mary’s conception and Jesus’ birth—a miraculous beginning ordained by God’s power alone. Imagine Mary’s problem explaining this incredible experience! She couldn’t understand it herself, much less explain it to her friends and family.

In that day and time, an engagement was considered as strong a commitment as marriage although Joseph and Mary were not officially married. Although he probably wanted to believe Mary, Joseph was in a difficult situation. Engaged and committed to a woman whom his family and friends would now despise, Joseph decided it was best to break off the engagement … until an unusual visitor changed his perspective.

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means God with us).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news³ that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Joseph and Mary decided to remain in Bethlehem after Jesus was born. Faithful to the Law of Moses, they had Jesus circumcised when he was eight days old. There the new family was greeted by two older saints, Simeon and Anna, to whom God gave the opportunity to see and recognize the Messiah before the end of their days.