The Story - Chapter 13

Welcome back friends! I hope your Christmas and New Year’s were joyous and restful (both true for our family!) As we get back into the swing of reading a chapter of The Story week-by-week, we restart with Chapter 13 - The King Who Had It All. Because we took a break for Advent and Christmas, this week’s blog is a reminder of what we’re doing as a church:

• Starting January 12th, your clergy will begin again preaching on an aspect of one chapter of The Story each week. We will finish our journey on May 26th.
• The following Sunday School classes will be studying The Story in their Sunday morning gatherings. This would be a wonderful opportunity to connect with a Sunday School class:
  • Dorcas
  • Wesley-Covenant
  • Context
  • Common Ground
  • Piecemakers
  • Shewmakers
  • Friendship
  • Open Hearts
• Bro. Keith does a Facebook live on Tuesdays, recapping what was discussed in the previous chapter and transitioning us to the following chapter.
• Bro. Garry & Bro. Keith will lead a Wednesday night Bible study on the chapter the church is studying that week.
• And if you’re reading this blog, you know what I’m doing: I write a weekly blog on the chapter at hand, sharing my brilliant mind, unique takes, and witty writing with thousands. Possibly millions…

We don’t expect everyone to do everything that was listed, but this is your opportunity to do a couple of things:

• First - committing to reading the bible with others. I know for some, you have read the bible cover-to-cover multiple times. For some of you this is your first attempt to read the entire bible. But I imagine for many of us we’ve tried and failed, started and stopped, in attempting to read the entire bible. And you may have started and stopped and fell behind in the fall as well…if this is you: take heart! This is your opportunity to recommit to reading one chapter a week. Three suggestions for reading:
  • While you can break up the reading evenly over six days, I would suggest reading each chapter in one to two settings so you get the thrust of the chapter.
  • While reading, have a writing utensil handy to underline verses that strike you (for whatever reason), take notes in the margins, and to write down names/situations that come to mind when reading. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide your thoughts as you read, and jot things down so you don’t forget them!
  • Take a day or two to answer - to the best of your ability - the Discussion Questions on the chapter you read (the Discussion Questions start on page 473 in the back of the book). Your answers don’t have to be full paragraphs or complete sentences, just a few thoughts that will help you remember what you read, and will allow you to live into the next opportunity…
• Second - utilize this opportunity to connect in a deeper way with your church. Reading The Story as a church is not a fix-all, but is an opportunity for us to come together, study God’s word together, and figure out yet again what it means to be the Church in the heart of Saline County. I want all of us - emphasis on all - to commit to finding one additional way to connect with others at the church:
  • If that means joining (or rejoining) a Sunday School class, great!
  • If that means coming to Wednesday night fellowship meal and bible study, great!
  • If that means watching Bro. Keith’s facebook Live or reading this blog and chatting with others in the “Comments” section, great!
  • If that means committing to not missing a Sunday worship service in-person or online, great!

My invitation for us is the same one I shared when we started this journey together in September: to pray to God to prepare our church, our leaders, and one another as we re-enter into this journey of reading The Story together. Pray for people by name. Pray for yourself. Pray for your pastors. And pray for our church that we see the Holy Spirit leading us forward into a place already prepared for us!