Scripture Sunday is … simply a post I’ll make on a Sunday that involves something about Scripture! Some post examples would be: how reading the Bible helped me handle a particular situation in my life; or what is a favorite Bible verse on a particular subject and why I like it; or what section of Scripture relates to / or is mentioned in one of my novels.
Why am I writing a Scripture Sunday post on Word Wednesday? Well, isn’t the Word of God the best kind of word to learn? Actually, I’m writing today as either a belated post from Labor Day weekend since I was out of town, or as an early post for this weekend because I want readers to have this information before September 11th.
Today’s Scripture Topic Is Dig DEEP!
Do you know why I get excited when summer ends? Is it because when school is back in session I don’t get a daily, sometimes hourly, complaint from my kids of, “I’m bored” or a bombardment of requests from them (mostly my daughter) to take them swimming, shopping, or to their friends’ houses?
No. That is not why I get excited—well, okay, maybe that is one tiny reason. The main reason I get excited when September rolls around is because that is the time each year Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) classes start in over 40 countries around the world. Woo-hoo! This year I’m super thrilled because my mom will be joining me for her first BSF study.
You may think I’m weird for being enthusiastic about studying the Bible, but I’m telling ya, BSF is truly an enjoyable and rewarding experience. I’ve participated in several other Bible study classes and really liked those too—lots of Beth Moore studies, love me some Beth Moore!—but the BSF classes now rank as my favorites.
Bible Study Fellowship isn’t your typical ten-week or so study—BSF classes last almost the entire school year! That nine-month-ish study isn’t on several different topics; that study is on one book or section of the Bible, making it the epitome of “in-depth” Bible study. The last two years with BSF I’ve studied the books of John and Revelation, and I’m about to start on Romans. Here is a great video from BSF about this year’s study: https://youtu.be/pGUOxeEQFog
The way BSF goes about doing Bible study is also very unique, as chapters and verses are studied in a four-step process: Question, Discuss, Listen, and Learn.
- Question
You will receive a Lesson Questions handout at the end of each class meeting to do as homework. This handout will contain different verses in the Bible for you to look up, and then it has questions for you to answer about those passages. The handout is divided into six days, and BSF encourages you to read and answer just one section per day in order to have daily exposure to / studying of Scripture. Some weeks I would do it that way, but other weeks I would sit down for about an hour block at a time and finish the entire handout. For me, sometimes I learn better when I can complete a lesson all in one sitting.
- Discuss
The next meeting you will bring your handout and discuss your answers with members of your small group, usually consisting of about five to eight people. This small group will be the same people you discuss your answers with each time, all year-long. So, don’t worry about having to “tell all about yourself” to a new small group every single week you come to class, because the small group you start with is the small group you’ll stay with for the whole 30-week session.
- Listen
After your small group finishes discussing the handout, the small group will then join all the other attendees of that BSF study in a larger room to listen to the lecture for that week’s lesson. The lesson revolves around the questions you just answered for homework. If your class is held at one of the main churches, you’ll be lucky enough to listen to your speaker in person. I’m at a smaller/satellite location, so I’ve never met our lecturer; I’ve just listened to her voice. (Some satellite places do have videos of the lecture for attendees to view, but our small location has only had an audio recording each week.)
- Learn
After the lecture, you will receive a Notes handout that will help you learn even more about … the lesson that was just taught via the lecture and homework. I told you BSF is the epitome of in-depth Bible study! You take this handout home to read on your own time before the next class meeting. I have found the Notes to be very helpful in tying up any “loose ends” as far as something I still might not have understood about that week’s lesson, even after discussing with my small group the homework questions and then listening to the lecture.
Bible Study Fellowship offers over 1,000 classes and 3,000 satellite discussion groups – so surely there is BSF study near you! There are classes for only women; only men; only young adults; and then for women with children; and men with children. Although the “and children” class names sound like the parent and children are in the same classroom together, that is not the case. The mom or dad goes to their adult classroom and the children go to a different classroom; these classes are just listed that way to show that particular location also offers BSF studies for children at the same time the adults are taking their class.
To find a class in your area, go to this link and enter the name of your city: https://www.bsfinternational.org/map
I take a women’s-only evening class on Tuesday nights for 90 minutes (from 6:40 to 8:10) at a satellite location, which just so happens to be at my own wonderful church, Community Bible Church-Bulverde. http://mycbcb.com/
If you’re interested in joining the class at this location, the first one starts next Tuesday, September 12th. You can either send a message on their Facebook page at BSFatCBCB or go to this page of BSF’s website, https://www.bsfinternational.org/class/720, scroll to the bottom, and click on the “Join” or “Contact” link under the CBCB box.
I strongly encourage all of you to take a Bible Study Fellowship class. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Christian all your life and studied the Bible inside and out – I’m positive you will still learn something new from a BSF study, and I have no doubt you’ll enjoy the entire BSF experience. Here is a list of BSF studies and a short summary about each one: https://www.bsfinternational.org/studies/our-studies
I’m so excited to begin this journey with my wonderful daughter. I’ve always learned from children, and I continue to learn more and more from them. Thank you for inviting me, Melinda!