Luke Study Tools
Quick Start Guide
Explore Luke’s incredibly rich and reliable literary account of the life, death, and resurrection of the promised Messiah King. This 17 week Bible study will fuel your worship of the One True King as we follow Jesus on his journey from Bethlehem to Galilee to Jerusalem. We hope that Luke’s powerful gospel will infuse your own spiritual walk with a fresh wonder at the majesty of our awesome God.
Welcome
A Note from Michelle
Welcome to Deeper Riches: Luke, a 17-week inductive Bible study of the life and work of Jesus. I cannot wait for you to experience the incredible riches of this glorious book!
Luke is a master storyteller, a trustworthy historian, and a serious theologian. His story of the good news of Jesus is not only a well researched and accurate account of the life and work of Jesus, it is also a literary masterpiece.
As a lover of great movies and books, I was simply floored by his genius when I first read the whole book through in one sitting. It is my hope that this study will help you to experience a little bit of this awe and wonder for yourself.
Sometimes the Bible can feel tame, the narratives so far removed from our lives today. It is my fervent prayer that this little Bible study will help bring this ancient story to life for you, and that in some way it will be a tribute to the literary genius of its author.
More than enjoying a good story, I hope you will grow in your knowledge and love for the great Messiah King whom this story is all about. He is only One truly worthy of all our adoration and attention.
I invite you to embark on this journey with me, a journey to discover the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that lead to deeper worship of our King.
Sincerely,
Michelle
Gather Your Supplies
Here’s everything you’ll need to get started digging for
Deeper Riches in the Gospel of Luke:
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01
Double-spaced copy of Luke you can write on.
02
Luke weekly homework.
For the first week, you will need to print weeks 1 and 2 of the homework and bring it to your small group.
04
Colored writing utensils to mark up the text.
My personal favorite tool to use is the Crayola Twistable Crayons.
Helpful Tips
Before You Begin
01
Set aside a regular time and place to work on Bible Study. As a general starting place, we recommend 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
02
Don’t be intimidated. Remember the Gospel of Luke is primarily a STORY. If you can enjoy it like a good story, you will get a lot out of this study.
03
What if I don’t know the “right” answer? Most of the homework questions are written to allow for a variety of answers, so there is not just one “right” answer.
04
Begin and end every study session with prayer. Invite the Living God to speak to you as you begin, and take seriously the prayer prompt at the end of each lesson. Don’t skip these. Prayer is the way we get the truth from our head into our heart.
05
Customize the observation step. Making “Observations” (writing down things you notice) can be super simple, like just noticing any repeated words and listing basic events of the story. It can also be more in depth, like comparing and contrasting and looking up cross references. Do what your own time and interest allows.
06
Pace yourself. If you love to dig deep verse by verse when you study, you may need to discipline yourself to look for the big themes and how the stories connect to one another, so you have time to make it through the entire week’s reading.
07
Repeated reading and prayer is enough. In a busy season of life, it is enough to come to small group having read the text a few times so that you are familiar with the stories. If you can do only one day of the homework, skip to Day 5.
08
Remember you’re not alone. The God of the Universe is present with you every time you open the Word. He has given His Holy Spirit to help you understand His Word.
Small Group Leader Guide
Instructions for Leaders
Discussion Guides
To assist you in facilitating a discussion that covers the entire lesson, we have put together a Discussion Guide for each week. The questions are selected from the homework and are chosen because they either pull together the entire week’s readings, focus on the common threads that run through the whole book of Luke, or allow for personal application.
Printing the Homework
The weekly homework lessons are available in both printable or mobile formats. Please make sure all members have a way to access the homework, and consider printing it ahead of time for anyone who needs this special grace.
Customizing the Observation Step
The first question of each lesson asks you to make Observations about the text. Your group members will probably have differing levels of experience and comfort with doing Observations. Please familiarize yourself with the Observation Guides page so you can help your group members to find what works for them.
Suggested Schedule
Deeper Riches: Luke is designed to be studied every week for 17 weeks, or every other week over the course of an entire school year. Here’s how the first two sessions should look:
Week 1
Meet and discuss Luke 1:1-4. Complete the Week 1 activity together as a group. Discuss how to customize Question #1 of the homework (Observations). Hand out the homework for Week 2, to be completed before meeting again.
Week 2
Discuss Luke 1:5-80 (covered in the Week 2 homework) using the Discussion Guide at the end of the lesson. Hand out homework for Week 3, or make sure everyone has a way to access it easily online.
On the Use of Commentaries
As a general rule, I do not seek commentary until I have thought hard enough about a question to form an opinion of my own first.
Two exceptions to this rule: Read a good introduction to Luke before Week 1 and use a Study Bible or Bible Dictionary to look up things from the first century. Sermons and commentaries may also help you get to the big picture ideas from each chapter, but it’s also okay if you don’t have time for those.
Contact Me with Questions
If you come across a question in the homework that is unclear or particularly puzzling, please feel free to contact me to ask for clarification or to give feedback.
Small Group Leader Training
It is outside the scope of deeperriches.com to provide personal Small Group Leader training. Please make sure to take advantage of whatever your local church has to offer to learn how to shepherd your group well.
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Homework
Observation Guides
The Deeper Riches Weekly Homework will prompt you to make some “Observations” about each passage. Observations are just things you notice, like Who, What, When, and Where. If you would like to linger in the text and invest some time in more detailed Observations, these guides will help you learn what to look for in a narrative book like Luke.
Guided Observation Worksheet
If you want to dig deep, but need help getting started, print this Guided Observation Worksheet that you can write on.
Print four copies per homework.
Observation Pocket Guide
This more detailed guide may be a useful reference tool if you prefer the freedom of a blank page. It will help you learn what to look for in a narrative book like Luke. Print and keep it with your notebook.
