The Joy of Bible Study

One of the neat things about being a pastor is that you get to do a lot of different things. However, if I had to choose one part of the job to do exclusively, I think I would just teach Bible studies. The Bible is the most transformative pieces of writing ever created. As a church, we tend to just sort of poke around in it, picking out little pieces and ignoring most of it. I find when people really dig into it, explore it and engage it, lives are changed.

While individual study of the Bible is important and rewarding, group Bible studies are amazing. The dynamics learning and understanding are taken to a whole new level when people of different backgrounds gather around the text. People are able to hear and understand the message in whole new ways through the experiences of others. As a group leader, it is occasionally awe inspiring to give a group a little guidance and background and then let them turn them loose with the text. The insights and revelations they produce in groups rival the most impressive thinking of top theologians and Biblical scholars.

Right now, I am actually teaching two Bible studies, Disciple I, (the picture up top is from one the sessions of that class.) and The Bible from Scratch, The New Testament for Beginners. These two classes are some of the best hours of my week.

If you have never engaged in a real, in depth Bible study, I hope you will consider it. I will be offering another group study soon. Watch the blog for more info.

peace,

will