April 2009
How do I deepen my spiritual life? When I first got serious about my faith I joined a 12 week study group. We had about ten people in the group and we studied a book with some reading, exercises, and questions for reflection. From that group two of us are now pastors and the children of two others are pastors, all in our annual conference. Currently I am leading a Bible study in our church, a spiritual growth group outside of our congregation and I attend a monthly pastors’ support group.
John Wesley gave us some guidelines for growing in our faith called the “General Rules”. Right now our adult Sunday School class is studying them from a book called “The Three Simple Rules” by Ruben Job. Rule # 1 is Do no Harm. Rule # 2 is Do Good. Rule # 3 is Stay in Love with God, or as Wesley put it, “attend to the ordinances of God”. The ordinances of God include a) public worship b) the ministry of the word, either read or preached c) The Lord’s Supper d) family and private prayer e) Searching the Scriptures f) fasting or abstinence.
Right now we have three groups meeting regularly for what we call “Bible Study”.
It is probably much different than you expect. These groups do several things in a comfortable relaxed setting. They are first a place where Christians can share and receive support form others in their daily life. They are places where people can learn to pray and have others pray for them. They are times of fellowship and community-building. They are also places where we look at our faith and learn more about the Bible. They do not
require great knowledge of the Bible, only a desire to learn and grow.
When John Wesley started his Methodist Societies, it was to help people grow in their faith through regular group Bible study, prayer, sharing and support. What is now the Methodist Church grew out of these groups called “class meetings”. I encourage you to try one and see what it is like. They are not all the same, and it is not difficult to start a new one for yourself; one that meets your time needs and has people with whom you are comfortable. Our lay leader, Laura May and I would be glad to help you get started.
Meanwhile the following groups are meeting on a regular basis:
Thursday 10:00 am – noon study of the book of Matthew; at Mary Ann Gittens’
Friday 9:30 am – 11:30 AM study on personal faith and prayer based on a video series in Church Fellowship Hall Sunday 9:30 –10:20 am a study on Ruben Job’s book Three Simple Rules with video commentary; meeting in the conference room.
Coming up after Easter will be a young adult study on Sunday Evenings.
Let us help you find a place to connect so we may grow together.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Dave Repenning
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