Let S Study Acts

'When John Mark wrote out his "good news" about Jesus two thousand years ago, his Gospel was a completely new kind of book. No one had ever written one before. In fact no one would have known what a Gospel was...What made the Gospel of Mark unique was this: it was not written merely as the memoir of Jesus as a great man, not even as the greatest man who had ever lived. Rather it was meant to persuade its readers that Jesus was the Son of God...Who is Jesus of Nazareth? What is the good news (gospel) about him?...This book presents us with Mark's answer.'

Dennis Johnson has taught the book of Acts to seminary students for over twenty years. Here he leads the reader with clarity and insight through the amazing process by which Jesus' words were fulfilled: "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia seems to burst on the reader like a sudden storm. The issues it raises still generate controversy, even after two thousand years of church history. In large measure this is because what was at stake when Paul wrote was the gospel itself. The question of whether human works were to play any part in the justification of sinners had to be answered clearly if the fledgling Christian movement was to prosper. And Paul was determined to answer it with total clarity. This explains the vigour and energy of his language, and the impact the letter has had down the centuries. Derek Thomas explains the issues dealt with in the letter and refutes the contentions of the so-called 'new perspective' on Paul. His book is an important addition to this expanding series of study guides.

A practical guide to a key New Testament book, in which the Apostle Paul teaches how the gospel must shape the believer's life-style and relationships both in the church and the community. A welcome help to those facing unrelenting pressure from a godless environment and sin's continuing deceitfulness. Corinth was a confident, modern and self-assured city, proud of its image and thoroughly pagan. It was a miracle of God's grace that the seed of the gospel had taken strong root in such potentially hostile soil. But the young and tender plant was in grave danger of being choked by the suffocating pressures of a godless environment, and the deceitfulness of sin still at work in the hearts of believers. In the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he teaches his readers how the gospel, in which they have believed, must now shape their life-style, within the church and the community. What does it mean to be 'spiritual' in a truly Christian sense? Where do God's power and wisdom lie and how are they to be experienced? What is the relationship of knowledge to behaviour, of truth to love, and of love to life?

A lifetime of reflection and examination on the book of Acts

Peter's great themes of grace and salvation in Christ, godly living, and comfort in suffering, echo down the ages to the present day. William Harrell's fresh and lively treatment of 1 Peter shows that these themes are as relevant to the church today as they were in the first century. We, too, need to hear of the greatness of the salvation accomplished by Christ and to heed the call to consecrated and orderly living, to endurance in suffering, and to vigilant service. As with the earlier volumes in this series, the value of the exposition is enhanced by the Group Study Guide which follows. 'The whole unfolding Let's Study series is a must for every Christian home that is serious about getting to know the Word.' Covenanter Witness William W. Harrell is a minister in the Prebyterian Church in America. He has served as the pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Norfolk, Virginia, from 1981 to the present.

'Given the relationship between Paul and the Thessalonian Christians, it should not surprise us that his letters to them throb with tenderness and care...here, as perhaps nowhere else in his letters, we see how the apostle loved his converts and laboured to lead them on in the faith. This should make every serious Christian, and especially every responsible Chrisitan leader, turn with eagerness to the text of the letters that await us.' From the Introduction by Andrew Young.