Why read the Bible? How? What bible? Meetings? and more...

***Every Thursday at BMH 1016

If you missed the first meeting - not to worry!!! We are just reading Genesis 1-25 over the first week and will discuss those chapters at meeting number 2.  You can join us on week two (Thursday Jan 29th) and get the Schedule for the rest of the term.

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​WHY READ THE BIBLE?​

You may be interesting in reading the bible for a number of reasons -- here are a few.

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• You are studying English Literature and there are references in classical literature that point to stories from the bible but you haven't had opportunity to read the Bible yourself.​​

• You are interested in finding out more about what Christian scriptures are about. What is the story that they tell?​

• You are interesting in finding out if the scriptures have any meaning for you. Reading them can give you a sense if there is something to them for you personally.

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From the Christian perspective, we believe the Bible is the word of God and it contains a message that brings hope and life. Your life will be enriched by reading it and knowing why these scriptures exist.

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HOW? - Setting up a Community Reading Plans

The reading will not be focused on the entire book of the Bible. That would be too much for a school term. We will start with the first narrative books of the Old Testament bible and one gospel from the New Testament books and see how it goes. We will share a reading plan with you at our first meeting but it will require planning on 15 minutes of reading 5 days a week. Work on keeping up as you go through the plan together. It is hard to catch up when you get behind and you are in university classes too.

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Weekly Connect:

When we have to show up to talk about it and check in, then we tend to rise to the task and accomplish what we set out to do in the first place!  Student leader Bukola will be leading a casual discussion time around several consistent questions to help with following the story line. Discuss challenging themes and end with hopeful thoughts you have attained from the past week's reading journey. Pastor Melissa will be present as well to answer questions and take some away to further research as necessary.

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Safe Space for All:

We will be cultivating a space that will be supportive to those with little experience reading the bible or knowledge of Christian thoughts and ideas. If you feel you can benefit from being a participant of a space like that and contribute in kind, sign up to join us by January 16th.

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The Bible - what version: What Bible are we reading? Isn't there different versions? Do I need to purchase anything? We are reading the Christian Bible and while there are various versions of ancient scriptures, this is not a club designed to compare different versions of scriptures out there. It is a narrative journey to understand the major movements in the plot line of the bible and explore the significance of those events. You don't need to purchase anything unless you really want to. There is a access to bibles online though Bible Gateway or the Bible App. We will encourage reading from versions such as NIV, NRSV, NLT or AMP since they are more common english language translations of the scriptures.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

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