Seek First the Kingdom - Bible Study Book: God’s Invitation to Life and Joy in the Book of Matthew

by Christine Hoover

As Christians, we live busy and harried lives, most often because we are eager and earnest to join with God in His work in the world.

In the confusion and sheer volume of opportunities and ideas vying for our attention, we must constantly return to the words of Jesus to find our focus and purpose, for the truths He spoke, when believed and applied, lead to our flourishing. Using parables and stories, Jesus spoke most often of the kingdom of God as what matters--the ways of the kingdom, the values of the kingdom, and the cultivation of the kingdom here on earth in light of its fulfillment in heaven. In other words, the kingdom of God defines who we are and what we do as Christians.

Many Christians don't have a working knowledge of the kingdom and their true citizenship in a way that affects their daily lives and decisions. Seek First the Kingdom cuts through the clutter of life with the words of Jesus, urging readers to stop, think, take notice, and reorient themselves solidly around the kingdom.

Features:
8 weeks of personal study to complete between 8 group sessions
Leader guide to help guide group meetings

Benefits:
Explore the kingdom of God in-depth, learning what the kingdom of God is, and how we enter it.
Embrace the life Jesus offers us within the kingdom and the way we find joy as His subjects.
Understand how the ways, values, and cultivation of the kingdom of God define who we are.
Learn to confront our allegiances to idols and false kings, re-ordering our worship.
Identify our places in the kingdom of God and how we can join in the work that God is doing here and around the world.

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2021

About the author

Christine Hoover serves as the Women's Ministry Associate at The Austin Stone Community Church's Northwest congregation in Austin, Texas. She hosts The Ministry Wives Podcast and has authored six books, including Messy Beautiful Friendship and How to Thrive as a Pastor's Wife, as well as a Bible study with Lifeway, Seek First the Kingdom. Her work has been featured on The Gospel Coalition, For The Church, and Christianity Today. Christine is married to Kyle, a pastor, and they have three boys. You can find her at her home online, www.christinehoover.net.

Reviews

[Jessica Williford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this study! While I’ve read the book of Matthew before, this book gave me a new understanding and appreciation for the parables of Jesus and The Kingdom of God. I loved filling out the tables and searching for information in the scripture to complete the tables - this helped me to organize the information in my head and critically think about it. It was also neat to see the cross referenced scriptures and how prophesies from the Old Testament were very specifically fulfilled. I would recommend this study to both new Christians and those who have been a Christian for years.

[Kyle Hoover · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this Bible study and cannot recommend it enough. I'm no expert on the Gospel of Matthew, but I've read it many times. Yet I still learned tons from this study. She does a good job of not hand-feeding you but guiding you to all the major themes and ideas. She doesn't force trite applications onto you, but helps you process how to take gospel truths and make them real in your life. I loved it. It's really great.

[Chanover55 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not what I expected. While I have never done a study written by Christine Hoover, I was not impressed with this one. While some of the teaching was easy to follow, some of it was too obtuse to figure out what she was asking or getting at. And while I like to use various resources for Bible Study, I have to say this was too much. If you have great internet connection, you can find these online; I used to lead a study for women where some of our women did not have good connections and this study would have had them lost for use. Please keep this in mind if you consider this study. I'll think long and hard before I consider another study with her.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the study but found some of the questions hard to understand what she was looking for. Some questions were followed with explanations which I found enlightening but not all. I think a final video summarizing the last week and full study would of been nice too.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wouldn’t recommend this study. It’s full of “what does this mean?” That’s a dangerous question in Bible study. There is only one interpretation and you need to take an approach to Scripture with good hermeneutics. I love Lifeway studies but this is at the bottom of any study I’ve done. Very surface-y too.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a fan. I'm not a new Christian by any means but this was soooo beyond my level of understanding and just plain difficult to read. Most of the questions are like "explain what this means" and I have no idea what it means... What you're supposed to infer from the text just wasn't there for me, nor was it relatable. This was very inaccessible for me. If you are a new Christian or didn't know Christ, I feel like this would be like reading Chinese. This reads like a boring textbook and has very little personal information included. I can totally get excited about the gospel and I love the book of Matthew but this completely missed the mark for me. Maybe if you're going into theology this would be enjoyable but for the every day woman, this was painful to get through.

[Shana OkieCozyReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an in-depth look at Matthew (as well as other parables and scriptures) pointing to the Kingdom theme throughout scripture but esp in Matthew. I did this with Lifeway OBS.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to give a Bible study such a low rating when there weren't any untruths in it, but I really struggled to get through all the homework. Not because of the amount of blanks to fill in or the number of cross-references she had us flipping to, but because of the questions themselves... Many of the questions and charts felt like "Sunday school" copywork since I'm very familiar with the Bible. While that could be a good thing for newer believers less familiar with the Gospel, I also found that most days had at least one rather nebulous question that wasn't very clear, but you could usually tell what specific answer she wanted in the next paragraph. The confusing questions sprinkled between all the easy/obvious ones annoyed me.

That said, I did appreciate much of her writing in the body of the study. Maybe there were some things lost in reformatting or something? When she's not trying to ask thought questions, she has a lovely way of explaining and personalizing spiritual truths.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

My friends and I previously had read "From Good to Grace" from this author and really liked it, so wanted to try her new bible study. Unfortunately we were a bit disappointed with this one.

Pros:
- writings tie different parts of the Bible together well
- very basic Christianity information; good for believers

Cons:
- questions jump around too much from one book of the Bible to another without redirecting where we're supposed to go on the subsequent questions (Matthew to Mark and then Ephesians etc, but then in the next question are we still in Mark or back to Matthew? Not clear)
- jumps between different translations of the Bible without telling us to go back to whatever the original version was for subsequent questions
- some questions have way too much space to write in while others don't have enough (particularly noticeable with the fillable charts)
- questions are sometimes worded oddly and none of us was sure what the answer was supposed to be (sometimes the answers seemed like a stretch compared to the topic). When no answers were given, sometimes we just had to guess what the author wanted without really having a clue
- lots of busy work; chapters could have been condensed a bit and still have gotten the message across

All of us grew up in the church and have been doing Bible/book studies together for years, so this was not really any new information for us. I just skimmed the last two weeks of studies because it was so irritating to actually do the busy work.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose this study because it was recommended on Jen Wilkin's Instagram for Bible Studies and I am so glad that I discovered this. Because Matthew is a whole gospel, this is not walking slowly through every verse but instead exploring sections and topics throughout Matthew and within the bigger topic of the Kingdom.

This was a great mix of being in the book of Matthew with exploration in Scripture as a whole to get more understanding and context, and the application questions truly had me sitting and thinking. I have already recommended this once and I believe it is a good investment.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this study of Matthews and found it quite convicting. I had not read that Matthews was so much about the kingdom of God, more so Mark, but the author makes a compelling case. I wish the book was a little more expositional. It jumped around from chapters a lot; really emphasizing the parables. I don't think she talked directly about the crucifixion at all. Secondly, the homework was quite long taking an average of an hour a day. It is just something you have to be aware. I am glad I did the study and learned from it.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this study to be very helpful in deepening my understanding of Jesus’s teachings, and the Kingdom of God. I’d recommend this to anyone looking to better know what Jesus meant when He spoke of the Kingdom of God, anyone looking to better know how to live in this world in a way that honors God, and anyone wanting to grow in their faith. It took me longer than 8 weeks, though ;)

[marylyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never done a study that focuses on the story of a book while simultaneously tackling topics in a way that doesn’t hinder the understanding of the overall story or the topics but instead enhances them. Christine’s love and understanding of Scripture and God’s grace shines through on every page. Please write more studies! This has been so convicting and encouraging.

[Debbie Sherfey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've completed a lot of women's Bible studies, but this one has been one of the best. The workbook is very in-depth, pulling in lots of scripture to help one understand the Kingdom of God. Highly recommend this study, especially if you need a better understanding of living in God's kingdom on earth and the one to come.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This study book on Matthew is so good. It expounded on so many parables that I thought I understood. The author went so in depth that I doubt I'll ever look at Matthew's gospel the same. I'm so grateful for the time spent in this study.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal study on Matthew and the kingdom.
Can’t wait to offer this to our women.

[Gena McClanahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this Bible study. Was a lot of work but I learned a lot.