Bible Study Witness [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION The book you are holding is an invitation. It invites you to experience and to share the story of God's involvement in the lives of people, which is expressed most clearly in the Bible. The Bible is a written witness to God's love and action. In the Bible we read about prophets and kings, priests and poets, apostles and mar- tyrs—all people whose lives were touched by their experience of God. And, at the center of it all, we read about Jesus, God's own Son, through whom God touched people as never before. This story that begins with the Bible contin- ues in the lives of people today—people who are a lot like you, as well as people who may be quite different from you. God's activity knows no bounds. In fact, before this course is over, we hope that you will have made a discovery: God's involvement in people's lives extends to your life also! You are a part of this story too! As you read the sessions in this book (along with selections from the Bible itself) you will certainly become aware of the great diversity of people with whom God has been involved through-out history. Here are a few of the questions that may come to your mind: • Why does the Bible tell such different kinds of stories? • Why does the Bible tell some stories more than once—and in such different ways? • Why does the Bible speak such very different messages in some places than it does in others? The answer to all of these questions can be summarized in a word: witness I The Bible is a witness book. It contains stories and testimonies of people who wish to share their experience of God's activity. The content and the style of their witness varies, because they are sharing these experiences with different groups of people under different circumstances. For this reason, you may not find everything in the Bible to be equally meaningful or relevant to your own situation. Still, what you find least helpful might speak most directly to others. The Bible is a witness book written to speak the Word of God in diverse ways to all sorts of people on all sorts of occasions. What is true of the testimonies we find in the Bible is true also of our own experiences. God has acted in each of our lives, although in different ways. As we share our faith stories and listen to the faith stories of others, we discover both similarities and differences. We come to understand our own experience of God better, and we come to recognize new possibilities for the life of faith. God uses both the witness of the Bible and the witness of shared faith to help us grow. God can also use our story of faith to help others grow. This is perhaps the most exciting discovery of all—that we have something valuable to share. That valuable "something" has a name. It is called the gospel, the good news of God's grace and love and mercy. It is found in many different forms— in the rich and varied material of the Bible and in the rich and varied stories of human lives. It is this message of the gospel that you are invited now to experience and to share. THE MISSION90 BIBLE STUDY/WITNESS PARTICIPANT BOOK WRITERS Mark Allan Powell teaches New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of several books, including What Are They Saying About Luke? and What Are They Saying About Acts 1 (Paulist Press), What Is Narrative Criticism? (Fortress Press), and The Bible and Modem Literary Criticism (Greenwood Press). Mark served as coordinator of the writer team for the project and wrote sessions 7,9, 10, 11, and 12. Dennis A. Anderson is president of Trinity Lutheran Seminary. He has taught and written