Lucado Study Guide: Matthew

I had just started reading the bible and I asked the sales associate at the book store what series would be good for bible study. He told me this series for the new testement and this lesson was great it made me think and gave me insight about Jesus and the Word of God

As a small group director for our churches (multi-site), I highly recommend this Bible study for individual or group use. We have used Life Lessons - The Gospel of John and now Life Lessons - The Gospel of Matthew. The book and study structure is basically the same throughout the series. Each lesson takes participants through a introspective "what's your experience" section, the actual scripture text for that lesson printed in the NCV (good) and NKJV (better), open-ended discussion questions, some inspirational writing by Lucado or partner author, a "what's your response" section and finally a devotional guide for deeper study, prayer and journaling. There isn't the need for a leader's guide and the study can be as deep or as shallow as the participants or facilitator will let it. There aren't supporting pieces of media, so at times we added DVD clips from the story of Jesus, or a theological discussion from another series and even some theatrical/interpretive reading of the text. Not necessary, but often brought new discussion and interest for some participants. The bottom line? Our experience has shown that both new believers and life-long Christ followers find the deeper knowledge of Jesus to be transformative. Lucado helps to open that door. How can we ask people to be like Jesus if they don't know who He was as a man and as God incarnate?... if they don't know where He went, the words He spoke, the difference He made, the lives He touched?... if they don't know about His obedient death on the cross? There are TONS of different small group studies out there, but this is one of the best when it comes to digging into God's Word, specifically the Gospel of Matthew. NOTE: The quality of the printing, legibility, binding, lay out, etc. is all exceptional. Some of the books that have not been written in by the first group were able to be reused for a second group (although I prefer that people write, take notes, fill in the answers in the book). They wore very well over months of use.