Do You Belong To A Bible Study Group?

Discussion in 'Reading & Writing' started by Lon Tanner, Jul 14, 2021.

  1. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    Our Assisted Living Activity Schedule has BIBLE STUDY scheduled every Sunday @ 11:00 AM or 2 PM

    Bible Study must be very popular with many folks. I have a number of friends that mention it.
     
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  2. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I've always found Bible studies to be more valuable than church services, although I suppose there's a place for both.
     
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  3. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I can't tell you how many times I have searched for a Bible study group around here. I get so much more out of them than the structured, rote church services. They remind me of how some of the Jewish faith vigorously debate their beliefs with each other, and in the process of explaining their positions to another person, they sift through what they truly believe. Church can often be too much of a passive activity.
     
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  4. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Frequently, people will criticize others for seemingly wanting to argue about matters of faith. In the manner in which it so often plays out, I agree, but there is a great deal of value in debating these issues because having to defend your faith forces you to examine the things that you believe. This can be helpful as long as the anger is left out of it, so that it is a debate and not an argument. When I was in Bible college, in my apologetics class, and in some of the other courses that I took, we would be assigned a theological position, which we would have to be prepared to defend, whether or not it was the position that we actually held. This not only forced me to examine my own faith but to better appreciate that my positions weren't necessarily the only ones that could be defended biblically. It gives you a good perspective on things that are salvational versus those that are not salvational. In things that are not salvational, there's a lot of room for disagreement.

    Our pastor is going through some major medical problems right now and has not been preaching, but the small church that I attended up north, where our camp is, was one in which it was not considered inappropriate to question or even disagree with things that were said from behind the pulpit, and the pastor did not insist that he was always right or that his was the only defendable position. After the sermon, there was a place for questions, and sometimes the questions were probing. The congregation was small enough that pretty much all of us would go out for lunch after the service, either at a restaurant or to the pastor's house, where there would sometimes be an extended give and take.
     
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  5. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    My wife was a part of a Bible Study during lunch at her first job in Florida. I stopped by during one of the Bible Study times (lunch). They were conducting it in the rear of the Lunch Room/Cafeteria. I didn't get involved in it, but did sit at a table close to the group. Numerous employees would pass by them, not make a comment, but give them "looks". Company management ended up telling the leader of the group that, if they continued with the Bible Study, they'd have to do it off of company property.

    A lady supervisor, at a company in Denver, CO that I worked for, tried to start up a Bible Study, but it basically failed. They had one get-together and that's it.

    At a church we were attending in Florida, we decided to try their Bible Study Group that took place during the church service. Unfortunately, the Praise Band was so loud, we had a hard time hearing the teacher, let alone anyone in the group saying anything. One Senior lady complained and was told, by the teacher, "sorry, but this church belongs to the young generation, not the Seniors. If you don't like how loud the Praise Band is, you'll have to find a different church to attend."
     
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  6. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Years ago, I belonged to a church that also had local home study groups on Friday nights. Each was hosted in a different neighborhood, so people in any area could attend whichever group was the closest to them.
    It was more than just a Bible Study. We opened with a few songs, then prayer requests, and then had the Bible study, a last hymn, and closing prayer.
    Since there were only around 10 of us, it was a pretty close group, and I looked forward to going each week.

    One of the group members played the guitar for the hymns, and I brought my Omnichord, and we would practice our songs together before the Bible study started.
    I really enjoyed belonging to that church, and besides the home study groups on Friday, they had other activities for people to participate in, so more of us built friendships in the church than if it had just been regular church services.
     
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  7. Hugh Manely

    Hugh Manely Very Well-Known Member
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    Yes, I have been in Bible study groups and when I was teaching, I was the faculty sponsor of the Campus Crusade group on campus who met for Bible Study.

    Lon, you should go to the bible study, and I’m glad your friends are mentioning it. You would enjoy it and learn a great deal. The Bible contains the most sweeping, engrossing and enthralling epics of the human endeavors ever written. It spans the entire history of humanity, from Adam’s first breath in the garden of Eden to the final song of the redeemed at the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven.

    In it are the exploits of Moses, such as the crossing of the Red Sea, the battles of Joshua, the great love story of Boaz and Ruth, the courageous story of Esther (if I die, I die), Joseph’s journey from being sold as a slave to his rise to power in Egypt, thus saving his family from starvation, Solomon’s rise and fall, the great epic missionary journey’s of the apostle Paul, and how close to death he came many times (yet he counted it all joy). But greatest of all is the life and sacrifice of Jesus, who was the Word of God (John 1:1), and “without Him, nothing was made...” And these are just a few.

    Great verses in the Bible show the love and mercy of God bestowed upon us. Some of my favorites are: Isaiah 40:31, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 53:5, Jeremiah 29:11, John 11:25, John 14:6,Romans 5:8,Ephesians 2:8-9, Matthew 11:28,Matthew 28:19-20, John 13:35, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Philippians 4:6, Philippians 4:13, Hebrews 11:1, Hebrews 12:2, 1Peter 5:7

    What have you got to lose? I give you this challenge: Go, seek, and you will find the answers you've been looking for.
     
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  8. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    I have too,although I use many pastures over the years to lead me to the subject I'm studying but I study alone. I'm not much into mainstream religion.
     
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  9. Jack Roberts

    Jack Roberts Well-Known Member
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    I don't belong to any group but with as many people who have studied the bible and over so many years, I figure that if none of them has figured it out by now then I don't even stand a chance. Even many of them don't agree on what those words are saying or are supposed to mean.Seems futile really.
     
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