Grab your Bible

"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction,and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work."

— 2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

Maybe I was having trouble following along in the bulletin.  Maybe I was sitting in someone else’s regular pew.  Whatever it was, Larry picked me out immediately as a visitor the first time I worshipped at what was soon to become my “home church.”  And before I left the service, I had a card with his name, phone number and address in my pocket, and an invitation to attend a home Bible study at his house that Wednesday evening. 
I had never been to a Bible study before, but Larry and his Gretchen, his wife, made me feel like part of the family.  They asked me about my family, my classes, my plans for the future, and kept me in the conversation even as they welcomed other new guests as they arrived.  We sat down in the living room and Gretchen played a couple worship songs on an old cassette player.  Then we broke up into groups and read and discussed the chapter from the book of James that was the subject of that night’s study.
When we came back together, everyone had a chance to talk about things going on in their life, and to give a prayer request.  I had been concerned about one of my classes, worrying over an upcoming test, so I asked for prayer and was not disappointed.  Then the wife of a new couple spoke up.  They weren’t members of any church, she said, but were glad to be there that evening because they really needed God’s help.  They had taken their baby in for a check up that week and discovered that their child had Down’s Syndrome.  She and her husband both teared up, and immediately we all surrounded them with hugs and prayers.  On my way home that evening, I was struck by the way God had reached out to that couple through Larry and Gretchen, and yes, even me.  I had gone simply hoping to learn some more about the Bible, but I ended up learning about God’s love. 

              I am constantly surprised when I study the Bible.  Even today, reading passages that I’ve read dozens, sometimes hundreds of times before, I always feel God is reaching out to me, teaching me something new and bringing a new insight.  Sometimes what comes to me is only very loosely related to the text itself.  Sometimes it’s a new perspective, or a whole new depth revealed in God’s grace.  Often there are connections between scripture passages that cause them to reinforce or clarify one another.  Holy Scripture is a “living word” that interacts with us when we are open to hearing from the One who is speaking it.

And so it was that I developed my principal project for my sabbatical.  I wanted to create a Bible study curriculum that would work for people who wanted to go deeper than just hearing the Sunday lessons.  There is so much to explore, so much fuel for discussion in every scripture passage, it’s a shame to walk away from the readings after the service is done.  I wanted to take some of our upcoming readings, tie them together with an overall theme and develop a set of questions that make it easy to start looking at each passage in terms of how it relates to everyday life.  And so I developed the first Out-Word Bible study.  Scott Giesking gave some great suggestions and helped film the segments for the group studies.  I developed a theme based on a castaway stranded on a desert isle  — and Scott made a wonderful logo with the S.S. Minnow. 

So all that’s left is the invitation.  You can be Gilligan, the Skipper, MaryAnn or Ginger — or just you.  We all feel trapped, stranded, castaway, lost, in need of some kind of rescue at times.  And God equips us as his people with special qualities, our “Spiritual Survival Kit” to help us deal with life’s distress.  You are welcome to join us in going through this new study as we explore in God’s Word and discover our own inner survival tools.  Group studies are being organized.  Daily questions are online now at the blog address below.  So grab your Bible, come along, and let me know what you think!

Peace,

Pastor Scott