Head Scratchers: When the Words of Jesus Don't Make Sense

by Talbot Davis

The focus of this five-week study is on some of Jesus’ difficult sayings that readers of the Gospels find perplexing or offensive. Each session, Davis examines a different statement or brief teaching from Jesus, offering biblical and other relevant background to help illuminate the passage in question. The message in each chapter goes beyond information and clarifying background. Davis’s goal is not only to help readers understand the passage, but to take it to heart and embrace a new way of life as a result. He starts with a piece of scripture that many struggle to make sense of, and opens it to reveal a challenging, hopeful word that manifests the Gospel’s transformative power. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter are designed to help leaders of small groups. Also available when purchasing the book is access to a free video trailer and an audio recording of the author's sermons as another way to experience the weekly message.

112 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 2015

About the author

Talbot Davis is the pastor of Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, a congregation known for its ethnic diversity, outreach ministry, and innovative approach to worship. He has repeatedly been recognized for his excellence in congregational development and has received the conference's Harry Denman Award for Excellence in Evangelism. Since Talbot began serving at Good Shepherd in 1999, average worship attendance has quadrupled, growing from 500 to 2000 each Sunday. Talbot lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife, Julie, and they have two grown children. Talbot offers sermon tips and help through his blog, http://www.talbotdavis.com/sermon-help/.

Reviews

[Clay Yearsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Conversation Starter

Our adult Sunday School class used this as a study. This is the second book by Talbot Davis that we’ve read together after “Crash Test Dummies”.
The author does a really good job of explaining some puzzling passages. He provides a set of questions at the end of each chapter that encourage class participation. Best of all, in my opinion, is the overriding theme of the book, which is “context is everything”. Just bearing this in mind makes studying the Bible easier. It’s a method everyone in our class can use going forward.
The author is a little on the conservative side for our class’ taste, but it’s easy to skip over those parts, if you want to.
Recommended

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Head Scratchers" is a collection of five sermons given by Talbot Davis. Each sermon was inspired by a difficult-to-understand verse in the Bible: Matthew 11:12, Luke 14:26, Matthew 16:18, Mark 3:29, and Matthew 8:21-22.

He examined the context of the verse and clues like the meaning of the original words and cultural behaviors of the time. If you've read commentaries on these verses before, you've probably come across the explanations that he gives. Since these are sermons, he filled out each chapter by focusing on a related issue that applies to our spiritual growth.

I appreciate that the author emphasized how important it is to look at verses in context. He sometimes strayed a bit from the actual point of the verse in order to focus on an some aspect of our spiritual growth, but his overall points were good ones and lead readers into a closer walk with Christ.

I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read Head Scratchers for our Bible Study Class. Talbot Davis is a very gifted author/minister. The Spirit was felt as we read and reread parts of this book. "The Blood applied to your sin is more important than the blood flowing under your skin." Awesome!!!! Thank you Pastor Talbot Davis!!!