The Miracles of Jesus - Women's Bible Study Participant Workbook: Finding God in Desperate Moments

by Jessica LaGrone

Jesus demonstrated the presence and power of God by performing miracles. He turned water into wine, healed the sick, calmed the storm, opened blind eyes, and raised the dead. While these beloved stories draw our attention to divine power, they also have something else in human desperation. Every time we see Jesus performing a miracle, we also get a glimpse into the gift of desperation, a gift that opens us to the dramatic power of God through our desperate need for him. In this six-week Bible study, Jessica LaGrone leads us in a captivating exploration of the miracles of Jesus, helping us to see that our weakness is an invitation for God to work powerfully in our lives and reminding us that we need God on our best days just as much as we do on our worst. Themes and miracle stories The participant workbook includes five days of lessons for each week, combining study of Scripture with personal reflection, application, and prayer. Other components for the Bible study, available separately, include a Leader Guide, DVD with six 20-25 minute sessions, and boxed Leader Kit.

208 pages, Paperback

Published September 5, 2017

About the author

After earning an undergraduate degree in Biology from Southwestern University and serving in Youth Ministry for two congregations, Jessica LaGrone earned a Masters of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary. She served as an Associate Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Pasadena beginning in 2002, overseeing the Missions and Evangelism ministries. She was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church in 2005.

In January 2006, Jessica began her current appointment as Associate Pastor at The Woodlands UMC, a church with over 8,000 members. She describes it as more of a small town than a church, with lots of communities within the greater congregation and an amazing gathering of people with a great passion for growing in relationship with Jesus. Currently she servest as Pastor of Worship, a position that is best explained as Worship Architect, planning and developing four of the church’s seven weekly worship experiences and working with amazing contractors with talent in music, media and preaching.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dear Heavenly Father,
Keep my eyes focused and clear this 2020 New Year so that I can see exactly what it is You are calling me to do. Keep my hands open so I can grasp the immensity of the glorious way of life You have for me. Keep my body energized with the boundless strength that issues from Christ who You raised from the depths of death and enthroned in the heights of heaven (Ephesians 1:18-20). For that is the Grand Miracle: the incarnation of Christ!
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding in Every Way

Originally and/or (maybe) ideally intended for group study, this 6-weeks of weekdays consideration of Jesus of Nazareth's miracles in 30 short chapters was sheer excellence for my individual study at this stage of my journey. I spent about 3 weeks with The Miracles of Jesus; some days I'd study more than one chapter, occasionally skip over a day and not open the book at all.

Classic definition of a true miracle of God probably would be a suspension or even a reversal of humanly expected rules of nature, but trying to describe the divine and subsequently limit God's grace and activity with humanity and the rest of creation has led to far too many unfaithful expressions of biblical religion, so I'll leave it at that.

"Desperate moments" refers to physical, spiritual, social, and/or cultural situations of extreme need. "Cultural?" Yes, of course—had the hosts of the first of Jesus' signs we find in the gospel according to John, the Wedding at Cana, run out of wine, it would have been complete cultural embarrassment and true disaster that would have cascaded down through subsequent generations. (If you're familiar with differences between synoptic gospels Mark, Matthew, and Luke and the fourth canonical gospel, you probably remember John's community refers not to miracles but to signs human senses can perceive.) "Cultural" of course, because by definition Christianity always is incarnational, embodied within a particular culture. Including yours, including mine, including and encompassing theirs and ours. I love how the author brings in a few of her own experiences related to the miracle under discussion, but rather than making everything about her life and testimony she does it in a way that encourages readers to search their own daily lives, helps a reader trust God's paradoxical activity to meet their needs, as well. I also appreciate her intelligently referencing critical biblical scholarship in a manner that demonstrates the scriptural text itself comes to us in, with, and under the apparent accidentals of daily earthbound life.

Book size and layout is very attractive with plenty of room to write your own notes if you desire. This is part of a series of studies from the United Methodist Church's Abingdon Women, which is almost too bad and very sad, because nothing at all in The MIracles of Jesus is gender-specific, and that information might discourage a few guys from checking it out and benefiting from it. Though I'd be willing to loan out Jessica LaGrone's Miracles of Jesus, I plan to keep this book and work my way through it again. I'd also be open to participating in a group study focused on these chapters. What else? I'm curious about the content of the accompanying video.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is only a review of the participant workbook (which is meant to be used with a weekly video that I've never viewed). It's a 6 weeks long study with 5 days of study per week plus one page for when you're with a group and watch the video. She focused on the miracles of Jesus--of abundant provision, healing sickness, calming storms, and Jesus himself. She pointed out how human desperation leads to Jesus' action and looked at why Jesus used miracles. She also provided cultural background information and had us look up related verses to help better understand the context of what was going on. She provided insights into the miracles and clear explanations. Overall, I'd recommend this workbook, and I suspect it'd make a good group study.

From page 82:"We don't get to choose whether the sea we travel is calm or stormy, but we do get to choose where to turn our eyes and attention. We can choose to be overwhelmed by the power of the storms or overwhelmed by the power of God. ...This powerful God cares for you. He has chosen to be in the same boat with you, even in the same storm with you. He is near enough to hear you, know you, and love you up close."

I received this free book as a review copy from the publisher provided through Amazon Vine.