Do you ever find it hard to hope? Many of us feel weighed down by our own failures, a sense of inferiority, guilt from the past, or emotionally exhausting circumstances. Yet when hope seems beyond us, the Bible offers encouragement from stories of those who have gone before.

In this six-session LifeGuide® Bible Study, J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom explore how God works through imperfect characters such as Jonah, Martha, and Peter. God loves, redeems, and restores misfits, outsiders, and failures. And he can do the same for you. Through the goodness of the God of hope, you can discover the blessing of hope as a way of life.

For over three decades, LifeGuide Bible Studies have provided solid biblical contentand raised thought-provoking questions—offering a one-of-a-kind Bible study experience for individuals and groups. This series has more than 145 titles on Old and New Testament books, character studies, and topical studies.



Carolyn Nystrom (MA, Wheaton College) has written more than eighty books, Bible study guides and children's titles. She served as general editor for the Christian Classics series and she co-authored Guard Us, Guide Us and Prayingwith theologian J. I. Packer, and Before I Was Born (God's Design for Sex) with Sandra Speidel. In addition to actively serving in her church and community, she has been a foster parent, an elementary schoolteacher and a book editor. Carolyn lives in the Chicago area with her husband and they have four grown children.







J. I. Packer (1926–2020) is regarded as one of the most well-known theologians of our time. Once named to Time magazine's list of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America, Packer served as Board of Governors' Professor of Theologyat Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. His books include Knowing God, Praying, A Quest for Godliness, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, and Rediscovering Holiness.



Getting the Most Out of Never Beyond Hope



1. Jacob: Hope for the Unhappy

Genesis 32



2. Manoah's Wife: Hope for the Ignored

Judges 13



3. Jonah: Hope for the Angry

Jonah 1; 2:1, 10; 3; 4:1-2, 5-11



4. Martha: Hope for the Overworked

Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-44; 12:1-3



5. Thomas: Hope for the Hard to Convince

John 20:19-31



6. Simon Peter: Hope After Doing Something Terrible

John 21; 1 Peter 5:8-11



Leader's Notes