Well, I've finally managed to conclude our Wednesday evening prayer meeting/Bible study time's focus on the gospel of Mark. I was checking back in my records and I started this series on Oct. 25, 2006. By my calculations, we've been studying Mark for a year and a half. It's been a very rewarding study personally for me, and I trust it has been so for those who attend faithfully on Wednesday nights as well. I've done a number of different series since I started leading the Wednesday night prayer meeting/Bible study time when I joined the staff here almost 5 years ago. My preference has always been to engage in the study of an individual book of the Bible, doing a verse-by-verse exposition of the text, but on rare occasions I've done a brief topical series, such as one I did on the benedictions that are found in the Scriptures.
I'm not sure where I'm going to head next on Wednesday evenings, but have been praying about it. I'm considering doing some shorter series or topical studies this summer before launching into another book study in the fall. I noticed on Micah Fries blog that he's starting a sermon series on the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation and I had also been thinking along those same lines for a series on Wednesday evenings. That might be a good possibility for a series this summer.
2 comments:
After finishing the study on Mark, what kind of response have the people shown to this Gospel? I mean, is there any implementation in their lives of the truths revealed? One of my concerns in churches here is that Bible Study has become no more than that, a study, and life goes on. We are trying to study less and apply more in our own context. Unless application is made to what is being studied, are we not being disobedient? Would welcome your thoughts as an educator!
Guy,
You ask some tough and honest questions. I fear that at times our folks certainly don't achieve life transformation through Bible study to the degree that they should, myself included of course. The great majority of our Wednesday crowd are senior adults, but having said that, they are also some of the most dedicated and committed folks in our church. They are engaged in a lot of different service projects through their Bible Fellowship classes (our nomenclature for Sunday School). As a rule, they're also among the most faithful in inviting others to church and a lot of the growth we've seen in recent years in our membership has been in this age bracket. We have about 230 senior adults or so on Sunday mornings in Bible Fellowship classes. They really do a great job of ministering to the needs of others in their classes and also are outstanding in providing fellowship opportunities.
Knowing your passion for discipleship, I'd have to say that we could stand to improve in that area, and I pray and trust that our Bible study times on Wednesdays will contribute to that.
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