The Unexpected Teachings Of Jesus

The Unexpected Teachings of Jesus presents the Gospels not as simplistic solutions to everyday problems but as a collection of sacred stories that are challenging and can teach us all how to live in today's world. Filled with wise, wonderful, and sometimes quirky stories from John Coleman's own life and experiences as a father, teacher, and minister, the book delves into the Gospels to uncover the essence of what it means to believe in and follow the radical, compassionate, generous love of Jesus. Reading this collection of reflections is like putting on a new pair of glasses. It offers all Christians a new way of knowing Jesus' words and shows us teachings are sometimes the opposite of what we thought we understood.

In December 1945, two Egyptian fellahin, digging for natural fertilizer in the Nile River valley unearthed a sealed storage jar. The jar proved to hold treasure of an unexpected sort: a collection of some fifty-two ancient manuscripts, most of which reflect the teachings of a mystical religious movement we call Gnosticism (from the Greek word gnosis, "knowledge"). The texts are also, with few exceptions, Christian documents, and thus they provide us with valuable new information about the character of the early church, and about the Gnostic Christians within the church. In this volume, Marvin W. Meyer has produced a new English translation for general readers of four of the most important and revealing of these early Christian texts -- the Secret Book of James, the Gospel of Thomas, the Book of Thomas, and the Secret Book of John.

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

Jesus divides history Evoking the widest polarisation of opinion of any historical figure Jesus was called by, and gave himself, many unusual names

Weekly religion lessons for upper elementary students, drawn from the New Testament, are free from political and sectarian agendas. The lessons are scripted to make preparation and instruction straightforward and simple for parents and teachers. The third in a series designed to take young students from elementary through high school, Telling God's Story, Year 3 provides scripted weekly lessons for third graders and the adults who teach them. Each weekly lesson provides content-filled background information for the teacher, a biblical passage from one of the four Gospels to read aloud, and a scripted explanation of the passage designed especially for children to grasp with ease. Together with the accompanying Activity Guide, Telling God’s Story, Year 3 provides a full year of religious instruction.

When we seize opportunities to talk with others about Jesus, days that start out dull and tedious can quickly blossom into exciting escapades. Written for today's multigenerational, multicultural world, The Unexpected Adventure helps readers take easy steps into a natural evangelistic lifestyle that will energize their own faith while making an eternal difference in the lives of people they encounter. Using a devotional-style format, bestselling authors Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg tell dramatic and sometimes funny stories from their own lives and then draw out practical applications backed by Scripture. Readers will be inspired with fresh compassion for their spiritually confused friends and equipped with practical strategies for influencing others for Christ. Entire churches will be rejuvenated as congregations discover that evangelism can be the adventure of a lifetime--starting today.

How can Christians live with a surprising God? How can we know and trust God without taming God or reducing God to an idol? Is knowing God the same thing as being open to God? Is God's freedom to act independently of our knowing him actually how we know him most genuinely and deeply? In Unexpected Jesus, Craig Hovey explores in depth the idea that the Christian gospel is a surprising encounter that calls for people to risk living with a God who shows up in unexpected ways. The Gospels often portray Jesus Christ as elusive and difficult to grasp. Hovey helps the reader to "un-expect" Jesus--to preserve Jesus's reality as a surprise rooted in the resurrection. As living and free, the joyous presence of Christ in the world is also unfathomable and uncontainable. Jesus's being free and surprising--unexpected--strengthens Christians' trust in God and helps them to live in God's world.

Jesus ignored human traditions and presented His listeners with God`s truth. Discover some of the radical ideas He taught that defied conventional wisdom and customs then - and that continue to do so today.