Introduction

These online studies go along with our weekly meetings. They are intended to prepare you for the study, and help you take the study farther and apply it to your life.

To find the actual studies, click on the “Studies” link to the right, or you might see a link to the study you want in the “Studies” list (which lists the 10 most recent studies).

This page will introduce you to the entire series, and give you the structure for each lesson.

The Seven Signs

When Jesus came to earth and began teaching, he talked a lot about the “Kingdom of God,” and the “Kingdom of Heaven.” This is told to us in the books of “Matthew,” “Mark,” and “Luke.” But Jesus hardly ever mentions it in John’s gospel (Jesus only mentions the “Kingdom of God” in three passages). But there is something interesting in John that points us to the Kingdom.

John writes about seven miracles of Jesus before he was killed. Just seven. We think that number is significant, and we think that when John starts talking about a miracle, he’s telling us “Here’s something you need to understand about God’s character, and the Kingdom of God.”

These are the “Seven Signs.” This is what we’re going to be talking about and studying this summer.

The Lessons

Each miracle story has something to say about God’s Character and God’s Kingdom. Those are the things we will discover by looking at the passages in John.

Each miracle will have a “Before the lesson” study, the actual lesson (when we meet together), and an “After the lesson study.” Do the “Before the lesson” part before we actually meet together, then do the “After the lesson” part after we meet together. Pretty simple huh?

The Before the Lesson Part

In this part, you’ll read through the section of the Bible that tells the story of the miracle, then a short devo about it, and then the answer to “What is God like?” There will also be some extra questions to get you thinking about the lesson.

The “Before the Lesson” study will end each time with this question: “What do you think this tells us about the Kingdom of God?”

The Actual Lesson Part

In this part, we’ll meet together and talk about the miracle, and the character of God that is shown to us through the story. Then we’ll answer the question “What does this tell us about the Kingdom of God?”

Each week, we’ll end by asking a question that has to do with the lesson. We’ll call this “The Big Question.”

The After The Lesson Part

This is another online study that begins with “The Big Question” and asks you to answer that in your own heart. Then it will tell you what you need to do about it right now.

We’ll also provide you with another passage in the Bible where Jesus himself talks about the Kingdom of God being exactly what we discovered it was. And, finally, we’ll give you a chart to fill out on your own that sums up the lesson. It’ll probably look something like this:

We hope that you’ll do these studies on your own, because we think there are some awesome things to discover about God and his Kingdom in these miracle stories.