In general, people have seen God responding in two ways: either God is actively punishing our evil, or else God is a distant, transcendent, dis-interested force. But that’s not how the God of the Bible responds. He rebels against our expectations. He reacts in a way everyone least expected. Instead of expecting us to make things right, he made things right himself. Instead of condemning us, he condemned himself. Instead of being transcendent and dis-interested, he came down and makes his home with us. And so we begin now a journey of seeing how God went rogue, upturning everything we thought we knew about him.
We’re going to meet the most unexpected God in history: Jesus. And this God is going to require a few things from us that are hard for humans to do. He’s going to ask us to be honest, completely honest about who we are when we look deep down within ourselves. He’s going to ask us to trust him that, when we find something dark and chaotic within ourselves, he knows how to really deal with it. And finally he’s going to ask us to step back and let him do the work. And in the end, we’ll find out that he’s been doing all the work for us this entire time. We’ll find the most unexpected God, one who calls us into a bigger story than we could have imagined, so that we can understand our lives as far more epic than we could have imagined.
These are some of the opening words to this study which, as its subtitle says, is an intro to the story and teachings of the Bible. This was meant to be the workbook for a Bible Information Class. I developed it particularly for the sake of introducing young adults to Confessional Lutheran theology. The portions of the study read:
- PART 1. A GOD GONE ROGUE
- Chapter 1. Honesty
- Chapter 2. Trust
- Chapter 3. Deep History
- PART 2. LOVE BETTER
- Chapter 4. Love Radical
- Chapter 5. Love that Says “Trust Me”
- Chapter 6. Love that Serves
- PART 3. DEATH DEFEATED
- Chapter 7. The Hero Dies and Rises
- Chapter 8. Community and Truth
- Chapter 9. The End is the Beginning
- Glossary of Key Concepts
- Luther’s Small Catechism
- Appendix
The end material (the glossary, catechism, and lengthy topical appendix) are identical to the end material found in our other BIC, Foundations of the Christian Faith.
Original Diagrams, Charts, Timelines, Maps
Much like Foundations of the Christian Faith, this BIC has dozens of original charts, timelines, maps, and other illustrative graphics, designed by us specifically for this course. But these are also useful for taking out of the course and using in other bible studies and workshops as well.
This Packet includes:
- Student Workbook and End Material PDFs for a total of 100 pages
- Two cover images (jpg)
- One banner image (jpg)