Encounters With Jesus

New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet Timothy Keller explores how people are changed by meeting Jesus personally—and how we can be changed encountering him today. The people who met Jesus Christ in person faced the same big life questions we face today. Like most of us, the answers handed down to them didn’t seem to work in the real world. But when they met Jesus, things immediately started to change for them. It seems he not only had the answers—he was the answer. In Encounters with Jesus, Timothy Keller shows how the central events and meetings in Jesus’ life can change our own lives forever. "Keller's work belongs on the bookshelf of every serious Bible student." —Examiner "Keller has mined the gold from these texts of Scripture, and any Christian is bound to have their minds expanded and hearts stirred." —Grace for Sinners

Renowned pastor and New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet Timothy Keller shows how people were changed when they met Jesus personally—and how we can be changed today through our own encounter with him. What is my purpose in life? What is a good life? Why is there so much wrong with our world? What can I do to help make it right? These are some of the big questions that everyone must answer. And any lasting change in our lives will start with a change to one or more of our answers to these questions. Jesus changed the life of every person he met in the Gospels, through powerful experiences and words that led them to unexpected and transforming answers to their big questions. These conversations can still address our questions and doubts today. Originally published as an eSeries, Encounters with Jesus focuses on several of these meetings — including with a skeptical student, a religious insider, an outcast, even Jesus’ mother — and shows how the central events in Jesus’ life provide ways for us to encounter him again or for the first time.

The impact Jesus had on numerous lives during his earthly ministry is obvious from the Gospel records themselves. But what we do not have is personal testimonies by those persons whom Jesus helped, healed, befriended, or recruited as disciples. In this creative exploration of what sort of testimonies those original encounters might have produced, Ben Witherington paints a picture for us of what the well known and the less well known eyewitnesses might have said had they been asked. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of the historical context in which Jesus operated, Witherington brings these men and women out of the shadows and into the light of day.

What can you do, or think, or believe to make yourself untouchable to Jesus? The answer, according to Gary M. Burge, is nothing. In this insightful, well-researched book, Burge examines Jesus biblical encounters with everyday people and concludes, Nothing in our lives or situations will be an impediment to him all are welcome"

Introducing the first essay in the "Encounters with Jesus" e-book series from renowned pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller, author of The Songs of Jesus. The Skeptical Student applies biblical wisdom to life’s biggest questions through the inspiring story of Nathanael’s life-changing encounter in the Gospel of John. The Gospels are full of encounters that made a profound impact on those who spoke with Jesus Christ. In the first essay of his new series, Timothy Keller, pastor of New York’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church and New York Times bestselling author of The Reason for God, shows how those encounters can still have a deep effect on us today. Through a lively examination of the biblical passage where Nathanael, the skeptical student, meets with Jesus, Keller reveals how this interaction is about life’s deep questions: Who are we? Why are we here? Why be a good person? Why love instead of hate? This first essay in the ten-part series of Encounters with Jesus also includes an exclusive look at Timothy Keller’s new book on faith and work: Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work.

In many respects John remains the most beloved of all Gospels. In this careful study for laity, Frances Taylor Gench provides an opportunity for Christians to immerse themselves in this complex Gospel and become better acquainted with its intriguing and distinctive vision. Examining thirteen central texts (including the wedding at Cana, the woman of Samaria, the "I Am" passages, the woman accused of adultery, the raising of Lazarus, and the resurrection scenes), Gench focuses on each text's key features, including literary design, historical origins, and theological insights. Drawing on questions and insights raised by contemporary biblical scholars, Gench helps her readers see these texts anew. She explores the ethical challenges that these texts pose and discusses how this perplexing Gospel can inform Christian life and faith and the practice of daily ministry. Each chapter concludes with thoughtful and engaging study questions for individual or group use.

"Sacred Encounters with Jesus" is a discerning account of how Jesus heals and transforms people today just as He ministered to His disciples. Readers will enter into the miraculous experiences of a terminally ill girl who was healed by Jesus' touch and of a woman who touched Jesus as He knelt beside her and prayed. These experiences raise the possibility that only some people will readily accept: that Jesus can be experienced as directly and as personally today as when He walked the earth 2,000 years ago.

Sharing the stories of people from all walks of life, a collection of case histories details the experiences of individuals who believe that their lives have been changed by encounters with Jesus Christ. (Religion)