If you’ve ever attended a conference like The Gospel Coalition, Together for the Gospel, or For the Church, there’s a good chance you’ve run across The Gospel Project. But what do you really know about this Bible study? Today, Aaron Armstrong, Brand Manager of The Gospel Project, shares seven things you should know about this resource.
In just a couple of sentences, what is The Gospel Project?
The Gospel Project is a chronological Bible study that shows how all Scripture points us to Jesus. What we’re trying to do with this Bible study is to help people of all ages see how the Bible fits together to tell one big story—God’s plan to rescue and redeem sinners through faith in Jesus Christ.
What kind of church should consider using The Gospel Project?
The kind of church that would resonate with The Gospel Project is the church that wants people to have a greater sense of hope in the gospel. The natural response to that might be, “but isn’t that every church,” but there’s something deeper to this. It’s not something that can be narrowly defined to a group of churches based on their convictions about how to “do” church, or one specific theological camp. If a church wants children to see that Christianity has more to offer than simply a list of rules to follow and that every Bible story has a point greater than following an example, teens to be grounded in God’s grace, and people in their small groups or Sunday School classes to see that Jesus was telling the truth when He said that all Scripture testifies about Him (John 5:39), The Gospel Project is for them.
How do we know we can trust the content of The Gospel Project?
This is an important question, and it really comes down to two things: our doctrine and our people.
First, our doctrine: We have a very robust set of doctrinal guidelines that serve as our plumb line if you will. Our editors are diligent about keeping all of our contributors in alignment with these at all times.
Second, our people: Our editorial team is led by Brian Dembowczyk, our managing editor, and Trevin Wax, our general editor. Many of you reading this will probably be familiar with Trevin from his books and his blog at The Gospel Coalition. He also serves as our VP of Theology and Communications at LifeWay Christian Resources and holds a Ph.D. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to writing the book that outlines the philosophy behind this resource, Brian holds degrees from Southern Seminary, NOBTS, and is pursuing a Ph.D. from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Other members of our team hold or are pursuing advanced degrees as well.
As important as this is, what matters more about our people is that every member of our team is actively engaged in making disciples in his or her local church. We all serve in kids ministry, small groups, or student or youth ministry. So that means that it’s really important to us that we produce resources that can actually be used—that is clear, helpful, and point people to Jesus week after week. They’re the resources we are going to be using too.
What ages is The Gospel Project intended for?
The Gospel Project is intended for all ages, from the youngest in the church to the eldest members of the congregation. Every age group can study the same passage at the same time with the same Christ-centered focus with these resources, uniting the whole church in their study the Bible.
Does The Gospel Project’s approach to Bible study really make a difference?
Absolutely. We have heard some pretty incredible stories about how people have been changed by this approach to studying Scripture—especially in kids ministry. We regularly receive emails and chat with people at conferences who tell us about how much they’re learning just through what they’re teaching each week, with people regularly telling us that over and over again, they’d never studied the passage at all (Obadiah, anyone?), let alone realized how it could point us to Jesus. But one of my favorite recent examples is from a meeting I had with a young man named Chase back in the fall. Chase was recently hired by his church to take over their kids ministry. When he got there, these children could not even tell you the basics of what the gospel was, and many had been coming for five years or more. But between September and November, he saw eight children profess faith in Jesus, which is incredible!
What’s one word of advice you would offer to anyone considering using The Gospel Project?
What I would encourage anyone considering this resource—or any Bible study really—is that there’s no such thing as a truly plug-and-play Bible study or curriculum. They don’t exist. And that’s okay because if they did, they probably wouldn’t work for you. Physical meeting spaces, meeting times, technology, and local context affect how you use the content of any study. That’s why we try to offer as many options for activities, discussion questions, suggested time structures, themes, videos, and scripts. Whether you’re serving 20 children or 200, 5 students or 50, 3 adults or 30, our goal is to give you resources you can use in your context to fulfill your mission—the church’s mission—of making disciples.
If people want to find out more about The Gospel Project or try it out, where should they start?
I would encourage anyone interested in finding out more about The Gospel Project to visit gospelproject.com to see what we’re all about and to sign-up to receive four sample sessions of both our Old Testament and New Testament Bible studies. And to get a greater sense of our desire to serve the churches as they focus on the gospel, I hope that you’ll register for our upcoming webcast, The Christ-Centered Gospels. Head to gospelproject.com/webcast for all the details.
Through the first six volumes of its latest study cycle, The Gospel Project has followed the story of God’s promise to rescue the world from sin—the promise of a Rescuer, a King, who would come to restore His people. In The Gospel Project: Jesus the Messiah, the whole church will see how God’s plan was fulfilled and the promised Rescuer was revealed when He spoke to a young woman named Mary. She would have a Son. He was the One God’s people waited for. His name was Jesus. And He would change everything.
The Gospel Project invites you and your church to join in this study of the New Testament and see how in Jesus, hope gets personal. Sign-up to receive free sample sessions at gospelproject.com/preview today!
