Tonight, our Bible study group, which has been together since the beginning of this century, in fact a few years longer, started up for the season once again. While most Bible studies take a break over the summer, we decided long ago that we would fill the gap and run from early June until Thanksgiving. Then, we get together in early December for a celebratory dinner that marks the end of the study for us each year. Of course, we reconvene again the following June.
We have been together a long time. I started teaching during my early intense study of the Bible in a local restaurant on Tuesdays at lunch. As people got older, moved away and other things demanded more time, the remnants of the group have continued to study the Bible in our home on Thursday evenings during the months that we convene.
It is wonderful to see how the group has biblically matured during the more than a quarter century that I have been teaching. In the beginning, we were all believers, and not “baby” Christians, but we have studied the Scripture at a deeper level each year. We are shrinking slowly in numbers as there are only seven of us left. While we would welcome others to join us in our study, we have developed so much camaraderie that it may be difficult for others to come into our small circle. I am honored that everyone continues to want to move forward and continue our growth together.
I have baptized almost everyone in the group by immersion back in 2008 (most of us grew up Methodist and were sprinkled as children); and we have supported one another through all kinds of infirmities and even the death of loved ones. We have prayed for our children and grandchildren and have gone through a full generation of time together. I would go on to say that I think of us as a small house church.
We even met during COVID, although we did make the concession to meet in our garage. So we have even seen parking places become sacred spaces. We went through horrible hail storms in 2020 and we needed a now roof, garage doors, service doors, gutters and new trees on our property. We got through it. In fact, kidding around one night, we thought that with all we had been through together, we should name our group, “the Church of the New Overhead Garage Doors.”
We have studied, word by word and verse by verse, every book of the New Testament and many books of the Old Testament. We have tackled, over a period of four years, the entire book of the Psalms – that’s 150 of them – word for word. We have studied the emotion of the Psalms, the intellectual genius of Paul in Romans outlining the “head” knowledge of Christianity, Paul’s instructions to his mostly theologically sound church at Ephesus and the earliest part of Scripture, the book of Genesis, where Moses revealed the story of the Creation and beginning of mankind. We have also tackled the tough stuff – Revelation, Daniel, Thessalonians and the prophecy of the end times – eschatology.
Having taught so much of the Bible and studied together for so many years, there are still areas that have remained untouched and now demand our attention. I have prayed for some time about where we go next. Our group has been gracious in having me choose our destination each year. So… we are jumping into a book that I have read several times, but have not taught – Ezekiel. It is a very difficult book to understand. Ezekiel was a prophet who was a contemporary of Daniel and probably was exposed to Jeremiah as a young man. Ezekiel was taken into captivity after the fall of Israel in the second wave of people to be exiled (Daniel was in the first group…) It’s a daunting undertaking – 48 chapters in total.
This one of those books that I can’t even imagine what God will show us. Sometimes, it is readily apparent to me as to what God wants us to see through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. But there have been times when I have no earthly idea what we are to learn. I felt the same way when we tackled Deuteronomy, a long sermon by Moses near the end of his life. Yet, it became a sacred time that had all of us enthralled with this study of the last book of the Pentateuch. What a blessing that was… I have a sneaking suspicion that Ezekiel could very well be the same way, God willing.
I love our group… and I hope that everyone else feels the same way. It’s unusual for people to stay together for this many years, but we are still going strong. It’s wonderful to be an intimate part of a God-centered community.
Our verse for tonight is from the psalms. The psalmist tells us, in Psalm 119:11-14, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your words…” My encouragement is that it delights God when we spend time in the Bible. My prayer is that our group, and all who will study the Lord will become even more familiar with the commands and decrees of our Lord and Savior. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…