First produced by Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church, this 12-session group is perfect for groups just beginning their faith walk or for anyone looking for a deeper foundation. Following Jesus leads adults to rediscover Jesus, grow in the spirit and learn to live in faith and in service to the church, community and world. The Leader Guide includes guidance in setting up and teaching the entire series with flexible teaching plans, a varity of teaching activities, discussion questions, additional commentary. Includes a fruits of the spirit inventory, membership interview form and other helpful tools. Session topics for the study: Part 1 - Rediscovering Jesus Jesus the Messiah Unique Characteristics of Jesus Savior of the World Our Lord Part 2 - Growing in the Spirit The Holy Spirit Understanding Spiritual Fruit Understanding Spiritual Gifts Sharing the Spirit Part 3 - Living in Faith and Service Session Nine: Spiritual Disciplines: Keys to God’s Heart Session Ten: The Church Session Eleven: Understanding God’s Call Session Twelve: God’s Place for You Also available: Following Jesus: Steps to a Passionate Faith (participant book)

Following Jesus Leader Guide

Steps to a Passionate FaithBy Carolyn Slaughter

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2008 The United Methodist Publishing House
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-687-64948-8

Chapter One

SESSION ONE Jesus the Messiah

Prepare for the Session

Supplies Needed

? chalkboard or dry-erase board and markers ? Bibles ? participant books and copies of the "Who Are You?" handout ? pens/pencils

Before class, read Session One from the participant book. Imagine how participants may be feeling about what they are reading. Consider the questions they may bring with them to the class session.

Group Discussion - Who Are You?

Have participants form groups of four to six. If you have a group of six or fewer, work together in a single group. Provide each person with a writing utensil and the "Who Are You?" handout (p. 19). Allow a few minutes for everyone to complete the handout, then give each group five minutes to get to know one another in their small groups. Have each group merge with another group, so you have groups of eight to twelve participants. Ask participants to take turns introducing each other to the larger group they have just joined. When everyone has finished, gather participants and collect the handouts.

Purpose of the Study

Open the session with prayer. Begin this first session by explaining the purpose of the study and what will be expected of the participants. Following Jesus: Steps to a Passionate Faith is designed to give an overview of Christianity and what it means to follow Jesus. Since this course is foundational to understanding a personal relationship with Christ and discipleship, it is important for students to make a commitment to attend and fully participate in all the classes. If for some reason one or more participants cannot attend all the sessions, help them work out a way to participate fully.

Who Is Jesus?

Ask participants to call out descriptions of how various people describe Jesus. Write their answers on a chalkboard or dry-erase board. Then ask:

? How do most people come to conclusions about Jesus like these? (hearsay, tradition, opinion, own study)

? How do they know whether or not they are right? Pull out one of the "Who Are You?" handouts from the previous activity. Pass around the handout and ask various people to tell the class something about that person based upon what is written on the handout. After a minute or so, thank the person and ask:

? How is this different from how the conclusions we listed about Jesus are determined? (came from an authoritative source, can be corroborated by other sources, is personally gathered information rather than hearsay)

Origin of the Bible

Discuss the history of the Bible and why Christians believe that it is the Word of God. The Bible is a Christian's fact base—the basis of faith and life practices. As we learn in 2 Timothy 3:16, the Bible is God-breathed, the very words of God whispered into the ears and hearts of its human writers. It is God's tool used to transform and equip us to do God's work.

The word bible comes from the Greek ta biblia, meaning "the scrolls" or "the books." Although today we think of the Bible as a single work, it is actually a group of books written by a variety of authors. They were first written on individual scrolls of paper, but around 450 B.C. the documents were edited and compiled into what we now call the Old Testament.

Following Jesus' death and resurrection, various witnesses (or disciples of eyewitnesses) recorded the life of Jesus and the early church. Included in these writings were also letters of instructions to new churches across the Middle East. Together, these writings are what we call the New Testament. The list of books to be included in the New Testament was finalized in A.D. 376 and is the New Testament we know today.

The Bible is God's means of communication with us in written form. It consists of 66 books, but one story is told through the entire Bible. It is the love story of a personal, holy God who created human beings to be in relationship with God. When that relationship was broken, this loving God pursued humans and put together a plan to restore their broken relationship.

Written over a 1,600-year period by approximately 50 different human authors, one consistent theme flows through the entire text from Genesis to Revelation: what God was willing to do to be in relationship with us.

Although consisting of one story, the Bible is divided into two sections. The Old Testament is made up of the first 39 books and covers the ancient time period from Creation to around 50 B.C. The Old Testament time is known as B.C. (before Christ). After Jesus Christ came to earth, time was reordered and is now dated as A.D. (anno Domini, "in the year of our Lord"). The New Testament covers the time from Jesus' birth to approximately A.D. 100. In today's session, we will focus on insights about Jesus from the Old Testament.

The Prophecy of the Coming Messiah

In Isaiah 48:3-6, God told the purpose of the Old Testament messianic prophecies (references to the person God would send to free people and bring them into a personal relationship with God):

I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze. Therefore I told you these things long ago; before they happened I announced them to you so that you could not say, "My images brought them about; my wooden image and metal god ordained them." You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?

God knows how stubborn humans are and how, left to our own devices, we will come up with our own reasons for whatever happens. But God wanted the people to know who was in control of all that was being done. No credit was to go to false gods of wood and bronze. Reading Scripture from the Old Testament foretelling of the purpose of the coming Messiah and seeing that purpose and promise fulfilled in Jesus reveals to us God's plan for humankind.

Group Discussion - Messianic Prophecies

The fulfillment of specific prophecies is an important part of identifying Jesus as the Messiah. Form six groups and point each group to the list of prophecies on pages 12–13 of the participant book. It's okay if a "group" is just one person. We will use this representative sample of prophecies and see what the prophecies tell us about who Jesus is. The same set of verses is provided below. The first Bible verse is the Old Testament prophecy, and the second verse is the New Testament fulfillment of that prophecy. Assign each group one of the Scripture sets.

In their groups, have participants discuss the Scriptures assigned to them. Have them write down their observations and be prepared to share their findings with the rest of the class. Information on each set of verses is given below to support you in the class discussion.

A. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25—The first clue God gave to identify the Messiah was that a virgin would have a child who was fathered by the Holy Spirit. It is important to understand the significance of the virgin birth. God set up the sacrificial system in the Old Testament to provide a means of forgiveness for God's people. Animal sacrifices were made on behalf of people, with the blood of the sacrificed animal satisfying God's judgment for human sin. Only a perfect, unblemished animal qualified to be the sacrifice. Because of humans' cycle of sin, this ritual had to be observed repeatedly. In the New Testament we see that ultimately God offered Jesus, God's Son, as the final sacrifice for our sins. On the basis of the virgin birth, Jesus was fully human (the son of a human mother) and also fully divine (the Son of God). Jesus had to be like us in human form in order to stand in our place, but he had to be without blemish or sin to provide the sacrifice God required. Only the perfect Son of God could be an adequate sacrifice to remove our sin and reconnect us with God the Father.

B. Micah 5:2; Luke 2:1-7—The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. This prophecy described a specific place where God (who is before all things and has always existed from eternity) would enter time and space. From the Christmas story in Luke we know Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

C. Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:1-3 and 11:7-11—The Messiah would be preceded by a messenger—John the Baptist—who would prepare people for the Messiah's ministry.

D. Isaiah 35:3-6; Matthew 9:27-35 and 11:1-6—The Messiah would be a miracle worker and have a ministry of healing. The eyes and ears of people would be opened, both physically and spiritually. Jesus, in Matthew 9 and 11, is described as healing the blind, the lame, and curing every disease.

E. Zechariah 9:9; Luke 19:28-36—Zechariah is very specific in describing the Messiah's entrance into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. This illustrates how specific God's prophecies were, which made the chance of all prophecies being fulfilled in one person a very low probability. And, according to Luke, Jesus entered Jerusalem the Sunday before his crucifixion in just that way.

F. Isaiah 53:4-6, 11-12; Luke 23:32-34; 2 Corinthians 5:1821—The Messiah would bear the sins of many and intercede for those separated from God. Jesus, on the cross, fulfilled the sacrifice for our sins yesterday, today, and forever. Even though he had the sinless, divine nature of God, Jesus voluntarily took on the payment for our sins; and in the midst of the process he interceded for the world. According to Hebrews 7:23-25, Jesus is still prayerfully interceding for us today.

These are only a few of the hundreds of prophecies of the Christ found in the Old Testament, but they give us an understanding of God's perfect plan. Through the prophecies, God was saying to the world, "This is how you identify my plan. When all of these signs come together, that is my person—the Messiah, the savior of the world." All of the prophecies did come together in Jesus, and they help us begin to understand the amazing truth about who Jesus is.

New Testament Use of Prophecies

People all through the New Testament pointed to the fulfillment of prophecy as one way to authenticate who Jesus is. Share with the class a brief background on the persons speaking in the verses listed below; then read what Paul, Philip, and Jesus himself had to say about the importance of fulfilled prophecy.

? John 1:43-45. Philip was one of the first of Jesus' disciples; and he called others to join him in following "the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph" (1:45). ? Luke 24:44-48. Jesus himself pointed to the Old Testament and said, "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms" (24:44). ? Acts 17:1-4. Paul, a Pharisee and persecutor of the early church who was converted on the road to Damascus, became one of the great defenders of the faith. He pointed to fulfilled prophecy as he taught about Jesus in the Jewish synagogues.

Reflection - Who Do You Say That I Am?

The question Who is Jesus? is one that everyone must answer at some point in his or her life. Jesus asked his own disciples that very question while he was still on earth in human form. The incident is recorded in Matthew 16:13-16. Ask a participant to read the passage out loud. Afterward, ask each person to ask themselves, based on what they know about Jesus so far, who Jesus is to them. Have them write the answer to the question in their participant books.

Group Discussion

Have participants form pairs and tell each other one or two ways in which their lives have changed or they hope their lives will change as a result of learning the truth about who Jesus is. When pairs are finished, close the class in prayer.

Closing Prayer

Lord, I praise you for sending Jesus, the Messiah, to reconnect us with God forever and to serve as the ultimate example for the way we should live our lives. Thank you, God, for giving us your love story for humanity in written form. Please open my heart to a deeper walk with Jesus and empower me to live more fully for Jesus this week.

Homework

Before dismissing the group, remind participants to prepare for next week. The assignment is to browse through the first four books of the New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are the books that primarily tell the story of Jesus. Also, ask class members to read and complete Session Two in the participant book.

Who Are You? Name: ________________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________ City: _____________________ State:_______ ZIP code: ____ Phone: ______________________ Cell Phone: ______________ Email: ____________________________ Birthday: __________ Occupation: ___________________ Marital Status: ________ Children's Names and Ages: ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ What do you do for fun? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ What is special about you that you want people to know? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ How long have you attended this church? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ What do you hope to gain from this class? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ How would you describe what it means to be a Christian? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ How would you describe your faith experience up to this point in your life? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________

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Excerpted from Following Jesus Leader Guideby Carolyn Slaughter Copyright © 2008 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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