Books in the Interpretation Bible Studies series

In First Corinthians, Paul writes to a troubled church at Corinth, urging its members to live a life distinct from the ways of others, governed by the law of love, and affirming of the tenets of the faith. His direct responses to their shortcomings provide us a window into daily church life in the first century. But this letter also paints a...

While others might tell stories claiming the world is without promise, Luke presents the narrative of Jesus Christ as good news, challenge, and hope. For Luke, this is the only story that makes sense of the past, offers guidance for the present, and secures hope for the future.Interpretation Bible Studies (IBS) offers solid biblical content in...

The Bible's first book contains many well-known stories, some familiar since childhood: creation and the garden of Eden; an ark full of animals adrift in a flood; Abraham and Isaac; the conniving Jacob; and the dreams of Joseph. Now hear these stories again in a new way, and in hearing, discover the knowledge that God created everything in...

The Psalms speak to the depths of human experience, provoking words and images to express anger, sorrow, lament, thanksgiving, joy, and worshipful praise. They are as relevant today as they were to the ancient peoples who first composed them.Interpretation Bible Studies (IBS) offers solid biblical content in a creative study format. Forged in...

Mark challenges the reader to believe in the mystery of God--that even through difficult times, God reigns. Mark's Gospel carries the reader from the desert wilderness to Jerusalem, and from the crisis of the cross to the victory of the empty tomb.Interpretation Bible Studies (IBS) offers solid biblical content in a creative study format...

In this study, noted Old Testament scholar and Christian educator David Hester focuses on the difficult questions raised in Job: where is God in the worst moments of our emptiness? What are we to do when experience casts doubt on what we have always believed? Where in the world is justice? The author brings to this writing his own experience of...

The letters to the Philippian and Galatian congregations illustrate well the passion and intensity of Paul's writing. Together these letters provide a compelling portrait of a complex original thinker who probably was the most significant missionary of his day, a theologian and social critic of rare power and insight whose legacy continues...

In this book, Robert Laha leads a ten-session study into the stories of suffering, blame, and, ultimately, hope found in the book of Jeremiah. In an attempt to bring some clarity to this at times confusing book, Laha discusses Jeremiah's world and God's judgement; prophetic signs and false prophets; unfaithfulness and lament; and consolation...

In this ten-session study, Mark Matson presents the Fourth Gospel. The Gospel of John is a very different book than the other three--there is no Sermon on the Mount or parables and there is no teaching of the Lord's Prayer. But what is important about John is the undertone of conflict between those who accepted Jesus as Messiah and those who...

In this volume pastor and scholar Earl Johnson, Jr., discusses how the book of Hebrews encouraged people to remain faithful through its claims that Jesus was the true and final revelation of God, God's eternal priest who was superior to the prophets of the Old Testament, and the way to our salvation--three truths that still exist for...

In classic Interpretation Bible Studies style, Patricia Tull leads the reader through a ten-session study of the entire Old Testament books of Esther, with its stories of faithfulness, courage, and survival, and the ethical questions posed by its ending, and Ruth, with its themes of community, loyalty, and friendship.Interpretation Bible...

Many of the verses of Isaiah are familiar to us as beloved passages we read and sing each Christmas and Easter season. But Isaiah is more than just a holiday reading. Isaiah speaks of God's relationship to the prophet, the people, the kings, and the servant. Isaiah's message invites us to explore God's personal character and develop a deeper...

In this Gospel, Matthew tells the story of Jesus, who is the presence of God and has come to call the faithful to a new level of righteousness. He challenges his disciples to live each day as participants in God's kingdom--be poor in spirit and pure in heart, turn the other cheek and love one's enemies. Through his teachings and healings, Jesus...

During the reigns of Saul and David as recorded in First and Second Samuel, the people of Israel experience fear, disappointment, heartache, and betrayal. The compelling theme that weaves its way through these two books and into our lives is the need to balance both the gift of life from God and the promise of God's steadfast love with the...

Peter wrote that there are some things in Paul's letters that are hard to understand and readers of 2 Corinthians will agree. This small but useful Bible study should help to explain some of those hard things, by focusing on what is delightful and inspiring about the book.

Weaving together the stories of Moses, the nation of Israel, and the God who rescues and liberates, Exodus becomes a story for our time, a story about seeking and finding a redeeming God in times of separation and sin, hopelessness and oppression.Interpretation Bible Studies (IBS) offers solid biblical content in a creative study format. Forged...

The death and resurrection of Jesus are not the end of the good news, but only the beginning. In Acts, Luke tells the story of the workings of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the apostles and in the early church. Though titled "The Acts of the Apostles," the book is just as much about the acts of the Holy Spirit. The resurrection and ascension...