The primary text for this series is the Bible itself. Before consulting study guides, commentaries, or other secondary resources, you and your group are encouraged to read and interact with scripture.
While secondary resources can supplement the text and correct misunderstandings that can emerge when we read personal or cultural assumptions into a text, it is the Bible itself that is the Word of Life and the focus of our study.
Series Topics
- Week 1: Introduction and Prologue (John 1:1-18)
- Week 2: The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12)
- Week 3: Nicodemus (John 3:1-21)
- Week 4: The Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42)
- Week 5: The Seven Signs (John 2:1-11; 4:46-54; 5:1-18; 6:5-14; 6:16-24; 9:1-17; 11:1-45)
- Week 6: The Seven "I AM" Sayings (John 6:35; 8:12; 10:9; 10:11; 11:25-26; 14:6; 15:5)
- Week 7: The Turning Point (John 12:1-50)
- Week 8: The Upper Room (John 13:1-17:26)
- Week 9: The Passion (John18:1-19:42)
- Week 10: The Resurrection (John 20:1-21:25)
Max McLean Presents the Gospel of John
Max McLean (whom you may remember from last year's Eyewitness series for his presentation of Mark's Gospel) came to know Christ after reading John's Gospel. "The event that brought me over the line to fully accept the reality of Jesus came when I read all of John's Gospel in one sitting," he writes. "I thought Jesus was going to come right out of the pages of the Bible and take me with him. When I got to the cross I was in tears. I saw the sacrificial love and I responded to Jesus, immediately." Hear the power of John's Gospel as narrated by Max McLean with this free MP3 download.Suggested Resources
(1) While the series does not cover every chapter in the Gospel of John, your Growth Group may be interested in reading through the entire Gospel in order. At least one StoneBridge Growth Group read through John's Gospel one chapter per meeting. The group started by reading a chapter, discussing it, then viewing the Visual Bible's version of the chapter in the movie The Gospel of John. The movie is available for less than $10 on Amazon.com. You can watch the movie in its entirety below.(2) The Quiet Time Bible Study from Intervarsity Press is an excellent free resource that includes questions for discussion.
(3) Alan Perkins has written a free Faith Foundations Study Guide on the Gospel of John called Jesus, the Son of God. It includes a brief introduction to the book, the text of John (NIV), questions for reflection and discussion, and excellent commentary.
(4) Mary Jean Young has a free study guide on Jogn with lots of leader suggestions and helpful sample questions called Come, Follow Me!
(5) For those who are interested in an exhaustive, more scholarly resource, W. Hall Harris has written an excellent Commentary on the Gospel of John that is available free of cost from bible.org. This resource, while extremely valuable, is not for beginners and is recommended for personal study, not for group use.
(6) The Rev'd Malcolm Guite is chaplain and fellow at Girton College, University of Cambridge, UK. He has an excellent five part podcast on the Gospel of John you'll find at Malcolm's Podcast. You'll find a brilliant five part podcast on C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the other Inklings (along with other topics) on the same site.
Recommended Study Guide for Group Purchase
If your group would prefer to use a study guide in book form, we recommend N. T. Wright's John For Everyone Bible Study Guide. This Study Guide complements Wright's inexpensive, two-volume, highly readable John for Everyone commentary, also recommended.Study Bibles
If you or members of your group are looking for recommendations for a Study Bible, one of the best is the ESV Study Bible. It is available at the Family Christian Bookstore or online at Amazon.com. A Kindle version is also available for less than $10, although it is somewhat difficult to navigate.Also recommended are the NIV Study Bible and the NLT Study Bible. They are occasionally available at Costco.
Bible Software
One of the best Bible software suites available is Accordance Bible Software. Originally created for use on the Mac OS, a Windows version is coming out later this year, with iPhone and iPad versions already available. You can start out with a basic collection, and add any number of Bible dictionaries, atlases, timelines, commentaries, and other resources as you like. The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (currently on sale) and The IVP Reference Collection are especially good values given the number of resources included.A graphically stunning and relatively inexpensive alternative is Glo Bible Software for Mac, PC, iPad, and iPhone. You can try Glo Lite for free; Glo Premium is highly recommended.