Discovering Hope

by | Jul 21, 2020 | Book Review

Discovering Hope: Exploring the Good News of Jesus Christ 
By Micah Colbert
Illustrated by Andrew Kilcup 

Evangelistic Bible studies are legion. They’re widely available. But have you ever used one with someone before? Have you ever met regularly with someone to show them the—from the Bible—the good news of Jesus? Micah Colbert has put together a simple, straightforward, and easy-to-use evangelistic Bible study, providing another option to share the gospel. And if you have the opportunity to sit down with someone interested in hearing what God’s Word says, this is an excellent choice for showing them just that. 

This short study, Discovering Hope, contains an introduction and seven chapters. The introduction offers a quick orientation to the Bible and its uniqueness compared to every other book. It’s the Word of God. In it, we find the good news of Jesus. And it’s that good news—the gospel—this study is all about. Here’s a brief rundown of the seven chapters you’ll work through.

Chapter 1 teaches  from Gen. 1 and 2 that God is creator and king. 

Chapter 2 shows from Gen. 3 and Rom. 5 how man rebelled against his creator and king. 

Chapter 3 teaches the effects of sin upon humanity from Gen. 4. 

Chapter 4 looks at Exodus 20 to explain that eternal death, separation from God, is the consequence of sin. 

A single page titled “Transition” reviews the first four lessons and introduces the good part of the “good news” promised in the introduction. 

Chapter 5 shows how Jesus is the qualified Savior, fully God and fully man, who can restore sinners to a relationship with God. 

Chapter 6 tells that the good part of the “good news” is that Jesus died as our substitute so we can experience forgiveness.  

Chapter 7 explains how we can obtain eternal life by repenting and believing. 

The whole thing follows a logical flow that builds on key concepts as the study progresses. Some of the things that make this study extra useful and appealing are the definitions of keywords, detailed explanations to focus on key theological themes, and agreeable artwork by Andrew Kilcup.  There are three varieties of questions for each chapter: general, knowledge-based questions, specific questions, and questions for further discussion. And the same four general questions are asked in each chapter:

  • What is happening in these passages?
  • What do these passages teach us about God?
  • What do these passages teach us about people?
  • What do these passages teach us about the relationship between God and people?

There’s even an appendix that introduces key concepts about the Trinity. The only other thing I can think of that you might want to know offhand is that Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV and NIV. 

This would make an excellent tool for sharing and explaining the gospel to someone who wants to explore the basics of Christianity. If you’re interested in purchasing the study for Kindle, you can find it on Amazon for $1.99 here. It is also available as a paperback for $3.99 here

You might also want to head over to Proclaim & Defend to see Micah’s own post promoting his work. 

Note: Micah provided me with a free PDF copy of this study upon my request to promote his work on my blog.

Brent Niedergall

Pastor, Grammarian, Runner

Brent Niedergall, MDiv, is Chief Editor at Positive Action for Christ in Whitakers, North Carolina. He’s gone to war in Afghanistan, felled towering trees, and parsed Greek verbs.

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Brent Niedergall