Upside Down Living

Book excerpt: Raising kids is hard enough. But raising kids to heed Jesus’ upside-down call away from status and power and toward service and sharing? It can seem almost impossible. So how can parents model countercultural choices? What habits can help families joyfully follow Christ instead of the latest trend? Gather with your faith community to search the Scriptures and discuss how to raise faithful kids in the twenty-first century. Weary of Christian faith wrapped in a flag and trapped in your heart? Tired of faith as usual? Live out your Christian faith through the lens of Jesus. Follow values that seem so counter-cultural they appear to be upside down. Each compelling six-session Upside Down Living Bible study helps us encounter the teachings of Jesus and wrestle with living out the kingdom here and now. The Bible isn’t a cookbook with solutions for every ethical dilemma, but it helps us raise the right questions, encounter the teachings of Jesus, and discover new ways of faithful living in the world. Ideal for Sunday school or Bible study sessions, each topical study covers a specific theme or issue, and comes with thought-provoking discussion questions and activities. Be inspired and transformed in your faith. Live upside down. Introduction: Meager Crumbs and Miraculous Blessings 1. What These Stones Mean: The Stories Our Lives Tell 2. Wonderfully Made: The Messages We Communicate about Bodies 3. Do unto Others: Loving Our Neighbors—and Enemies—as Ourselves 4. First Shall Be Last: Winning the “Jesus Way” 5. Where Our Heart Is: How We Consume in the Upside-Down Kingdom 6. In the World but Not of It: Engaging Culture with Our Kids About the Writers