Matthew Leader Guide: The Gospel of Promised Blessings

Explore the tenderness and the tensions in the teachings of Jesus. The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the six-week study, including session plans, activities, discussion questions, and multiple format options. Components include the book, Matthew: The Gospel of Promised Blessings, and video teaching sessions featuring Matthew Skinner. The Gospel of Matthew portrays Jesus and his message as full of tender compassion and urgent warning. This six-part exploration of an enigmatic Gospel takes readers into the themes, topics, and tensions at the heart of Matthew’s story about the life and work of Jesus. Chapters focus on blessing and comfort, judgment and retribution, the meaning of discipleship, Jesus’ vision for the Church and world, conflicts and complaints, and how the Gospel of Matthew speaks to believers today.

Matthew Skinner is Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary and has contributed to various resources for scholars, church leaders, and laypeople interested in the Bible’s connections to faith and life. He is the author of Matthew: The Gospel of Promised Blessings; Intrusive God, Disruptive Gospel: Encountering the Divine in the Book of Acts;A Companion to the New Testament; The Trial Narratives: Conflict, Power, and Identity in the New Testament. He has written about the Bible for websites including Huffington Post, Working Preacher, and ON Scripture, and he co-hosts Sermon Brainwave, a popular weekly podcast that offers assistance to preachers as they interpret biblical texts to prepare their sermons.