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

by N. T. Wright, Kevin G. Harney (With), Sherry Harney (With)

Overview

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).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310692140
Publisher:	HarperChristian Resources
Publication date:	05/22/2013
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	96
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

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.

Kevin G. Harney?is lead pastor of Shoreline Church in Monterey, California. He is the author of many books, including?No Is a Beautiful Word,?Seismic Shifts, and the Organic Outreach?Trilogy, as well as more than a hundred small group guides, curriculum, and numerous articles written in partnership with Sherry. Kevin and his wife Sherry are co-founders of Organic Outreach International, a ministry that trains and resources global leaders to do evangelism in natural and effective ways. He also does extensive teaching and speaking both nationally and internationally.

 

Sherry Harney is an author and a speaker who serves as the Spiritual Formation and Discipleship Director at Shoreline Church in Monterey, California. She is also the cofounder of Organic Outreach International. For over three decades Sherry has spoken for local, national, and international groups and events. She focuses on prayer, spiritual formation, leadership, and organic outreach.

Over the past three decades Sherry and Kevin have coauthored and partnered with writers such as Ann Voskamp, Max Lucado, Nabeel Qureshi, Jim Cymbala, Miles McPherson, Mark Batterson, Chrystal Evans Hurst, Christine Caine, Gary Thomas, N.T. Wright, Laura Story, Craig Groeschel, Dallas Willard and many others. Kevin and Sherry have three married sons, and three grandchildren.

Read an Excerpt

Surprised by Hope Participant's Guide

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By N.T. Wright, Kevin Harney, Sherry Harney

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2010 N. T. Wright
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-69214-0

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Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

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 video 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?

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?

[Your Response]

VIDEO TEACHING NOTES

As you watch the video 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

[Your Notes]

• The "escape the world" approach

[Your Notes]

The biblical vision for this world and the future

[Your Notes]

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

[Your Notes]

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

[Your Notes]

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

[Your Notes]

The apostle Paul's vision of hope

[Your Notes]

A good definition of being the church

[Your Notes]

VIDEO 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.

[Your Response]

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.

[Your Response]

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

[Your Response]

4. Wright reflects on a series of happenings around the world that have led to a sense of hopelessness for many people—including floods, famines, disasters, wars, economic crises, and political upheaval. What happenings in your lifetime have stripped away people's hope, and why do these events have such a devastating impact?

[Your Response]

5. Wright talks about two particular mistakes that occur when it comes to understanding the Bible and hope. How have you seen the "secret code" approach and the "escape the world" approach lived out by people in the church?

[Your Response]

6. Though the Bible clearly offers the hope of heaven and the certainty of a future resurrection, it does not teach that God will one day throw this world into some celestial trash heap. Read the following passages and discuss how God sees the world:

• Psalm 96:11–13

[Your Response]

• Isaiah 11:1–9

[Your Response]

• Revelation 21:1–5

[Your Response]

7. How does Wright's understanding of judgment in Psalm 96:13—that God is coming to judge the earth with righteousness and truth—push back against the idea that God is angry at the world and ready to burn it up and throw it away?

[Your Response]

8. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches his followers to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9–10). What do you think Jesus is asking us to pray, and how does this connect with the hope God wants to bring to this world?

[Your Response]

9. Wright explains from the book of Acts how both the Jewish and pagan powers of the day were shocked and pushed back against the idea that a new kingdom was coming into this world. Early believers were forced to decide if they would follow the existing power systems in the world (and their way of doing things) or God's ways and his kingdom vision. How might next week look different if you fully embraced a "God's kingdom come" approach to living?

[Your Response]

10. Wright suggests that a good definition of the church would be: "people who gather together to share hope and be people of hope in the world." What do you think of this definition of the church? How might the activity of your local congregation change if you actually functioned with a profound sense that one of your primary callings is to be a community of hope right where God has placed you?

[Your Response]

CLOSING PRAYER

Take time as a group to pray in some of the following directions:

• Ask God to help you live with a confidence that his hope is yours, both now and forever.

• Pray for a fresh new understanding that God wants to see his kingdom come on this earth as it is in heaven.

• Pray for the Holy Spirit to move you, your small group, and your church into the world with actions of love and hope that reveal the presence of God.

BETWEEN SESSIONS

Personal Reflection

Think about where God has placed you. God wants to bring his hope through you to the places you shop, dine, work, play, and live. At the start of the session N. T. Wright spoke of the needs in his community, the changing economy, and the pain people are facing. Reflect on the people in your life and what they are facing. Ask God to use you as a beacon of hope in each of these relationships.

Personal Action

Take a walk or drive around your community ... the place God has planted you. Pray for eyes to see the pain, loss, and hopelessness that can saturate our world. Actually ask the Holy Spirit to help you see beyond the physical to begin perceiving with the eyes of Jesus. As you see and feel the reality of what so many people face each day, pray for the kingdom of God to begin breaking into these places and lives. If you feel a prompting of the Spirit to take some kind of action in response to this exercise ... act on it!

Group Engagement

Wright told a story about a church in his community that started a school for people who had great physical and mental challenges. What is one action of hope your group can take in the next month to bring heaven to earth right in your community? If possible, discuss and decide this before your next group gathering, in order to get the activity on everyone's schedule.

Prayer Direction

• Pray for eyes to see the needs of the community around you.

• Ask the Spirit to soften your heart to those who are hurting and needy.

• Pray for your local church to become a beacon of hope in your community.

• Pray that God's kingdom will come and his will be done in your life, home, and community ... as it is in heaven.

Recommended Reading

As you reflect on what you have learned in this session you may want to read chapters 1 and 2 of the book Surprised by Hope, by N. T. Wright. Then, in preparation for session two, you may want to read chapters 3 and 4 as well.
(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Surprised by Hope Participant's Guide by N.T. Wright. Copyright © 2010 by N. T. Wright. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
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.

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Table of Contents

Contents

A Word from N. T. Wright          

Session One Hope for the World          

Session Two The Hope of the Resurrection          

Session Three The Hope of Heaven          

Session Four The Hope of Jesus' Second Coming          

Session Five The Hope of Salvation          

Session Six The Hope of the Church