Reading the Word Together

I hope you all had a good Easter break, as we remembered Christ's suffering and glory, through His death and resurrection. I had the privilege of preaching about this on Sunday at my church, The Branch. I also enjoyed a climb up Mount Arthur on Monday with some friends.

Tuesday Bible Group

This semester in our Bible Groups we have been studying Paul's letter to the Galatians. This is a book that gets to the heart of what the gospel is and how we are to live in response to it.

It has been a joy to see the enthusiasm of the students wanting to meet together each week to read the Bible on campus. We currently have 3 groups meeting at both Newnham and Inveresk, with about 18 students regularly attending them. At the start of the semester, we initially only had 2 groups but thankfully were able to work out another time that suited some of the students who couldn't make the other times.

In the first week of the new group starting, I thought it would be helpful to read the whole book of Galatians in one sitting with the students. Afterwards, I could see a greater desire from them to read more of the Bible for themselves. One of them mentioned they wanted to get into a routine of reading the Bible regularly!

Something that I have been making a priority this year is dedicating more time to coaching the Bible Group leaders. I meet with each of the leaders just before each group. I use this as an opportunity to give feedback and make sure they're prepared for the current study.

We use the Swedish Method in our groups which gives a good framework for studying any passage. It also provides a helpful fallback for less confident leaders as they continue learning.

Leading Bible studies can be quite a challenge. It requires both preparation and using dynamic conversational skills. Each of the leaders are at different levels of competency in this, but something I'm encouraging them all to think about each time is how we apply the passage. They are generally okay at picking up on the main general application the passage implies, but for it to impact people's lives, we need to go deeper. The next question that needs to be asked is how does that now practically and tangibly affect my life, both today and going forward?

Caleb is one of the Bible group leaders I am coaching at the moment.

Meet Caleb

Hi, my name is Caleb and I'm currently in my fourth year of study. I'm studying a Bachelor of Education Primary with a specialisation in mathematics. This is my second year being vice president. One thing that has been amazing to be a part of is the close community of Christians who are growing together as they walk a similar walk in this time of our lives. I'm excited to see this continue to grow through the semester as we continue to connect with the new first years and help build up their confidence with the mission to help and reach out to others.

One struggle we do have at the moment, however, is encouraging the new students coming to our Bible Groups to also come to our Monday Muster main gatherings. While we think it is important to be reading the Bible together, we also want to be a fellowship that is thinking about how we can proclaim Christ to those who are lost in this world.

Please join with me in prayer,