Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
session 1
She Believed
"Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her!"
LUKE 1:45
OPENING REFLECTION
These words in Luke 1:45 were spoken about a young girl named Mary, who received a promise of God's goodness — that she'd been chosen to bear a child who was and is the Savior of the world. But it was still her choice to believe, and her faith that would have to anchor her through all that was to come after. It's not all that different from what we face today — the choice to believe over the weight of our circumstances, and the faith to carry us as we charge headlong into them.
What if there were no barriers to faith? What if we could study God's promises, understand, and apply the Word to our daily lives, believing God will fulfill all He's promised?
What if the things that seem impossible on our own suddenly became possible with God?
GATHERING AND GETTING STARTED
Welcome to the first session of Luke: Gathering the Goodness of God's Word.
Whether you're meeting in a coffee shop corner, a church fellowship hall, in your home, or even on your neighbor's front porch, this is meant to be a gathering study. It should be relatable and relaxed — a place to talk faith, life, and story roads — and Invite the Holy Spirit Into your day by opening the Word of God in the spaces you naturally gather.
If this is the first time you've gathered together, take a few moments to get to know your group. Introduce yourself with something as simple as your name and why you've come to study God's Word. And if you want to jump in to get things started, discuss one of the following questions:
• What do you know about verse mapping? What do you hope to learn on this verse mapping journey?
or
What's your biggest barrier to overcome in studying God's Word? Is it a lack of time? Knowledge? Or something else?
GATHERING: VIDEO STORY
Play the video segment for session one. As you watch, follow the verse mapping guide points starting below and refer to the completed map on pages 22-23. Take brief notes or record questions that might lead you to further research in your independent study time this week.
Notes
(1) verse
What makes the Gospel of Luke unique:
Only Gospel addressed to a specific person — Theophilus, who was likely a Gentile be I iever like Luke (see Colossians 4)
Most lengthy of the Gospels — presenting a thorough picture of Jesus' ministry (Luke 9-19 chronicle healings and intense teaching, like the Good Samaritan and Mustard Seed parables)
Only Gospel with a sequel — the book of Acts. In both, we find the only detailed accounts of Jesus' ascension.
(2) design
Faith (she who has believed) partners with God's promises (for there will be a fulfillment)
(3) develop
In the Greek, "believed" is pisteuo, meaning "to trust," or entrusted, "to affirm," or have confidence in
In the Greek, "blessed" indicates "the favor of God"
Under the favor of God is she who entrusted, having confidence that the action of fulfillment will follow that trust
(4) action
Mary's belief — her entrusting an unknown future to God — appears in Luke 1:26-38
Mary's response to the angel's news that she would carry a son — the Savior of the world: "I am the Lord's servant" (Luke 1:38)
Mary's lineage of faith — the blessed is she who believed women — came in Matthew 1
(5) outcome
When everything we thought we had — that list of "somethings" — is being chipped away, we can remember that faith triggers the blessing
(4) actions
What if there were no barriers to our faith?
Mary's belief —Her entrusting an unknown future to God(Luke 1:26-38)
• She received the visit from the angel who said she would give birth to the Messiah — the one who said, "For with God, nothing will be impossible"(verse 37 NKJV)
Mary's response:Response to the angel's news that she would carry a son — the Savior of the world? She said, "I am the Lord's servant."(verse 38 NIV)
• Represented her choice to overcome the barrier of the unknown, because her FAITH was rooted in God
Lineage of Christ: Found in Matthew 1 — other "BLESSED is she who BELIEVED women" ... Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah ... and Mary.
(5) outcome
Who Jesus became and what He fulfilled were In part triggered by the blessing — the favor of God on the world — and in "she who BELIEVED."
(1) verse
LUKE 1:45 (NIV)
"Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her!"
(2) DESIGN
• NKJV:"Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."
(3) develop
• BELIEVED— pisteuo (S. 4100):
"to trust," or entrusted; "to affirm," or have confidence in
• BLESSED — Happy. Fortunate. Those feel-good feelings when something works out to our benefit.
"Under the favor of God is she who entrusted, having confidence that the action of FULFILLMENT will follow that trust."
Not just happy. More than fortunate. Under the favor of God, because the belief (the affirmation, or confidence in) triggers the action to fulfill it.
From The Video
"Your time at this company is done."
It was so clear. So strong. And so completely terrifying ... that for an employee who hadn't a doubt in nearly a decade and a half, I thought I was about to receive my walking papers right there. And in a way, I did.
The mirror-image of who I was on my own, and the vision of who God could make me if I truly surrendered everything — they were at fierce battle. It was Jesus calling out to this worker. Busy in her boat. Fishing for the accolades of the world. Instead, He summoned the "storyteller-at-heart" part of me to experience a completely different story with Him.
... After a slow build and years of prayer — that small, nagging, flicker of a flame on my heart to step out and truly follow Jesus? It caught fire. My husband and I felt the call to leave the world we'd built up on our own and step out on a new story road. Kind of like stepping from a boat into the deep ... or walking a road you never thought you'd travel ... or trusting God to lead even though you don't have all the answers or even the complete roadmap in front of you.
So I resigned from my picture-perfect, modern high-rise professional job.
I beloved that day in the office that God would fulfill Hs words to me.
GATHERING: GROUP DISCUSSION
Take a few moments with your group to discuss the video you just watched and explore these concepts in Scripture.
1. Think about Luke's profession. How would his education, experience as a physician, and his travels with the apostle Paul aid him to research and record Jesus' earthly ministry? How can your own diverse experiences help you to become researchers in the Word?
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2. Select a volunteer to read Luke 1:26-38 aloud to the group. What faith barriers did Mary face in order to trust God with the news the angel had brought? How do some of those same barriers affect your own faith walk?
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3."Jesus + nothing = everything" is a key statement to describe Mary's faith walk in this session. What makes this statement true for Mary? Describe a time when you were in a place where Jesus was all you had. What makes it true for you?
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4. How do the two key words in Luke 1:45 — "believed" and "fulfill your faith against seemingly impossible odds?
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GATHERING: GROUP ACTIVITY
For this activity, you will need a Bible, pens/markers, and a smart device (such as a phone or tablet).
• Using a Bible or Bible app on a smart device, look up two additional translations of Luke 1:45 and record them on the completed map on pages 22-23.
• To start your verse mapping journey, pray as a group and select one verse you'll map from Luke 1-2 in individual study time this week. Gather in the next session and discuss how your map is similar or different from others' maps.
GATHERING: DOSING PRAYER
Verse mapping always begins and ends ... with prayer. Gather together with open hearts, expecting the Holy Spirit to remove the barriers to your faith. Ask Him to open the Word of God in your life like never before.
She Believed
"Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her!"LUKE 1:45
The ultimate promise from Luke 1:45 is that the favor — the blessed portion of your own story — has already been fulfilled. It was and is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. So here's your invitation until you gather with your group again.
GATHER: INDIVIDUAL STUDY MVITATION
Before you stop to pray ... before you pick up the pen ... before you take that first breath and first step on this mapping journey ... pause.
This will be a marked moment for you — when your heart went from "I wonder if I could?" in understanding God's Word, to "She who believed!" by embarking on your first maps in Luke 1-2.
This is the chain-busting, freedom-seeking, step-out day that you'll look back on as the one in which you chose to explore the announcement of a prophetic birth (1:26-38). To engage your heart in the journey of a young couple on the road to Nazareth (2:4-5). To ask and seek answers of a baby born, who grows in wisdom and favor (2:51-52). To hunger for more of Jesus. Let this be the memory of the very first time you gathered the goodness of His Word in this way.
Pause to savor it ... then GO.
Gather
INDIVIDUAL STUDY SUPPORT
If this is your first time verse mapping, you may need a couple of prompts to get started. Or refer back to the Verse Mapping 101 Guide at the beginning of your study guide.
(1) verse What verse am I mapping? What key themes or specific words are speaking to me today?
(2) design What different translations make up the design for this verse? Underline key phrases or words that are repeated across different translations.
(3) develop What is the Hebrew or Greek meaning for the underlined phrases or words?
(4) motions What actions develop the story in this verse? What is happening in this verse? To whom?
(5) outcome Review your map from beginning to end. Notice what God is saying to you through the verse map. How does this truth apply to your life?
Read
LUKE 1-2
Take time this week — whether five minutes today or an hour tomorrow — to dive into the Word.
Pray and invite the Holy Spirit into your time in the Word. When you are ready, turn to one of the blank verse maps in this section.
Read Luke 1-2. Select and map verses that speak to your heart. If your group selected a verse to map and discuss together, map that verse this week as well. Prepare to discuss what you've learned when your group gathers again.
Study Prompt
Look at the verse in context. Think like a storyteller — how would you explain what's happening in your verse? Find the five senses in the story — sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch — as if you stepped into the characters' shoes. Look at what occurred before and after your verse. What's happening that caused the action in your verse?
Study Support Examples
Information you might find in your research
Occasion and Purpos 1. Luke's primary purpose is to strengthen and confirm the faith of the early Christians. He writes so that Theophilus (and other readers) "may know the certainty of the things" they have been taught (1:4). As for the exact "things" that require affirmation, one must look further into Luke's writing to find them."
"1:42 Blessed are you among women. This is a superlative, i.e., "Among all women, you are the most blessed" (cf. Judg 5:24).
1:43 my Lord. May allude to an important Messianic psalm: "The Lord says to my lord" (Ps 110:1; cf. Luke 20:41-44; Acts 2:34). Lord. An exalted Christological title in this context (cf. v. 76; 2:11; 4:12; 13:15, 35).
1:44 leaped for joy. This baby is able to experience joy even before his birth.
1:45 has believed. Mary's belief contrasts with Zechariah's disbelief (v. 20).
(4) actions What actions develop the story in this verse? What is happening in this verse? To whom?
(5) outcome What is God saying to me today? How do I apply this to my life?
(1) verse What verse am I mapping? What key themes or specific words are speaking to me today?
(2) design What different translations make up the design for this verse? Underline key phrases or words repeated.
(3) develop What is the Hebrew or Greek meaning for the underlined phrases or words?
4 actions What actions develop the story in this verse? What is happening in this verse? To whom?
(5) outcome What is God saying tome today? How do I apply this to my life?
(1) What verse am I mapping? What key themes or specific words are speaking to me today?
(2) design What different translations make up the design for this verse? Underline key phrases or words repeated.
(3) develop What is the Hebrew or Greek meaning for the underlined phrases or words?
CHAPTER 2
session 2
He Obeyed
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
LUKE 3:21-22
OPENING REFLECTION
If we look around us, sacrifice isn't hidden away. It's there even in what we might see as insignificant moments. In the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist claims Jesus should be the one to baptize Him instead of the other way around. But the King steps back to place Himself behind those who'd lined up for baptism — those ready to embrace a new beginning with God are put before God in the flesh.
Jesus obeys, laying down His will and surrendering His all, to be the sacrifice for all.
The reminder of sacrifice and surrender begs a question from all of us: What if our schedule, our time, responsibilities, needs — even our desires and dreams — what if they all took a backseat to our relationship with God?
What kingdoms am I willing to give up in order to make Him King of my life?
GATHERING AND GETTING STARTED
Welcome back to session two of Luke: Gathering the Goodness of God's Word.
We've gathered for a second time — realizing there might have been sacrifice involved even in getting here today, or surrender in learning how to study in a new, in-depth, and possibly more vulnerable way.
To start, let's compare. After your first week verse mapping, discuss the following:
• Compare and contrast the verse your group mapped. What did you discover through mapping the group verse? Where did your exploration take you?
• What verse(s) did you select to map on your own, and why? How did it go?
• What moments of faith-stretching did you experience in self-study time this week — did it take a step of faith to embrace a new approach to studying the Word?
GATHERING: VIDEO STORY
Play the video segment for session two. As you watch the next instalment of our Gospel of Luke story, follow the verse mapping guide points starting below and refer to the completed map on pages 42-43. Take brief notes or record questions that might lead you to further research in your independent study time this week.
Notes
(1) verse
What stands out in Luke 3:21-22:
The act of sacrifice is to give of something we adore in this life — for a will and purpose greater than our own. God sacrificed for us, giving the world His Son, and Jesus sacrificed for the world, surrendering His will and offering His life.
The Gospels document Jesus' baptism, but Luke offers us the only clear indicator that the first thing Jesus did to embark upon ministry was to make Himself last. Instead of taking a step forward to lead and model obedience through being baptized FIRST, Jesus instead took a step back ... to SACRIFICE and SURRENDER.
When we surrender to Jesus, we give back our lives — including the desire to hold onto the adored things of this life
(2) design
The word "when" in these verses indicates a place in time — meaning "just after" — establishing the FOUNDATION of faith through authentic sacrifice and surrender. Other translations of Luke 3:21-22 give the same indication that Jesus held back, placing Himself last by allowing others to be baptized before Him.
(3) develop
In the Greek, "baptized" is baptizó (S. 907) [S. is an abbreviation for The NIV Exhaustive Concordance], meaning "to wash, baptize" or a ceremonial cleansing
In the Greek, "praying" is proseuchomai (S. 4336), meaning "to pray, earnestly, or most sincerely"
"Praying" is the present-tense form of the verb. It denotes action that is ongoing.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Verse Mapping Bible Study Luke: Gathering the Goodness of God's Word"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Kristy Cambron.
Excerpted by permission of Thomas Nelson.
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